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Live Arcade boss leaves to PopCap

I

Imperial Hot

Banned
No offense to Greg, but PopCap can have him. The Live Arcade has been doing terrible under his control, and I am glad to know that we will get someone else to lead the Live Arcade. Maybe they can turn things around.
 
N

nubbe

Member
Maybe Ross Erickson - Worldwide Games Portfolio Manager for Xbox Live Arcade

Awesome title... cry
 
D

Dr_Cogent

Banned
snack said:
No offense to Greg, but PopCap can have him. The Live Arcade has been doing terrible under his control, and I am glad to know that we will get someone else to lead the Live Arcade. Maybe they can turn things around.
Click to expand...

Please define "terrible". What did he do, and what is so terrible about it?
 
J

Jonnyram

Member
Gowans007 said:
The question is who is stepping up? and will they push XBLA harder and in the right way???
Click to expand...
I'm hoping Arne gets the position, personally. He's a nice guy and would do a great job of delivering a very GAF-friendly product.
 
G

GeoNeo

I disagree.
Greg did a horrible job with XBLA, seems to me MS gave him the marching orders. Such an amazing concept such an amazing setup, and it has mostly gone to waste, he will fit in well with Popcap games. And, his damage control when people would ask him about the problems facing XBLA, did not instill any kind of confidence.

And, the guy thinks Popcap will be the next Blizzard? :lol

Please define "terrible". What did he do, and what is so terrible about it?
Click to expand...

- Terrible release schedule, with hardly any constancy.

- Tedious loops for developers to jump through.

- Some regions such as Japan being shafted big time when it comes to XBLA content. A great way to build confidence in a region MS is committed to supporting. Not.

- Lots of promised partners for XBLA still not showing up on XBLA.

- MS coders have a done a wonderful job with the way XBLA is implemented for the 360, but most of it has gone to waste, with hardly any truly amazing original games, or more modern classic arcade games.

- Very late in addressing most developers problems with the download limit, and the whole Lumines Live drama.

I truly think MS will find someone better suited for such promising venture, Greg had his chance in my eyes, and to me and many others he blew it.
 
I

Imperial Hot

Banned
Dr_Cogent said:
Please define "terrible". What did he do, and what is so terrible about it?
Click to expand...
The lineup sucks. They don't have a release list. Games get delayed far too often. There is no pricing structure. And they don't even provide release dates!
 
H

herod

Member
a%20sinking%20ship2.jpg
 
G

gollumsluvslave

Member
Does anyone think it a bit suspect with the recent 10 Commandments of Live Marketplace thing from Major Nelson, and now this?

XBLA is definitely no where near where it should be in terms of the potential IMHO.

And the Blizzard comment is pretty WTF?
 
J

john tv

Member
Being the boss of Live Arcade has the potential to be one of the coolest jobs in the entire industry. If this guy is the reason Live Arcade blows right now, then let's all hope the next guy does it right.
 
S

Servbot #42

Unconfirmed Member
XBLA should be better now that it has some form of competition with nintendo`s and sony`s versions online, hopefully the new guy will make a good job.
 
D

Dr_Cogent

Banned
I would like to see more stuff available on XBLA, but software takes time. I dunno what to say. I think some here may have unrealistic expectations. What Nintendo is doing is far less work I would think than what is being done for XBLA. And what does Sony even have available at this point? I don't think they are much of competition at this point.

MS depends on third parties for software support. They can't somehow "force" developers to turn things out quicker.
 
A

aku:jiki

Member
Dr_Cogent said:
MS depends on third parties for software support. They can't somehow "force" developers to turn things out quicker.
Click to expand...
Why are you such a hardcore MS/XBLA apologist? Everybody knows that getting things developed isn't the problem -- there are dozens of finished or near-finished game laying dormant, waiting to be put up on XBLA.
 
D

Dr_Cogent

Banned
aku:jiki said:
Why are you such a hardcore MS/XBLA apologist? Everybody knows that getting things developed isn't the problem -- there are dozens of finished or near-finished game laying dormant, waiting to be put up on XBLA.
Click to expand...

Proof please.

I'm not an apologist. I'm speculating obviously. I write software for a living. Most here I would assume don't. Shit takes time. I'm anxiously awaiting your proof that games are simply lying dormant and MS isn't motivated enough to put them out there.
 
3

3rdman

Member
Dr_Cogent said:
Proof please.

I'm not an apologist. I'm speculating obviously. I write software for a living. Most here I would assume don't. Shit takes time. I'm anxiously awaiting your proof that games are simply lying dormant and MS isn't motivated enough to put them out there.
Click to expand...

There have been numerous blogs and posts referring to games that are awaiting MS seal of approval before being released. Lumines is one I distinctly remember where the developer stated that it had gone to approval months before release.

