Xbox Live Arcade
56
MENTIONS
32
EPISODES
31
PODCASTS
Search complete. 56 mentions across 32 episodes found for "Xbox Live Arcade".
Oct 27, 2026
Nathan GraysonHOST
yeah,
Mike FutterGUEST
digital only games on Xbox Live Arcade needed a AAA publisher who had an account and had a relationship with the platform.
Nathan GraysonHOST
Well, yeah.
Nathan GraysonHOST
And so, I mean, I guess like maybe to bring that kind of full circle, some of the pieces that I read about kind of the direction things are headed, again, going back to that issue of AAA just not being an amazing investment these days because of the low chance of a good return.
Christopher DringHOST
Now, Sax knows this world better than anyone.
Christopher DringHOST
He played a senior role looking after Xbox Live Arcade back in the day.
Christopher DringHOST
He also launched Project Spark, which was a game creation title that Microsoft was making.
Christopher DringHOST
And then after that, he became Mojang Studios' chief creative officer and vice president overseeing the Minecraft franchise.
Sax PerssonGUEST
When I started, it was certainly access to equipment.
Sax PerssonGUEST
It was like, I don't know.
Sax PerssonGUEST
deaf kids like to develop on the genesis like way back in the time and then like coding became in like a pretty big mode and i really think like like one of the big advantages of of new coding models is it allows people to make games including logic like end to end like to express themselves i think that That's always been what drove me through Fortnite, through Minecraft, before that Project Spark, before that I ran Xbox Live Arcade.
Sax PerssonGUEST
It's the, how do you give game makers access to make games and a place to publish it? It's such a fun problem to tackle.
David KassinHOST
So in 2008, with that partnership freshly formed, two much larger companies kind of started paying attention to Macmillan independently of each other because he was starting to gain notoriety with the stuff that he was making.
David KassinHOST
Both Microsoft and and Nintendo reached out about bringing his Flash work to their respective download services, which Microsoft had Xbox Live Arcade and Nintendo had WiiWare.
David KassinHOST
Now, Macmillan's first pitch to Microsoft was a sequel to GISH.
David KassinHOST
Nintendo, for their part, was interested in an expanded version of a different one of his games, which was a moody atmospheric piece called Ether.
11 MINS LATER
David KassinHOST
And the bookend on a Wii release closed.
David KassinHOST
On February 23rd, 2010, McMillan posted the news himself directly to Newgrounds.
David KassinHOST
Super Meat Boy, he wrote, was now headed to Xbox Live Arcade alongside PC and Mac versions, with the Xbox release landing first specifically due to contractual obligations.
David KassinHOST
He was careful in that same post to kind of correct the record a little.
ChrisPANELIST
Then, in
BenPANELIST
2007, I got my Xbox 360, and Street Fighter II was on Xbox Live Arcade, or it was a downloadable.
BenPANELIST
I'm not quite entirely sure how it worked, but...
BenPANELIST
It had an online component.
KainitsuHOST
Because that was the time where a lot of Japanese developers and publishers were trying to be more Western.
KainitsuHOST
And they made this game for like Xbox Live Arcade.
KainitsuHOST
And it was like Bobberman something.
KainitsuHOST
I can't remember.
Daemon HatfieldHOST
... of many games that are trapped on WiiWare.
Nick LimonHOST
Then there was that Xbox Live Arcade, like, party Metroidvania.
Sam ClaibornHOST
Yeah, the 3D one.
Nick LimonHOST
It was, like, what, Harmony, Harmony of Despair or something?
38 MINS LATER
Daemon HatfieldHOST
They released Trials as a browser game, then they released Trials HD-
Nick LimonHOST
Mm
Daemon HatfieldHOST
... on Xbox Live Arcade in 2009.
Justin DavisHOST
Oh.
JackHOST
Somebody publishes your game that helps you get a, um, a, a console dev kit, right? Like you can't really get those unless you have a publisher.
JackHOST
So there are plenty of indie games that ended up on consoles through things like the Xbox Arcade whenever they were kind of helping indie developers do that.
JackHOST
Or these days, now that that's not really a thing, people still kind of have to have a publisher to get a dev kit to be on like the PlayStation Store or Xbox Store, but they're still indie games, right?
DrexyHOST
Well, I think the easiest way to look at it is because I th- I, well, I believe the term comes from music, right? Where you have indie music, and a lot of indie music was released on independent labels, which basically meant it's owned by one person or maybe a small group of people rather than a corporation.
Daemon HatfieldHOST
many games that are trapped on WiiWare.
Nick LimonPANELIST
Then there was that Xbox Live arcade, like, party Metroidvania.
Daemon HatfieldHOST
Yeah, the 3D one.
Nick LimonPANELIST
It was, like, what, Harmony, Harmony of Despair or something?
33 MINS LATER
Daemon HatfieldHOST
This is a bummer situation.
Daemon HatfieldHOST
RedLynx was founded in 2000.
Daemon HatfieldHOST
They released Trials as a browser game, then they released Trials HD on Xbox Live Arcade in 2009.
Nick LimonPANELIST
Oh.
NathanHOST
But they kind of clip corners on repeating too much of the same stuff to kinda smooth that experience along.
NathanHOST
And it was XBLA and they didn't have much budget, but I thought it was clever.
NathanHOST
[laughs] Uh, I think you're right, though.
NathanHOST
Like, the length of the game, like, it's not exactly the same thing, but knowing there's a bunch of other content I could've seen had I done an entire play through again-
Silent SignsHOST
Mm
Old Gamer JoeHOST
... starting to, like, get noticed more on Xbox Live Arcade and stuff like that.
Old Gamer JoeHOST
In that, like, early 2000s era of indies, there were some strong narratives in indie games.
Old Gamer JoeHOST
Some of these games remain unmatched in my opinion, such as Night in the Woods and To The Moon.
22 more episodes mention Xbox Live Arcade.
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