Bubble Bobble Neo finally on XBLA! ... In Japan!
Were we the kind of bloggers that liberally sprinkled our posts with emoticons, this one would be festooned with sad faces. Taito revealed earlier this month that Bubble Bobble Neo was set to debut on Xbox Live Arcade on August 5 (today). We found it appropriate, considering it would release alongside another retro remake, TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled. Sadly, we are instead subjected to a very rare instance of Japan receiving one title and the rest of the world getting another. That's right, Bubble Bobble Neo is only available in Japan, while Turtles in Time is available everywhere except Japan and Korea.
Microsoft was unable to supply us with the worldwide launch date for Neo, but we're confident it will happen eventually (probably after the Summer of Arcade promotion wraps up). After all, Square Enix saw fit to release its WiiWare cousin, Bubble Bobble Plus, outside of Japan, so it's a safe bet that the same fate will befall Bubble Bobble Neo.
We'd like to know when that will happen, but the truth is that any time other than "right now" just isn't soon enough.
[Thanks, Menno B!]
