Delisting of XBLA games (can still redownload)

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Fri May 23, 2008 5:28 am

Article
...In addition to allowing these bigger and better games we will be delisting older underperforming titles in order to keep the service focused on a section of high quality games.
(...)
What would qualify a title for delisting? Would Microsoft choose titles for delisting, or would the publisher or content creators be involved in the decision as well? Are there any titles currently on the Marketplace we can expect to be delisted in the near future?
- The way it will work is that the title will need to be at least 6 months old and have a Metacritic score below 65 and a conversion rate below 6% on the service. This way titles are not just considered if they are not selling well or not getting good reviews, but actually a combination of both. We will also give a three-month notice before delisting any title. Overall I think you will find this will focus the catalogue more on larger, more immersive games and make it much easier to find the games you are looking for.

A lot of shmups could be up for deletion. Don't know how many people bought Triggerheart Exelica, but it's 63 on Metacritic currently, and I doubt it sold as many copies as these cunts wanted it to. Stuff like Gyruss fares even worse. How does the discerning customer benefit from this, really, being at the discretion of braindead game critics and the brainwashed masses? "Easier navigation?" How about making the categories a bit more functional, or redoing the slow clunky interface for navigating games that still hasn't changed much since the system's life began? This seems very underhanded and if anything it's damaging the image of digital content.

UPDATE: http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/05/26 ... -delisted/

Udderdude · Post by **Udderdude** » Fri May 23, 2008 5:39 am

Welcome to tyranny of the majority, intarnets style.

orange · Post by **orange** » Fri May 23, 2008 5:55 am

fuck that

Regulus · Post by **Regulus** » Fri May 23, 2008 5:59 am

Damn, I'd better pick Exelica up pretty soon, then.

Crisium · Post by **Crisium** » Fri May 23, 2008 6:04 am

I might just pick up Exelica to support the genre then. Hopefully Ikaruga did well enough for Treasure to consider porting Radiant Silvergun, but really I don't think many shmups will ever be available on XBLA due to lack of popularity. There are so many from the 90s, but it would be nice if the general consensus of top 10 shmups were on XBLA. Obviously Exelica wouldn't be on that list, but there's room for it too.

Many later Dreamcast games like Exelica could come just because they are newer, like Chaos Field (really liked that one, it's RSG like imo), or Radirgy (excellent graphics style and fun). But I wonder how well they would sell.

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Fri May 23, 2008 7:57 am

Some folks are reporting that Galaga has already been removed from XBLA Marketplace.

They claim to be seeing a blade that reads "GALAGA is not available from Xbox LIVE Marketplace. If you delete it, you will not be able to download it again" when they go to delete their current digital copy as a test...

RuffNEC · Post by **RuffNEC** » Fri May 23, 2008 8:02 am

yes I remarked that too. galaga has gone I think...

Also frustrating if you're chaning the system and want to restore your gamertag

moonblood · Post by **moonblood** » Fri May 23, 2008 8:25 am

Lovely

I wonder if those who would've liked ketsui and doj BL to be XBLA releases still think that

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Fri May 23, 2008 9:18 am

I bought Galaga as soon as I read that, it's still up there.

P_HAT · Post by **P_HAT** » Fri May 23, 2008 9:51 am

lol, so "bb for back up copy"?

awesome M$!
F* awesome!

Momijitsuki · Post by **Momijitsuki** » Fri May 23, 2008 9:55 am

Regulus wrote:Damn, I'd better pick Exelica up pretty soon, then.

Yeah, if I didn't have a reason before, I do now! D:

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Fri May 23, 2008 10:42 am

Ha! My prediction is coming true (sooner than expected).
See, that's the reason why I want games that I can put on my shelf.

Aren't you all glad now that Ketsui and DOJ Black Label will be released on disc?

Etrian · Post by **Etrian** » Fri May 23, 2008 10:56 am

I don't see any removed games.

In fact, Exelica is showing on the "Top Arcade Games" list, along with Ikaruga.

orange · Post by **orange** » Fri May 23, 2008 11:21 am

Ceph wrote:Aren't you all glad now that Ketsui and DOJ Black Label will be released on disc?

yes yes yes

nimitz · Post by **nimitz** » Fri May 23, 2008 1:38 pm

I think the real problem is that some seemingly intelligent people buy stuff from microsoft.

I mean, is anyone surprised that anything they bought from microsoft turns out to be crap?

MR_Soren · Post by **MR_Soren** » Fri May 23, 2008 2:33 pm

That is ridiculous and negates half the benefits of digital content.

Ah well. That simply finalizes my decision to not buy a 360.

nem · Post by **nem** » Fri May 23, 2008 3:14 pm

I can understand delisting titles (there's 110+ games on the service, most of it is shit), but bloody hell, removing them altogether, so that you are not able to redownload purchased games? That's junk.

neist · Post by **neist** » Fri May 23, 2008 3:16 pm

Momijitsuki wrote:
Regulus wrote:Damn, I'd better pick Exelica up pretty soon, then.
Yeah, if I didn't have a reason before, I do now! D:

They are going to give you a 3 month heads up on the matter.

