X-Men: The Arcade Game dated for 360, PS3

It has been 18 years since Konami's six-player X-Men first hit arcades, and now the game is finally ready to come home. In an interview with GameFocus, a Konami representative confirmed that the Xbox 360 version of the game will launch December 15, with the PlayStation 3 edition available starting December 26.

As in the original arcade game, players will get to pick from the mutant supergroup's roster and take on Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to save the world. The game features Cyclops, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Storm, and Dazzler as playable heroes and features a veritable army of villainy, including the Sentinels, Pyro, Blob, Mystique, and Juggernaut.

X-Men: The Arcade Game will support up to four in local multiplayer and a full six-player complement in online action. The game will also support leaderboards and arcade-style drop-in multiplayer online, so friends can join in at any point. Additionally, players hosting games online can set the number of allowed players, the difficulty, and the starting level to tailor the experience to their tastes.

The port is being handled by Backbone Entertainment, which has considerable experience making downloadable versions of old games. The Emeryville, California-based studio has previously released downloadable versions of Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, and Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. It also developed Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, a compilation of 40 games from Sega's 16-bit system, for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

[UPDATE 12/9]: Sony disputed the Konami rep's PS3 release date today in a post to the official PlayStation Twitter account. According to the post, "Despite what you may have read, Konami's X-Men Arcade will be hitting the PSN next Tuesday, Dec 14, for $9.99."