Xbox Live Arcade
Developer | Microsoft |
---|---|
Launch date | November 6, 2004 (Xbox) November 22, 2005 (Xbox 360) |
Discontinued | April 15, 2010 (Xbox) July 29, 2024 (Xbox 360) |
Platform(s) | Xbox, Xbox 360 |
Status | Discontinued (Xbox) Active (Xbox 360) |
Website | marketplace |
Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is a
History
Xbox
The Xbox Live Arcade service was officially announced on May 12, 2004, at Microsoft's E3 press conference[1][2] and launched on November 6, 2004, for the original Xbox game console.[3] The XBLA software was obtained by ordering it on Microsoft's website. It was sent by mail on a disc that also contained a free version of the Ms. Pac-Man video game.[4]
To generate greater publicity for the service, the disc was also distributed with special issues of the
List of Xbox Live Arcade games released on the original Xbox since early 2011 (27 titles) | ||
---|---|---|
|
|
|
Xbox 360
On November 22, 2005, XBLA was relaunched on the
On July 12, 2006, Microsoft launched the "Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays" program, which promised a new Arcade game to be launched every Wednesday for the rest of that Summer.
On July 30, 2008, Microsoft announced the XBLA Summer of Arcade. Anyone who downloaded one of the titles released over August, (Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, Braid, Bionic Commando Rearmed, Galaga Legions and Castle Crashers) would be entered into a prize draw with a grand prize of 100,000 Microsoft Points, 12 Month Xbox Live Gold subscription, and an Xbox 360 Elite console. Another Summer of Arcade began the next year on July 22, 2009. Anyone who purchases all the titles released ('Splosion Man, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled, Trials HD and Shadow Complex) will receive an 800-point reward. The next Summer of Arcade began on July 21, 2010, and features Limbo, Hydro Thunder Hurricane, Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, Monday Night Combat and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.[19] A "Shopping Spree" promotion ended November 1, 2010, in which anyone who spent over 2400 points during October 2010 received an 800-point reward.
By March 10, 2006, three million downloads had been made on the service.
Xbox One
With Xbox One, Microsoft has decided to forgo placing different types of games in different channels. As such, Microsoft has discontinued use of the "Live Arcade" moniker, instead grouping all types of games (would-be Arcade titles, retail, and indies) together.[29]
Pricing and releases
Xbox Live Arcade titles range in price from $2.50 to $20 with the vast majority selling for $10 and under. The games are generally aimed towards more casual gamers, striving for "pick up and play" appeal.[26] Several games were temporarily free, including Texas Hold 'em, Carcassonne, and Undertow.[30][31][32] Others are permanently free including Aegis Wing, a game created by three Microsoft interns,[33] TotemBall, a game that can only be played with the Xbox Live Vision camera,[34] Yaris (a Toyota-backed advergame),[35] and Dash of Destruction, which was released on December 17, 2008, as a Doritos advergame.[36]
On November 30, 2007, Microsoft introduced "Xbox Live Arcade Hits", where games are permanently reduced in price (a similar concept to their "Platinum Hits" for regular retail Xbox 360 games).
Removal of games
In May 2007, Microsoft announced that games older than six months would become eligible for delisting from the service if they had a
In February 2010, it was announced that nine games from Midway Games would no longer be available for purchase, "due to publisher evolving rights and permissions" (even though Sony's PlayStation Store never did as such with its own downloadable Midway games), referring to the purchase by Warner Bros. of some assets of Midway Games, including certain rights related to the nine games.[42] Similar fates befell the XBLA version of Double Dragon when its publisher went under. Yaris was an advergame that was pulled from the system after a year due to avoid it becoming stale content. Id Software's Doom was pulled from the catalogue due to Id being purchased by publisher ZeniMax Media, and as such the publishing rights were removed from then publisher Activision.[43] From January 19, 2012, Doom was restored to Xbox Live Arcade under new publisher Bethesda.[44] In 2011, Ubisoft announced that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled was due to be removed from the Xbox Live service on June 30, 2011, due to an expired license.[45] Chessmaster Live has also been removed.
On December 15, 2013, Capcom announced on their blog that Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 would be removed from the XBLA store. Although no specific date was listed, the last date for DLC for these titles was listed as December 26, 2013.[46]
See also
- Xbox Games Store
- Xbox Live Indie Games
- PlayStation Network
- Virtual Console
- WiiWare
- Nintendo eShop
- Nintendo Network
- Nintendo Switch Online
References
- ^ Luke Guttridge (May 11, 2004). "E3 2004: EA joins the Live party as MS dates Halo and more". play.tm. Archived from the original on November 18, 2007. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ E3 2004 - Complete Microsoft Press Conference, retrieved October 18, 2023
- ^ Surette, Tim (November 6, 2004). "Xbox Live Arcade available now". GameSpot. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
- ^ Dale Nardozzi (December 3, 2004). "Xbox Live Arcade Breakdown". TeamXbox. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ "Forza Motorsport Bundle". Xbox.com Catalog. Microsoft. November 12, 2005. Archived from the original on October 24, 2006. Retrieved May 26, 2006.
