Cowabunga? TMNT XBLA images (& video) surface

by James Ransom-Wiley { Feb 25th 2007 at 4:52PM }

This pair of images (and now a video!) might indicate that Konami's coin-op classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is currently up on PartnerNet, Xbox Live Arcade's beta testing network. But let's not confuse our burning desire with reality. The Turtle rights are now in Ubisoft's hands, so re-releasing this arcade romp is gonna take some finessing (note the two company logos in the alleged title screen). ~~It's not improbable~~ It's looking probable, but without an official announcement joining the screens (and video), TMNT isn't yet confirmed for XBLA. Besides, Konami's already got six other arcade ports clogged in the pipeline -- but might next month's movie elevate TMNT up the priority list?

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Update: added video (embedded below).

Tags: Konami, TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles, TMNT, Ubisoft, XBLA, XboxLiveArcade

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

NintendoFanbot @ Feb 25th 2007 4:58PM

If the unaltered versions make it to XBL I just might have to fork over money for a 360. ;_;

Hopefully whomever has the rights to this game (Konami? Ubi-Soft?) will make a Wii version otherwise.

Wait! I've got a better idea! Konami, give the Wii owners The Simpsons Arcade! I don't care if it's a cross-promotion with the movie just do it!

Rubang B @ Feb 25th 2007 5:02PM

Didn't the ESRB just rate the first Konami NES TMNT game, implying that within a couple months it'll be on the VC? I can see XBLA getting the arcade one and then the VC getting the NES ones and hopefully the SNES port of the second arcade one, but yeah, how would Konami get to do all that magic? I thought this was the same problem with the James Bond license trading places so many times.

Edwin @ Feb 25th 2007 5:09PM

I just hope it is the unaltered versions of the game. Not the one released with TMNT II: Battle Nexus on the last gen consoles in which they couldn't use the licensed music. ENITRELY ruined the experience. Also, I feel like a limited token use should be in effect. Being able to use unlimited tokens kills the difficulty. Maybe like 4 continues or something.

Foppe @ Feb 25th 2007 5:14PM

I think Ubisoft only owns the rights to the new movie, while Konami still owns the rights to the cartoons. That the first TMNT-game for Nes is released as VC seems to be enough proof for this.

Diskoboy @ Feb 25th 2007 5:21PM

Gyruss and Track & Field are coming to XBLA!!?? Hells yeah!

Multiplayer track & Field was all kindsa fun. Hopefully, the online expierence will be the same as it was back in the day.

Rubang B @ Feb 25th 2007 5:24PM

Well the last 3 TMNT games were Ubisoft, and they were based on the newer cartoon series. So I'm guessing Konami still has the rights to the 1987-1996 series and Ubisoft has the rights to the 2003-now series. Interestingly enough, Peter Laird actually still writes for the new cartoons.

Jake @ Feb 25th 2007 5:25PM

God I used to love this game. Still remember getting it for Christmas. It was the main thing I wanted and my parents pulled the old "oh wait, is there another present under the couch" trick by letting me open all my presents to find no TMNT. Kinda like on Christmas Story.

With that said, I don't think it is worth 5 bucks to have now, lol. Already played it.

Rubang B @ Feb 25th 2007 5:26PM

Wait wait, scratch everything I just said. Konami made the newest 3 games based on the 2003-today series as well. So Konami has all the cartoon-to-game rights and Ubisoft is ONLY making the game based on the new movie. So Konami can do whatever they want with the old games, splitting them between VC and XBLA. Case closed.

Diskoboy @ Feb 25th 2007 5:34PM

Oh, and I forgot - I could care less about TMNT. Give me 'The Simpsons' any day of the week.

Rubang B @ Feb 25th 2007 5:39PM

I concur. Considering the emphasis on "ARCADE" in XBLA, you'd assume they'd have the greatest arcade game of all time, which was indubitably The Simpsons. Alien Hominid wasn't in the fucking arcade. That didn't suck up all my quarters at the movie theater, sheeeeeit.

Cannonstar @ Feb 25th 2007 5:41PM

I'd prefer Turtles In Time instead.

zenprism @ Feb 25th 2007 5:42PM

If this is fake, someone's getting karate chopped in the face.

Heroes in a half-shell!