SOTN is another one...its done...where is it? I don't know what goes into QC where XLA is concerned but it needs to be streamlined. Perhaps they simply don't want to flood the market and allow each released game its moment in the sun. But if they don't treat the 60 dollar games with the same protectivness, why do it with the 5-10 dollars ones? Makes no sense...
 
D

Dr_Cogent

Banned
3rdman said:
There have been numerous blogs and posts referring to games that are awaiting MS seal of approval before being released. Lumines is one I distinctly remember where the developer stated that it had gone to approval months before release.

SOTN is another one...its done...where is it? I don't know what goes into QC where XLA is concerned but it needs to be streamlined. Perhaps they simply don't want to flood the market and allow each released game its moment in the sun. But if they don't treat the 60 dollar games with the same protectivness, why do it with the 5-10 dollars ones? Makes no sense...
Click to expand...

See, thats it. No one besides internal MS employees know the reasons "why" anything is done. So people here speculate, as do I. I am willing to bet that certification is rigorous and isn't something to be taken lightly.

Lumines was structured like shit as well IMO (it's pricing model and how it all fit together). That may have been a reason why it took a while. No one knows for sure, but assuming that it was the lead of XBLA somehow at fault is just a wild guess.
 
M

Meier

Member
Prices on older games need to be dropped. I'd be much more likely to buy a few if they weren't still 10 bucks... sorry, that doesn't fly with me. They also need to make it where a demo of a LA game does not get attached to your profile as a score of 0 -- I never demo games because of that and no, I still havent bought Wik even though I hate the 0.
 
S

Shamrock

Banned
I'm not sorry to see him go at all to be honest. The selection of games on the Arcade is sub par at best and reeks of what a 50 year old man likes, but not as what a community likes as a whole. I think some classic games are ok, but to be over a year into the arcade and have a majority of 80's ports (and poorly done barley working ports at that) is unacceptable. How many games do we have that multiplayer doesn't work, or its some crap letterboxed screen? Even the games people were excited about (SF, MK, Contra) were so poorly made that they were borderline unplayable. If he wasn't willing to change his views then he needed be replaced.



Over a year in and we have no board games, No chess or checkers, a poor release schedule and other than GEO and maybe Uno I can't think of a single game that is universal thought of as a MUST BUY.
 
pr0cs

pr0cs

Member
I don't blame him really, you couldn't pay me to do that job. While in theory it would probably be pretty fun to manage a gaming service like XBLA all the complaints of "Why did you put XXX online, we wanted YYY instead" would probably become pretty depressing, especially in a high profile type position like his.

There is no question the last 6 months XBLA has been bungled, so little information has been given to the community through mouthpieces like MN that it's no wonder so many gamers are disillusioned with the service. It's still light years beyond Nintendo's and Sony's offerings but for how long?
Microsoft needs to start giving people hard dates on products and to give more information on what's happening with XBLA, what to expect and when and upcoming titles.
They need to ensure that weekly people can expect new content and no, not picture packs either. They need to work with the XBLM demo team to ensure that if they can't have a new arcade game come out that they have a retail game demo in it's place. Right now it's a crapshoot. You get a picture pack and nothing for 2 weeks and the following week you get an arcade game and 2 game demos, picture packs, 3 new game trailers and a partridge in a pear tree.
 
L

LiveFromKyoto

Member
Meier said:
Prices on older games need to be dropped. I'd be much more likely to buy a few if they weren't still 10 bucks... sorry, that doesn't fly with me.
Click to expand...

These games are old when they debut, that doesn't make any sense. If you can't be bothered to pay $10 for a game, you don't really want it.
 
DCX

DCX

DCX
I think after a year games should enter the Platinum class of pricing. 400 pt games become 200-300, 800 become 600-650, 1200 become 1000. Maybe change the structure of pricing. Meaning Dig Dugg should be 200 no matter if it's new or old, but Doom should be 400. Somehow these two titles are priced the same...weird. Doom brings more to the table and has online play also. Dig Dugg is just Dig Dugg. Let's aim for new releases ( original content, new wave oldies ) Wensday and on Friday they should do a retro Fridays program. Keep the card games/puzzle games and retro games on here. Two releases a week.

DCX
 
P

pswii60

Member
DCX said:
I think after a year games should enter the Platinum class of pricing. 400 pt games become 200-300, 800 become 600-650, 1200 become 1000. Maybe change the structure of pricing. Meaning Dig Dugg should be 200 no matter if it's new or old, but Doom should be 400. Somehow these two titles are priced the same...weird. Doom brings more to the table and has online play also. Dig Dugg is just Dig Dugg. Let's aim for new releases ( original content, new wave oldies ) Wensday and on Friday they should do a retro Fridays program. Keep the card games/puzzle games and retro games on here. Two releases a week.

DCX
Click to expand...

Digdug is 400, Doom is 800
 
E

Eel O'Brian

Member
Haunted_One said:
World of Bejeweled confirmed.
Click to expand...


