Headlines - Xbox Live Arcade shake-up: quality rather than quantity, says MS

[HEXUS]

There's some changes coming our way and, Microsoft say, they will improve our Xbox live experience.

Read more.

[Blademrk]

What happens if they get rid of games you've already bought?

And (assuming that MS will just remove them from download on the XBLA menu) Will we still be able to play them? online?

And if we already have the demo, will we still be able to purchase the full game (as I'm assuming when you download the demo you get the full game with just a code block stopping you accessing anything beyond the demo)?

[Steven W]

What happens if they get rid of games you've already bought?

And (assuming that MS will just remove them from download on the XBLA menu) Will we still be able to play them? online?

And if we already have the demo, will we still be able to purchase the full game (as I'm assuming when you download the demo you get the full game with just a code block stopping you accessing anything beyond the demo)?

There's certainly more questions than answers. There's also reports that the Spring Update has been canned, although I can't actually find any 'real' evidence for this.

[Blademrk]

next gen conducted an interview with someone from MS:
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: MS to Delist XBLA Titles : Next Generation - Interactive Entertainment Today, Video Game and Industry News - Home of Edge Online

Whitten also told us that there would be no spring dashboard update for Xbox 360 owners this year, saying that resources were instead focused on “building the proper infrastructure and scale for the service.” There will however be a change to DRM policy and a tool released next month that will allow 360 owners to re-license content to a single console—finally fixing the issue that forced gamers playing XBLA games to be connected to Xbox LIVE if their 360 broke down and was replaced.

which is something of a misquote from their own article as what was actually said further in the piece was

We have taken a different approach this spring and spent a lot of our time and resources of building the proper infrastructure and scale for the service not just today but also into the future. So while most users will not notice any significant changes to the dashboard this spring, I can tell you that the team will be releasing a new digital rights management (DRM) tool next month that will allow you to better consolidate your licenses for downloaded content to a single Xbox and allow you the freedom to be able to play your content both online and offline

It doesn't say that there won't be a spring update, just that there won't be many new features this time around.

[educatedfool]

That sucks

[Steven W]

next gen conducted an interview with someone from MS:
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: MS to Delist XBLA Titles : Next Generation - Interactive Entertainment Today, Video Game and Industry News - Home of Edge Online



which is something of a misquote from their own article as what was actually said further in the piece was



It doesn't say that there won't be a spring update, just that there won't be many new features this time around.

I can't believe how many of the gaming sites have simply copied what Next gen have said without obviously reading the interview. He doesn't say there isn't an update, yet it's all over the net referring to this specific article.

[Parm]

I don't understand why they'd de-list Xbox Live Arcade games completely, surely a bigger catalogue is a good thing? It can't be using much room on their servers.

If anything, they should take the less popular games and put them in the bargain bin (Xbox Live Arcade Hits). Sell them for 100 points each, much better than getting rid of them completely.

[spazman]

I could never understand why they didnt reduce the price after time, there is quite a few older titles i want but still cant justify 800 points for them.

[Parm]

I could never understand why they didnt reduce the price after time, there is quite a few older titles i want but still cant justify 800 points for them.

Spaz, that was the idea with "Xbox Live Arcade Hits", it has old Arcade games at a reduced price. Trouble is, there hasn't been many games added to it. Now it seems as though they won't be adding more either, opting to remove games completely instead.

[Blackmage]

Spaz, that was the idea with "Xbox Live Arcade Hits", it has old Arcade games at a reduced price. Trouble is, there hasn't been many games added to it. Now it seems as though they won't be adding more either, opting to remove games completely instead.

Which doesn't make any sense at all.