Yes, a new thread today thats NOT a spam one (not until post number 2 at least)
According to this news item, R-Type dimensions is due out this week on the xbox live arcade. It's fairly pricy at 1200 points but it's a combination of R-Type 1 & 2 so it's sort of less of a rip.
Anyone planning on picking it up? I'm thinking of it depending on the finances, R-Type is the archetypal side scrolling shooter and this version has coop which could be a blast.

I don't know about this game, so I'm a bit OT (as usual), but since we're dealing with arcade remakes for consoles, I'd like to remind everyone to take a look at 1942 on PSN. The gameplay is essentially the same as the original series, but with coop mode (both local and over internet) and very impressive graphics which actually manage to improve the game, even for a die-hard fan of the original games. The only downsides are that the play time is OK for an arcade game, but seems a bit short for a console game, especially since the game is a good deal easier than the original (you can chose the difficulty level, but it doesn't do much besides giving you fewer lives at start). Try to get a buddy to play it with you. Together, it's a lot of fun.

If I had an Xbox360, or If Microsoft would also release said titles on the PC: Yes.
I've not had my hands on a R-Type game since the Master System days. I like the genre (and related genres, like bullet-curtain shooters), but gah, they've been hard to get on any platform I've owned in the past.

I love those old arcade type games. I own the Midway Arcade Treasures compilations and Taito Legends and I can't get enough of them. So to echo Ois if Micro. sold them or made them available for PC, I would most likely buy them but since that isn't the case then no, I won't.

Well if you like Shoot-them-up you have Soldner X Himmelssturmer (9$ this week) or the Raiden series that are available on PC.
And if you like "extreme" curtain shooters (and are a mutant) you have all the Thouhou projects games but they are pretty hard to buy as they are Japanese indy games.

Well, I've made a calendar note to check out SoldnerX after payday. Heard decent things, but it's usually not available or rather expensive.
Thouhou projects, I've rather enjoyed the demos I played last year, but I've not studied Japanese since year-5 primary, and hence, can read pretty much none of it nowadays. Menus/text were translated via context, bablefish and trial and error. For all the insanity and perfection needed, they are an utter blast of fun :)

Well I've decided to whack some MS points on my account in order to get it. The Evil Bydo Empire™ doesn't stand a chance!
Well they probably do really, I'm a bit crap at these games but damnit I'm going to try! I owe it to all those who died at the hands of the Bydo savages! Sure they were just me the last time I played but if you can't get revenge for your own murder, that'd just suck!

Well I bought it and my wrists hate me already! I've not mashed a fire button so hard since the C64 days.
It's just as hard as I remember, a coin guzzler in every possible way. One hit kills, near unavoidable hails of fire, massive enemy spam and occasional massive enemies all conspire to make you give up that extra coin out of revenge. Sure there's no coins now (unless you count the ones you spend to buy it) and you can continue from your last checkpoint when your 3 measly lives are rapidly extinguished. The alternative option is Infinite mode where you can continue blasting away, dying all the time and just keep coming back immedaitely. It's a definite nod to the "This game is too hard / I suck" brigade but it may also be the only way I ever finish the damned thing.
As another nod to the noobs (or people with disabilities I guess), they have 2 fire buttons, a regular which fires as fast as you whack the button and also charges the beam weapon up and the other is rapid fire which is the traditional autofire 'hold down the button and it keeps firing' thing. Nothing like as fast as you can shoot with the normal fire and can't charge the beam but handy for when the carpal tunnel sets in.
I've not tried the coop mode yet, it seems the life system works differently there, there's the option to revive your partner so I'm guessing that you won't lose a life unless both of you go down at the same time. There's an achievement for doing it 20 times, I have a feeling that may be the easiest one in the game...
It's a very pretty game but it has the option of being very ugly (they call it 'classic' but it's just ugly), whats most impressive is that it has the ability to switch between old 2D flat graphics and rotated 3d quasi-isometric graphics on the fly. Very fancy but a bit of a bastard if you do it in the middle of intense combat.
Overall I'm enjoying it.

R-types, the compilation of R-type 1 and 2, is available as a classic PS1 title on the Playstation Network for $5.99. Coincidentally I was just killing time this morning playing up to stage 2 before I remembered how oldschool arcade shooters are so frustratingly cheap... in a good way. Those games offer a much more rewarding feeling of accomplishment once you actually do learn how to play well.