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Unsuccessful XBLA titles to be delisted, Xbox 360 DRM fix coming in June photo

Next-Gen recently interviewed general manager of Xbox LIVE Marc Whitten regarding the future of the service, and man oh man did he have a lot of juicy details to spill.

First off, Xbox LIVE Arcade games that are at least six 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 three-month notice before any titles that meet the above criteria are delisted.

Whitten goes on to say that while there won't be a Spring dashboard update, "the team will be releasing a new digital rights management tool next month that will allow you to better consolidate your licenses for downloaded content to a single Xbox and allow you the freedom to be able to play your content both online and offline." Thank God!

Finally, it's revealed that Microsoft will be "launching a new fully funded 1st party studio which will be focused on high quality digital content creation."

Hit the jump for my thoughts on this onslaught of news.

Let's face it: there are quite a few utterly horrible Xbox LIVE Arcade games out on the market right now. It makes sense that Microsoft would want us to forget that these games ever existed so that the service's image could slowly be improved while hosting fees become lower in the process.

However, from Contra to Triggerheart to Pac-Man, there are quite a few decent titles that have scores lower than 65% on Metacritic. And what if we own a game that gets delisted? Will we be able to re-download it at a later point in time? Guess we'll just have to wait and see how this decision to remove games plays out.

Even though the XBLA news is a little disheartening, it's great to hear that a DRM fix is on the horizon. I don't know about the rest of you, but I own more than 50 LIVE Arcade titles, and whenever I bring my Xbox 360 over to my grandparents' non-Internet enabled house, I'm unable to play most of them because I've had four 360s die on me.

As for the announcement that Microsoft is opening a first-party studio to make some much-needed good XBLA games, how funny would it be if one of their titles failed comercially and critically, and had to be delisted?


Continue: More Xbox Live Arcade stories





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44 comments | showing # 1 to 44

TheRemedy's Avatar
TheRemedy at 05/22/2008 16:55
Whoever reviewed pac-man and contra should diaf.
DarkTravesty's Avatar
DarkTravesty at 05/22/2008 17:01
i would think so grim. to me delist would in what i understand would not show up on the service (dur) but the people who already have game A. while not on the arcade list would be able to re-download via the download history in your account settings. So if your said person who wanted crappy game A. and didn't have it already say via demo in your history or full game your s.o.l. i guess.
ParaParaKing's Avatar
ParaParaKing at 05/22/2008 17:13
Why would they even delist games? It's not like they cost them any money there. Just put them in another category, but keep them for people with refined (or strange) tastes.
Xbudz's Avatar
Xbudz at 05/22/2008 17:16


bye bye Space Giraffe.
Gangles's Avatar
Gangles at 05/22/2008 17:17
Less content is GREAT for them, because it reduces the server load of the Xbox Live store.

However, the choice of less content is ALWAYS bad for the consumer. Some people like Space Giraffe *shrug*
Churchhills Dog's Avatar
Churchhills Dog at 05/22/2008 17:20
What I'm curious about is Warworld.

http://www.warworld.net/

They announced that it was heading towards XBLA about a year ago. I'm pretty sure its been ready for about 8 months now but MS/UBisoft aren't launching it for some reason. I've got the game on the PC and its great fun so its not due to quality. The impression I got from the devs off the forums was that they were in the dark as well.
Xbudz's Avatar
Xbudz at 05/22/2008 17:22
I actually bought Space Giraffe thinking it would be fun like Tempest 2000, I want my 400 points back.
Zerozaki Ishiki's Avatar
Zerozaki Ishiki at 05/22/2008 17:35
I doubt Contra has a less than 6% conversion rate. Most people trying it know what they're getting into.
Topher Cantler's Avatar
Topher Cantler at 05/22/2008 17:37
Microsoft is having a yard sale? o__O
DaedHead8's Avatar
DaedHead8 at 05/22/2008 17:39
I bought that hoverboard racing game thinking it would be similar to the one that was on PSone. I'm not terribly disappointed with my purchase but I bet it will be one of the ones to be delisted. It's called Street trace NYC. I think it's a bad move to permanently delist games, you never know what new 360 owners will think is fun. Plus, what if a new member wants to play a delisted game with an older member? What then? Is he screwed?
king3vbo's Avatar
king3vbo at 05/22/2008 17:59
KILL YARIS WITH FIRE
xdaytime's Avatar
xdaytime at 05/22/2008 18:04
Please let me put my episodes of south park on my Zune, please...
Namelessted's Avatar
Namelessted at 05/22/2008 18:06
firstly, what the fuck does 6% conversion rate mean? what the fuck are we converting? that term doesn't make sense.

secondly, this is what I thought would never happen. I have been told from others that they won't purchase online content for this very reason and I always thought that Microsoft being such the large company that they are wouldn't remove content from the service.

but boy am I wrong. this is quite disappointing. I am left wondering what "delist" mean. does that mean it will be removed completely? will you still be able to play online with a friend if two of you have the game? Will you be able to redownload it if you would ever need to? Would you be able to search for the game and download it that way if you didn't own it yet?


anyway I look at it, this is bad news. Microsoft should really reconsider doing this.
TrailerParkJesus's Avatar
TrailerParkJesus at 05/22/2008 18:13
Why don't they just cut the prices in half? Kinda like bargain bin games.

