Underperforming XBLA games to be delisted!
Games, posted: 28-May-2008 11:22
Seems like some of those retro or rare XBLA (Xbox Live Arcard) games will be delisted if they're not performing to what Microsoft felt the level of good performance be. [Google search]
I don't understand this approach and certainly don't like this decision. XBLA has games that one may not able to find anywhere else, and the high price tag certainly isn't making them more appealling to new/first time buyer.
It seems like, for these games, they're priced at 800 MS points which to my understanding, they're quite dear for something that is unknown to buyer. The information about each game is quite limited or near uselessness.
My proposal:
Reduce the price tag, to real minimal. Based on Long-Tail economy [Wiki] any small market is still potentially good market as it is providing those small but big quantity and opportunity of niche and specialty products and services.
Archive the titles but don't remove them. Some new Xbox 360 (or XBLA) customers have never been on the XBLA, and by removing the older titles from these new customers, it potentially cut of the opportunity for them to try them out. From what I read, all the delisted titles are not accessible for new/first hand player, but they are accessible to redownload for those who had previously downloaded the demo or have purchased it before. BUT WHAT ABOUT ALL NEW PLAYERS?!
Better way to organise the navigation. I have not been on XBLA marketplace at all, heck I don't even have an Xbox 360 yet... BUT most players suggested that the navigation should be made easier. Instead of scolling to find 80+ odds of games, organising them alphabetically in menu to access them in much organised method will help players to buy games they would want. Add menu like "Today's hottest", "Most popular of all time", "Newest" or "Highly recommended by players" etc. Nintendo Wii's VC has similar issue with accessing all their back VC titles, it's lengthy and still somewhat slow, so hopefully Nintendo will update their navigation a bit too.
Now, I said I haven't got an Xbox360 yet, so all above points do seem very important for me for being a potential XBLA player, in fact, I'd get Xbox360 mainly for XBLA titles. For me to get on XBLA, I would like to see all the XBLA titles, not just those doing well and get cut short of all the underperforming titles - to me, that's stupid!
Like local video stores, they only have the most popular ones available for rental, but there are some niche and rare or odd videos that I would still like to rent and view. But they're becoming harder and harder to find... Good thing we have Alice in Videoland to satisfy few of those craving from time to time, not all videos are there but it's better than none at all...
So I hope Microsoft could reconsider their decision, any small sale is better than none. Removing options to potential customers, would just feed the frustration for better usage of your service. Beside, how bad will those "tiny" XBLA titles be "wasted" on your file server storage anyway? They're gonna be on there for years to come for the existing players to redownload, so why remove the visibility to new players then? SILLY!
More information
Other related posts:
Diablo III is coming!
Nintendo in NZ is in jeopardy - Softprint Interactive in receivership
Be a Guitar Hero!!!
I don't understand this approach and certainly don't like this decision. XBLA has games that one may not able to find anywhere else, and the high price tag certainly isn't making them more appealling to new/first time buyer.
It seems like, for these games, they're priced at 800 MS points which to my understanding, they're quite dear for something that is unknown to buyer. The information about each game is quite limited or near uselessness.
My proposal:
Reduce the price tag, to real minimal. Based on Long-Tail economy [Wiki] any small market is still potentially good market as it is providing those small but big quantity and opportunity of niche and specialty products and services.
Archive the titles but don't remove them. Some new Xbox 360 (or XBLA) customers have never been on the XBLA, and by removing the older titles from these new customers, it potentially cut of the opportunity for them to try them out. From what I read, all the delisted titles are not accessible for new/first hand player, but they are accessible to redownload for those who had previously downloaded the demo or have purchased it before. BUT WHAT ABOUT ALL NEW PLAYERS?!
Better way to organise the navigation. I have not been on XBLA marketplace at all, heck I don't even have an Xbox 360 yet... BUT most players suggested that the navigation should be made easier. Instead of scolling to find 80+ odds of games, organising them alphabetically in menu to access them in much organised method will help players to buy games they would want. Add menu like "Today's hottest", "Most popular of all time", "Newest" or "Highly recommended by players" etc. Nintendo Wii's VC has similar issue with accessing all their back VC titles, it's lengthy and still somewhat slow, so hopefully Nintendo will update their navigation a bit too.
Now, I said I haven't got an Xbox360 yet, so all above points do seem very important for me for being a potential XBLA player, in fact, I'd get Xbox360 mainly for XBLA titles. For me to get on XBLA, I would like to see all the XBLA titles, not just those doing well and get cut short of all the underperforming titles - to me, that's stupid!
Like local video stores, they only have the most popular ones available for rental, but there are some niche and rare or odd videos that I would still like to rent and view. But they're becoming harder and harder to find... Good thing we have Alice in Videoland to satisfy few of those craving from time to time, not all videos are there but it's better than none at all...
So I hope Microsoft could reconsider their decision, any small sale is better than none. Removing options to potential customers, would just feed the frustration for better usage of your service. Beside, how bad will those "tiny" XBLA titles be "wasted" on your file server storage anyway? They're gonna be on there for years to come for the existing players to redownload, so why remove the visibility to new players then? SILLY!
Tag(s):
More information
Other related posts:
Diablo III is coming!
Nintendo in NZ is in jeopardy - Softprint Interactive in receivership
Be a Guitar Hero!!!
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