A Japanese man has been arrested for threatening to blow up the Japanese video game company Hudson. His reason? They wouldn't listen to his criticisms of their games.

So they say that learning is about asking the right questions. That's probably why John Master Lee of Hudson Soft started a Q & A session regarding the company's games. If you're curious as to what Hudson Soft has to say regarding some of its various titles, turn to the full article after the jump.

A classic arcade favorite for this week, with a modernized sci-fi shooter for the next. Things are certainly looking up for Xbox Live's first month of 2008, as we announce that Hudson Soft's Omega Five title has been confirmed for a January 9 release. More details are available in the full article.

Last time we heard from Hudson Soft and Backbone Entertainment's Bomberman Live, we got a big dose of the bomb-laying video game via a downloadable content pack (*cough* Rocky Bomboa *cough*). You'll be glad to know that a new update has gone live on the online shelves and sports a couple of new levels, new characters and more.

Check out the full article for more details.

After teaming up with veteran gaming company Konami Digital, game publisher and developer Hudson Soft is gearing to conquer  Europe with plans to create a new line up of games for the coming year. After the success of their past games in Europe from the Bomberman series and Metal Gear Solid series, gamers the world over expect nothing but the best from the Konami-Hudson Soft deal.

Eager to know what goodies await you next year? Read on!

You've already met Omega Five's resident brawn, more commonly known as the Tempest. This time around, we'll be introducing the beauty half the game, as Ruby makes her presence known to those waiting for this Hudson Soft title for the XBLA. Ruby carries her own brand of damage to the game, which focuses on the use of lasers, and a mini-satellite drone. Here's a quick peek at her hardware:

• Weapon Type A: Vulcan Laser Cannon
• Rapid-fire laser beams. Weapon upgrades increases its rate of fire
• Weapon Type B: Reflecting Laser Beam
• A continuous laser beam that that cuts through lesser enemies. Upgrades increase power of the beam, splitting it in two, which also reflect off of certain surfaces.
• Weapon Type C: Lightning Gun
• Shoots a high-intensity lightning bolt. Upgrades increase the weapon power, and add secondary bolts that shoot out from the main beam.
• Alternate Attack:
• Sends out a satellite that can instantly destroy lesser enemies or, anchor onto stronger enemies. After the satellite latches onto an enemy, it deals damage and Ruby’s weapon auto-aims to that spot. Can also be used as a shield.
  

Here's a batch of Omega Five screenshots, featuring Ruby's weapons in actions.

The rest of the Ruby's Omega Five screenshots are in the Full Article.

A slew of Xbox Live Arcade shooters are heading our way, and all of them are high-quality releases sporting low prices. The first of them will drop in this November and it's none other than Natsume and Hudson Soft's Omega Five.

Omega Five has a curious, ninja-inspired character scrolling vertically and dealing with enemies that pop from side to side and from the front trying to nail you with melee and projectile attacks. You'll do this for extended periods, so maintain your concentration if you want to stay alive.

Another vertical scroller is Ikaruga. It's an arcade port from the game with the same title released in 2001 and now launched by Treasure Co. Ltd on the Xbox Live service. One interesting feature of Ikaruga is the polarity-based combat, where only attacks of opposite polarity will harm your ship.

Lastly, there's Trigger Heart Exelica which is planned for a winter Xbox Live debut. It was once an arcade game, but was subsequently ported by Sega to its short-lived Dreamcast system. Two ships with different attack capabilities are featured to make players choose which one is best to use in given combat scenarios. Like the other two games, it's set for a release by year's end in Japan and is expected to go out worldwide at almost the same date. Exact release slates are still under wraps, so stick around for more updates.

 

Among the small gems at Tokyo Game Show 2007 was Omega 5, an upcoming shoot 'em up by Hudson Soft that should be on XBL this November. This side-scrolling shmup boasts of full 3D graphics with enemies coming from all places.

In this video shown at the TGS '07 floor, we see a good amount of gameplay footage and find out what futuristic critters are waiting to be shot down by the player's laser beam. Multiple foes flood the screen, but they seem easy enough to rip into shreds. When they do experience your wrath, the robotic antagonists blow up in style.

What more can we say? Shmups have always been about intense action, leaving no space for words. With that in mind, here's Omega 5:

Bomberman Live on the Xbox Live Arcade is adding more dynamite to the fun it brings with a new DLC coming on September 26. It's called the Bomberman Live Bomb-up Pack 2 and it has a lot of new blasts to share.

Featured are 10 additional characters playable in the game. There's a new Bomb Shelter mode to be featured that adds new depth to the gameplay, a couple of new levels, and of course, new leaderboards.

Hudson Soft has placed a 250 MS points price tag on the new Bomb-Up Pack to make it easy on the pockets. It's a simple game that everyone should try. Not a lot of flash, of course, but the puzzle elements add a lot of replay value to this 8-bit classic.

Retro gaming in the Xbox Live Arcade is set to get a few new bells and whistles with the addition of some new content for Bomberman Live. Xbox 360 Fanboy reports that new levels and costumes are in the works from Hudson to make the blast from the past more explosive than ever.

The release date and pricing hasn't been revealed yet for the downloadable content but details are expected to hit any time now. The stand-alone DLC Bomberman Live was announced last May and released this month for 600 Microsoft Points. The add-ons shouldn't be too pricey.

The Xbox Live version of Hudson Soft's 1983 classic was remastered by Backbone Entertainment to suit the Xbox 360. All of the elements that made the franchise popular through more than two decades are still there including maze and puzzle action, various bomb types and infuriatingly cute enemies. If you were too young to catch it from way back, there's no better time than now to re-live this piece of gaming history.