Then every three months or whatever, keep cutting the price in half until it disappears. Or something
AaronLindes Neighbor's Avatar
AaronLindes Neighbor at 05/22/2008 18:19
But I like that space surfing combat game that noone plays. Will it be delisted and then I wont be able to redownload it if I upgrade to bigger HD?
kalidanthepalidan's Avatar
kalidanthepalidan at 05/22/2008 18:20
@Namelessted Maybe conversion from downloading a demo to an actual purchase? Just a guess.
KamikazeTutor's Avatar
KamikazeTutor at 05/22/2008 18:22
Why in the world...? I mean, I would like to try them out when I get a 360!
For some reason I played Daikatana only after knowing how bad it was.
Namelessted's Avatar
Namelessted at 05/22/2008 18:29
@kalid, that actually sounds like it makes sense. nice thinking.
cjpkiller's Avatar
cjpkiller at 05/22/2008 18:29
drm fix WOOT
old game delete... BOOOOOOOOO
fucking Microsoft trying to save money, fuck you, you already have ads, AND charge me 50 dollars a year. you fucking host those shitty games for my downloading pleasure.
GuitarAtomik's Avatar
GuitarAtomik at 05/22/2008 18:39
Well it's nice to know the DRM can be fixed so easily. I have a few games that will benefit from that.

I don't understand their excuse for skipping the spring update though. The summer update better be massive.
Queasy's Avatar
Queasy at 05/22/2008 18:41
kalidanthepalidan has it exactly right. The conversion rate is the number of times a game has been purchased / the number of time a game has been downloaded.

I think the bad/old game delete is comparable a retail store clearing out their shelves. Less clutter, makes room for more stuff, etc. I think they are missing one component though...they need to try and sell these titles that are borderline delistings at a discount. 100 - 200 points.
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 05/22/2008 18:47
Well, I suppose that I'll soon be buying a bunch of bad XBLA games just for the hilarity of it. I obviously should not be trusted with money.
AgentMOO's Avatar
AgentMOO at 05/22/2008 19:00
Sweet - they are fixing the yaris bug!
Dead Movie Star's Avatar
Dead Movie Star at 05/22/2008 19:03
Oh snap, Space Giraffe has a 68 on Metacritic...
manasteel88's Avatar
manasteel88 at 05/22/2008 19:47
I dont like this at all. do we get some kind of refund for buying a game that MS deems unacceptable for its system. should I wait until 6 months after any games given launch to see if its crap? Should I create a website that reviews bad XBLA games positively just to fix the scores?

And people do bitch about Yaris, but I didn't pay for it and neither did you. I don't feel cheated for a game that was free.

This will also affect the achievement rate for games that I own. If anyone of them has an online achievement how hard is that gonna be to get on a delisted game?
Sinnix's Avatar
Sinnix at 05/22/2008 20:32
Okay, so first of all removing under performing games was always planned and isn't anything new. *Too much* choice is just as bad as too little choice and only confuses consumers. XBLA wants to make a name for itself and part of that branding is that only awesome titles are there. Why would anyone be mad about a service that only hosts good games?
GohanGVO's Avatar
GohanGVO at 05/22/2008 21:02
If you ask me, the bigger problem at hand is the continued use of Metacritic's values, those that are comprised of various reviews of different standards, as a metric to determine what is considered "quality."
AlucardX24's Avatar
AlucardX24 at 05/22/2008 21:17
They should just make all the games free.
BluDesign's Avatar
BluDesign at 05/22/2008 21:22
I'm not speaking of the content scores. The less said about Yaris, Undertow, and Space Giraffe the better...

My beef is that Microsoft took until NOW to finally fix the goddamn DRM issue. I have been on them since DECEMBER TO FIX MY FUCKING GAMES.

And I still have 8 of them that are still not playable online.

You know what happened today? Out of the fucking blue?

Microsoft called to apologize to me for not fixing this, and that they're finally going to relicense my remaining content to me. How fucking sweet of them.

I only had to wait 6 months, how convenient and timely for a fix...

As a result of this shit, I have become FAR more critical and picky about choosing any games at all to buy off of XBLA. I WANT to buy Penny Arcade's game, but I do not want to deal with this stupid bullshit. They say they're fixing it. I don't want to find out if they did or not. It should never have been broken in the first fucking place.

Microsoft, you fail at digital distribution. It's why you're last place on all fronts but here. This only worked because you lied about ease of use and simplicity.
akathatoneguy's Avatar
akathatoneguy at 05/22/2008 21:25
"allow you to better consolidate your licenses for downloaded content to a single Xbox"

Wait a minute, isn't that the problem? That your licenses are tied to your Xbox, and when you get a new one it fucks everything up? Also, I'm sure they'll be grandfathering in old games, but still I'm not going to celebrate until they announce the specifics. I could see them fixing the DRM on future games and me still being screwed if my wife wants to play UNO under her gamertag (I have to sign in on the second controller, which is pretty dumb).

