The Raiden series, particularly Raiden II is the pinnacle of co-op SHMUPs (perhaps next to Ikaruga).  So there's good news that we finally have confirmation that the arcade version of Raiden IV will make it's way to Xbox 360 consoles complete with two new stages and Xbox Live play! 

For the truly hardcore the developers of the title have also included the ability to save and share replays as well as support "swivel" LCDs.  What does that mean?  If you turn your 16:9 LCD on it's side so it stands upright you can play the elongated game that way with no sidebars. 

Unfortunately there's no word of an American release, but Japanese gamers can get their hands on the latest Raiden game on September 11th.

Fans of SHMUPs certainly know the 1942 series of games.  The game is a classic, and Capcom is reviving the franchise with an Xbox Live and Playstation Network title called 1942: Joint Strike.  The folks over at Team Xbox got their hands on the latest build, and we find out exactly why this game is drool worthy for co-op fans.  As the title implies, you'll be jointly striking down enemy planes with a buddy - and there's even special moves available only in the cooperative mode.

As players work together, they'll fill up the joint strike meter.  Once filled they can activate different special attacks to take down enemies.   There's no word on exactly what the specials are, other than a lightning attack, but with three different plane types and three different specials it sure sounds like they'll be plenty of variety in Capcom's upcoming title.  Right now, 1942: Joint Strike is set to hit both online networks sometime this summer.

We've just posted our review of Ikaruga for Xbox Live Arcade. This is a deep SHMUP that enforces co-op play to maximize score and stay alive. It's classic title that was difficult to find on both the Dreamcast and Gamecube, and now it's available for a $10 download on XBLA.