Well, we have finally reached the new year and given that the old thread has 2010 edition stamped on its title, it seem that the time for renewal is upon us. In short, new year, new thread. Also, thanks to besiktas1 for all of the nifty graphics and screencaps.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Live_Arcade
On November 22, 2005, XBLA was relaunched on the Xbox 360. The service was integrated into the main Dashboard user interface, and the Xbox 360 hard drives were bundled with a free copy of Hexic HD. Every Arcade title on the Xbox 360 supports leaderboards, has 200 Achievement points, and high-definition 720p graphics. They also have a trial version available for free download. These demos are playable and most of them offer only a fraction of the levels, modes, and content of the full game. A full version of the game must be purchased to allow the user to upload scores to the leaderboards, unlock achievements, play online multiplayer (with a few exceptions), and download bonus content.
Several new features and enhancements have been added through software updates including a friends leaderboard, additional sorting options, faster enumeration of games, an auto-download feature for newly released trial games, and "Tell a Friend" messages.
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. When that summer ended, Microsoft announced that new titles for XBLA would also be released on Wednesdays.
In order to promote the service in retail, Microsoft released Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Volume 1 as a compilation disc of six games. On October 18, 2007, Microsoft announced the Xbox 360 Arcade console SKU which includes full versions of Boom Boom Rocket, Feeding Frenzy, Luxor 2, Pac-Man Championship Edition, and Uno.
On May 22, 2008 Microsoft's general manager of Xbox Live, Marc Whitten, detailed changes for the service that included increasing the size limit of the games to 350MB and improving the way digital rights management is handled. Furthermore, Microsoft created an internal games studio to create "high quality digital content" for XBLA.
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. A "Shopping Spree" promotion ended November 1, 2010, in which anyone who spent over 2400 points during October 2010 received an 800 point reward.
The original size limit imposed by Microsoft for Xbox Live Arcade games was 50MB, in order to ensure any downloaded game could fit on a 64MB Xbox memory unit. The limit has since been changed to 150 MB and now 2 GB, the latter of which is a technical limitation of the system (rather than an arbitrary limit imposed by Microsoft).
By March 10, 2006, three million downloads had been made.By January 30, 2007 that number had grown to 20 million.The service reached 25 million downloads on March 6, 2007 with 45 million downloads projected by the end of 2007.
On March 27, 2007 Microsoft declared Uno to be the first Xbox Live Arcade game to exceed one million downloads.
Nearly 70 percent of Xbox 360 owners connected to Xbox Live have downloaded an Arcade title with the attach rate being 6-7 titles per user. Original games typically receive 350,000 downloads in the first month. Titles have an average 156% financial return over twelve months with the first two months of sales accounting for just 35% of total volume. Average conversion rate (from trial download to purchase) across all titles is 18% (a low of 4% and high of 51%).
On September 19, 2007, Microsoft announced the top ten Arcade downloads worldwide as Aegis Wing, Uno, Texas Hold 'em, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, Bankshot Billiards 2, Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Classic Arcade, Worms, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and Contra.
[edit] Pricing and releases
Xbox Live Arcade games are purchased using Microsoft Points (MSP). Titles range in price from 200MSP to 1600MSP, with the vast majority selling for 800MSP and under. The games are generally aimed towards more casual gamers, striving for "pick up and play" appeal.
Several games were temporarily were free for a limited time, including Texas Hold 'em, Carcassonne, and Undertow.Others are permanently free including Aegis Wing, a game created by three Microsoft interns, TotemBall, a game that can only be played with the Xbox Live Vision camera, Yaris (a Toyota-backed advergame), and Dash of Destruction, which was released on December 17, 2008 as a Doritos advergame. 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). As of July 22, 2008 current Arcade Hits include Lumines Live!, Assault Heroes, Zuma, Doom, Bankshot Billiards 2, Small Arms, Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, and Marble Blast Ultra.
In May 2008, Microsoft announced that games older than 6 months would become eligible for delisting from the service if they had a Metacritic score below 65 and a conversion rate below 6%. The objective was to "focus the catalogue more on larger, more immersive games and make it much easier to find the games you are looking for." However, Microsoft has never removed a game using the method.
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. 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 the timely nature of its contents.
Radiant Silvergun
Publisher: Treasure; Develeoper: Treasure; Estimated Release: TBA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stDBIZQTlX8
Dungeon Defenders
Publisher: Reverb Publishing; Develeoper: Trendy Entertainment Estimated Release: Jan 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9LI75p9J08
Bastion
Publisher: Supergiant Games; Develeoper: Supergiant Games; Estimated Release: Q2 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX48y24t9iU
From Dust
Publisher: Ubisoft; Develeoper: Ubisoft Montpellier; Estimated Release: Q2 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccy8mg7IB40
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Publisher: Fuelcell Games; Developer: Fuelcell Games; Estimated Release: TBA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI6kDGXQfBg
Spelunky
Publisher: Mossmouth; Develeoper: Mossmouth; Estimated Release: TBA
Fire Pro Wrestling
Publisher: Spike; Develeoper: Spike; Estimated Release: TBA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyBdTaD9WDk
Bangai-O[ HD: Missile Fury
Publisher: D3 Publisher; Develeoper: Treasure Estimated Release: TBA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqX2QGSSZsQ
Ms. Splosion Man.
Publisher: Microsoft; Developer: TwistedPixel; Estimated Release: TBA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLhxOPLc0qE
Skulls of the Shoguns
Publisher: Haunted Temple Studios; Developer: Haunted Temple Studios; Estimated Release: TBA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t7ip73Cq8s
Boulder Dash XL
Publisher: Catnip Games Developer: Kalypso Media; Estimated Release: TBA
Battleblock Theatre
Publisher: The Behemoth; Developer: The Behemoth Estimated Release: TBA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F09ydQfs70s
Dust: An Elysian Tail
Publisher: Microsoft; Developer: Humble Hearts; Estimated Release: TBA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmSAQwbbig8
Toki
Publisher: Golgoth Studio; Develeoper: Golgoth Studio; Estimated Release: TBA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXmDlhjHKAk
Hybrid
Publisher: 5th Cell; Develeoper: 5th Cell; Estimated Release: TBA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgRiv5cZHfg
Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection
Publisher: Crave; Develeoper: Farsight; Estimated Release: TBA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl_qIdV1848
Retro City Rampage
Publisher: Vblank Entertainment Inc.; Developer: Vblank Entertainment Inc.; Estimated Release: Q2
http://uk.ign.com/videos/2010/12/20/retro-city-rampage-official-trailer
Rock of Ages
Publisher: Atlus; Developer: ACE TEAM; Estimated Release: Q2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwGeq-CMf4w
Sine Mora
Publisher: Digital Reality; Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture; Estimated Release: TBA