News - Xbox Live Arcade titles come to Windows 8 and RT

[HEXUS]

Microsoft's newly launched PlayXBLA bringing more games to Windows 8 and RT.

Read more.

[crossy]

Question: if I've got an XBLA title (and in some cases with some DLC - e.g. PinballFX2 with some of the additional tables) do I have to rebuy it on a Windows8 PC, or is MS Play smart enough to know that I've already bought a license on my XBox and allow me to just download it again?

I'm assuming this to be the case since otherwise the "portable" game aspect is a bit of a waste of time.

[FRISH]

Can't wait to play minesweeper on windows.

[Megabiv]

I was excited about this until I realised that out of the 50+ Arcade games I have non of them are on this list :/. Still its the thought that counts I suppose.

[Noxvayl]

No wonder Gabe Newell doesn't like Windows 8, this competes directly with their platform. I expect gamers to prefer Steam's approach, being locked into an operating system is not something I would like and I suspect lots of other people will feel the same.

[TheAnimus]

No wonder Gabe Newell doesn't like Windows 8, this competes directly with their platform. I expect gamers to prefer Steam's approach, being locked into an operating system is not something I would like and I suspect lots of other people will feel the same.

Ironicaly with steam your locked in to a device thou.

The idea of this is I can buy a game on my fondlejab, and play it on my diddyfondle (tablet -> phone).

However I assume most publishers will want me to pay for each one.

[Noxvayl]

Ironicaly with steam your locked in to a device thou.

You are locked to computers but I doubt that will be for long; Valve have made a mobile Steam app, currently geared towards buying things and chatting but considering they have added non-game software to the store I am comfortable inferring that they will add cross device functionality for games at some stage as well.

The idea of this is I can buy a game on my fondlejab, and play it on my diddyfondle (tablet -> phone).

However I assume most publishers will want me to pay for each one.

You can already do that with iOS and Android, your purchases are for your account not your specific device.

[xpronic]

Going to be interesting how some of these titles work via touch only on a RT tablet.

[kingpotnoodle]

However I assume most publishers will want me to pay for each one.

I'd have thought the "that's cool I can switch devices, will buy" effect would generate more sales than the very few people who would actually pay twice, most people would just say sod it and stick to one device.

[NitrousX]

Question: if I've got an XBLA title (and in some cases with some DLC - e.g. PinballFX2 with some of the additional tables) do I have to rebuy it on a Windows8 PC, or is MS Play smart enough to know that I've already bought a license on my XBox and allow me to just download it again?

I'm assuming this to be the case since otherwise the "portable" game aspect is a bit of a waste of time.

i'd assume that as you have your windows ID linked with the same alias it will know that you have already purchased the game

[TheAnimus]

You can already do that with iOS and Android, your purchases are for your account not your specific device.

I've lost count how many versions of Fruit Ninja there are.

There is Fruit Ninja normal, Fruit Ninja for High Res Phones, Fruit Ninja for Nexus 7, Fruit Ninja for large tablets.........

All of which are conviently available for purchase seperately.

Google Play, doesn't have the concept of device classes per "product", so its a bit of a fail, as that one binary, maps to one product, might not want to target all classes.

[crossy]

I've lost count how many versions of Fruit Ninja there are. There is Fruit Ninja normal, Fruit Ninja for High Res Phones, Fruit Ninja for Nexus 7, Fruit Ninja for large tablets......... All of which are conviently available for purchase seperately.

Google Play, doesn't have the concept of device classes per "product", so its a bit of a fail, as that one binary, maps to one product, might not want to target all classes.

You sure about that last bit? Reason I ask is that I certain remember seeing messages on some apps in web version of the store that it was "suitable for some of your devices" and the devices missing were the tablets. Likewise there's certainly "optimized for tablets" parts of the store.

In which case the plethora of FN versions might not be down to Play's kludginess but more a case of the FN developer wanting to squeeze every last red cent from the consumer. Cynic that I am I'm inclined towards the wallet mugger theory!

Not being an Android developer I'm not sure how much effort is required to do an app that suits 3"->5" phones and 7"->13" tablets in the one binary. Stuff I've seen seems to suggest this it's games that are the problem and there you need different resource sets for each screen size. But like I said, I'm not a developer so that could be a load of....

It's a good point though that you make - I'm assuming/hoping that Microsoft's guidance to XBLA developers include something about how to ensure that your app works as well on a 4" phone as it does on an XBox running 1080p resolution on a 42" TV, (plus the tablets that fit in-between).

[directhex]

Ironicaly with steam your locked in to a device thou.

Which device?

The idea of this is I can buy a game on my fondlejab, and play it on my diddyfondle (tablet -> phone).

However I assume most publishers will want me to pay for each one.

Publishers won't use it. Phone game pricing and tablet game pricing and desktop game pricing are all different, for the same game - actually using this system destroys that tiering system that publishers love.

[TheAnimus]

Which device?

The PC that runs x86/x64 code.

Whilst Steam might be hating on windows 8, it will be the only driving force in making tablets it could run on, in a market area that everyone is saying is the fastest growing.