Classic Midway Games Vanish From Xbox Live Marketplace

Several Xbox Live subscribers this morning realized that a few particular titles were missing from the Xbox Live Marketplace, several games produced by the now-defunct Midway Games.  Sadly, Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb confirmed that these games are indeed long gone, due to the expiration of certain rights.

Said Hyrb through his Twitter, "FYI: Some XBLA titles are no longer available for purchase from Xbox LIVE Arcade due to publisher evolving rights and permissions...the list of titles is: Cyberball, Defender, Paperboy, Rootbeer Tapper, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Robotron, Joust, Gauntlet and Smash TV".  Nelson confirmed this has nothing to do with the upcoming Game Room service (although the titles may resurface there, save for Mortal Kombat), and will discuss their removal on an upcoming podcast (possibly this Sunday's).

Now, if you've already gotten these games, no problem, they're still on your hard drive, or you can re-download them as necessary, since they remain in your purchase queue.  However, if you haven't bought them yet, chances are you never will.

We're unsure if the games will ever resurface, possibly through some possible relaunch via Midway's acquiree, Warner Bros. Interactive.  Nevertheless, we're sad that new players won't get to experience the sheer joy of UMK 3 or Smash TV.  Those are classics...