XBLA Getting Bomberman Live, Yie Ar Kung Fu

In another double-header update for its Xbox Live Arcade, Microsoft has announced that Hudson's new 8-player Bomberman Live and previously Japan-only updated arcade fighter Yie Ar Kung Fu will be made available on July 18th. Newly created for Xbox Live Arcade, Hudson's Bomberman Live offers eight arenas including Lost World, where players can sink in puddles of quicksand, and Ghost Town, where players can fall into trap doors for its four-person local multiplayer and eight-person online multiplayer matches. The game will also include the option to fully customize your Bomberman, with Hudson promising over 10,000 possible combinations, like gladiator outfits to the clown costumes, so players can "make Bomberman as cute or menacing as they like." Konami's early one on one fighting game Yie Ar Kung Fu features both an authentic arcade version or an HD enhanced version, with hand painted models and backgrounds mimicking traditional Japanese art styles. In the game, a fighter called Oolong embarks on a quest to become the ultimate champion, facing and defeat masters of the throwing shuriken, nunchaku, bo, chain and more at the Martial Arts Championship. The game has been available exclusively in Japan for many months, with ex-Xbox Live Arcade head Greg Canessa telling Gamasutra in August of last year that the territorial exclusivity was "not so much rights-related as where the audience is going to be" - suggesting that the classic title was much better known in Japan. Both games, with their requisite leaderboards and Achievement points, will be made available this coming Wednesday, at a price of 800 Points ($10) for Bomberman Live, and 400 Points ($5) for Yie Ar Kung Fu.