Yesterday we talked about how developers for the Indie Games channel were furious over the new Xbox 360 dashboard, since the new Marketplace layout lumps their games into a “Specialty Shop” section. Microsoft has responded to the rage, however, by claiming that this new layout will help Indie games, rather than obscure them.
“The intent of the Specialty Shops section was to provide access to marketplaces that focus on a specific type of content, with unique ways of sorting through that content,” says a spokesman. “We wanted to give Xbox Live Indie Games that full marketplace experience and felt this was the best place to do it, alongside other popular channels like the Avatar Marketplace.
“In fact, since the launch of Avatars, Xbox Live members have made more than 290 million customizations to their Avatar’s clothing, so we expect many people to regularly visit the Specialty Shops section.”
Microsoft said it also improved the layout of the Indie Games channel itself, with new ways to browse and greater exposure for games. Listening to Microsoft’s logic, I can actually see it. If Avatar accessories are as popular as MS says (shudder), then putting Indie Games next to the Avatar stuff could be beneficial. I guess we’ll have to see what the numbers say.Â
Microsoft: new 360 dash helps indies [Eurogamer] [Image]
Yesterday we talked about how developers for the Indie Games channel were furious over the new Xbox 360 dashboard, since the new Marketplace layout lumps their games into a “Specialty Shop” section. Microsoft has responded to the rage, however, by claiming that this new layout will help Indie games, rather than obscure them.
“The intent of the Specialty Shops section was to provide access to marketplaces that focus on a specific type of content, with unique ways of sorting through that content,” says a spokesman. “We wanted to give Xbox Live Indie Games that full marketplace experience and felt this was the best place to do it, alongside other popular channels like the Avatar Marketplace.
“In fact, since the launch of Avatars, Xbox Live members have made more than 290 million customizations to their Avatar’s clothing, so we expect many people to regularly visit the Specialty Shops section.”
Microsoft said it also improved the layout of the Indie Games channel itself, with new ways to browse and greater exposure for games. Listening to Microsoft’s logic, I can actually see it. If Avatar accessories are as popular as MS says (shudder), then putting Indie Games next to the Avatar stuff could be beneficial. I guess we’ll have to see what the numbers say.
Microsoft: new 360 dash helps indies [Eurogamer] [Image]
