There are a lot of stories floating around the internet about Microsoft officially increasing the size of XBLA games to a max of 450 MB.
While some developers like Konami are able to create games that exceed the 50MB limit, Microsoft is still atempting to keep the limit in tact. The following should give more insight as to why.
Arcade titles were originally capped at 50 MB max for transmission speed and so they could fit on the 64 MB memory card for Xbox 360 CORE owners. At E3 2006, Microsoft announced a 256 MB memory card and released some pictures of it, but so far it hasn’t reached retailer shelves. Going by the EB Games website, they list this new memory card as shipping March 1st 2007 at a price of $59.99. One has to wonder what the delay is in getting this product to market.
With the expanding popularity of Xbox Live Arcade games, Microsoft has attracted the interest of Konami who wants to bring Castlevania: Sympathy of the Night to XBLA. The problem is that there is currently no way to reduce the game to the 50 MB limit. Unlike Luminies LIVE, which also faced similar problems, Castlevania cannot be broken up into different downloadable chunks. To help make it possible to bring Castlevania to XBLA, Microsoft has granted Konami an exception to the 50 MB cap. In fact, this "rumor" is more of a rehash of our Castlevania news from last week.
Microsoft has not lifted the 50 MB limit. However it seems that if you have a really great game and just can’t get it to fit in 50 MB, you can plead your case and Microsoft may lift the cap up to 256 MB or in very rare cases up to 450 MB max. As always, Microsoft listens to developer and consumer feedback and evolves their service accordingly. Either that or they know Castlevania is just to good a cash cow to pass up. Will let you decide that.
Arcade titles were originally capped at 50 MB max for transmission speed and so they could fit on the 64 MB memory card for Xbox 360 CORE owners. At E3 2006, Microsoft announced a 256 MB memory card and released some pictures of it, but so far it hasn’t reached retailer shelves. Going by the EB Games website, they list this new memory card as shipping March 1st 2007 at a price of $59.99. One has to wonder what the delay is in getting this product to market.
With the expanding popularity of Xbox Live Arcade games, Microsoft has attracted the interest of Konami who wants to bring Castlevania: Sympathy of the Night to XBLA. The problem is that there is currently no way to reduce the game to the 50 MB limit. Unlike Luminies LIVE, which also faced similar problems, Castlevania cannot be broken up into different downloadable chunks. To help make it possible to bring Castlevania to XBLA, Microsoft has granted Konami an exception to the 50 MB cap. In fact, this "rumor" is more of a rehash of our Castlevania news from last week.
Microsoft has not lifted the 50 MB limit. However it seems that if you have a really great game and just can’t get it to fit in 50 MB, you can plead your case and Microsoft may lift the cap up to 256 MB or in very rare cases up to 450 MB max. As always, Microsoft listens to developer and consumer feedback and evolves their service accordingly. Either that or they know Castlevania is just to good a cash cow to pass up. Will let you decide that.
