Microsoft to delist underperforming XBLA titles.

[Azazel]

Culling the crud from Xbox Live Arcade
Microsoft to delist underperforming XBLA titles.

In a recently published interview with Next-Gen, Xbox Live General Manager Marc Whitten has stated that Microsoft will begin delisting underperforming games on its Xbox Live Arcade service.

Whitten explained that 'games that have been out for six months, have scored less than 65% on Metacritic, and have a conversion rate of less than 6%' will all be candidates for axing, with reasoning behind the move being pointed at being able to "focus the [XBLA] catalogue more on larger, more immersive games and make it much easier to find the games you are looking for."

http://palgn.com.au/article.php?id=11594&sid=bf04e5e557381293d6bd18ee04ef548c&title=Culling+the+crud+from+Xbox+Live+Arcade

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Sounds like a good thing to me, as long as they give people a month or so notice on exactly which games are to be exterminated (so you can d/l the demo of them, try them out, then decide they really are shit/buy them). Going into XBL Marketplace is a pain in the arse these days.

Gonna suck though for those people who have any of those games already downloaded and happen to enjoy them if they have hardware issues. MS really need to get their shit together on data transfer. I'd buy a 120gb HDD to rep the 20gb if they could get their shit together.

Actually, all these "XBox classics" they keep pushing out really make them getting their shit together for a proper HDD transfer even more important.

[Trippy]

Why delete them? It's not like they are taking up retail shelf space.

[caladein]

Yes, isn't the point of digital distribution that you don't have to worry about shelf space.  What XBLA needs is a search feature more than getting rid of games.

[Samwise]

What other people said about infinite shelf.  This is fucking stupid.  I've never used XBLA, but it sounds like they just have a shitty UI and haven't admitted it to themselves yet.

[NiX]

I've never used XBLA, but it sounds like they just have a shitty UI and haven't admitted it to themselves yet.

This is exactly why they're doing it. It's impossible to navigate long lists in the XBL UI, so if they can start cutting it down so it's manageable again, they will. Unfortunately they're not doing it in the right place.

[Nija]

Why is the x360 UI so slow and shitty? It's really annoying, but you have to put up with it.

[Azazel]

I see it as them also trying to discourage shovelware, though the comments about the holes in their interface are well said.

[Venkman]

Yea, this is what a lot of people miss about digital distribution. All distro systems, brick & mortar or digital, need to get games in front of eyeballs, and there's limitations on how that happens. The games industry wants to sell titles, and have long since trained people to think that way as well. There's also a fair lack of consistency with how games are categorized, and who gets to define those categories, and heck, what those categories actually are.

So, you're really limited in how you build the UI. For one or two dozen games, any UI is fine. For more than a few score though, you've got the store-shelf problem: confusing, laborious, no relevant info conveyed unless you can get a person to convert from just walking back to actually turning the box to the back (or click the "info" button digitally), appeasing publishers who pay more for premium placement, etc.

Incidentally, this is why a string of games based on non-game licenses that by and large suck still manage to sell well even after crappy reviews. Name recognition means a lot.

[Azazel]

Nod. Their interface really is pretty shit. I heard Sensible Soccer was coming out, and it took me a couple of weeks to find it. Why? Well, it's listed in XBLA as "SWOS" (short for Sensible World of Soccer". So I skipped blithely over it, time and time again...

[schild]

I'm probably not even renewing my XBL Membership next year (had a 2 year one). They've made fucking ZERO advancements since launch that actually improve performance of the OS and I'm COMPLETELY over those goddamn achievements.

[Azazel]

Found this:

Don't panic - we've seen your questions, and we have some answers for you.

We've upped the XBLA size limit from 150mb to 350mb.

We've stated that underperforming games on XBLA may be delisted. To be delisted, a game has to meet all three of the following criteria:

Been on the service for at least 6 months
Have less than a 65 Metacritic rating
Have a conversion rate of less than 6%
Now, let's get into your delisting questions:

Q: What's "conversion rate"?
A: When people download a trial XBLA game, and then purchase that game, that's called a conversion. So if less than 6% of all trials downloaded lead to full game purchases - that's one of the 3 criteria we look at when deciding to delist a game.

Q: Why are you delisting games?
A: We have a LOT of XBLA titles onto the service. By filtering out the lower performing games, it will actually make it easier to find the games you really want.

Q: If I bought a game, and deleted it, can I redownload it even if it's been delisted?
A: Yes, you can. Go to Download History under the Account Management section of marketplace (far left blade).

Q: Can I still play a game after it's been delisted? What about playing online? What about leaderboards?
A: Yes, yes, and yes. The game will function normally even after being delisted. You can continue to play the game single and multiplayer, as well as use the leaderboards as you normally would.

Hopefully this helps clear up some of the confusion. Leave comments here and we can pass on feedback, and attempt to answer any other questions you may have.

While I'm sure I'll get a lot of hatred here in the comments, please keep it constructive.

While it may feel good in the short-term, calling us idiots and swearing isn't going to help make a better product unless you explain WHY you think we're idiots."

If you'd like to comment on the original post, do so by clicking HERE.

Editor's Note: Personally I think it's a better option financially, if the game's not getting purchased, Microsoft's losing money leaving it on the marketplace (as it takes up storage that could be used for new, larger games.) However, I'd like to know YOUR opinion.

[Trippy]

Editor's Note: Personally I think it's a better option financially, if the game's not getting purchased, Microsoft's losing money leaving it on the marketplace (as it takes up storage that could be used for new, larger games.) However, I'd like to know YOUR opinion.

[Fordel]

While it may feel good in the short-term, calling us idiots and swearing isn't going to help make a better product unless you explain WHY you think we're idiots.

This line actually made me smirk.


It is very true though, always important to give a reason 

[Venkman]

Editor's Note: Personally I think it's a better option financially, if the game's not getting purchased, Microsoft's losing money leaving it on the marketplace (as it takes up storage that could be used for new, larger games.) However, I'd like to know YOUR opinion.

I'd have believed them if they said something about their klunky UI. It is believable that all games being equally listed can result in lesser sales of the good ones because people spend time growing their opinion of crappy games by experimenting with everything in a list. But the idea that storage space on some server somewhere is the cost problem is, err, odd?

[schild]

Seriously? They're going to use Metacritic as a gauge? DON'T GIVE THOSE SYCOPHANT GAME JOURNALISTS THAT SORT OF RESPECT, MICROSOFT.

Sigh.

[Samwise]

I find it amazing that MS is apparently stymied by a problem that every online store before them has already solved.

[Lantyssa]

I find it amazing that MS is apparently stymied by a problem that every online store before them has already solved.

Sam, how long have you followed the computer industry?  We're talking about Microsoft...

[^^remilia^^]

Q: If I bought a game, and deleted it, can I redownload it even if it's been delisted?
A: Yes, you can. Go to Download History under the Account Management section of marketplace (far left blade).

[...]

Editor's Note: Personally I think it's a better option financially, if the game's not getting purchased, Microsoft's losing money leaving it on the marketplace (as it takes up storage that could be used for new, larger games.)

Brilliant! ...though I'm not entirely certain how the editor reached this conclusion.

[Nerf]

How does the metacritic thing work?  All the games I see scored are rated on an 8-10 scale, so wouldn't a 65% score be something around a -2?

[Venkman]

They aggregate ratings from selected reviewers, apply a sekret formula* and come up with a result. The selection of reviewers is up to them (him?). And the formula he created.

And on this, billions of dollars spin. Because some middlemanager somewhere linked the metacritic number with volumes sold.

* Truth