Portal size the XBLA exception, not new rule
by Justin McElroy 
{ Oct 30th 2008 at 12:15PM }
The company told us, "We have set file limits as a general guideline. An important part of Xbox LIVE Arcade is easy access and keeping file size down is a vital part of that. Equally important is offering titles with superior game play. We weigh both considerations on a case-by-case basis, and will make exceptions when it makes sense to ensure the best customer experience."
Hope you don't mind inferior quality pictures of guys in funny hats, because it seems that's what you're getting.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Marty @ Oct 30th 2008 12:23PM
Portal is a good game, but there are some pretty great games on XBLA that don't even hit the 100mb mark. I think it's safe to say that file size rarely has much to do with the quality of the game in terms of gameplay.
dark_inchworm @ Oct 30th 2008 12:23PM
"629 MB Picture Of A Guy Wearing A Funny Hat"
That's one hell of a high-definition photograph.
Mr Khan @ Oct 30th 2008 12:46PM
Try .PICT format. 32 bits/pixel
Though it would still have to be very large. Normal photos in that format clocked in at about 6-6.5 MB
John Z @ Oct 30th 2008 1:16PM
That's a long way to go for a Rickroll, but Joystiq's a group that does it!
Toasty Toaster Man @ Oct 30th 2008 12:23PM
I sure GLaD that this is settled.
Sam @ Oct 30th 2008 12:34PM
booooo!
:(
that pun made me a sad panda.
Jody Anthony (gamertag and psn: JodyAnthony) @ Oct 30th 2008 12:54PM
don't you mean sad PUNda?
instantrimshot.com
AwesomeTown @ Oct 30th 2008 12:23PM
Yea, I think I would make an exception for Portal, too.
Obie @ Oct 30th 2008 12:26PM
With games and demo's clocking around the 1 Gig.
Why can't we just buy new games directly off XBL, A la Steam? A full game should be around 4GB on average right?
I would not mind downloading Dead Space, Gears 2 and Left 4 Dead instead of dealing with brain-dead GameStop stooges.
The Aggie CEO @ Oct 30th 2008 1:04PM
FACT!!!!
Tiptup300 @ Oct 30th 2008 1:08PM
PCs have really cheap ginormous harddrives where people don't complain about big files.
360s....don't.
Supino @ Oct 30th 2008 12:30PM
"We have set file limits as a general guideline"
this doesn't make much sense - So, devs can just break those "guidelines" if the game is über awesome?
there is a huge differance between a limit and a guideline...
Danny F. @ Oct 30th 2008 12:38PM
I agree, sounds more like favoritism in the end...
Not that Im against portal or anything, I love the game. Just sucks certain developers are limited to such a rule while others can get away with it.
I remember hearing Castle Crashers had to cut a few things in order to make the limit. If thats the case why couldnt they get an exception, I wouldve payed for CC over portal anyday since portals been out for ages now.
aristokrat @ Oct 30th 2008 4:32PM
I like the guidelines. It makes developers more efficient, forcing them to think a little more about what to include or how to include it. How do you know the stuff cut from CC wasn't a random kart level or something? Paring the gristle from the meat can only be a good thing, and if you can prove to Microsoft that you have more meat than the average steak, they'll let you unload a nice juicy porterhouse.
(That oddly devolved into an unexpected beef analogy that I hadn't expected...)
WhatIsThatThing @ Oct 30th 2008 4:51PM
FACT: All video games can be compared to beef.
Just look at the immortal words of Ken Kutaragi (whose insanity lives on in each of our hearts).
Billy @ Oct 30th 2008 12:36PM
I'm sorry, I love my 360 but Microsoft is just frikking retarded to enforce any type of limit at all.
I'm hoping the recent rumors that Valve is "reconsidering" the PS3 are true. Valve - Sony has no size limitations, and in fact many large, full size games are available for download from their store. Stop putting up with MS's bullshit Arcade limitations and come play with the big boys!
Snowblind @ Oct 30th 2008 4:03PM
Actually a few developers have pointed out that Sony do infact have a size limit. Although it's so large it's not really worth worrying about, but it's apparantly something they don't like people talking about.
But yeah, I agree. Microsoft need to remove this cap.
serialman @ Oct 30th 2008 12:49PM
"this doesn't make much sense - So, devs can just break those 'guidelines' if the game is über awesome?"
I'm willing to bet that MS reviews the code first in order to see if it's as compressed as can possibly be while still retaining the original vision.
I'm still wondering why people are still up in arms about this limit, myself. As someone else stated, XBL has quite a few great games that come nowhere near the limitation mark. And from the looks of it, MS seems to only let dev teams with a history of good game design (i.e. Konami being the first, Capcom with Bionic Commando, Valve being the most recent) take advantage of the whole "exception to the rule" bit. Think about it; do we really want our HDDs eaten up with Popcap games that are a lot bigger than they have any right to be?
Ignatius @ Oct 30th 2008 1:40PM
I guess when you have the Elite, it isn't a problem. Then again, with NXE's whole game-on-HDD awesomeness, my 92GB will slowly disappear.
born2kill @ Oct 30th 2008 12:48PM
MS is so full of crap. Basically you are limited unless you can be used as a bullet point in an E3 type conference to stick it to Sony. It has nothing to do with quality since obviously they greenlighted it long before the game was complete. Whatever
serialman @ Oct 30th 2008 12:50PM
By all means, please list all the wonderful games that were refused by MS due to their size limitations.