Dane @ Feb 25th 2007 5:49PM

The original TMNT games are among only a few platforms actually worth playing. If this does come out I highly doubt it will be in the same class as the originals.

Rubang B @ Feb 25th 2007 5:45PM

Turtle Power.

Josh Miller @ Feb 25th 2007 6:05PM

Man oh man. If true, this'll be the first XBox Live Arcade purchase of my life. This and the Simpsons game mentioned above saw a lot of my quarters.

merv @ Feb 25th 2007 6:16PM

Sorry was it just me who noticed a Konami and a Ubisoft logo both in the picture, suggesting that they already have worked out a deal. I would highly doubt that they would have worked on a port without getting the legals dealt with

carg0 @ Feb 25th 2007 6:25PM

the XBLA trifecta:

-TMNT
-the simpsons
-X-MEN

Mike @ Feb 25th 2007 6:29PM

As everyone can clearly see in these screenshots, there is a Konami AND Ubisoft logo on the main screen. I think that answers the whole license issue right there. Everyone gets their piece.

embassy @ Feb 25th 2007 6:50PM

dunno if this was mentioned but it seems to be tied in with the upcoming movie cuz the background images that border the game are definitely the same artwork/style as the new TMNT movie.

but yeh..like mentioned above.

TMNT
simpsons
XMEN

thats all i ask.

and maybe a little killer instinct for fun :)

dsub @ Feb 25th 2007 7:01PM

Come on guys. There are no "split rights" to the TMNT franchise, it's all or nothing. Use your eyes and look at those screens and you'll quickly notice that the title screen has both the Ubisoft and Konami logos on it indicating that both have joined together on this one. The release of this game is inevitable with the upcoming release of the movie next month. I expect this one sooner than later. Those logos being side-by-side on the title screen is a clear indicator that the two companies have already come to an agreement.

dsub @ Feb 25th 2007 7:04PM

Rubang B-

I agree. It's time for Capcom to release Marvel vs. Capcom for the XBLA. I don't know why they haven't already. Bring out the ARCADE games. It is the Xbox Live ARCADE isn't it? I also agree with the whole "limited coin" feature that alot of you have talked about. My guess is that they will instate a "lives/continues" system otherwise the Achievements earned from this title would be jack shit.

cheese @ Feb 25th 2007 7:22PM

blah, have the original *arcade* version on my xbox. As good as these games were, they are not worth playing again.

NintendoFanbot @ Feb 25th 2007 7:25PM

"Use your eyes and look at those screens and you'll quickly notice that the title screen has both the Ubisoft and Konami logos on it indicating that both have joined together on this one."

It could be that Ubi got the rights to the overall TMNT licensing and that Konami is only contributing old code related to the license. Nintendo did that with Donkey Kong Country for VC. Rare's no longer with them, but Rare still gets credit.

Also, in one of Peter Laird's letters in his comic (on hiatus due to movie duties), he refers to Ubi-soft as the new licensee. So whether that includes Konami as a holder for a related license or Ubi has rights to both the movie and the current cartoons remains to be seen.

Though I couldn't care much right now. The new TMNT cartoon-based games can't hold a candle to the arcade games, in my opinion. ;_;

Goldspire @ Feb 25th 2007 7:41PM

TMNT, TMNT: Turtles In Time, The Simpsons, X-Men, Alien vs. Predator, The Punisher, Knights of the Round, Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom and Shadow over Mystara, the Final Fight series, Golden Axe 1&2.. all classic arcade beat-em-ups with my personal fav being AvP, Capcom ftw. Where are all the *arcade* games, MS?

why not the LS2/LS7? @ Feb 25th 2007 8:05PM

That looks totally craptastic.

Going to the arcade and mashing buttons was fun, because you only did it 10 minutes at a time.

These games just don't hold up well enough to sit down on the couch and play.

Wow, how far XBLA has fallen. Geometry Wars was Citizen Kane.

Devin @ Feb 25th 2007 8:05PM

IF this is true, it better have local multiplayer and not just LIVE.

I play this and The Simpsons on my MAME box, absolute classics.

I really wish the more recent Family Guy and Futurama games were 2D beat 'em ups instead of the piles of mediocrity they are.

