Back when I first bought a Xbox 360 the marketplace was filled with silly arcade games that I primarily used to waste time while other videos or games were downloading.  It was all about the blockbuster hits and massively entertaining games I paid $60 for each month.  The $10 games I bought every few months or so were just time killers in between short periods of boredom or uncertainty as to what I wanted to play next.  However, the XBLM has become a haven of video game greatness and I would argue that some games you pay $10-$15 for are more worthwhile and fun than the games we so readily pay big cash for.
 
Stacking, Torchlight, Castle Crashers, Shadow Complex, Limbo, Pacman CE: DX, the list goes on and on.  These games are cheap but they pack hours and hours of originality and creativity into their tiny non-existent packages.  For example, Singularity is a fun shooter in my mind.  It has a good feel with it's shots and the time manipulation is entertaining for both combat and puzzles.  After about eight hours the single player is complete and...you're done.  The multiplayer isn't for everyone, nor is any multiplayer game for that matter, and there isn't  much left to do once you beat the game.  Singularity came out at a starting price of $59.99 and had about 8-10 hours worth of single player game time, while games like Torchlight or Castle Crashers cost around $15 and have easily four times as much content in them.  
 
Then there's the originality of downloadable games.  Not to pick on Singularity, I really enjoyed it it's just fresh in the brain, but it is comparable to a laundry list of videogames and videogame concepts.  Time manipulation has been done before and so has atmospheric first person puzzling/shooting.  When is the last time you played a Russian stacking doll game?  The art design, the puzzle design, and the humor of Stacking sets it apart from anything else on the market, be it retail or downloadable.
 
It's becoming readily apparent that downloadable games in general are filling the niches that big budget games can not. It's like indie music, Animal Collective doesn't sound like anything you're likely to hear on your FM radio stations nor will their albums make as much money as the new Lady Gaga album.  We call them "Arcade games" "downloadable games" and other ambiguous titles, but in reality these games are just that...games. 
 
Double Fine recently became a behemoth, no pun intended, in the downloadable game sphere.  With the releases of Costume Quest, Stacking, and the soon to be out Trenched they are taking what is fun about game development and making it a reality.  After casually talking to Tim Schafer at PAX East it's apparent that they don't sit down and say "what will make us tons of money" they instead ask "who has an awesome idea and how can we make it real?" You can be walking around in a mobile trench killing TV monsters or become a knight taking down barbarians to save a princess, why limit yourself to wartime shooters?  
 
When it comes down to it I guess it just feels like imagination is being held onto by a select group of individuals.  These are the people who make games fun and unique and make people say "holy crap you have to play Limbo".  I don't expect this x factor to sink into mainstream big budget games, I just want it to stay alive in the downloadable sphere of gaming. Basically, if I see a $15 Call of Duty game...I'm out. 

Back when I first bought a Xbox 360 the marketplace was filled with silly arcade games that I primarily used to waste time while other videos or games were downloading.  It was all about the blockbuster hits and massively entertaining games I paid $60 for each month.  The $10 games I bought every few months or so were just time killers in between short periods of boredom or uncertainty as to what I wanted to play next.  However, the XBLM has become a haven of video game greatness and I would argue that some games you pay $10-$15 for are more worthwhile and fun than the games we so readily pay big cash for.
 
Stacking, Torchlight, Castle Crashers, Shadow Complex, Limbo, Pacman CE: DX, the list goes on and on.  These games are cheap but they pack hours and hours of originality and creativity into their tiny non-existent packages.  For example, Singularity is a fun shooter in my mind.  It has a good feel with it's shots and the time manipulation is entertaining for both combat and puzzles.  After about eight hours the single player is complete and...you're done.  The multiplayer isn't for everyone, nor is any multiplayer game for that matter, and there isn't  much left to do once you beat the game.  Singularity came out at a starting price of $59.99 and had about 8-10 hours worth of single player game time, while games like Torchlight or Castle Crashers cost around $15 and have easily four times as much content in them.  
 
Then there's the originality of downloadable games.  Not to pick on Singularity, I really enjoyed it it's just fresh in the brain, but it is comparable to a laundry list of videogames and videogame concepts.  Time manipulation has been done before and so has atmospheric first person puzzling/shooting.  When is the last time you played a Russian stacking doll game?  The art design, the puzzle design, and the humor of Stacking sets it apart from anything else on the market, be it retail or downloadable.
 
It's becoming readily apparent that downloadable games in general are filling the niches that big budget games can not. It's like indie music, Animal Collective doesn't sound like anything you're likely to hear on your FM radio stations nor will their albums make as much money as the new Lady Gaga album.  We call them "Arcade games" "downloadable games" and other ambiguous titles, but in reality these games are just that...games. 
 
Double Fine recently became a behemoth, no pun intended, in the downloadable game sphere.  With the releases of Costume Quest, Stacking, and the soon to be out Trenched they are taking what is fun about game development and making it a reality.  After casually talking to Tim Schafer at PAX East it's apparent that they don't sit down and say "what will make us tons of money" they instead ask "who has an awesome idea and how can we make it real?" You can be walking around in a mobile trench killing TV monsters or become a knight taking down barbarians to save a princess, why limit yourself to wartime shooters?  
 
When it comes down to it I guess it just feels like imagination is being held onto by a select group of individuals.  These are the people who make games fun and unique and make people say "holy crap you have to play Limbo".  I don't expect this x factor to sink into mainstream big budget games, I just want it to stay alive in the downloadable sphere of gaming. Basically, if I see a $15 Call of Duty game...I'm out. 

I know what you mean. XBLA has such an awesome selection of smaller games that a lot of people don't even think about when they list their owned games or games that are exclusive to the platform. What I mean by that, is games you can't buy in the stores. I'm finding that whenever I want to go buy a game from XBLA it's an ordeal because there is such a huge collection and there is so much I want in there.

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

I don't think we're ever going to see the kinds of practises that are happening in the world of downloadable games happening in the mainstream industry but that's kind of the point. Services like XBLA have allowed developers with great ideas but not necessarily the means to make a full-length retail game to still get their work out there, and for people like Double Fine it's meant that they can put out original games like Costume Quest and Stacking without having to acquire huge amounts of time and money from a publisher, and without the huge risk factor if their games aren't well-received. I really hope more developers out there can take advantage of XBLA, PSN, Steam etc. in similar ways because, as you said, we've seen some fantastic games so far and these services certainly have a lot of potential to bring us many more great games. I only wish I had something as flattering to say about WiiWare and DSiWare.

Interesting post.
 
Funny, I kinda came from the same camp as you, pretty dismissive toward all things XBLA. The difference was I couldn't even justify buying them. Since I buy a lot of my games used, that $10-$15 could either go to a mediocre, sometimes very dated, arcade game, or it could go to a big-name release from a couple years ago. It was an easy decision for me.
 
For some reason Splosion Man caught my eye and really turned me on to the downloadable game marketplace after I played it with friends. Now I have Case Zero, Pacman CE:DX, and a handful of other ones. They aren't always great, but when they are, they are more than worth it.

I miss the old arcade releases.  There are still many out there they can release (ie. Kangaroo, Q-Bert, Star Wars Arcade, etc.)

I know its an old topic but  wholeheartedly agree, the marketplace is stuffed with great value games that couldnt be done on a full retail, its become a haven for small developers with big ideas. Games like super meat boy and trials HD blew me away and even less successful titles like Snoopy flying ace have provided me with a few hours of dog fighting fun for a few bucks. 
 
great article.