Spartan 117:
Can you use USB drives and alternate hard drives as memory units? The Xbox ones are pricey... ...
OXM SAYS:
An Xbox 360 won't recognize a USB flash drive or another external hard drive as a memory unit, so you can't save...MORE
Posted on: Jun 08, 2009
Coin Opps
WORDS BY: Corey Cohen, Paul Curthoys, and Dan Amrich
What Xbox Live Arcade Can Do Better
XBLA's come a long way, but it could be — and should be — so much more. And it will be...if Microsoft follows our humbly offered plan for greatness.
We’ll be the first to rain the love down on Xbox Live Arcade. Some of our favorite multiplayer games live there (hi, Peggle!), and we dig the Board Game Renaissance that’s in full swing these days (Scrabble, you look purdy snuggled up next to Catan!). Retro games are being rebuilt and reinvented for Arcade, not just ported and dumped. R-Type Dimensions, Lode Runner, and Space Invaders Extreme are beautiful steps in the right direction of improving on nostalgia, not just appreciating or vaguely remembering it.
But yeah, we want more. And it’s just not just because we’re greedy like that; it’s because Arcade can and should be so much more. If you think about it, XBLA is Steam for your Xbox 360: downloadable awesomeness, no disc required. Or at least, that’s the theory. Its paradigm-shifting potential has been obvious since the 360 launched, but only infrequently has Arcade lived up to it. If we were its teacher, we’d give it some words of encouragement…and then some stick. Since we were nice just a paragraph ago, here’s that stick:
(1) Take Creative Risks!
A lot, not just the sometimes that games like Braid and Schizoid represent! Without all the manufacturing and distribution costs that a $60 Xbox 360 game entails, XBLA should be a fertile breeding ground for innovation. Sometimes it is, but not often enough. Honestly, Sony’s PlayStation Network does this better and more often — who else is jealous as hell of Flower and Everyday Shooter? Instead, we here at OXM really, truly have a running office joke about how most Arcade games score a 7.0. Not because we’re scoring-impaired, but because XBLA is getting by on way too much “good enough” and “it’s alright,” and not nearly enough “groundbreaking” and “great.”
Microsoft should fervently and frequently support indie developers doing awe-inspiring and crazy new things. Some of them will belly-flop harder than a portly game-mag editor stumbling off a diving board, but some of them will do wondrous things. And those things will pay off a year or two later in fancy $60 games that do those grand new things commercially and sell by the millions. The best stuff in life was invented in someone’s garage, not a corporate test lab. Supporting that with way more than the baby step that Community Games represents will win gigantic dividends.
(2) Upgrade Community Games
Speaking of which, this segment of the 360 dashboard is looking more and more like a student-project ghetto than an XBLA farm team. That’s not nothing; people need to learn, and Community Games has some genuinely interesting work amid all its white-noise clutter. But this league is too minor. Many Community Games are built with the Achievements system in mind, but they don’t get to implement them. If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck…
More than that, the best Community Games should be made into a much bigger part of the Xbox Live ecosystem. Help the truly pro creations with upgrades; reward the folks who have brilliant ideas by helping them develop the level of polish and proficiency that’ll make them succeed. Essentially, build a deluxe layer into Community Games. Microsoft would earn such an investment back in spades, and becoming the hotbed of smart young talent would hardly suck.
(3) Make Pricing More Aggressive and Fluid
Basically, XBLA should price aggressively and wisely, the way retail stores do (and are doing even more in this recession). Microsoft has dabbled in this a bit with lowered prices and weeklong specials, but it’s nowhere near as aggressive as it should be.
Why not make price drops much more frequent? Or do “buy two games, get a third game free” deals? Or make games that’ve tanked for a fair amount of time (that’s you, Roogoo and Crazy Mouse) either super-cheap or free with the purchase of other games? Giving customers a bigger perception that they’re getting a bargain or a bonus would boost sales — and popularity.
PREV
Sat, 10/17/2009 - 21:21
Posted by wickland
Great games. Aces of the Galaxy reminds me a little bit of Homeworld from the old days.
Tue, 06/16/2009 - 19:21
Posted by Spybreak
I really liked the Aces of Galaxy trial but the constant mashing of the A button made my thumb retreat with its tail behind its butt, ouch. I also liked the Commanders: Attack of the Genos trial but sadly I’ve been burnt too many times with unknown titles and online matchmaking. I think saying XBLA is Steam for your 360 is a huge understatement. Steam has evolved the “digital distribution” outlet with weekend sales, game discounts, bundles and packs that would never see the light of day with Microsoft’s business plan. Really more arcade titles are getting more expensive as XBLA matures. It’s like Wits and Wagers, I’ll stick with my $30 dollar Scene it/Remote Bundle. I agree games at retail do decrease in price and having arcade games stuck on a set price is stupid. I bought Penny Arcade but only when it Microsoft offered it to me with the weekly sale. I thought that was the price we should have paid for the game in the first place. I could go on and on but ultimately XBLA is great, I have 56 arcade games, however it’s nothing like Steam and the fact that more trials haven’t included multiplayer trials just baffles me, (that’s one reason I picked up Age of Booty). Allow popular community games to upgrade into the XBLA arena, agreed ten fold there.
Tue, 06/09/2009 - 10:09
Posted by Corey OXM
Fixed, Hustlin. Thanks.
Tue, 06/09/2009 - 08:00
Posted by Av0cad0
Improvement? Multiplayer. All of the most popular xbla games have great multiplayer. I rarely buy them unless I can have 4 players on the same console and can take guests online. This is why I did not buy Commanders: Attack of the Genos (no guests). The addition of multiplayer is what distinguishes Feeding Frenzy 2 and Geometry Wars 2 from their predecessors. Catan would much better if you could play 4 offline (yes, you could see each others' cards but that's minor when considering the fun gained by playing with HUMANS). Because arcade games cost $10-20, they are competing with used games and platinum hits. You can find so many great full games under $20 now that the only way I'll buy an arcade game for $15 over something like Mass Effect is if it has simple and very fun multiplayer modes that I can enjoy with the family. That is why the most consistently top selling games on marketplace are games like Castle Crashers, UNO, Worms, UMK3, Bomberman, TMNT, Peggle, Doom, Small Arms, etc., while good single player games like Braid, the Maw, and Banjo-Kazooie tend to lag behind a little.
Mon, 06/08/2009 - 21:06
Posted by Hustlinonradio
should i just say that World of Goo is actually for the wii only and not from sony