Microsoft talks XBLA future, loosening download size limit
No pressure or anything, but you're the future of Xbox Live Arcade, 'kay? In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Microsoft's worldwide Xbox Live Arcade games portfolio manager, David Edery, states that user-created games are "going to help [Microsoft] leapfrog the competition" -- said competition being PlayStation Network and WiiWare. Edery also questions whether Sony or Nintendo will ever attempt to emulate Microsoft's initiative.
Revealed at GDC 2008, Microsoft's Community Games Initiative is set to launch later this year and will allow indie devs to submit games created using XNA Game Studio 2.0 for other Community members to review. The top-rated submissions will be made available via XBLA for all users to download.
Some other interesting tidbits from the Edry interview: MS is planning to increase the maximum file size for future XBLA releases from 150 megabytes to 350MB, although he wouldn't divulge when. (MS had already made an exception for Capcom's upcoming Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, affording it 250MB for all its high-res 2D goodness.) Edery also confirms that MS has a "large" number of upcoming XBLA releases in its queue, and may consider more multi-release XBLA Wednesdays as a result.
