If you’re into rhythm games, check out Boom Boom Rocket tomorrow for Xbox Live Arcade. The game will retail for 800 MS Points ($10) and have some pretty cool gameplay based on all the videos.

From the press release:

A new original title rockets onto Xbox Live Arcade from Bizarre Creations (the creators of the critically acclaimed “Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved”) and publisher Electronic Arts. “Boom Boom Rocket” will be available for download on Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360 beginning Wednesday, Apr. 11, at 0900 GMT (2:00 a.m. PDT).

The addictive and original “Boom Boom Rocket” is the first music-rhythm game to appear on Xbox Live Arcade. Players trigger rockets to the beat of the music while traveling through a 3D cityscape. The better the player times the explosions, the more spectacular the fireworks effect. The fireworks are choreographed to 10 original tracks created by Ian Livingstone, who recently scored “Batman Returns” and “Project Gotham Racing 2.”

“Boom Boom Rocket” will be available for 800 Microsoft Points and will first launch in the U.S. Canada, and Europe. The title is rated “E” for Everyone (except in Germany, where it currently is unrated). The game also will be available in the near future in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore Australia, and New Zealand.

Game Features

• Two single player gameplay modes – Normal and Speed
• Two single console multiplayer head-to-head modes – Battle and Endurance
• Practice Mode
• Freestyle mode – No target line or scoring, just mash buttons to create cool fireworks shows
• Earn up to 12 Achievements and 200 Gamerscore points

In case you wanted to spend even more money, Lost Planet’s second Map Pack will be released this Friday, April 6. For a whopping 400 Microsoft Points ($5 for the math illiterate), you get yourself 2 maps. Yep, that’s it.

Here’s what you get for your hard earned cash:

• Hive Complex: “an abandoned mine with twisting tunnels and bridges set on a war-blasted mountain side”
• Trial Point: “a modern day office complex featuring a photorealistic backdrop of a busy city center”

Doesn’t sound all that impressive. I think 400 MS Points for 2 maps is very overpriced.

[Update] More pics added after the jump

Hit the jump for more…

This Wednesday we’re being treated to another terrific title on the Xbox Live Arcade: we get to play Luxor 2. The game is essentially Zuma with different patterns for the balls. Nothing super innovative here, but still somewhat fun if you have nothing better to do. The game will run you a fat 800 Microsoft Points ($10), so fork over your hard earned cash. I’ll be passing on this one.

From the press release:

Game Features:

• 88 explosive levels with 13 new bonus rounds
• 4 levels of difficulty, including the mind-bending Challenge of Horus
• 4 modes of play: Adventure, Practice, Survival and Pharaoh’s Challenge
• Player ranking system with 100 levels from Farm Hand to Pharaoh of the Two Lands
• Pharaoh’s Challenge: A fast-paced arcade-style version of the game, where the user employs the Pharaoh’s Dagger exclusively to eliminate the approaching spheres
• Earn up to 12 Achievements and 200 Gamerscore points

We’ve known for a while that Bungie was gonna drop some new multiplayer maps for Halo 2. What we all thought, because it’s what Bungie said, was that the maps would be for Xbox 360 only. Today, Frankie dropped the ball that the maps will be available on April 17 for both Xbox and Xbox 360. Nice to see they’re showing love for people who haven’t made the plunge into the “next-gen” of gaming.

The two maps are remakes of the popular Halo maps Hang ’Em High and Derelict. The new maps, now dubbed Tombstone (at top) and Desolation (just above), respectively, will set you back $4. That’s right, no MS Points here boooyeee. Since the old school Xbox can’t compute the craziness that is MS Points, you get to pay with real money this time. Consider this is a priviledge, because who knows when it’ll happen again.

If you’re a comic book fan, you must play Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. It’s a great 4 player action game based in the Marvel Universe.

The game is about to get better with some new downloads. Activision today announced the Marvel Ultimate Alliance Heroes and Villains Packs. You get eight new playable characters: The Hulk, Magneto, Hawkeye, Sabretooth, Doctor Doom, Cyclops, Nightcrawler and Venom.

Each pack will go for 500 Microsoft Points ($6.25), but you can buy both as a package deal for 800 MS Points ($10). The packs will be available sometime in the month of April.

