Oh no...Microsoft pulls the plug on Xbox Originals

[heybtbm]

Simple question of economics. Why pay $15 for virtual copy when you can buy a physical copy at Gamestop for $5? Also, the lack of HD space probably had a lot to do with this too IMO.

http://kotaku.com/5294582/microsoft-pulls-plug-on-xbox-originals

I bought GTA: San Andreas just to have the ability to play it directly from my hard drive anytime I wanted to. As a lifelong PS2 GTA player, the Xbox's superior visuals (720p) were a nice bonus.

[Nebagram]

That is a pity. I did the same thing as you regarding GTA (though I found it had aged horrendously poorly) and might've picked up a few others, like Halo 2.

One in the eye for the digital distribution fanatics though.

[roushimsx]

Yea, the pricing scheme was a bit off, especially for stuff like Fable: The Lost Chapters. It was released at retail for $10 and then they put it up on Xbox Originals for $15...hrm...

It didn't help that Microsoft gouged the ever living shit out of the hard drive prices. If drives were cheaper and so many people weren't hobbled by puny, near full 20gig drives then it may have been a more successful venture.

Still, I'm mostly bummed that they just killed development of their xbox emulator while some of the best games are left unsupported. Stranger's Wrath deserved better, damn it.

[swlovinist]

No big loss. Microsoft had a good idea, but their pricing was too high. $10 would have been much better. Also I really hope that they learn from this and make the next system fully backward compatible with a much bigger hard drive.

[backguard]

i hate to sound fanboyish...but chalk one up for sony. the psn store is great.

[sisko]

At the very least, they could have added acheivements to them.

That was the only reason I didn't 'repurchase' Burnout 3.

[Mianrtcv]

One in the eye for the digital distribution fanatics though.

Yes indeed.

[Oobgarm]

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/18/games-on-demand-section-arrives-on-xbox-com/

This must be what they're re-branding it as.

[JunkTheMagicDragon]

games on demand will also include full 360 games available for download.

so now it's just god and xbla instead of 3 sections.

and just to be clear, the xbox originals already released will still be available for purchase, there just won't be any more released.

[jcalder8]

Oh indifference!

I've never bought one and I wouldn't bother. They were just not worth the price.

[iycon]

if they added achievements, i would haves purchased a few of these esp. Halo. But alas, i own most of these in physical condition, and 3 xbox's and 2 360's to play them on.

[Famidrive-16]

Any guesses what the final release will be?

[ProgrammingAce]

Any guesses what the final release will be?

There was a game that was supposed to come out in 2008 on xbox originals, but it never showed up. I'm *really* hoping they release that one as this secret final game. At least go out with a bang.

[Leo_A]

Halo 2

Edit - Do you mean Panzer Dragoon Orta? Everyone thought that was a sure thing when it got rated for a Japanese release. Would be a nicer way to end this thing than a title thats cluttering every used gamestore in the country.

[The 1 2 P]

No big loss. Microsoft had a good idea, but their pricing was too high. $10 would have been much better. Also I really hope that they learn from this and make the next system fully backward compatible with a much bigger hard drive.

Agreed. I said from the very beginning that paying $15 for games you could get used(or even new) with a case and manual for $10 or less was a bad move. I also hope they make the next system completely bc and that the hard drives start at 100 gb and up.


if they added achievements, i would haves purchased a few of these

Ditto. I hate repurchasing things but if I have incentive to do so I wouldn't mind so much. I would have definitely played thru Halo 1+2, Burnout 3, Max Payne 1+2 and Kotor 1+2 if they had achievements added to them.

[ProgrammingAce]

Halo 2

Edit - Do you mean Panzer Dragoon Orta? Everyone thought that was a sure thing when it got rated for a Japanese release. Would be a nicer way to end this thing than a title thats cluttering every used gamestore in the country.

I guess it really doesn't matter if i say it now, but at one point Rent a Hero was slated as an Xbox Original.

[roushimsx]

I guess it really doesn't matter if i say it now, but at one point Rent a Hero was slated as an Xbox Original.

Hell, I'd pay more than $15 for that.

[Rickstilwell1]

Yeah so it's official. My original Xbox will stay hooked up underneath my Xbox 360's shelf.

I already considered the Xbox 360 to not really be backward compatible w/ Xbox just because it didn't have so many games on the actual disc compatibility list. Half my games worked, the other half didn't.

I don't hook up my PS2 to my main TV because I have the 60GB PS3. I do however hook up my GameCube underneath the Wii's shelf because of the Game Boy Player being IMO the best way to play GBA games and GBC games. For GB I prefer Super Game Boy due to its features with borders and color palettes.

[Leo_A]

Wonder how long these will last before disappearing without any word from MS like the XBLA port of Double Dragon. My demo of that will forever be stuck in demo mode since I never got around to buying it to unlock the full version.

[The 1 2 P]

Wonder how long these will last before disappearing without any word from MS like the XBLA port of Double Dragon. My demo of that will forever be stuck in demo mode since I never got around to buying it to unlock the full version.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed this. I even wrote to Official Xbox Magazine and asked them about it and the guy responded that he hadn't noticed it but he was going to check it out. Why the hell did they remove Double Dragon?

[unwinddesign]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed this. I even wrote to Official Xbox Magazine and asked them about it and the guy responded that he hadn't noticed it but he was going to check it out. Why the hell did they remove Double Dragon?

MS announced awhile back that they would be culling titles from the catalogue that didn't meet certain quality/sell-through standards. Below 65% aggregate review scores and something like a 6% sell rate (of those who dl the trial).

I believe I remember ProgrammingAce saying it was nearly impossible to meet both those criteria, but I guess Double Dragon, with its horrible slowdown, managed to do so.

[Leo_A]

I'm pretty sure they have a range of titles that significantly outperformed Double Dragon's possible lack of success (57% average Metacritic score), though consumers seem to be much more fond of it than the mainstream media critics (Seems that user averages are mostly in the 70% range).

So I don't think its as simple as being delisted under that policy. I would think it wouldn't of been the first game on their hit list and that we would've seen other losses in the weeks since its disappearance.

I don't have a clue what happened to it, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't due to that proposed policy. That was announced over a year ago with nothing having occurred, and there wasn't a three month announcement preceding its delisting that they outlined along with their criteria you mentioned.

Their delisting policy was just a way to drum up sales for underperforming titles like Cyberball 2072 I think. I know it made me buy a few things like the Contra's before they disappeared, I just never got around to getting Double Dragon and Rush 'n' Attack.

[Cryomancer]

Hell, I'd pay more than $15 for that.

Seconded.

[otaku]

the only way something like this would work is for something difficult to find (not much on xbox)

[Therealqtip]

i hate that you can't be in a party or anything while playing a normal xbox game.

[SegaAges]

So this means that they will add an add-on so we can have our own external sata drive?

That would be awesome.