D3 Publisher’s classic third-person shooter, Earth Defense Force 2017 -- which strangely has very few rip-offs and follow-ups save for Lost Planet -- has arrived for the Xbox Live Games On-Demand service for $19.99. I would have thought it would have been down to $9.99 by now, especially with the service fee price-hike for using Xbox Live, but oh well.

Anyway, the classic shooter offers gamers more than 50 different missions, 150 various weapons and all the B-movie, giant creature action you could possibly ask for. The game arrives basically as a hold-me-off title until Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon becomes available for the Xbox 360 and PS3 in spring of 2011.

You can learn more about the not-so-old cult classic by visiting the Official Earth Defense Force Website.