- ^ Hilary Goldstein (November 1, 2004). "IGN: Xbox Live Arcade Review 'We check out the first wave of Live Arcade games. Will they be worth your cash?'". IGN. Archived from the original on November 4, 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2008.
- ^ Microsoft (June 10, 2005). "Xbox Live Arcade Games". Xbox.com. Archived from the original on August 21, 2008. Retrieved June 13, 2008.
- ^ "Xbox 360 Hard Drive (20GB)". Xbox.com. Microsoft. November 22, 2005. Archived from the original on March 11, 2007. Retrieved February 3, 2007.
- ^ "Xbox LIVE Arcade: Classic and New Games on Xbox 360". Xbox.com. Microsoft. Archived from the original on June 24, 2008. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
- ^ Microsoft (October 30, 2006). "November 2006 Update Features List". Xbox.com. Archived from the original on May 12, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
- ^ Erik Brudvig (September 24, 2009). "TGS 09: 2GB is the Limit for XBLA". Xboxlive.ign.com. Archived from the original on November 15, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
- ^ Red Johnson's Chronicles. Marketplace.xbox.com (2012-12-09). Retrieved on 2013-08-23.
- ^ Double Dragon Neon. Marketplace.xbox.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-23.
- Gamasutra. Retrieved July 12, 2006.
- ^ Tor Thorsen (July 11, 2006). "$10 Street Fighter II coming to Xbox Live August 2". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 15, 2006. Retrieved July 12, 2006.
- ^ "Xbox LIVE Arcade Unplugged Volume 1 Game Detail Page". Xbox.com. Microsoft. September 5, 2006. Archived from the original on November 19, 2006. Retrieved February 3, 2007.
- ^ Tom Magrino (October 18, 2007). "$279 360 Arcade official". Gamespot. Archived from the original on October 20, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2007.
- Next-Gen.biz. Archived from the originalon January 24, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2008.
- ^ Michael McWhertor (July 6, 2010). "Limbo, Lara Croft and Castlevania Heat Up Xbox Live's 'Summer of Arcade'". Kotaku.com. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
- GamaSutra. Retrieved March 10, 2006.
- ^ "Xbox.com: Ten New Titles Approach the Xbox Live Arcade Horizon". Xbox.com. Microsoft. January 30, 2007. Archived from the original on February 22, 2008. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
- GamaSutra. Retrieved March 6, 2007.
- ^ GamaSutra. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
- ^ "Souped-up Xbox 360 set for April". Reuters. March 27, 2007. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved March 27, 2007.
- ^ Next-Gen.biz. September 16, 2007. Retrieved September 16, 2007.
- ^ a b "Developing for Xbox LIVE Arcade". Microsoft. May 13, 2007. Archived from the original on May 20, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2007.
- 1UP.com. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
- ^ Scott Austin (July 16, 2007). "Partner Day Seattle 2007 - XBLA Business Update" (PDF). Microsoft. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 25, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2007.
- GamaSutra. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
- ^ "Xbox.com: Texas Hold 'em Free in Arcade for First 48 Hours". Xbox.com. Microsoft. August 15, 2006. Archived from the original on August 31, 2006. Retrieved August 15, 2006.
- ^ César A. Berardini (November 15, 2007). "Reminder: Get Carcassonne for Free". TeamXbox. Archived from the original on December 13, 2007. Retrieved November 15, 2007.
- ^ Chris Kohler (January 18, 2008). "XBLA Undertow, Free For Your Live Troubles". Wired. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
- ^ "Aegis Wing Game Detail Page, Xbox.com". Xbox.com. Microsoft. May 11, 2007. Archived from the original on June 2, 2007. Retrieved May 11, 2007.
- ^ "TotemBall Dances on to Xbox Live Arcade". Xbox.com. Microsoft. October 3, 2006. Archived from the original on November 27, 2006. Retrieved October 4, 2006.
- ^ "Yaris Game Detail Page". Xbox.com. Microsoft. October 8, 2007. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved October 8, 2007.
- ^ Chris Faylor (November 19, 2007). "Doritos Dash of Destruction Wins XBLA Contest, NinjaBee Developing for Summer 2008 Release". Shacknews. Retrieved November 19, 2007.
- GamaSutra. Retrieved November 30, 2007.
- ^ "Xbox LIVE Arcade Hits". Microsoft. November 30, 2007. Archived from the original on December 1, 2007. Retrieved November 30, 2007.
- ^ Jim Sterling. "Xbox Live Getting Free-to-Play Games, Report". Retrieved June 24, 2011.
- Escapist Magazine. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: MS to Delist XBLA Titles". Edge Magazine. May 22, 2008. Archived from the original on January 24, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
- ^ "Several Midway Games Pulled from Xbox Live" Feb 17, 2010, 1up.com
- ^ "Doom, Double D Dodgeball pulled from XBLA [update]". Joystiq. October 25, 2010. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
- ^ "DOOM returns to Xbox Live Arcade; Destructoid". January 19, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
- ^ "TMNT Re-Shelled no longer available in U.S. after June 30". Joystiq. June 23, 2011. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
- ^ "Last Days for UMVC3 and MVC2 on PSN/XBLA Store". Capcom. December 15, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2013.