I don't see the need to delete crappy games. Why not just not accept crappy games? Tell Toyota to take their Yaris and shove it.
BlackSunEmpire's Avatar
BlackSunEmpire at 05/22/2008 21:47
@Sinnix

Not really much of a cynic are you?? This isnt about Microsoft only hosting good games, this is about Microsoft choosing to initially host crap games, but 'delist' (whatever that means) once the word gets out that its not worth buying.

I'm also interested as to what they will do with 'Grandfathered' titles. And what is the 6% conversion rate rated out of, total gold accounts, total units moved, etc?? Because as more people get the console, the rate is going to drop over time.
Rifter01's Avatar
Rifter01 at 05/22/2008 21:50
I havent had any problems.. I have everything I bought. It sux they may delete stuff.. But Ill wait and see what/how they do the delete. Somehow I dont think delist equates to delete.. We-ll see.
Ed Cetera's Avatar
Ed Cetera at 05/22/2008 22:19
On one hand, this new policy will get rid of a lot of shit games, but on the other hand, great gems that have nothing more than a devoted cult following in terms of sales will probably get shafted.
NihonTiger90's Avatar
NihonTiger90 at 05/22/2008 23:23
I still have mixed feelings about this, as it subjects what crap is. Some of those games people might actually like... what do they do when they have to re-download them and can't?
KnuxSonic's Avatar
KnuxSonic at 05/23/2008 00:04
How does removing games that no one is downloading reduce the server load? Less selection FTL.
13thDragon's Avatar
13thDragon at 05/23/2008 01:29
I agree with everyone. Removing the games is a bad idea. It's not like it's hurting anyone if they remain up for download. If they're not selling, reduce the prices.
KaL YoshiKa's Avatar
KaL YoshiKa at 05/23/2008 02:21
I'm all for putting bargin (ie crap) games in their own sub-section..but removing them altogether is..too harsh.
eoaa's Avatar
eoaa at 05/23/2008 03:26
This will either encourage better games to be made, or disincentivize small time developers from even considering developing on the platform.

My fear is that the latter will most likely be the case. I have a feeling this is not so much quality control as Microsoft trying to save a few bucks by freeing up server space.
GOLD5's Avatar
GOLD5 at 05/23/2008 07:14
Yeah, Microsoft must really be hurting for cash after hosting all those small files. (Yeah Right.) In fact Microsoft has 130 games currently on the Xbox Live service. Nintendo, by comparison has 224 games on the virtual console and they poop out like three a week and no can hear them complaining about the cost to host the files. As has been said in these comments, one mans trash is another man gaming nirvana. If no one downloads a game it doesnt cost them a lot to let the 35 meg file sit there not being downloaded, but still available. This move will add another reason to mod ones xbox, to play legacy games. They should work on useful things, like making the xbox dashboard menus work with the keyboard so then if you want to go to Rock Band in the download list you can just press R on the keyboard. The way it works in Windows. That way I wouldn't have to scroll forever and now the scrolling is so fast you cant see the game titles, but still too slow. Are they going to clear out some demos? Because they probably should. Those files are much larger than arcade games as well. I cant wait until the future when we can just emulate the 360 in MAME on our 20 core processor PCs. Then I could finally use my USB Saturn pad!
Debeo Laurus's Avatar
Debeo Laurus at 05/23/2008 08:56
I enjoy a good cycling [img=148x190]http://en.wikivisual.com/images/7/70/Bicycle_two_1886.jpg[/img]
Debeo Laurus's Avatar
Debeo Laurus at 05/23/2008 09:01
Hmmm seems I can't resize my image, or delete that last post... Peaches...
Woverine's Avatar
Woverine at 05/23/2008 11:30
i say they just make them free and or 100 points like everyone else was saying. removing them is going to cause a lot of problems and complaints. not to mention achievement whores who will not be able to get all those points anymore once the games are removed.
Blue Ryd3r's Avatar
Blue Ryd3r at 05/23/2008 11:52
I could care less if games like Yaris are yanked off the market. But I can't wait for the DRM Fix. If XBOX Live is down I can't enjoy the stuff that I paid good money for (like Oblivion/Crackdown/Dead Rising)
Granted I could care less if I can't see Frank in a red suite but I'm still working on Shiviring Isles and it sucks that I have to be logged into live before I start the game or I can't play any of the stuff I payed for. Same with my Live Arcade games, even my dashboard theme.
micro44's Avatar
micro44 at 05/23/2008 15:33
The problem is that Yaris might not be gone because most everyone I know downloaded the whole game and not just the demo. It was free and the same download size, so why bother with the demo. Of course we all know that the game was awful, but it probably had a very high download percentage.
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