http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/kotaku.com.png http://kotaku.com/tag/contra http://kotaku.com/tag/contra

Why is it called The Legend of Zelda when Link's the one doing all the work? Just wait until Metroid hears about this; she'll be pissed. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5848858&view=rss&microfeed=true

Konami finished its pre-E3 briefing with a short hint that Contra would be getting a reboot on current consoles. A short trailer showed a fireball crisscrossing the screen before settling into the series' familiar blazing-C logo (pictured). More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5808065&view=rss&microfeed=true

This is Contra. Just not as you know it. It's the hardcore 80's shooter reimagined by William "xiabaosg" Chua, who depicts Bill and Lance as fuedal Japanese warriors. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5785212&view=rss&microfeed=true Hard Corps: Uprising, Konami's cartoonish take on Contra, hits Xbox Live Arcade on February 16 for 1200 Microsoft Points. That's part of the Xbox Live Arcade House Party push. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5731026&view=rss&microfeed=true

Until April, visitors to New York's Museum of Modern Art will be able to check out "Long March: Restart", which is basically one of (if not the biggest) video games you'll ever play. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5730335&view=rss&microfeed=true

Konami and Arc System Works are still plugging away at the anime-styled spin on Contra, Hard Corps: Uprising, which is due sometime this winter. To make the wait easier, an all-new look at the downloadable shoot 'em up is here. Peruse! More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5714402&view=rss&microfeed=true

As said on Reuters. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5611113&view=rss&microfeed=true

I played the latest Contra game—the one without Contra in the name—at Comic-Con. It was too easy, but that was by design so that cream puffs like me could enjoy Hard Corps: Uprising without dying too quickly. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5597014&view=rss&microfeed=true

As promised, Jay Pavlina has delivered Ryu Hayabusa from the NES Ninja Gaiden as the seventh playable character in the flash sensation Super Mario Bros. Crossover. Other character-specific abilities have been included in the game's 1.1 update. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5573202&view=rss&microfeed=true

There are two words that can be used to describe these ads. The first word is "funny". The second word? "Brilliant". More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5559948&view=rss&microfeed=true

Konami is giving its side-scrolling shoot 'em up classic Contra a makeover and it's doing so with Guilty Gear and BlazBlue makers Arc System Works, resulting in the downloadable game Hard Corps: Uprising. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5554931&view=rss&microfeed=true

"Hard" in gaming is relative. What I might think is easy, you might think is not. What you might consider a piece of cake, I may find impossible. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5540444&view=rss&microfeed=true

What if you could play the original Super Mario Bros. with other classic video game characters, controlling just as they did in their own titles? Well now you can, with Simon Belmont, Link, Samus, Mega Man, and Bill from Contra. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5526401&view=rss&microfeed=true

Video games aren't just about the games, the story or the graphics. Oh, no. Music is so incredibly important. And often, long after you have finished playing, it sticks around, lingers in the back of your brain. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5518562&view=rss&microfeed=true

Out.com, the online presence of the gay lifestyle magazine Out, has selected its "Gayest Video Games." This is like pouring jet fuel on a thermite-and-napalm salad, but these are games that trip their gaydar, not ones straight people call "gay." More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5430773&view=rss&microfeed=true

The PSP version of Army of Two: The 40th Day looks to have much more in common with old-school arcade shooters like Contra and Commando than it does with its console big brother. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5428810&view=rss&microfeed=true

Machinima put this up last week, following the Castlevania and Mario reconstructions in Half-Life 2. Anyone who's ever played Contra - that should be all of us, right? - will want to watch this start to finish. More than once. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5419685&view=rss&microfeed=true

There's no Contra in Duck Hunt, but let's imagine there was. Let's fantasy. Let's. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5359490&view=rss&microfeed=true

The old-school gamers at Nerdballoon sat down with a slightly uncommunicative 11-year-old and asked him to describe his first experience ever with a platform shooter - the beloved Contra. Predictably, he hated it. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5323178&view=rss&microfeed=true

He'll fight for freedom wherever there's trouble, and the E3 show floor is no exception. We went hand-to-hand with EA's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra for the Xbox 360. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5280107&view=rss&microfeed=true

Run-and-gun classic Contra is getting a brand new game with WiiWare title Contra -ReBirth-. On May 12, the game will be be released in Japan for 1000 Wii Points. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5245136&view=rss&microfeed=true

Remakes in LittleBigPlanet—or LBPmakes, if you will—are typically nothing if not impressive. The Gradius remake, for example, might have blown your mind. But this Contra remake is awesome if only for its exhaustive authenticity. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5161581&view=rss&microfeed=true

Prepare to be Contra'd, because this trailer for Uwe Boll's Contra packs so much Contra into one minute and fifty-three seconds that you'll think you're at a Contra convention. Don't worry, it's a joke! More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5114596&view=rss&microfeed=true GameTrailers countdown of the 10 Most Difficult of all time brings back so many painful memories for me. For once, I played every game on the list, and the development of the dirty mouth I have today can be directly traced back to many of these. The only games I take exception to are F-Zero GX - the only racing game series I ever excelled at - and Battletoads, which while difficult to be sure, was nowhere near number one difficult. Ug. I'm going to need an antacid. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5037121&view=rss&microfeed=true

