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Xbox 360 Dashboard Update is Out… Indie Games Get Pushed to the Brink of Insignificance

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Alright, this can probably be filed under news/rant because it’s gonna be both.

First, the new Xbox Live dashboard update is out. It, once again, makes your Xbox feel all sparkly/shiny/new and generally does a nice job of making the aesthetics of the UI far more enjoyable than it was previously. The entire system has a nice “green and white” feel to it, which is especially nice for me given it’s the same as my favorite soccer team.

Anyway, I digress. If you have an Xbox 360 all you have to do to get the new update is boot up your Xbox 360 and log into Xbox Live where you’ll be prompted to get the update.Easy-peasy.

And now for the rant part of this post. Which, by the way, you’re welcome for the warning.

As many of you know, we are HUGE proponents of the Xbox Live Indie Games channel here at DIY HQ. Not only do we review games on a regular basis, but we’ve dedicated an entire day of the week to the service called XBLIG Thursday. This was done just so that we could try and play as many of them as possible to give you guys, the readers, an overall sense of what the channel is doing at the moment. Additionally, we also keep track of every single game released in our weekly “Xbox Live Indie Games Releases” series which premieres once a week with screenshots and descriptions of each game that’s been released for that prior week. So, to call us dedicated to the channel’s well being is a bit of an understatement.

Unfortunately, Microsoft isn’t as committed as we are. Now, honestly, I don’t really believe they should be. XBLIG was a nice gesture by them back in 2008 that’s done a lot of good for the indie game scene around the world. While I’d love it if they would advertise the channel, or do anything to give the channel some more publicity I don’t really expect them to given their dedication to their console, XBLA, primary games, and now Kinect. Let’s face it, when faced up against all those things XBLIG is a pretty low priority.

However, after today’s newest update, I do believe that the indie developers of the service have been given a figurative slap in the face. You see, along with the new dashboard update, it seems that Microsoft has decided to rearrange the game marketplace into categories: Features, Games & Demos, Add-Ons & Extras, Genres, Titles A-Z, and lastly Specialty Shops. Obviously this isn’t the problem as I believe it does help reduce the amount of clutter on the storefront with the last update.

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Indie games aren't real games apparently.

However, while one might assume that XBLIG would be placed under the “Games & Demos” category along with XBLA, Games on Demand, and demos it was not. Instead it was given a spot under “Specialty Shops” along with the Avatar Marketplace, Game Room, Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and the Lips music stores. Oh and just as a final “piss off” from Microsoft, the XBLIG channel was placed behind the Avatar Marketplace within the Specialty Shops.

Behind the Avatar Marketplace? Really?

Behind the Avatar Marketplace? Really?

So, in affect, Microsoft is telling indie developers as well as gamers in general, that these aren’t “real games.” They’re just small little specialty things/trinkets they have added to the store but aren’t really cared about. Misused and abused, to say the least.

I know this might not seem like a big issue to most, but indie developers deserve a fair shake when it comes to placement within their own store. I’m not asking Microsoft to put out a $50 million ad campaign for the service. I’m not even asking for Microsoft to highlight the store/games on the “Spotlight” anymore like I used to. All I want for them to do is to treat the Xbox Live Indie Games channel like a real channel with real games like they do for XBLA, is that really so much to ask? Apparently…

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Comments

  • http://clintmakesagame.wordpress.com TheCube

    I don’t know what to say to this.

    I’d say it’s a bad marketing move, as the Indie Games section was surely made to compete with the App store for the iWhatever, whose biggest strength is easy accessibilty. This was the perfect opportunity to bring XBLIG to the forefront, make it easier to find good games, etc. But we’ll keep buying Microsoft’s junk, so it doesn’t really matter, and they probably won’t even notice a difference in sales sadly.

    I’d say it’s a bad thing to insult a bunch of geeks, as hell hath no fury like a geek e-scorned, but most geeks don’t even know anything about XBLIG.

    I’m mad, but I’m not really surprised. Mostly, I’m disappointed in myself that I keep supporting Microsoft, but…well, Fable 3 just came out so I guess I’ll be giving them some more money!

    Argh bad day

    • Geoff Gibson

      Hah I know how you feel. It’s just sad that they made this huge grand entrance for the service as their way to support the scene but, at every turn, they seem to want to bury it deeper and deeper.

  • KDR_11k

    It seems that to MS anything that doesn’t cost 1200 points just distracts users from the things that do.

    In the last UI the indie games didn’t show when you selected the “all new games” option, I didn’t even notice that XBLIG had been enabled for my country until much later because I used to browse only that one list. Now that that list is abolished at least there’s more reason to check the categories individually. But why doesn’t the XBLIG channel button show the most recent releases like the others do?

  • TechnologoDoom

    I saw that this morning and was appauled. sure they included better search tools for XBIG games, but what a dis! I’m telling you, the Wii will the the indie console of the future… i might need to get one.

  • yyr

    I, too, was surprised and disappointed that XBLIG was no longer listed with Games & Demos. But if you think about it, it’s not all bad news.

    1) Even when XBLIG was mixed into the other Games Marketplace categories, users did have to scroll past other categories just to see it. So that hasn’t really changed; it’s just the where that’s a bit different, not the what.
    2) The “Specialty Shops” category is new, sounds fresh and will have people looking at it.
    3) You don’t have to go past Avatar Marketplace to see Indie Games… it’s clearly visible there. And we *are* getting higher billing than Game Room and Rock Band.
    4) Here’s a big one: the 50 newest and highest-rated titles are now listed, not 12!!

    So personally i don’t think the changes are all bad. But, I suppose, we’ll ultimately see the results in the sales numbers.

  • Quimby RBG

    I can’t believe I didn’t know this site existed – I only discovered it when Nathan Fouts linked through to it… anyway, I digress
    I’m absolutely disgusted by how Microsoft has treated xblig; I know it’s a little embarrassing with all the crapplications and junk but if they want it to be better they need to bring it forward and shine a spotlight on games like Space Pirates from Tommorow, Weapon of Choice, and Old School Adventure and allow the rubbish to fall by the wayside.
    MS has handled the channel in the worst possible manner; the more attention the channel recieves the more good games will be rewarded; the less attention it gets, the more it will only be worth making quick rubbish for the channel. Simple really.
    As the author of this artical said, it would take MS the absolute minimum effort to simply add the link to the indie channel at the far right of the Games&Demos section so I really hope that news sites, developers, and others put enough pressure on MS to get it done.
    For now though, I guess I’ll just have to steal a sliver of yyr’s optimism and just wait and see…
    On the plus side, my awful crapplication (Madam Zhen’s Tent of MYSTERY!) is now more visible in the Cards & Board Game genre so maybe it’ll start paying off the time I invested on it soon. :)