While this is great news for Xbox 360 owners, I have this game for PS3. I’d love to get the new playable characters, but somehow, I have a feeling I won’t be getting anything new…

Rare’s classic game Jetpac has been re-tuned for the Xbox Live Arcade for release this Wednesday. This game put Rare on the map way back in the day (1983 for those who might remember that time).

For those of you who haven’t played the classic space shooter game, it’s a 2D side scrolling shooter, where you play as Jetman looking to build his Jetpac, fuel it, and fly off to different planets, all while fighting off aliens. The process is repeated for each planet (levels). It’s a pretty fun game from what I remember.

From the press release:

Rare’s Jetpac Refuelled is a revamped and modernized version of the 1983 classic space blaster Jetpac. In Jetpac Refuelled players must clear a path through hordes of aliens to refuel their ship and amass a fortune over the course of 128 hi-definition levels, complete with achievements, leaderboards and simultaneous multiplayer action. Compared to the original Jetpac, which included 16 levels, Jetpac Refuelled provides players with everything they loved in the classic, and much more.

The game features:

• Includes two versions of the game
  • Retro – The classic 1980s version
  • Refuelled – Rare’s 2007 remake of the classic Jetpac comes complete with
    entirely new hi-def graphics, menacing enemies, new smartbombs that produce an electromagnetic pulse, modernized weapon upgrades and updated gameplay for modern gamers
• Earn up to 12 Achievements and 200 Gamerscore points
• Completely updated graphical look of the game gives Xbox LIVE Arcade gamers a truly hi-def and in-depth gaming experience

The game lands this coming Wednesday for 400 Microsoft Points ($5).

You can now download Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for Xbox Live Arcade for 800 Microsoft Points (as long as they haven’t already been stolen from you), or $10 for those keeping score. The download weighs in at 95.32MB, making it the largest Xbox Live Arcade game to date. The rules were going to be bent for this game, but since Microsoft upped the limit to 150MB before it’s release, it’s no big deal for anyone.

You can also grab yourself a theme for 150 MS Points and gamerpics for 100 MS Points should your little heart desire.

Ruh Roh Raggy… Kotaku is reporting (from ZDNet) that Xbox Live has been hacked. Apparently, a group of hackers got into Bungie.net and hacked their way through the Live ID system to get into Xbox Live. They’re using their new-found power to steal Microsoft Points for Xbox Live users and also buy new points with their credit cards on file.

According to Kevin Finisterre, a security researcher at Digital Munition, Microsoft Tech confirmed that “accounts are being stolen” and that “Hackers have control of Xbox live and there is nothing we can do about it”.

Ummm, nothing you can do about? Come on, Microsoft. There’s a lot you can do. For starters, allow users to remove their credit card information from their accounts. This has been a problem with Xbox Live since the beginning. Also, it’s your system. Shut it down and fix the leak. I’m sure users will understand that it got hacked, and you’re preventing their money being stolen by having it down for a few hours or a day.

You can now download the Lost Planet Map Pack 1 on the Xbox Live Marketplace. For the hefty price of 400 Microsoft Points ($5), you get 2 new maps, “Island 902″ and “Radar Field”. The new maps can only be played on Xbox Live, so your hopes of using them in offline multiplayer have been dashed.

It’s a pretty steep price of just 2 maps. Most other map packs have been 400 MS Points for about 4-5 maps, which seems pretty fair. But spending $5 to just get 2 new terrains is insane. I don’t think they’ll be selling a lot of these.

Bethesda dropped the bomb by announcing that the expansion to the insanely popular Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion will be released on March 27 for both PC and Xbox 360. No word on a release date yet, if at all, for the PS3. Here’s the kicker though… it’s gonna set you back 2400 MS Points, which equates to $30. That’s a hefty price to pay for an expansion pack.

The relief comes in when you hear that Shivering Isles will add 30 hours of gameplay. I honestly think 30 hours of gameplay for $30 is good, but still, Bethesda has the right track going for having the most outrageously priced items on the 360 Marketplace. First the horse armor, now this being the most expensive item ever. I’m not sure how many they’re going to sell at such a high price point. I know I put 200+ hours into Oblivion, and don’t really have desire to go back and play any more. If they would have dropped the price to $20 or even $25, I think they would make more money from more people buying it.