 | Release: | November 15, 2006 - Xbox 360 (EU/US) |
| Delisting: | February 17, 2010 (Available For: 3y 3m) |
|
| Developer: | Digital Eclipse | |
| Publisher: | Midway | |
| Available On: | Retail (See Below) | |
| Links: | Xbox.com Page [Archive] |
Delisting
On February 17th, 2010 Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb announced on Twitter that nine Midway Games had been removed from Xbox Live “due to publisher evolving rights and permissions”. The nine games include:
- Cyberball 2072
- Defender
- Gauntlet
- Joust
- Paperboy
- Robotron: 2084
- Root Beer Tapper
- Smash TV
- Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
These “evolving rights” related to Midway’s bankruptcy and financial woes as the company shut down operations through 2010. After filing for bankruptcy in February of 2009, Midway received a bid of more than $33 million from Warner Bros. for the majority of the company’s assets. With the sale completed by July 10th the remaining studios were either closed or sold off (namely to SouthPeak Games and to THQ who would themselves file for bankruptcy in 2012).
While all nine Xbox 360 games were delisted on the same day, six Midway titles on PlayStation 3 lingered a while longer as they were published by Sony Online Entertainment. The games were put on sale one final time through the last week of June 2010 and were likely delisted shortly thereafter. The six games include:
- Championship Sprint
- Gauntlet II
- Joust
- Mortal Kombat II
- Rampage World Tour
- Rampart
Warner Bros. Consolidation
While these original releases are currently delisted almost all of them are available in new digital bundles or on physical discs. Midway Arcade Origins contains 30 titles and was released to retail by Warner Bros. on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is currently available to download on Xbox 360 as well.
Warner Bros. has also re-released Mortal Kombat II and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 in the Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Paperboy is available in the downloadable version of Midway Arcade Treasures Extended Play, published digitally in 2010 for the PlayStation Portable. This leaves only Rampage: World Tour that cannot currently be downloaded.
Before all of this Midway released dozens of arcade compilations on numerous platforms as far back as the Sega Genesis and Game Boy Color.
About the Game
“The classic space shooter is back! Now for the first time you can play Defender on Xbox Live. Protect the humans on the planet surface by destroying the invading alien abductors.
In the future, the galaxy is invaded by hostile alien forces. Attacking in countless swarms, the aliens decimate any planet they encounter. Those who survive the initial invasions are harvested and forced serve the alien invaders. Mankind’s only hope lies in you, the Defender!“
- Classic and enhanced modes: Play this arcade classic the way it was back in the day, or play it with sound and visual enhancements for next-gen.
- Full Xbox Live support: Access leaderboards for single player, versus, co-op, and weekly stats, and earn 12 achievements for a total of 200 gamerpoints.
- Multiplayer mania: Test your skills against rivals or team up with your friends. Play on or offline in co-op or versus mode, combining your scores or matching them against each other for the win.