I get this picture in my mind of everyone running around as brightly colored gems with legs, and if you accidentally bump into two people with your same color, you all explode.
 
B

BenjaminBirdie

Banned
Dr_Cogent said:
Proof please.

I'm not an apologist. I'm speculating obviously. I write software for a living. Most here I would assume don't. Shit takes time. I'm anxiously awaiting your proof that games are simply lying dormant and MS isn't motivated enough to put them out there.
Click to expand...

He must be confusing you with me.

:lol
 
H

Hunahan

Banned
In my opinion the biggest botch job is the messaging and marketing. No one has any idea what the hell is going on with any of the games, and that's pretty sad for a rabid community like GAF that eats up press releases for breakfast. These blackouts aren't helping anyone, particularly on low-profile titles like XBLA that frankly could use all the help they could get.

I can understand reasonable delays, but some of it is growing baffling. There are 80's arcade ports like Track & Field that were announced over a year ago, and yet we have no idea what the status is. How long does it take? I mean, is Sonic still even being made for this thing? That was a launch announcement of the damn console, we can't even get an update over the course of an entire year and a half?

It's gotten to the point that when they do make announcements these days, no one even knows whether or not to be excited. We don't know if this means to expect the game within the next six months, within the next year, hell ...we don't know if it will *ever* come out. Are some of these games just fiction?

Then one day, they just show up, slopped onto a cold plate and abandoned as spent. "Remember that game we were talking about eight months ago? Well....here it is!" If I was a publisher I'd be pissed. It always feels like pulling teeth just to get a single freaking screenshot about the game that is coming next week, not to mention that their aproximate scheduling is guarded with a veil of secrecy tighter than russian central intelligence. Why?

They need to stand out there proud and show off things to make us excited. They need to help us understand what to expect and look forward to, and they need to stop pandering to a few whiney assholes who bitch on Major Nelson's blog because such-and-such a game didn't make it's release window. This whole "well fine, we won't tell anyone anything and then we'll never be late" approach is ridiculous.

Anyways, whatever. I feel better now.
 
K

krypt0nian

Banned
I went from one of Live Arcade's biggest supporters to someone who rarely even bothers to look what went up. They went from POTENTIAL to nearly pointless. No communication. No release list. Very little positive feelings left now, when all we heard in the beginning was huge interest from developers and games in the pipeline.

If Canessa's replacement can turn this around, great.
 
S

Sho_Nuff82

Member
Seriously, the lack of a release schedule is a joke. I'm glad whomever is responsible for this is gone.

BTW, Hexic is out for XBLA, I have it on my 360.
 
T

The Innocent X

Banned
Sho_Nuff82 said:
Seriously, the lack of a release schedule is a joke. I'm glad whomever is responsible for this is gone..
Click to expand...

Seriously, just look at Nintendo and Sony's release schedule... Oh wait, I forgot they only tell you the day something comes out too.
 
K

krypt0nian

Banned
ChrisAllenFiz said:
Seriously, just look at Nintendo and Sony's release schedule... Oh wait, I forgot they only tell you the day something comes out too.
Click to expand...


So you're agreeing that they are all gimped for no reason?

And the Playstation Store has given release dates before, AND delayed games (fl0w) and not taken any heat over it.
 
S

Shamrock

Banned
Hunahan said:
In my opinion the biggest botch job is the messaging and marketing. No one has any idea what the hell is going on with any of the games, and that's pretty sad for a rabid community like GAF that eats up press releases for breakfast. These blackouts aren't helping anyone, particularly on low-profile titles like XBLA that frankly could use all the help they could get.

I can understand reasonable delays, but some of it is growing baffling. There are 80's arcade ports like Track & Field that were announced over a year ago, and yet we have no idea what the status is. How long does it take? I mean, is Sonic still even being made for this thing? That was a launch announcement of the damn console, we can't even get an update over the course of an entire year and a half?

It's gotten to the point that when they do make announcements these days, no one even knows whether or not to be excited. We don't know if this means to expect the game within the next six months, within the next year, hell ...we don't know if it will *ever* come out. Are some of these games just fiction?

Then one day, they just show up, slopped onto a cold plate and abandoned as spent. "Remember that game we were talking about eight months ago? Well....here it is!" If I was a publisher I'd be pissed. It always feels like pulling teeth just to get a single freaking screenshot about the game that is coming next week, not to mention that their aproximate scheduling is guarded with a veil of secrecy tighter than russian central intelligence. Why?

They need to stand out there proud and show off things to make us excited. They need to help us understand what to expect and look forward to, and they need to stop pandering to a few whiney assholes who bitch on Major Nelson's blog because such-and-such a game didn't make it's release window. This whole "well fine, we won't tell anyone anything and then we'll never be late" approach is ridiculous.

Anyways, whatever. I feel better now.
Click to expand...

Could not have said it better myself. Well Done sir.
 
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