Xbox Live Arcade's Losing Strategy

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Author: Dave Rudden
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Sometimes a good spin can get the press excited about an otherwise unimpressive title. Nintendo and Microsoft's announcements today for new downloadable games were proof of it from both ends of the spectrum.

Nintendo's announcement of new Virtual Console titles hit press inboxes with the announcement of three NES classics available for download. Whereas previous weeks routinely included top titles (Mario Kart 64, Zelda for SNES), this week held a few fun but forgotten NES classics. Heading to Nintendo.com, you're met with a flowery writeup of Kid Icarus, Kirby's Adventure, and Ice Climber. What probably took a weekend of testing and tweaking is cleverly packaged and promoted. The internet goes agog. Mission accomplished.

Contrast that with the work of Microsoft PR, who haven't been making waves with the Xbox Live Arcade as of late. Microsoft's Major Nelson, who usually covers every last download--even the abhorrent EA microtransactions--with the full PR writeup, offers this gem for this week's Xbox Live Arcade title:

Delivering disappointment

This weeks Arcade Title is... Paperboy.

Sure, there was a link to the Gamerscore blog's hearty writeup, but the lack of enthusiasm in general is pretty pathetic. Couple this with the announcement that Worms is still in a holding pattern, and you can imagine the apathy that awaited the delivery of this latest game. Xbox Live Arcade seems to be losing in terms of quantity and quality as of late.

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