ExMcCloud @ Oct 30th 2008 1:14PM
Serial has a point....I think MS is going with the Trial approach prove u can make a great game then we'll see what we can do for you next time....BRAID did it so I bet the next time that guy makes a game they'll up the ante for him.
born2kill @ Oct 30th 2008 2:32PM
@Serialman... The games that were tacitly refused by MS are games that were never made. So asking for a list of these 'wonderful games' makes no sense. Obviously I could only know that they are wonderful, if they were actually made and published, so I couldve played them. I'm confident though that had there not been a size limit in the first place, we'd have seen more games at this mark than just Portal. Maybe Episodes 1 and 2 couldve been there. Maybe under selling games like Test Drive Unlimited couldve reached more people. Lots of possibilities but the world will never know.
@ExMcloud.... No thats not what theyre doing. They know that all these companys have the potential to make good games. But thats not what they want. They want the hype. If you have a game that can be used to generate a ton of hype for the 360 platform, during important times when the gaming press is focused on them, then they might bend the rules for you (or maybe bribe you to bring it exclusively to their service). If you dont have mega hype behind your game, then dont bother asking (nor will MS be asking you for it). Most 360 games are pretty good and worthy of being made downloadable. But somehow only Portal gets the nod?? And just in time for E3?? Sure thats plausible. You really think theres no other good games that've been proposed??
T @ Oct 30th 2008 4:29PM
So you're saying that Microsoft has rejected all of these magical games because they exceed the size limit, but have no proof of any games rejected this reason.
And yes, it would be possible to prove a game was rejected for this reason, as there are numerous articles made regarding the XBL size constraints...any one of which could be the starting point to tracking down examples of where a game was proposed but never went anywhere.
Absence of proof does not proof make.
Karen @ Oct 30th 2008 12:50PM
Microsoft just make a new download store called Xbox Live downloadable games and have games larger then what you limit. Live arcade games is getting a filled up with game that are not Arcade games anyway. Clean up the Market Place by adding a new store, your customers and game developers will be happier.
Night Elve @ Oct 30th 2008 12:51PM
I really don't understand why to impose a size limit, the only thing that it comes to my mind is maybe to save bandwidth.
Huey2k2 @ Oct 30th 2008 1:00PM
The size limit is in place for people who don't have HD's. The idea is that people with memory cards should be able to download arcade games and have them fit on a memory card.
Personally I think it's dumb, if you don't have a HD, you really shouldn't bother with live IMO.
Ignatius @ Oct 30th 2008 1:44PM
If you were a big enough sucker to buy the 'tard pack (Core/Arcade), then you get what you paid for.
Seriously, I wish they had never released an Xbox 360 without an HDD, it would have made things a lot simpler and a lot better.
However, these $30 20GB drives are gonna be a real help to get rid of all the HDD-less 360s out there. No developer should be shackled by the lowest common denominator when it comes to the Xbox 360's HDD-less SKU...
Weewoot @ Oct 30th 2008 1:01PM
700mb is considered big? When did this happen? I have not considered a 700mb big for...I don't know, 8 years now?
hoagie @ Oct 30th 2008 1:08PM
Meh, don't know why everyone's getting into a twist over it. They said 'case by case basis'. Basically if it's a good game and its warranted (Portal), then ok. If its a crap game that could do some trimming, then no.
Makes more sense to be upset about the hard drive space/pricing issue. With games like Portal weighing in at 629MB, demos at over 1GB, and the game disc to hard drive feature in the next update, I'd like to see hard drives reasonably priced or user upgradeable (officially).
umm....hello??? @ Oct 30th 2008 1:09PM
for some reason I thought that this was supposed to be a SEQUEL or EXPANSION to TheOrangeBox's Portal, but it is in fact exactly the same game with slightly different Achievements. I feel ripped off (although I enjoyed playing the game--but I didn't need to buy it TWICE).
Wise Guy @ Oct 30th 2008 2:58PM
Is this really the same game? I tried the demo and loved it! Did they add new levels or anything? If it's the same as the Orange Box... I'll just pick that one up instead!
Vidikron @ Oct 30th 2008 4:20PM
I think there are 14 new levels in the XBLA version. But they are outside of the main story line and thus don't feature GLaDOS (that computer that talks to you while playing the demo), but they're still some additional levels to play. So if you don't have Portal and aren't really interested in the rest of The Orange Box then I'd say go get the XBLA version.
umm....hello??? @ Oct 30th 2008 5:52PM
if there were new levels I guess I didn't realize it...guess I'll have to plow back through the OrangeBox version and the XBLA version again to compare......a real hardship, I know...;). otherwise yes, I would agree with Vidikron if you don't want the rest of the OrangeBox then Portal: Still Alive is a great value for x360 owners...
Poke4Christ @ Oct 30th 2008 1:10PM
Funny how Microsofts huge requirement of proprietary drives and the huge markup in price there in can come back and bite them in the ass like this. Now people can't have enough space to buy the content they want to sell.
Cobra951 @ Oct 30th 2008 4:39PM
All these comments calling for removing size limits make me wince. I don't think you're seeing the big picture. I *have* a hard drive, the 20GB one that came with my 360, and which actually has only 13 GB of user space. That's for *all* content, not just a few games. I don't rip CD music to it or anything like that, but it's still a chore to keep enough space available as it is. I don't want to have to delete things I've bought just so I can fit one or two huge games. If MS wanted to send me a free 60GB drive and transfer kit in the mail next time I bought something on XBLA, it would be a different story.
Having no limits encourages bloat. There has to be some reasonable control in place.
umm....hello??? @ Oct 30th 2008 5:57PM
especially if you're one of those people that imported all your RB1 songs over to RB2, in addition to Burnout: Paradise extra content, Halo3 maps, CoD4 maps, GoW maps, and RB DLC songs, and game saves (some games require larger files), a few XBLA games--
I have 4gigs left for demos (all music deleted--run off USB stick anyway, no profile pix except for the one I use, all demos and xbla trial games deleted after playing through).
....time to upgrade!