The Xbox Live Arcade - One Year Later

Via Joystiq, an article at GamePro asking is Live Arcade worth it? One year after its launch, the service has been transformed by lots of retro classics, some brand new games, and the addition of the (now working) movie and television download service. What parts are good, what parts are bad, and ultimately, is it worth it? From the article: "Many of XBLA's original games draw their inspirations from classic video games, and the poster child for XBLA originals is Bizarre Creations' Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. Released with the launch of Xbox 360, Geometry Wars showed a skeptical world just how cool original yet classically styled downloadable games could be. It plays like a crazed combination of all-time classics Asteroids and Robotron: 2084, with your lone, triangular spaceship pitted against literally endless hordes of nasty geometric shapes. The level of onscreen carnage is legendary; never has a game had more spectacular or over-the-top particle effects, showing that even simple games can be flashy."

Comments

Re:Is it worth it? Yes. Is it being mismanaged?Ye

[bigman2003]

Your post was interesting. Your writing skills remind me of the opening few paragraphs in all of the game FAQs I've read: like a 14 year old attempting to appear intelligent and worldly.

The post started out with a bang by providing an explanation of who owns the Xbox Live Marketplace. I don't believe anyone here was questioning that fact. And yes, as in your hypothetical comic book store, the owner makes the rules of what will go on sale because it is their store. (But if you really think a successful business bases its stock availability on whether someone is 'nice', you're nuts. They will offer whatever they believe people will buy.) (Yes, I know your comic book store has its own guidelines, but I said 'successful.')

In the next few paragraphs of your post you pontificate upon which games are worth the price Microsoft charges, and which are not. You state your opinions as though they are fact.

Just as in your ill-fated comic book store merchandising plan, you make the false assumption that the entirety of the XBLA population feels exactly the same as you do. This *might* not be true. In fact, some people may feel that Contra was a great bargain, while their overall feeling toward Small Arms may have been, "Fuck you and the wires you rode in on."

Lastly, I applaud your efforts to craft an interesting and well-written post. While you succeeded in a few cases, (I particularly liked your use of 'rubble') you failed miserably in others. Most notably your repeated misspelling of the word 'boon' exposes a weakness in your facade. But most importantly, thank you very much for putting so much thought into your post.