Midway games dissapear from XBLA

[Famidrive-16]

Cyberball 2072
Defender
Gauntlet
Joust
Paperboy
Robotron 2084
Root Beer Tapper
Smash TV
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

Major Nelson said these are gone now due to publisher legal issues. Although you can redownload them if you already bought them.

[portnoyd]

Whoever bought Midway's IP apparently doesn't want them out there? Or the contract Midway had with MS no longer applies?

[Nirvana]

Damn. I wish I snagged Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 while I had the chance. I love that game. Or even Paperboy XD

[Kitsune Sniper]

Wasn't UMK3 broken or something?

[Shadow Kisuragi]

The leaderboards for UMK3 are broken. They sort backwards, so the person in 1st is the worst ranked player.
Fortunately, I already purchased all of these. :|

Microsoft has been waiting to get rid of these for a while...low metacritic, no online base, and they're rereleased retro titles. They'll be released in the Game Room at some point, just watch.

[ubersaurus]

UMK3 had a pretty consistent playerbase, I thought. Hell, I recall hearing the game sold fairly well on XBL. Shame though, that and a few other titles there are pretty good.

[RCM]

Another scary glimpse of the future of videogames.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Another scary glimpse of the future of videogames.

Indeed, users who now want a Midway game on XBLA seem to be SOL, but I think that physical games go out of print far more frequently than DLC games are removed from digital circulation.

Except for a situation like this where it's a "rights issue" or the occasional oddball "store cleanup" (Double Dragon, Yaris, etc.) we rarely see much pulled from XBLA, PSN, VC, etc.

Can anybody confirm if the PSN Midway titles were pulled as well?

[Cryomancer]

Some of those have code cards I believe, I wonder what happens if you put one of those in now.

[Porksta]

Weren't those games all 400pts? perhaps MS doesn't want people to buy Arcade games so low...

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Robotron 2084 and Joust had point cards, for the person that asked. Good question...

[TonyTheTiger]

Indeed, users who now want a Midway game on XBLA seem to be SOL, but I think that physical games go out of print far more frequently than DLC games are removed from digital circulation.

I think what bugs people is that it happens so suddenly. One day, it's there for the taking. The next, it's gone forever. When a PS2 game goes out of print it's still possible to get a copy.

I think contract issues between Midway and MS are probably the cause because, as far as I know, Warner Bros. bought all of Midway's assets so it's not like there could be that much of a conflict. The games might end up coming back online once the few kinks are worked out.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I think what bugs people is that it happens so suddenly. One day, it's there for the taking. The next, it's gone forever. When a PS2 game goes out of print it's still possible to get a copy.

I think contract issues between Midway and MS are probably the cause because, as far as I know, Warner Bros. bought all of Midway's assets so it's not like there could be that much of a conflict. The games might end up coming back online once the few kinks are worked out.

Of course, I completely "get" why people are frustrated, I was just illustrating that physical distribution has the same instances of things being cut off from a distribution standpoint.

And of course we feel it less because of the used marketplace/resellers. But, TECHNICALLY there are pitfalls there too, if supply < demand then you have inflated prices at resale which would never ever take place via a DLC market environment where the price is almost always stable or decreasing over the course of time.

But, I'm not looking to un-cork a debate over this whole thing. I'm just playing devil's advocate that the grass isn't completely greener on the physical distribution side of things. Stupid shit happens there too.

I do ultimately think it SUCKS that the games were pulled and the impact of this kind of thing in a DLC market is absolutely painful to the gaming masses.

[TonyTheTiger]

You're right that there are problems on both sides. The pitfalls are just different.

I do wonder what the repercussions of this will be, though. Are we going to eventually see 360 HDDs selling for a premium second hand because they have a game that's been pulled off the service?

[Leo_A]

Glad I have the ones that interest me (All of them except Cyberball, Paperboy, and UMK).

I'm surprised they've been on there the past year, I expected to see them be pulled a year ago when the bankruptcy process was initiated.

I wonder what this indicates? The only thing I can think of is it means Warner has sold the IP to another firm.

Was the Midway content on PSN affected (Championship Sprint, Gauntlet II, Joust, Mortal Kombat II, Rampage World Tour, and Rampart)?



I think contract issues between Midway and MS are probably the cause because, as far as I know, Warner Bros. bought all of Midway's assets so it's not like there could be that much of a conflict. The games might end up coming back online once the few kinks are worked out.

What contract issues? As far as I'm aware, Warner has closed on the deal and this stuff has belonged to them for quite sometime, so I'm confused on how it's related to Midway's bankruptcy and Warner's aquisition. But they've also been selling off bits of Midway's IP since last Fall. Perhaps they've resold some of Midway's classic back catalog to a different firm or it's been delisted in anticipation of the upcoming Game Room release?



I do wonder what the repercussions of this will be, though. Are we going to eventually see 360 HDDs selling for a premium second hand because they have a game that's been pulled off the service?

