Xbox Live Indie Games store now falls under Games & Demos section

In a remarkably quick 180 (for the 360), Microsoft has moved its Xbox Live Indie Games channel back into the "Games & Demos" section of Xbox Live Marketplace. When the fall Dashboard update hit Xbox 360 last week, the Indie Games channel was swept into the "Specialty Shops" section, alongside Avatar clothing items rather than other video games.

The folks most affected by the change -- Xbox Live Indie Game developers -- have taken to the Microsoft forums to celebrate the change, saying, "Microsoft ARE LISTENING! Indie Games are back in the games section! We ARE having an effect. The new placement isnt PERFECT - but its a huge step in the right direction. The icon feels very out of place being such a different style -- and in searches etc. it doesnt look like indie games are included - but we ARE in the games section." The original complaint forum thread has even been changed from "xbligs are not 'games' any longer" to "mourning is over!", giving an indication of just how important the re-categorization was to the XBLIG development community.

Reader Comments (35)

There are good games to be had for cheap in the indie section. One could interpret from this move that MS isn't interested in nurturing young talent. Truly unfortunate if true.

@Tuxy79 (Edit)

move = sweeping Indie under "Specialty" section.

@Tuxy79
the specialty section made sense to me.. now it's a bit like the dorky fat kid is trying to hang with the cool kids

@Mazrael
The problem with your analogy is that even if the indies section is the proverbial "fat kid" of the games sections, it's still a subset of the games category. Socking it away in the specialty store was more like shoving the fat kid in a fish tank and pretending it would benefit from being displayed next to the jelly fish.

@Mazrael

I'm with GeoffSchultz on this.

Microsoft should have just done this initially in response to the criticism instead of giving those B.S. excuses for why it made sense for the section to be lumped in with Avatar stuff only to then do an about-face and put the section where it should be.

@JasonA It takes time to get a decision like this reversed, and they had good reasons for the move. (At least, they thought so.) They can't just bow to the whim of any crackpot.

Once enough people spoke up, they realized it was a bad move after all, and did the right thing.

Before telling others that they should have seen what was 'obvious', try running a company and see how obvious things are from the inside where they have a LOT more data to sift through to make decisions.

Lol. I love you guys.

When MS does something that you don't agree with, you whine, when they fix whatever it is you don't agree with, you whine that they took too long to do it.

It's been like 6 days. And it was a fairly minor issue, that meant a lot to a small amount of people. They listened, you won, grab a Cola or something.

@BlackedOut

You should love those people. When gamers benefit when companies like MS listen to their customers.

Meh. Maybe it was me but I didn't miss such fabulous games like "I made a game in programming class that took me 15 minutes" or "I used RPG Maker VX to make a game and sell it without changing the basic model".

Though that's just me.

@Mama Luigi
You do know there is no RPG Maker system that converts everything magically into C# using the XNA library, right?

Everything is done from scratch.

@Mama Luigi

and you also know that there ARE actually quite a few good games on the indie games?

Just because a person doesnt have a million dollars to drop does not mean they arnt creative, dont have good ideas, or are capable of transferring those ideas to the gaming medium.

Way to closet any new experiences off. Are you the same type of person that labels ALL rap as Garbage? Or that Music now is utter crap?

@Mama Luigi

"I made a game with zombies in it" is actually decent entertainment for a buck. If just for the soundtrack alone.

I need to get around to buying Breath of Death VII.

And so do YOU.

@Acosta02

Already did and already beat it.

Don't give me no sass.

@Acosta02

And after that, Soulcaster!

@Jerk Face

Soulcaster is solid, but I didn't really enjoy it myself. That probably says more about my tastes than anything.

But Arkedo Series: Pixel! on the other hand...

My favorite thank-you quote from the devs:

"For making that change, I am going to use Bing for a WHOLE DAY. That's how much I love you right now."

I do wish there was a way to find the good stuff, though. Most blogs barely mention XBLIG at all. It would be nice to have an online list somewhere with a metacritic-like listing of reviews or looks that will tell me whether its worth my time...

@Petebot330 There's the Highest Rated section. It lists 50 of the top best rated games. Check out all the Radiangames stuff, IMO.

XBLIG needs to be put in the spotlight. On the occasion I see big video game sites covering the games I honestly get shocked. I feel a little guilty for completely ignoring it as well.

@greycolumbus

there is only like 1/2 doz new releases a week. I treat it like the demos section. I go and DL any trials that are new every tues and give em a try. once you do that its easy to stay on top of the good/bad

But I agree, I would love a way to sort by user ratings at least. Kinda like the destination arcade app. Which I also recommend if you buy Arcade games often.

I didn't think it was a big deal. Most Xbox Live-rs know about Indie Games, and even since the update, I still checked the new releases.

@ItsameMatt03

Actually at least according to the guys who made Breath of Death VII, their sales dropped around 40-50% during this time period.

Power-ups to the people!

Well done indie devs! Too bad I can't download indie games over here in The Netherlands but whatever, P!

Thank goodness Indie games are more hidden now and Game Room is more visible lol. So I guess it's win/win for everyone?

@yamayamayaamaa

Sarcasm?

Indie games are back where they belong. Now, if only they would change everything else back to the way it was. The current setup features less windows on screen at a time, and they even slowed down scrolling. I'm sure we were all clamoring for a slower experience, right?

I bet they made a lot of money last week though.

I'm more concerned with why some indie games aren't categorized as indie.

@Fallensky

What?

"specialty shops".....whatever the f*** that means....

Now, if they'll move the Game Room to the same location,
nobody will be left out in the cold.

Now, if Game Room can be placed in the same area, all
wrongs will be righted.

Xbox Live Indie Games store now falls under Games & Demos section

Reader Comments (35)

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:23AM Tuxy79 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:24AM Tuxy79 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:47AM Mazrael said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 12:37PM GeoffSchultz said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 12:53PM Tuxy79 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:24AM JasonA said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:58AM WC said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 12:11PM BlackedOut said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 2:48PM Tuxy79 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:26AM Mama Luigi said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:39AM Alexisonfire said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 12:28PM MonKENy said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 1:33PM Ordeith said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:27AM Acosta02 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:39AM Alexisonfire said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 2:33PM Jerk Face said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 3:30PM Alexisonfire said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:37AM DudeGuyMan said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:46AM Petebot330 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 12:32PM darthisurus said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:52AM greycolumbus said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 12:31PM MonKENy said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:55AM ItsameMatt03 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 4:03PM zerokku said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:58AM SEGA Scream said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 12:23PM jameskond said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 12:47PM yamayamayaamaa said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 12:54PM Tuxy79 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 1:07PM mjp19xx said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 1:17PM Bubbameister33 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 1:28PM Fallensky said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 2:16PM Tiptup300 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 2:24PM ChomskyKnows said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:00PM GlassAgate said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:55PM GlassAgate said

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