After a bit of complaining, Microsoft has moved XBLIG to the Games & Demos channel.
Xbox 360Indie Games developers weren't big fans of the new dashboard update when it launched, as it moved their little corner of the Marketplace to a fairly undesirable and little-frequented spot: the Specialty Shops menu, which also houses the Avatar Marketplace and Game Room. After playing tough for a spell, Microsoft has reconsidered this move, and as of now, you can find the Indie Games channel in the higher profile Games & Demos section of the Marketplace, which is right next to the Xbox Live Arcade, Games on Demand, and Demos channels.
Microsoft, previously, was confident in the traffic the Specialty Shops channel would provide Indie Games developers. In a statement given to Eurogamer, the company said. "… since the launch of Avatars, Xbox Live members have made more than 290 million customizations to their Avatar's clothing, so we expect people to regularly visit the Specialty Shops."
== TEASER ==Regardless of whether the new placement will get more traffic (and word from developers is that they've received far less sales since the Specialty Shops placement), it's cool that the big, hard, and cold corporate beast that is Microsoft bent a bit for the little guys. It ain't easy being indie, but it looks like Microsoft is willing to provide a little bit of aid to those using its XNA tools.
Xbox 360Indie Games developers weren't big fans of the new dashboard update when it launched, as it moved their little corner of the Marketplace to a fairly undesirable and little-frequented spot: the Specialty Shops menu, which also houses the Avatar Marketplace and Game Room. After playing tough for a spell, Microsoft has reconsidered this move, and as of now, you can find the Indie Games channel in the higher profile Games & Demos section of the Marketplace, which is right next to the Xbox Live Arcade, Games on Demand, and Demos channels.
Microsoft, previously, was confident in the traffic the Specialty Shops channel would provide Indie Games developers. In a statement given to Eurogamer, the company said. "… since the launch of Avatars, Xbox Live members have made more than 290 million customizations to their Avatar's clothing, so we expect people to regularly visit the Specialty Shops."
== TEASER ==Regardless of whether the new placement will get more traffic (and word from developers is that they've received far less sales since the Specialty Shops placement), it's cool that the big, hard, and cold corporate beast that is Microsoft bent a bit for the little guys. It ain't easy being indie, but it looks like Microsoft is willing to provide a little bit of aid to those using its XNA tools.
Xbox live just plain sucks in europe. No indie games, the music store is a joke, no netflix, no last fm, no community games and we wont be able to watch sports in HD Live! No fucking wonder the xbox is mostly doing fine in the US
" Xbox live just plain sucks in europe. No indie games, the music store is a joke, no netflix, no last fm, no community games and we wont be able to watch sports in HD Live! No fucking wonder the xbox is mostly doing fine in the US "
This is a good move by Microsoft. Don't forget they are making a cut of the indie game sales too (30% I think?) so I'm sure once they saw the sales data it was pretty clear they needed to make the move.
Anyway, sure there is some junk in there but there is also some pretty good stuff for $1 - $3.
" Xbox live just plain sucks in europe. No indie games, the music store is a joke, no netflix, no last fm, no community games and we wont be able to watch sports in HD Live! No fucking wonder the xbox is mostly doing fine in the US "
Huh. I guess UK Live is different to mainland Europe then because we have Last FM, Indie Games and Sky Player.
Wish they would get their act together with the Indie games - so much decent stuff is lost in the hoard of crap. They could at least stick a standout one on the main "showcase" area each week to promote the community rather than hide them away in long lost menus. They're not going to get a Fruit Ninja or Angry Birds style hit without some kind of help.
Well, I never bought any indie games because they usually suck and I dont want to go through a thousand pieces of crap to find the good ones.
That's why I wish there was someone who reviewed those so I knew which were good. Only ones i know about, for instance right now, is the ones on the GB Indie Quick Look. If they want more sales they need to make better games.
When i do check them, I demo them, and they always suck. To many awful ones to go through to find good ones and the rating system doesnt help for some reason.
i get it, though, they get decent profits just by being there. Good for them, able to con more people into buying thier slideshows. Bravo!
No Indie games in Australia either. I honestly don't care that most of the titles apparently suck.. I've heard enough about some of the good titles that I really would like to see it on our store.
" That's why I wish there was someone who reviewed those so I knew which were good. Only ones i know about, for instance right now, is the ones on the GB Indie Quick Look. If they want more sales they need to make better games. "
You want reviews? You should check out StarFoxA's blog if you haven't yet.
" I didn't even know "Specialty Shops" existed. When I want to customize my avatar, I go in through the "Customize Avatar" item on my profile. Bad application of logic, Microsoft. Good job correcting the mistake, though. "
"No Indie games in Australia either. I honestly don't care that most of the titles apparently suck.. I've heard enough about some of the good titles that I really would like to see it on our store. "
The problem isn;t Microsoft its our rating system. By law unrated games cant be sold in Australia. (Inde Games dont go through ratings)
"Xbox live just plain sucks in europe. No indie games, the music store is a joke, no netflix, no last fm, no community games and we wont be able to watch sports in HD Live! No fucking wonder the xbox is mostly doing fine in the US "
this; and PS3 having free online play, it suddenly looks equal maybe even better!
I'm glad this change happened. The developers deserve to share a space with the other game shops. Sticking them with the categories they did just... Didn't make a lot of sense.
" Xbox live just plain sucks in europe. No indie games, the music store is a joke, no netflix, no last fm, no community games and we wont be able to watch sports in HD Live! No fucking wonder the xbox is mostly doing fine in the US "
No indie games you say? What country are you from btw? I'm from Sweden, and I can browes indie games just fine, and I do so every now and then. We don't have Netflix though, but Zune works just fine for movies. But some TV-shows would be nice too.
@Bouke: Not for us in Europe. Tons of games on PSN aren't available in Europe but all the games on xlbig and xbla(not all countries have xblig but most have xbla) are available. Sure you have to pay to play online but you don't have to be a gold member to download all the awesome and affordable games.
@Hand_banana: I'm not sure what titles you refer to when you say that "tons of games on PSN aren't available in Europe..."! Overall i think XBLA has a better offering then PSN, but you can't expect me to be happy with the fact that i can access that content for free!? I mean i still have to pay for the content so it would be stupid if only gold members could access XBLA!
In the US you have a ton of services you can access if you're a gold member and people still bitch about the price! In Europe you can (for even more money), only play online and use the Zune marketplace with only a handfull of bad movies. Thats why i'm saying that if you compare XBL and PSN; PSN keeps looking better and better. Now if Sony would just get some cross game chat to work!
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