I can guarantee you that won't happen. You need more than just the file. If you purchase a used HDD with this content on it, you'd only have demo access to any of it since your account never purchased any of it. You can't unlock it to play the full game. I can go back right now and download the Cyberball and Paperboy demos since I downloaded them in the past, but I have no way to unlock it to play the full game.



Microsoft has been waiting to get rid of these for a while...low metacritic, no online base, and they're rereleased retro titles. They'll be released in the Game Room at some point, just watch.

They've backed off their delisting plan. Everything that has disappeared was a limited time promotion (Such as Yaris) or was because of rights issues (Such as Double Dragon). So I can promise you that they weren't delisted because of things like low Metacritic scores.

I too wonder if it has to do with Game Room. But there doesn't appear to be any indication yet that classic Midway (And Atari Games and Williams) content is slated to be on there.

What I really hope is Warner pulled them due to planning a new Midway Arcade Treasures release that brings all the previous content from MAT1-3 together while addressing issues and including another round of 15-20 new games. We're seeing companies decide that compilations aren't dead the past couple of years after a slow period during the early part of this generation when we were only seeing $5 digital downloads.

So maybe Warner is planning to cash in on the back catalog they've purchased.

[Gameguy]

Weren't those games already released for the original Xbox on one of the several Midway compilations that came out? Why not just use that, aren't Xbox discs compatible with the 360 too?

[Leo_A]

Weren't those games already released for the original Xbox on one of the several Midway compilations that came out? Why not just use that, aren't Xbox discs compatible with the 360 too?

The Midway Arcade Treasures line was never made backwards compatible. They were all on the first release with the exception of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, which was never included on any MAT release.

[Mayhem]

And here's me thinking when I heard the news they were gonna show up in the new Games Room instead and this was a pre-emptive cull. Maybe not then...

[gepeto]

Quick question. If your hard drive crashes can the purchased games be recovered?

[Leo_A]

Quick question. If your hard drive crashes can the purchased games be recovered?

Already been covered a few times in this thread. If you ever downloaded it, you can still download it from your account's download history. This doesn't affect people that have purchased a game.

That even includes demos. If for some reason you ever tried the demo for something like Robotron 2084 and never made the purchase, it's still in your download history. You're free to redownload the demo (Though why you would when you can't even purchase it to unlock the full game, I don't know why).

[shopkins]

I wonder if they'll continue to support the online play for UMK3? I've only tried it a couple of times, but it was sort of fun.

[Leo_A]

I wonder if they'll continue to support the online play for UMK3? I've only tried it a couple of times, but it was sort of fun.

Midway has nothing to do with it, so I'm sure they will. It's using Xbox Live's standard matchmaking ability and player hosted servers.

There's nothing for Midway/Warner to turn off on their end.

[gepeto]

Already been covered a few times in this thread. If you ever downloaded it, you can still download it from your account's download history. This doesn't affect people that have purchased a game.

That even includes demos. If for some reason you ever tried the demo for something like Robotron 2084 and never made the purchase, it's still in your download history. You're free to redownload the demo (Though why you would when you can't even purchase it to unlock the full game, I don't know why).


Thanks I have been so busy lately. I have only been able to stop and pop Look.

On UltimateMk3 The controls response with the 360 pad were just bad. Or maybe the game is just aging. It is better with the sf pad not much. One funny note I really liked the n64 pad response in mk gold. Whew had to check to see if I had purchased gauntlet. I did. That one was fun.

[chrisbid]

Already been covered a few times in this thread. If you ever downloaded it, you can still download it from your account's download history. This doesn't affect people that have purchased a game.

That even includes demos. If for some reason you ever tried the demo for something like Robotron 2084 and never made the purchase, it's still in your download history. You're free to redownload the demo (Though why you would when you can't even purchase it to unlock the full game, I don't know why).

are you sure about that? i downloaded the demo for space giraffe, and though the game was removed from xbla, i still have the option to purchase the game.

i have not tried to do this, but i assumed xbla demos were simply full versions laying dormant on the hard drive waiting to be unlocked.

[Mayhem]

are you sure about that? i downloaded the demo for space giraffe, and though the game was removed from xbla, i still have the option to purchase the game.

Except Space Giraffe hasn't been removed, so that might explain why...

[PapaStu]

If memory serves, if you've downloaded any game that has been pulled (this came out when they first brought up the whole Meta critic ratings / sales BS a long while back to justify delisting games) they said (because the demos for XBLA games are the FULL game) that you can still 'buy' it because you've still got access to it. I have dl'd the Robotron 2084 demo and never bought it. I'll try to re-dl it and buy it and i'll report what happens.


There is also a UMK3 download card out there, I see it in Target's all the time. I'm going to go hunt down one of those cards now too.

[Vectorman0]

There is also a UMK3 download card out there, I see it in Target's all the time. I'm going to go hunt down one of those cards now too.

It won't work.

[RCM]

Indeed, users who now want a Midway game on XBLA seem to be SOL, but I think that physical games go out of print far more frequently than DLC games are removed from digital circulation.

