and damn, does it look and sound great!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UfB1_Jznvg

did someone say you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

I got the JP version of this on DS a while back and I adore it. It is totally addictive. Most nostalgia-driven remakes like this have only served to highlight how outdated the gameplay is but, for some reason, this one has hooked me. It's sort of like a cross between Space Invaders and Lumines.

I had the paddle from Arkanoid, which you can use, but I wouldn't actually recommend it. It makes control just too easy so, if you haven't got the paddle, don't worry about it.

I love their new 30th anniversary logo.
Arkanoid is back too, on DS...

Jay, do you still have the paddle-accesory for it?
I might be interested if you want to sell it off..

Hi Carl, yep I still have it but I use it for Arkanoid so won't be selling it! Arkanoid on DS is pretty enjoyable but it's very much the same old thing (and is slightly negatively affected by the gap in screens) but Space Invaders breathes whole new life into the game. But I do still enjoy Arkanoid and would recommend it.

What seems really weird to me is that Squenix is going to publish these 2 games for the USA market.   It feels so fundamentally WRONG to see SQEX's name even remotely attached to these TAITO classics.

I had no idea that was who was publishing them. Yes, it seems quite bizarre but it's great they are seeing a release outside of Japan. And, from what I've seen, Space Invaders has the same cover art. The art is fantastic - it's very stylish and all in metallic print. Probably my favourite DS art.

But, when I got Space Invaders, I also bought Bangai-O Spirits and that's just not doing it for me at all. I can't really figure it out.

Well, it makes sense since they own Taito now.  Eventually it will seem as normal as having the Enix name on Final Fantasy games and the Square name on Dragon Quest games, I guess.

Oh crap, I completely forgot about all about that...

"On August 22, 2005, it was announced that gaming giant Square Enix would purchase 247,900 Taito shares worth ¥45.16 billion ([[US$409.1 million), to make Taito Corporation a subsidiary of Square Enix.[2] The purpose of the takeover by Square Enix is to both increase Taito's profit margin exponentially as well as begin their company's expansion into new forms of gaming (most notably, the arcade scene), and various other entertainment venues. The takeover bid from Square Enix was accepted by previous majority stockholder Kyocera, making Taito an official Square Enix subsidiary. On September 22, 2005, Square Enix announced successfully acquiring 93.7% of all shares of Taito, effectively owning the entire company.[3] By September 28, 2005, Taito became a subsidiary wholly owned by Square Enix.[4]"

This merger-happy corporate world sucks, it certainly won't be good for creativity after every game company gets rolled up into one huge mega-corp...  *bleh*

wasnt the Lufia series originally by Taito?? maybe with a little luck, sqeexs love of rereleases might spawn a Lufia 1 & 2 DS port...

Taito was only the publisher though. The developer was Neverland.

While that's true, doesn't Taito own the franchise?  They did that abomination of a Lufia game on the GBA without Neverland, didn't they?

It's usually the publisher which owns the brands, yeah.