Tonight, I've got one thing on my mind: today's announcement that some underperforming XBLA titles might get the boot. While this immediately conjured up dreams of Yaris, Space Giraffe and Undertow among others getting delisted from the service... that's not the case. In fact, only one of those three games actually meets the first major requirement.

Xbox LIVE Arcade games that are at least 6 months old, have a Metacritic score lower than 65%, and have a conversion rate lower than 6% will be removed from Xbox LIVE. Additionally, there will be a 3-month notice before any titles that meet the above criteria are delisted.

Here is a list of Metacritic of every XBLA game, divided into those that meet the first requirement, and those that don't, in order of score:

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Rez HD
Ikaruga
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
Bomberman Live
N+
Pac-Man Championship Edition
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Prince of Persia Classic
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Sensible World of Soccer
Uno
Poker Smash
Catan
Cloning Clyde
Doom
Hexic HD
Alien Hominid HD
Carcassonne
Assault Heroes
Marble Blast Ultra
Penny Arcade Adventures Epsiode One: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness
Astropop
Metal Slug 3
Switchball
Every Extend Extra Extreme
Assault Heroes 2
Mutant Storm Reloaded
Eets: Chowdown
Sonic the Hedgehog Arcade
Wik: The Fable of Souls
Lumines Live!
Zuma Deluxe
Outpost Kaloki X
Heavy Weapon: Atomic Tank
Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting
Chessmaster Live
Undertow
Mutant Storm Empire
Streets of Rage 2
Worms
RoboBlitz
Exit
Smash TV
Jetpac Refuelled
Omega Five
Small Arms
Commanders: Attack of the Genos
GripShift
Hexic 2
Paperboy
Luxor 2
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Bejeweled 2: Deluxe
Lost Cities
Boom Boom Rocket
Joust
Band of Bugs
Space Giraffe
Pinball FX
Golden Axe (XBLA)
Jewel Quest
Galaga
Wits & Wagers
3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Robotron: 2084
Bankshot Billiards 2
Feeding Frenzy
Dig Dug
Ms. Pac-Man
Gauntlet
--------------------------------------------
Crystal Quest
Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
Hardwood Hearts
Texas Hold 'em
Fatal Fury Special
Contra
Marathon: Durandal
Triggerheart Exelica
Missile Command
Time Pilot
Track & Field
Hardwood Backgammon
Hardwood Spades
Pac-Man
Frogger
Mad Tracks
Root Beer Tapper
Super Contra
Geon: Emotions
Soltrio Solitaire
Arkadian Warriors
TiQal
Rush'n Attack
Aegis Wing
Defender
Rocketmen: Axis of Evil
Double Dragon
Xevious
Gyruss
Asteroids / Asteroids Deluxe
Battlestar Galactica
Centipede & Millipede
Boogie Bunnies
Spyglass Board Games
Brain Challenge
Tetris Splash
Ecco the Dolphin
Battlezone
Yie Ar Kung-Fu
Wing Commander Arena
Novadrome
Shrek-N-Roll
Mr. Driller Online
Scramble
Tempest
Street Trace: NYC
Discs of Tron
TotemBall
Word Puzzle
New Rally-X
Tron
Bliss Island
Cyberball 2072
Screwjumper!
Rocky and Bullwinkle
Yaris

Games above the line are safe. Those below are the ones who scored below a 65 on Metacritic and are in danger. This includes a large number of Xbox Live Arcade's "classic" titles, but doesn't include games like Space Giraffe and Undertow that have been pretty badly panned by the Xbox 360 community, at least to my knowledge. It also includes both free titles on Xbox Live, TotemBall and Aegis Wing. While having these gave everyone something to play at least, the new list puts both in risk of disappearing. And to be honest, if these games get yanked off Xbox Live, how long until they show up on PSN or the Wii Shop Channel? Ecco and Double Dragon are already available on the Virtual Console, so I'm sure Nintendo is waiting for Microsoft to drop them so they can claim "exclusivity" over those two titles, and perhaps others to come.

What will happen with those who have these games, delete them off our hard drives, and want them back in the future? Will we be able to get them back, or are they and the money we paid for them gone forever? Will this mean we either upgrade to a bigger HDD to keep everything on there or risk losing titles that didn't meet the standards of the critics?

Plus, how can all these scores be compared to one another correctly when all the games came out when there were different amounts of content and different expectations for a XBLA game? Zuma Deluxe, Smash TV, Bejeweled 2: Deluxe, Golden Axe, Bankshot Billiards 2, and Feeding Frenzy all scored high, but given today's marketplace, I don't think they'd break the 65 percent barrier.

And I'm sure you have favorites below that 65 percent line, games that aren't that bad. I will gladly vouch for Texas Hold 'Em, Mad Tracks and Aegis Wing being a 65 or better in my scoring.

Not every game on that list is a target... yet. Some still have the six month grace-period, and we don't know when the process will begin, but the message is clear: shape up, or ship out.

Along with the downloadability question, I'm concerned about two other things: the future of retro titles on XBLA arcade, especially if they don't get glowing reviews from the critics for being as good as titles like Rez HD or Ikaruga. Many of these titles are being ported as is, and for some people, they've lost a lot of their luster, leading to lower scores. I also worry about the little guys. Sure, games like Small Arms and Poker Smash have done well, but developing a game is like writing a novel: it takes a long time to put one together, and when you're done, there is no guarantee it will be received well or sell. Could this rigid set of conditions for not being delisted lead to more developers moving to the Wii, PS3 and PC for digital distribution? It's possible if they feel they won't make the cut.

We'll have to see how this all turns out, but I'm not getting a good feeling about it.