Not much has changed with WayForward and Konami's Contra 4 for the Nintendo DS, but attendees of E For All got a chance to spend time with what appeared to be the final build of the side-scrolling shoot 'em up sequel. Yes, it's still pure run and gun action, bringing hardcore, old-school Contra gaming to the DS, but now it's more complete. Having bested the first level, after burning through many a credit, at E3 this year, I found working my way through the jungle themed opening level just a hair easier. That means it wasn't blindingly difficult but just challenging to make a grown man cry. The second level? It felt near impossible. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=313686&view=rss&microfeed=true

Kayak instructor and Professor of Technocultural Studies and Music at the University of California at Davis, Bob Ostertag, has rolled up a katamari-like collection of 8-bit to 64-bit samples in his video game "sound collage" titled w00t. Featuring carefully arranged blips and beats from games like Contra, Halo, Super Metroid, World of Warcraft and Ico, to name but a few, Ostertag's 50 minute piece is available as a free download for the curious. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=311573&view=rss&microfeed=true

Gamers looking to cash in on playing games on their Xbox 360 can now do so, as the Xbox Reward program has gone live in the United States. Complete the Rewards challenges in the specified period and you could nab yourself some prizes, depending on your level. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=236054&view=rss&microfeed=true

A reader named Michael sent us this admittedly crappy cell phone picture confirming that the Konami code works on the Xbox Live Arcade version of Contra, despite the original arcade version of the game lacking the cheat. The picture shows Mike with 28 lives remaining, having given his life twice for the sake of getting this evidence safetly into our hands. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=213605&view=rss&microfeed=true

Yep, more Xbox Live news! Konami's classic run and gun shooter Contra should be available for download this Wednesday at 1:00am Pacific. The game features both the original game and an enhanced mode with improved sights and sounds and Xbox Live co-op play. The full game is yours for 400 Microsoft points. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=212614&view=rss&microfeed=true

You know, I've done just about every single one of these, minus the Strider hack (news to me!), despite the fact that I had the cart and Altered Beast back in the day. Classic stuff, but I know they're missing something. What is it? Help me remember my classic cheats, Kotaku retro elite readership! Michael McWhertor More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=210849&view=rss&microfeed=true

So, you're a big fan of Konami arcade classics like Contra (aka Gryzor), Gradius, and Time Pilot, but lack the Xbox 360, PSP, or shaky morals to download the ROM? Good news, because if you own a Nintendo DS (and who doesn't?) Konami is doing the right thing and bringing tons of retro arcade goodness to your hot little hands. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=209247&view=rss&microfeed=true Another Mugen/Nintendo mash-up, this time involving a 60 foot tall Predator cruising through Super Mario Bros. and Contra. You know, it's pretty sad when even a colossal and grotesque alien can't manage to get past the first level of Contra without dying. Florian Eckhardt More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=206506&view=rss&microfeed=true

At TGS06 yesterday, Microsoft announced a bunch of new games coming to XBLA over the next few months, including. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=201991&view=rss&microfeed=true

Konami is bringing a fistful of classic titles to Xbox Live. Take the PlayStation 2 classic Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, which will be making its appearance on Xbox Live next year. The game is regarded as the Castlevania game. According to Konami, this doesn't mean the title is an XBL exclusive. Other upcoming Live titles include Frogger, Contra, Super Contra and Track & Field. Think the Contra code will still fly? Damn better. Brian Ashcraft More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=192058&view=rss&microfeed=true I subscribe to the beefcake philosophy of masculinity. As a manly man, I often start the mornings off by inserting a bag of oranges between my rippling pecs and using them to squeeze myself a pitcher of fresh juice. Then, chaining a broken down omnibus around my neck, it's time for a vigorous morning jog, oftentimes while listening to that most manly of songs ('It's Raining Men' by the Weather Sisters) on my iPod. When I get home, I write my very manly Kotaku posts (like this one), then hit the George for a manly evening of tight leather-pants dancing. The rest of the evening will often be spent in quiet masculine contemplation, making naked muscle-man poses in my wall-length bedroom mirror. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=183592&view=rss&microfeed=true Extremely hardcore gamer Chris "Vertexguy" Kline wants the whole world to see him melt his own face with a solo so intense, the cat walked by his bedroom during his recording session and literally turned inside out. With his mother knee-deep in cat intestines, pounding angrily on the door, he becomes the rock god he always wanted to be. And we're his witnesses. Party on, Chris. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=180227&view=rss&microfeed=true

Hey, excellent! Everybody's favorite choggling SHMUP sprite protagonists are headed to Live Arcade! Contra, along with Time Pilot, Frogger, and Scramble (but depressingly not Fast Freddy) are coming to Live courtesy of Konami. Filling out the retro delectability? Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Defender (Midway). Galaga and Pac-Man (Namco). More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=173783&view=rss&microfeed=true

The Photoshop enabled literati at Something Awful combined their collective genius toward creating the best fictional pretentiuos video game box art this weekend. Most of these references are way over my sloped forehead, but I did get a slight chuckle out of the Kaboom!-esque Name Drop and Plato's Cave Story. Greek philosophy meets obscure Japanese freeware? This one's only for the real nerds in the house. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=163051&view=rss&microfeed=true