Except for a situation like this where it's a "rights issue" or the occasional oddball "store cleanup" (Double Dragon, Yaris, etc.) we rarely see much pulled from XBLA, PSN, VC, etc.

Can anybody confirm if the PSN Midway titles were pulled as well?

My issue comes down to publisher control and consumers lack of it in the digital age. Titles with even the smallest of print runs are almost guaranteed to be (legally) preserved by communities like ours while digital titles don’t necessarily have that luxury.

Upstart organizations such as The ECA could be very important in future generations. They just have to quit the posturing and figure out a way to be truly relevant.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I've been asking this question for a long time, and no one's ever answered, so could you research this possibly as well PapaStu?

Originally, Microsoft said that the games would be delisted but still available for download. There was a way to get around this with having a friend recommend the game to you. Is this still available? Is it possible to download the demo/full game this way as well? The only game I don't own that has been delisted is Speedball 2, and I've been wanting to play that game for a long time...

[scottw182]

Well, I purchased Smash TV just in time, but missed out on UMK3...that sucks.

[gepeto]

I had the defender demo the buy it. It was listed for free. When I try to buy it said error status code 80153003

[heybtbm]

No more Gauntlet? It was the first XBLA game I bought 4 years ago. According to the article, since I bought the full version I can re-download it at any time. Um...yeah right.

$10 says this will not be supported (or available) once the "Xbox 720" comes out. If my 360 hard drive dies in a few years, I'm betting that this game is gone forever.

Que the "b-b-b-but Microsoft never said you'd own it forever" crowd.

[Leo_A]

are you sure about that? i downloaded the demo for space giraffe, and though the game was removed from xbla, i still have the option to purchase the game.

i have not tried to do this, but i assumed xbla demos were simply full versions laying dormant on the hard drive waiting to be unlocked.

In a game that has been delisted, you're still shown the option of purchasing the full game because the game hasn't been reprogrammed to disable that option from appearing. If you give it a try with a game that has been delisted that you have the demo of, you'll discover you can't complete the purchase (I've tried it with Double Dragon). The demo is the full version of the game, that's how XBLA demos work. But since purchasing it disabled, you won't be able to unlock it out of demo mode to access the full thing.


If memory serves, if you've downloaded any game that has been pulled (this came out when they first brought up the whole Meta critic ratings / sales BS a long while back to justify delisting games) they said (because the demos for XBLA games are the FULL game) that you can still 'buy' it because you've still got access to it. I have dl'd the Robotron 2084 demo and never bought it. I'll try to re-dl it and buy it and i'll report what happens.


There is also a UMK3 download card out there, I see it in Target's all the time. I'm going to go hunt down one of those cards now too.

I don't know about the download card since it can be argued that the purchase was made when the card was bought, but you won't be able to purchase Robotron 2084.

[ubersaurus]

are you sure about that? i downloaded the demo for space giraffe, and though the game was removed from xbla, i still have the option to purchase the game.

i have not tried to do this, but i assumed xbla demos were simply full versions laying dormant on the hard drive waiting to be unlocked.

Far as I know, Space Giraffe is still on XBLA.

[The 1 2 P]

If memory serves, if you've downloaded any game that has been pulled (this came out when they first brought up the whole Meta critic ratings / sales BS a long while back to justify delisting games) they said (because the demos for XBLA games are the FULL game) that you can still 'buy' it because you've still got access to it. I have dl'd the Robotron 2084 demo and never bought it. I'll try to re-dl it and buy it and i'll report what happens.

It won't work. I've tried buying the full Double Dragon game from the OXM demo disc and it won't allow the download to access despite having the link to do so directly from the demo menu.

[s1lence]

It won't work. I've tried buying the full Double Dragon game from the OXM demo disc and it won't allow the download to access despite having the link to do so directly from the demo menu.

That would be correct. You can only play the full version if you bought them in the past. You may have to click unlock full and download again, but it will only let you do that if you already have purchased it.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

FYI The Midway catalog is still available on PSN and online matches still work.

[BHvrd]

If it would have been made where people who had bought the game couldn't download the game anymore then it would be an issue.

The reason I will NEVER buy a video off of the PSN store is cause once you download it that's it, no redownload. Seriously the PSN video store will never see a dime from me.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

If it would have been made where people who had bought the game couldn't download the game anymore then it would be an issue.

The reason I will NEVER buy a video off of the PSN store is cause once you download it that's it, no redownload. Seriously the PSN video store will never see a dime from me.

If you delete a video from your Playstation or PSP you can re-download once by contacting Sony Customer Service directly. They'll credit your account for the movie/tv download.

Per Sony's video store TOS "Consumer service can issue a redownload as a one-time courtesy, as provided by our guidelines, for the title to allow the consumer to go back and download the movie from their PSN download list."

So, techincally, it's not a "never-ever" situation, just not as free-reign as game DLC.

[heybtbm]

The reason I will NEVER buy a video off of the PSN store is cause once you download it that's it, no redownload.


...iTunes has the same policy. I guess Sony/Apple think hard drives never fail.