Yaris can barely be called a game. It should be labeled 'Semi-interactive brain hemorrhage inducer'.

I've played n+ on xbla. It's alright, but it's definitly not the holy grail of video games like you make it sound.

I agree that xbla does have a lot of games that most people would not find to be the most fun to play, but I don't think that bashing all the games on the network is the best thing to do. I'm not sure if you've played geometry wars or RezHD, because I thought those games were pretty good. If you have something to say, you should probably provide some constructive criticism as opposed to releasing a verbal massacre. If your hurting anybody, you're just hurting your own reputation.

That is all.

Thank you.

Phil,



I don't think metanet intended to say that N+ was the holy grail at all. But concerns about XBLA getting cluttered with games that score very low in reviews is true.

I.e. N+ overall scored over 80 in metacritic, so in general it has had favourable reviews, while the last few releases have scored very low (lower then 50 on average reviews).

I think that is the main concern here.

That the service is getting cluttered with games that simply are not fun, while royalty rates etc for the service get lowered at the same time (which is not going to attrack more talented developers)

RezHD is another example of a good game that scored good in reviews. I doubt the metanet guys would disagree.

It is naive to think that the XBLA venue for games would be any different than standard retail outlets. To say that a game would stand out if there were only 30 games on XBLA versus 100 is well obvious. What should XBLA have done -stop growing? Perhaps we should limit retailers to carrying only 20 games at a time so each on stand out more.



Then in the same breath to denounce all the games on XBLA that are "total shit" is just credibility suicide. XBLA, as with many other game venues, has to cater to as many different types of players as possible: enthusiast, casual, etc. What may be "total shit" to me may be your favorite game of all time.



Finally, perhaps Raigan and Mare can figure out how to not use "like" every other word when saying already ignorant, blanket statements. Somebody get this group an PR department and fast.



What was Gamasutra thinking running this interview?

How is anybody surprised by this? When I first read "XBLA Coming Soon" I knew it translated into "Diner Dash Coming To XBox Soon!"

They should just introduce a consumer rating system, or popularity score within marketplace. Then people wont have to wade through mediocre stuff to find the gold nuggets.

The fact that interview subjects spoke their mind when directly questioned is not something to take as an inappropriate action; in point of fact, it is the norm in just about every other field of journalism OTHER than that which covers the game industry. If the game industry really wants to grow culturally ((which will be necessary for the continued survival of all parties concerned)), these types of interviews need to be the norm, not the exception. You ask me a question, and i answer it. Then you disagree with me. Then i disagree with you. This is how we roll in America.