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Publishers Embrace Xbox Live Arcade

Posted by Zonk on from the best-part-of-the-system-so-far dept.

With many of the high profile 'launch window' titles still coming, the Xbox Live Arcade is one of the most entertaining elements to the Xbox 360. Joystiq posts about a recent Major Nelson podcast in which he interviews the general manager of the Xbox Live Arcade. Big-name publishers are jumping on board, and they plan numerous additions to the service in the coming months. From the post: "Just one important caveat: the Xbox Live Arcade party lasts only so long as Microsoft plays the gatekeeper role well. If the company softens its standards and starts to include mediocre titles for download, gamer trust and interest in the service will decline rapidly. So far, they're on the right path. Geometry Wars--that little $5.00 Xbox Live Arcade title that has surprised and delighted the majority of those who have given it a shot--still reigns as the top Xbox 360 title in our book."

3 of 27 comments (clear)

  1. It's a nice feature by JunkyardCat · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Not only does it provide more online gaming opportunities, which continues to rise in popularity, but it may well revive a lot of older games. There are a lot of "gone but not forgotten" titles that I'd love to see make a comeback, particularly with some live competition. If the prices remain this low I expect to spend a lot of time on the 360. Umm A lot MORE time :)

  2. Re:$5 a game is nice but... by jchenx · · Score: 2, Interesting

    People tend to forget that there are other games available for the system. :)

    The 360 Live Arcade is supposed a nice bonus feature to the system, not the ONLY reason to get it. Also, I've heard of many stories about guys buying the system, but their girlfriends and wives discovering the Live Arcade and getting hooked. It's a great way to get introduce your significant-other to the wonderful world of gaming, so that she doesn't automatically veto all your future game purchases. ("As long as you let me buy some Arcade games, I'm fine with you getting that new boxing game")

    The only downside is having to share the 360 with her. :)

    (Maybe she can help boost your gamerscore by unlocking Bejeweled 2 and Zuma achievements though!)

    --
    -- jchenx
  3. Re:They're $5 for a reason. by MHolmesIV · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So you're saying that unless you spend 30 million dollars on a game, it's crap? Well, that may be true if all you're going for is eyecandy, but you don't need stupendous graphics for really fun and addictive gameplay.

    Seriously, considering the "quality" of the big name games out there, I'd encourage the "independants" all I could. Some of the best games I've ever played were made by tiny independant game makers. (Popcap games, Star Control 2 and The Horde by "Toys for Bob", Starscape by Moonpod). All I see when I look at the big game makers are stupid sports games, eyecandy rich Wolfenstein 3d clones, and more and more complex Civilization and Dune 2 clones.

    I'd love to see more of the old style games that are actually fun to play come out for Arcade. For instance, I miss those great top down shooters like "Slapfight" or the really fun puzzle games like Rockford. There are limitless possibilities for revamping old titles that were actually fun, and creating new titles that don't take 300 graphic artists and 3 years to make. And I believe thats's where the XBox will win, not lose the console war.