Fierce360 @ Feb 25th 2007 8:16PM

man, this would kick ass on xbox live coop. god, i hope this is true. i would buy it in a heartbeat.

jimjo @ Feb 25th 2007 8:22PM

Yie Ar Kung~Fu!!! I Love my 360!

SymetriX @ Feb 25th 2007 9:08PM

If my memory is right there are many other arcade games that use this same "engine" and hardware, such as The Simpsons.

So, if they've emulated this one, there's real hope that a bunch of other classic arcade titles could be on their way!

Does anyone know how many other arcade games share this engine?

jawmuncher @ Feb 25th 2007 9:37PM

I believe this is a fake. Though the chance of TMNT coming to XBLA is good, this picture brings up questions. If konami owns the rights to the cartoon (which this game is most certainly based on) why is there a ubisoft logo and behind the game area its a picture of the TMNT's from the movie instead of using a pic from the old cartoons. Seems like someone was trying to hard unless ubisoft and konami are teaming up do to legal issues. who knows.

samfish @ Feb 25th 2007 10:33PM

You know, what they ought to do is have a system for games like this where you basically put a set amount of money on your account, say, $20.00, for the whole month.
And then you use that $20.00 in $.25 cent increments like they're quarters.
The next month, your $20 bucks is renewed.
That's the only way I can see these kinds of arcade games retaining any of the original spirit that made them so great.

Evan @ Feb 25th 2007 10:58PM

The TMNT arcade machines I remember were widescreen (multiple monitors inside the cabinet). That's the version I'd like to play.

hegemonyhog @ Feb 26th 2007 7:33AM

"If konami owns the rights to the cartoon (which this game is most certainly based on) why is there a ubisoft logo and behind the game area its a picture of the TMNT's from the movie instead of using a pic from the old cartoons. Seems like someone was trying to hard unless ubisoft and konami are teaming up do to legal issues."

Based on my (limited) knowledge of IP law, the current cartoon and the old one are the same intellectual property. Ubisoft, from what I can tell, controls all new iterations of TMNT in videogame form, meaning that any rerelease of any TMNT product would have to go out under Ubisoft's stamp.

Konami doesn't own the rights to anything regarding the cartoon at the present date - they simply own the specific videogame property under which the TMNT IP was used, but couldn't market it as TMNT unless given permission by the company which actually is allowed to do so, Ubisoft.

Jaylee @ Feb 26th 2007 1:34AM

It is real. In a few hours I will prove it with a in-game captured movie. Just have to get to the office to capture it :)

Played the trial this weekend through the Xbox Live Partner Debug net.

polly @ Feb 26th 2007 1:28AM

Wouldn't a gamertag, or at least the name, be up in the player 1 spot, being an XBLA game and all...

Gavin @ Feb 26th 2007 2:27AM

Why wouldn't they team up to release this? Saturating the market with licensed games is part of what the industry uses to promote movies nowadays. Wake up and smell the money people. Jeez...

FSK405K @ Feb 26th 2007 2:29AM

So this is the same game as was released on NES as TMNT: The Arcade Game, yes? If so, then awesome.

As for favorite arcade games, no one has mentioned Time Killers? Come on! Cut off some limbs and heads! Who's with me?

Jaylee @ Feb 26th 2007 5:11AM

Hereby a link to some in-game footage:

http://www.insidegamer.nl/xboxlivearcade/teenagemutantninjaturtles1989/videos/1868

Seems real to me :)

Julian Weisser @ Feb 26th 2007 8:10AM

I hope someone isnt just screwing with us...

sheppy @ Feb 26th 2007 11:30AM

As much as I would enjoy being rid of unlimited continues to increase challenge, the other part of me remembers arcade games were designed by some real bastards.

The core concept of the games, called quarter munchers for a reason, was to provide you just enough gameplay to force you to drop another quarter to continue. Unavoidable damage, one hit kills, overpowered bosses, all of these things lead towards the ultimate goal of fucking you out of your money. Yes, with practice, many quarter munchers were beatable. But that wasn't the goal. The goal was cheap kills and keep the quarters coming.

Unlimited tokens may take away the challenge of a game but the challenge was artificially created in the first place.

I can say this. With the Capcom classics, my enjoyment of several games comes without the pressures of continue limits. I just get to play and that's always fun.