Microsoft recently announced the upcoming release of XBOX LIVE Game Room, an online arcade where users can play up to 30 arcade classics including Centipede and Asteroids.

“There’s a generation of people who grew up with a set of games like Centipede that are favorites,” says Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices Division. “They look almost like casual, fun games today, (but) at the time they were high-end, edgy games. Game Room is the idea of bringing that back to the market and bringing that to a very broad audience.”

Microsoft wants to not only recapture the attention of older gamers but introduce old titles to younger gamers. “Bach compared the experience people will have in the Game Room to a Journey concert he attended with his daughter – it was a great experience for him because he grew up listening to the band. And it was fun for his daughter because she thinks Journey is cool,” according to Microsoft news center.
“I think you’re going to have the same phenomenon with Game Room,” Bach says. “Even the people who would call themselves ‘hardcore gamers’ are going to think that it’s fun in a retro way.”

Frank Pape, senior director of business and product development for Xbox, wants to bring back the rivalry of the arcade days.
“If someone on my friends list has played in my arcade, their name will be hanging next to my machine and I’ll get notified of that on all of my devices,” says Pape. “It’s just this constant one-upmanship and also being able to customize my own arcade and show off the machines just like they were, with lights and fancy sounds.”.

Game Room will be available for free download to Xbox LIVE and PC. Once installed, players can wander a customizable, old-school arcade with retro game cabinets from game makers Atari, Intellivision, Konami and more.

Although video games are constantly becoming more realistic and complex, a lot of gamers got their start with arcade games with eight-bit graphics simple objectives.

“There’s huge nostalgic appeal to these games,” says Kristen Miyake, an Xbox marketing manager.

According to Xbox news center, “after launching Game Room, Xbox will release new game titles weekly, all of which players can demo free of charge and purchase individually. To download games, users purchase Microsoft Points – the virtual quarters of the Xbox LIVE marketplace. The points are credited to a user’s account, and the player can then purchase items or games from the marketplace.”