I'm holding off until I know what they ditch.

louisg · Post by **louisg** » Sat May 24, 2008 2:07 am

Wow. Has anyone found a way to back these up and restore them yet? It'd be a shame to have some of these ports completely disappear.

Crisium · Post by **Crisium** » Sat May 24, 2008 2:46 am

I'd hate to pay for an XBLA game, and then if I had a new HDD or even a new next-gen Xbox I wouldn't be able to download the games again. It's just not necessary to get rid of low selling games.

I was looking forward to a massive selection of classic games on XBLA, but that now seems not the case. I thought that was the point of an online arcade. Real arcades can't afford to keep old and outdated games, but surely Microsoft can afford to store some old ROMs on a server.

Even if most people only download a trial and don't buy it, it really is not expensive to have people download 50mb from you. We're already paying per month/year. Isn't that, plus individual game purchases, enough to keep games stored on the server?

Udderdude · Post by **Udderdude** » Sat May 24, 2008 2:52 am

Crisium wrote:I'd hate to pay for an XBLA game, and then if I had a new HDD or even a new next-gen Xbox I wouldn't be able to download the games again. It's just not necessary to get rid of low selling games.

I was looking forward to a massive selection of classic games on XBLA, but that now seems not the case. I thought that was the point of an online arcade. Real arcades can't afford to keep old and outdated games, but surely Microsoft can afford to store some old ROMs on a server.

Even if most people only download a trial and don't buy it, it really is not expensive to have people download 50mb from you. We're already paying per month/year. Isn't that, plus individual game purchases, enough to keep games stored on the server?

The issue is really that they don't want their service clogged with games that don't sell. It will lead to the view that the service has too much crap for it to be worth sorting through and buying anything.

If this leads directly to old arcade titles that don't sell being pulled .. that just sucks. But the general populace will speak with their wallets .. and that's what they listen to. The sound of $$$! :O

Erinu · Post by **Erinu** » Sat May 24, 2008 3:01 am

Microsoft are doing something dumb again. biggu shokku

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Sat May 24, 2008 4:01 am

louisg wrote:Wow. Has anyone found a way to back these up and restore them yet? It'd be a shame to have some of these ports completely disappear.

There's a device called the Xport, among others, that allow you to transfer data. You can also hack the HD apart. I'm not sure, but I imagine that as long as they're on your profile they will still work.

Twiddle · Post by **Twiddle** » Sat May 24, 2008 4:38 am

In addition to allowing these bigger and better games we will be delisting older underperforming titles in order to keep the service focused on a section of high quality games.

If by bigger and better games they mean shovelware and by high quality games they mean "85% of development time spent masturbating in the blogosphere" they are completely correct

Zebra Airforce · Post by **Zebra Airforce** » Sat May 24, 2008 4:40 am

^^Talking about shit like braid, I'm sure.

There's a device called the Xport, among others, that allow you to transfer data. You can also hack the HD apart. I'm not sure, but I imagine that as long as they're on your profile they will still work.

Okay, but then what do you do with that data? Can you throw it on a dvd or something?

-Bridget- · Post by **-Bridget-** » Sat May 24, 2008 4:43 am

Oh for the love of.....

Now this is one of the dippier ideas I've heard in awhile.

Honestly, this sounds more like something Sony would do, but, no, here it is, Microsoft this time.

Why dont they just.... I dunno.... LEAVE THEM ALL ALONE???

Wouldnt it cost MORE to go to the stupid effort of deleting these?

And surely SOMEONE there realizes that what one person might think of as "quality" might not equal what someone ELSE thinks.

Bah.

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Sat May 24, 2008 5:07 am

Zebra Airforce wrote:^^Talking about shit like braid, I'm sure.
There's a device called the Xport, among others, that allow you to transfer data. You can also hack the HD apart. I'm not sure, but I imagine that as long as they're on your profile they will still work.
Okay, but then what do you do with that data? Can you throw it on a dvd or something?

You can transfer it to your PC and then to wherever you want.

Zebra Airforce · Post by **Zebra Airforce** » Sat May 24, 2008 7:15 am

So, the best thing would be to backup your games on an hd or flashdrive or something. Interesting info, thanks.

Daigohji · Post by **Daigohji** » Sat May 24, 2008 7:49 am

Thanks for the Xport info. Looking at another option, what is the largest first party memory card you can get for the 360 now? Is it still only 512mb?

You know, I've got this horrible feeling that two years from now Live Arcade will be home to 200 Bejeweled clones, and nothing else. Microsoft are really shooting themselves in the foot here. The only reason I've been willing to pay for downloads is due to the reassurance that I'd be able to retrieve the games in the event of a problem. I'm going to think twice before buying any Live Arcade games now, and usually that's enough to stop me from bothering.

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Sun May 25, 2008 3:42 am

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/news ... ons-About-

Highlights:

Game size limit upped to 350mb

Games re-downloadable even if not listed.