In an exclusive interview with Next Generation, Xbox Live general manager Marc Whitten announced the rather disappointing news that they will not be releasing a Spring update this year. This of course means that the rumored Spring update feature set that was leaked last week was complete bologna. Whitten says that instead of putting their resources into a Spring update, they decided to focus their energy into "building the proper infrastructure and scale for the service" (ahem, more reliability). But all is not lost in the land of updates, as Whitten confirmed Microsoft will be rolling out a change to their DRM policy in June that'll allow content owners to re-license XBLA and XBLM content to a single console. This move will make said content available when disconnected from Xbox Live.Finally, we learn that the Xbox Live Arcade will get a metaphorical Spring cleaning as Microsoft plans to remove under-performing Arcade titles. Games that have been on the market for over six months, have a Metacritic average lower than 65% and a conversion rate below 6% will be targeted for de-listing. A move that Microsoft hopes will streamline the service and open it up to bigger and better things.
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)
5-22-2008 @ 5:58PM
Gamertag: GOPAL892005 said...
took them long enough to add DivX support - wouldnt hold my breath for MKV as much as we want it.
MKV support would make the X360 into the ultimate media center IMO, easily beating PS3's Bluray.
5-22-2008 @ 5:47PM
Hey Apples said...
Thank god for fixing their-broken ass DRM. Legitimate customers do not deserve to be treated like criminals.
Reply
5-22-2008 @ 5:58PM
xenocidic said...
all i care about is a frickn way to not have to hear about every joe and their mother who just "...came online."
Reply
5-22-2008 @ 6:06PM
h0mi said...
"Games that have been on the market for over six months, have a Metacritic average lower than 65% and a conversion rate below 6% will be targeted for de-listing"
Names of titles please before you delete them. The worst feeling in the world is to have 1 of these crappy games and not be able to get the online achievements.
Reply
5-22-2008 @ 6:23PM
SABCA said...
The rest of the article does mention that a 3 month warning will be given. I wish 360Fanboy would post an update to that.
5-22-2008 @ 6:31PM
rnr said...
Frogger, Crystal Quest, Gauntlet? No!
Reply
5-22-2008 @ 6:44PM
ZenGaijin said...
There...goes....Christmas
*sadface*
Reply
5-22-2008 @ 6:53PM
Yzzerdd said...
This is a pretty good reason why digital distribution can fall flat on it's face. Everyone needs to make a stink about this and stop Microsoft from doing this.
Reply
5-22-2008 @ 6:58PM
Etchasketchist said...
As a fan of Space Giraffe, I think this blows.
Reply
5-22-2008 @ 7:12PM
horngreen said...
Don't dump YARIS! In forty years it will be quaint to see yaris on XBLA. It would be like having a game called PINTO on there today.
Reply
5-22-2008 @ 7:19PM
trev0586 said...
So why do i pay AUS$70/year for a more reliable service then new desperate features (more chat!)?
Anyways, "changes" to DRM is better than nothing.
I would like a free XBLA game in compensation, even if it is underperfoming.
Reply
5-22-2008 @ 7:39PM
Beathemdown said...
I hate MS
Reply
5-22-2008 @ 7:39PM
Beathemdown said...
MS always fucking up.
Reply
5-22-2008 @ 7:53PM
DBoyFlex said...
what a bunch of pricks, freaking MS ruining all of our $50/year hopes and dreams.
Reply
5-22-2008 @ 8:24PM
Grimm said...
This is fucking bullshit...I love my 360 and frankly hate every other console but I'm fucking pissed. Why do I pay for xbox live? Does anyone have a silver account? Does it actually impede anything that bad to have a silver account? I don't really know anything about the silver accounts but I'm not paying for absolutely nothing anymore. Bunch of fucking bitches I swear to fucking god...UGH!
Reply
5-22-2008 @ 9:11PM
matty said...
uh, having a silver account impedes your ability to play online multiplayer..
5-22-2008 @ 8:27PM
Haohmaru said...
Wait, what? Removing titles? Doesn't that sort of go against the point of XBLA's "no shelving space needed" benefit? I fail to see how this could possibly be at all beneficial to MS or.. anyone, really.
Reply
5-22-2008 @ 8:32PM
Iced_Eagle said...
Ugh.
Give us something MS!
Though, this does make me curious what the dashboard update that was to "prepare for the growth of the service" was all about. I think that may have been our spring update. :-(
What is going on MS? I really want to know, though I'm guessing you're gonna wait until E3 (bastards).
Reply
5-22-2008 @ 9:20PM
murph said...
No spring update??!! Garbage!! How about M$ gets off it's collective lazy a**es then and starting working on that bogus update list...since most of that stuff was pretty good.
PS - This means the fall update better drop on 9/20 or whatever the first official day of fall is.
Reply
5-22-2008 @ 10:26PM
iHomer said...
sad face :(
Reply