XBLA Size Limit Increased Again

So now the size limit for an Xbox Live Arcade game is up to 350 MB from 150 MB. Remember, it was originally only 50 MB. Microsoft says this increase should provide gamers with better games to choose from on XBLA.

And I agree. Sure, this will start filling people's harddrives faster, but Microsoft is still standing behind their delete it and download it again free stance. As long as that doesn't change, bigger XBLA games are a good thing.

Originally, the size was 50 MB so gamers could fit them on the memory cards for the Xbox 360. But let's face it, hardly anybody is using one of those cards. The real gamers all have harddrives on their 360.

Some XBLA Titles to Be Deleted

Microsoft has announced plans to start deleting some Xbox Live Arcade games from the marketplace. The games that would get the axe are ones that have a Metacritic score of less than 65, less than 6% conversion from demo to full ratio and have been on the marketplace for more than 6 months.

This seems like a dumb idea. Sure, there's some crap games out there on XBLA, but it's all digital. It doesn't cost Microsoft anything to keep it on the marketplace. Microsoft says that they want to start deleting games for two reasons: 1) "quality over quantity" and 2) there are too many games on XBLA, making it confusing.

Quality over quantity is a great idea. I love it. But they should focus on this before the games are released. Don't release games on XBLA that suck. It's as simple as that.

Too many games available on XBLA? That doesn't sound like a problem to me. That sounds like a good thing. The interface could use some work, though. Cycling through approximately 130 games can be irritating.

The reason I really feel like these deletions will be a bad thing is this: Microsoft has always touted the fact that you can delete your XBLA games to clear up room on your harddrive and then later redownload them at no cost. If these games are deleted from XBLA, users will no longer be able to redownload them.

My Thoughts on Bionic Commando Rearmed

Awesome.

I loved the original Bionic Commando. I used to do the glitch where you'd get tons of lives. When I heard that they were releasing Bionic Commando, I thought it was cool and that I'd probably get it. I also hoped replaying it wouldn't ruin my memory of the game like some of the other "classics" which have been released on XBLA.

There is currently a trailer for Bionic Commando Rearmed on the Xbox Live Marketplace. I downloaded it. And found out that the arcade version coming out this spring is a lot more than just repackaging the original.

They have redone all the graphics. They have added more weapons. They have made the bionic arm itself a weapon. They even added co-op! The new version looks great, and I am eagerly looking forward to it.

Free XBLA Game This Week

Remember when Microsoft had those Xbox Live problems around Christmas because of all the new gamers? And remember when Microsoft promised a free XBLA game to make up for the outages? (And then remember when some moron thought that wasn't enough and tried to sue Microsoft for $5 million?) Well, the free game is availabe this week!

The free game will be Undertow, a relatively new XBLA game that takes place underwater and has had a lot of good reviews. The game normally costs 800 Microsoft Points($10). If you already have the game, they say you can contact Xbox Support about a "possible" refund. Don't hold your breath, though.

Undertow will only be free for Gold and Silver members from January 23rd - January 28th.

Magazines become Future Proof

So it has come to the attention of "Official Xbox Magazine" that people don't seem to have the same interest in print news as they did back in ye olden times before the intertubes fed information directly into our thought buckets. So they have come up with the ingenious plan to offer their contents via the XBL Marketplace.

Now when I first read this article I felt enraged that they would have the audacity to charge me for a game demo, but I remembered that some people actually buy that mag for more than just the demo, so after reading further they mention that you would get news, videos, themes, gamer pics, demos etc. at 200MS points an issue. That makes it easier to swallow, but I'm still torn about paying for information that can usually be found free online. Part of me is a fanboy who would throw money away like an idiot for cool stuff, but the realist in me feels that being charged anything for things like is crazy and it should be free and subsidized by ad revenue. Either way it looks like our magazines have found a way to become "future proof".

Cowabunga Dudes!!

Word on the 'nets is that TMNT arcade will fight its' way out of the sewers this Wednesday. If true look for tons of arguments in the multiplayer lobby about who gets to be Donatello. Bo staffs FTW!!

GDC all week... interwebs to be full of gaming announcements..

Along with the GDC announcement of bigger memory cards today, MS officially revealed that the limit for XBLA games would increase threefold to 150MB. This is of course very exciting news for gamers, as well as small time developers, who can now sell me even more bloated, and shiny versions of free web based games. This was of course leaked a while ago when Konami mentioned that Castlevania SOTN would never make the 50MB limit, but it's good to see Microsoft officially helping out the little guys.