Indie Dev's hit out at new dashboard...

by Guest Tue 2 Nov 2010 - 14:13

The Xbox 360's newly launched dashboard has been met with criticism from developers of Xbox LIVE Indie Games as the console's bake your own service is demoted to its darkest corner.

Once a prominent part of the Game Marketplace, Xbox LIVE Indie Games are now bundled together with the Avatar Marketplace and Game Room as part of a new section titled Speciality Shops – a move that has attracted derision from developers.

"I'd like to know the rationale behind it - at least then the community could try and come up with constructive alternatives, rather than being pushed further into obscurity," said App Hub forum user and developer of Indie title Clover Deej in comments picked up by Gamastura.

Since their inception in 2008 Xbox LIVE Indie Games have become a home of the weird and the wonderful.

Paul Croft of Mediatonic, developer of recent Xbox Indie title Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess, were less damning of the update.

"While there are some fantastic games on the Indie Channel and some very talented developers using the service it is a bit of a mish mash of content," he told IGN, "There are quite a few things on the channel which are not 'games' in a traditional sense so I can see the case for reorganization."

"I don't think the move to a new section will impact sales too significantly for many game developers. A larger issue is the discoverability of games within the channel itself and I think it's great to see that Microsoft addressing this by featuring 50 games now instead of the top 20."

Microsoft's update for the Xbox 360 went live yesterday, bringing a swathe of changes to the Xbox's dashboard. We've approached Microsoft for comment on the story.

by **MAVERiCK FWG** Wed 3 Nov 2010 - 18:50

i dont like the new dash its awful

Indie Dev's hit out at new dashboard...

Indie Dev's hit out at new dashboard...

Re: Indie Dev's hit out at new dashboard...