Finally: The Xbox Live Community Game Index

Rocket Fart is brilliant! How dare you!

I've heard that game ratings are coming for games you purchase. Any truth to that rumor?

I think it's the one thing that holds Live back. I would have probably bought more games, movies, and other content if I knew how people felt about them.

But, if they institute ratings, would devlopers still have an incentive to make demos? That is, would MS have to drop the demo requirement for arcade games if we were allowed to rate?

This should be totally awesome. I know there are plenty of community games worth trying, especially in this dry release spell.

I’m still a bit bitter about this whole rating thing, to be honest.
Microsoft offer a (relatively) simple tool to create virtually any game, they allow you to let your programs into their closed network… and they let you charge for them.
Has any console maker ever made such concessions before? Did anyone ever think such a crazy thing would be allowed? Did I miss Sony’s amateur game club?

And we are harping on about ratings? Really?
Are these mini-developers somehow incapable of promoting their own games? Is it that hard to post a few screen shots and a description on a few forums? Seriously?
It’s not Microsoft’s problem to promote your games, people! They have given you a platform you can work with, not an all-expenses paid cruse to developer land.

It all sounds like; “Waah, I’ve made some crap flash game, and while everything has been provided for me, I wand someone to sell it for me too! Waaah!”

Rocket Fart? *god does a face palm*

Some good points.

I certainly think that this site is a good thing. More than that, I’d say that it is a necessary thing. But, honestly, it’s something that the development community should have handled for themselves.

And while some folk may be trying to drum up attention, they aren’t doing a massively good job. Other the Joystiq and Joystiq Xbox, I also visit Evil Avatar, CoG and Kotaku – and I hardly see any self-promotion there.
If you have a great game, and can provide some great screenshots, there is no reason you can’t get your game out there.

I guess my argument is just that Microsoft has provided an amazing opportunity, which no other console manufacturer has ever provided before. Before this generation, no one would have thought that anyone would allow average users to publish content on a closed platform – let alone charge for them.

Lastly, as I am in New Zealand I have yet to buy any community content. Using a US account I can download trails, but not buy – which is super retarded as there is content from New Zealanders on there.
I have downloaded a lot of trials, and few stand out. There have been a few gems Id buy if I could – a few adventure games and one neat platform-rpg. Sadly, the gems are few and far in between.
There have been comments that the number of trial downloads far outweigh the copies actually brought. Perhaps instead of blaming the lack of a rating system, they should look at why people trying their games don’t want to buy.

And while I’m ranting, Joystiq Xbox doesn’t have that much stuff that is different from the main site. A ‘Community Game of the Week’ is exactly the kind of thing we should be seeing from the old Xbox Fanboy crew.
How ‘bout it, guys?

You aren't hearing what everyone is saying. It's not that easy to just "promote" your game and suddenly sales appear. Have you not been reading the news that sales have been low for everyone, where some people have sold elss than a hundred copies? This isn't a one-off thing. This is universal.

Now, the "most Popular" listing features Rumble Massage, Remote Masseuse, Rocket Fart, DrumKit and Aquarium HD. Do you really think that those games are in the top ten because they have had the most promotion? Not a chance.

How about Weapon of Choice, CarneyVale Showtime, Halfbrick Blast Off or Miner Dig Deep? They have had more mainstream expsosure than anyone and are universally regarded as the best games on XBLCG, yet are nowhere to be found in the Most Popular section. And even the games in the Most Popular section aren't selling very well. XBLCG needs more exposure and the perception that all XBLCG are crap needs to change. You'll find on almost any forum about XBLCG you'll have several people blindly saying that they would never buy anything from CG because all the games are crappy.

The service needs more promotion as a whole, and from what I've read on the XNA forums, selling your game isn't as easy as posting some screenshots on a few forums, as you suggested.

Rocket Fart?
Really?