Lost Cities no longer found on XBLA

by Alexander Sliwinski { Apr 16th 2009 at 1:30PM }

We've confirmed with Major Nelson that the now-aptly named Lost Cities has disappeared from Xbox Live Arcade. Apparently, not too many folks were actually looking for the game, as our inbox holds an overlooked tip about its missingness dating back to March 4th.

The game was published by Sierra last summer, but we presume that those rights transferred over to Activision Blizzard in "The Merger." Microsoft currently has no further details on why the game was pulled, though Major Nelson remarks that it's only the second game to be pulled from the service (the first being Yaris). In case you were wondering, this has nothing to do with poorly performing XBLA titles being delisted from XBLA, that program hasn't yet been implemented -- and likely never will.

[Thanks Josh and Jeremy]

Tags: activision, lost-cities, sierra, xbla

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

coleduke @ Apr 16th 2009 1:35PM

It wasn't a bad game. I still have the trial sitting on my hard drive. I guess I won't delete it, just in case I ever really want to buy it.

Benny @ Apr 16th 2009 1:40PM

I play the real version of this. It's a nice simple game at first that has a surprising amount of strategy.

Latin_Trident @ Apr 16th 2009 2:43PM

i own this game and love it! I wish i could play against people online too. If you want to play this game on live, send me a friend request and I will try to organize an online game night.

gt: Latin Trident

BigD145 @ Apr 16th 2009 3:00PM

The Keltis board version is much better.

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Apr 16th 2009 1:43PM

Oh NO!!!!! I was SO Gonna get that Yaris game!!!

They should bring it back!!

Doug @ Apr 16th 2009 7:40PM

Way to be a fucking troll, like always.

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Apr 16th 2009 7:45PM

me a Troll???

like Always???

LMAO!!!

Eat a Dick...

whylekat @ Apr 16th 2009 1:45PM

It looks dumb =P

vidGuy @ Apr 16th 2009 1:46PM

Lost Cities is a lot of fun, I just wish there were people to play against on LIVE.

Latin_Trident @ Apr 16th 2009 2:44PM

CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw @ Apr 16th 2009 5:46PM

I love the actual game but didn't know it was on live...is there any hope for me?

Mazzani @ Apr 16th 2009 1:54PM

I enjoyed the trial, so I bought the full version. I enjoyed th full version, so I bought the actual card game. XBLA should bring it back, people might give it a chance now.

Chicago Mafia @ Apr 16th 2009 2:00PM

Ah, I forgot to buy that one. Too late now, I guess.

aggrazel @ Apr 16th 2009 2:10PM

When I first loaded the trial, I thought, "This is crap, I don't want to sit through a long tutorial" and bailed.

Several months later I loaded it up again when I was bored, went through the tutorial and ended up enjoying it. Considered buying it but I believe it was 800 points and I thought there are much better things in XBLA to spend 800 points on. Perhaps if it were 400 I may have pulled the trigger. For 200 I definitely would have.

Saria the Cat @ Apr 16th 2009 7:39PM

Considering the actual card game costs in the realm of $30, 800 points isn't too bad.

GRT @ Apr 16th 2009 2:21PM

Damn, I had planned to get that one at some point. I really enjoyed the trial...

Rats!

NO PULSE @ Apr 16th 2009 2:24PM

Bummer, I liked this game.

guttertalk @ Apr 16th 2009 2:31PM

I thought that people who own the full game can recommend it to another user, so that it is still possible to download and buy it.

If Mazzini or Benny care to test it, they can try adding me as a friend (garywolf) and recommending the game. I love the card game itself and just went out to try to buy it on XBLA but saw that it was gone.

Justin Colton @ Apr 16th 2009 2:50PM

yeah, please send a recommendation to gamertag oswald if you already own the game...

I know a few people who have been hunting for this and I'd love to get it to them via recommendations.

Josh @ Apr 16th 2009 3:15PM

Lost Cities is a great card game. I wish these companies would announce when they're going to pull a game, this has been on my "to buy" list for a while.

Hopefully, this won't discourage other companies producing board/card games (like the upcoming Dungeon Twister) for XBLA/PSN.

Wizzleteets @ Apr 16th 2009 3:34PM

Didn't Zombies get cancelled too? Yeesh

Nick8708 @ Apr 16th 2009 3:39PM

That's a good idea. They should announce delistings prior to pulling them. It's a standard sales technique ("Buy now before it's gone!").

Overgauss @ Apr 16th 2009 5:15PM

Exactly, give me some Up Front, Race for the Galaxy, War for Edadh, or allow me to play some spear chucking negroes (Umenzi faction) ala Battleground: Fantasy Warfare please.

(I like the umenzi because now brown people can play dress up easier at renfaires etc. Also spear chucking is factual not racist because that's what these voodoo worshiping tribal cats do in this game. I just find the design choices interesting)

To continue... give me other card games like Fairytale, Masquerade, Phantom Rummy, and Dominion. Or perhaps a Mahjhong variant like Mhing. Or TCG like Mythos, Netrunner, ME:tW etc.

If you need to design an entirely new game from scratch due to licensing issues try to keep the nad fondle-ation to a minimum. I really don't need to feel you cupping my balls as you try to piecemeal tax me with absurd booster pack/ expansion pricing etc.

In fact just keep your hands off my balls in general.

KFelon @ Apr 16th 2009 3:59PM

This game wasn't too bad. There's worse games than this that deserve delisting.

ShimmerGeek @ Apr 16th 2009 4:02PM

I'd love it too! I would be eternally grateful if you could recommend it to ShimmerGeek - someone? :) Purrlease? ^^

BigNev44 @ Apr 16th 2009 4:23PM

Please send a recommendation to gamertag Bignev44

Would love to try this game out.

VanIslePimp @ Apr 16th 2009 5:38PM

I also own the full version of this game, but had heard it disappeared around the same time the 2008 Xbox LIVE Arcade Awards started, which was funny due to Lost Cities being nominated for an award in the voting area. Obviously it didn't win, but that might partly have been due to no demo being available for people to try.

BigNev44 @ Apr 16th 2009 6:15PM

Hook me up with a recommendation VanlslePimp, i gotta try the game out since everyone is talking about it.

J F @ Apr 16th 2009 7:00PM

If you liked Lost Cities and want to continue playing an electronic version, head to flexgames.com. They have a free version on there.

Saria the Cat @ Apr 16th 2009 7:41PM

This is one of those board/card games that has been on my radar. Recently purchased Race for the Galaxy and have been very happy with that. This disappearance really is a shame, the more geeky board gamey stuff on XBLA, the better.

Brady @ Apr 16th 2009 9:38PM

There were two other games pulled from the arcade service. The EA Sports Live score tracker and Live draft tracker have both been pulled. I went to DL the score tracker during the NCAA tourney and it was gone. I could download the trial from my history but it would not let me purchase it.