Catan, Centipede, and Millipede on XBLA tomorrow

Heading up tomorrow's lineup is Catan, a port of the hugely popular German board game Settlers of Catan. With new graphics, 13 historic personalities with their own strategies to play against, and a timer to help speed up the turn-based play, this could easily be the best version of Settlers of Catan to date. Catan is known for its simplicity to learn and difficulty in mastering, and will be available for 800 Microsoft Points.

Then for those of us who remember the classics and want to take a stroll down memory lane, or for the youngsters out there who would like to get a sampling of what the old-folks used to play in the 80's, the Atari classics Centipede and Millipede are headed to XBLA tomorrow. Many a pimply-faced teenager could be found hovering over a table-top version of Centipede in the early 80's. Two years later the obsession would turn to the sequel, Millipede, with its new enemies and challenges.

Add in a new "Evolved" version of both games, which features pre-rendered, HD graphics, special effects like motion blur, trails and particle-based explosions, and you've got a fresh new take on two great games.

It's unfortunate Microsoft is billing this release as three new games, since anyone who has played both Centipede and Millipede knows they are roughly the same game. Fortunately for us, Microsoft has decided to bundle Centipede and Millipede as a joint download available for the meager price of 400 Microsoft points.

May 1, 2007