Xbox Originals Interview Up, How's $15 for Fable Sound?Posted 2:56pm Wed Nov 14, 2007 by Shiva Stella
Tags: Xbox 360, Xbox Originals, Microsoft, interview, people, firmware update
1
GameSpot has posted an interesting interview of XBL group marketing manager Aaron Greenberg regarding the new Xbox Originals program set to launch for the Xbox 360 on December 4, alongside the console's next firmware update. The Xbox Originals program enables gamers to download Xbox hits for a flat fee of $15 (1200 Microsoft points), with the first available titles including Fable, Halo, and Psychonauts. Hit the jump for some excerpts and a link or hit the link below.
Excerpt:
GameSpot: Why offer downloadable Xbox games when they're already backwards compatible?
Aaron Greenberg: We've always said we felt like online and digital distribution was the future of this business and I think this is the next step in that evolution, to be able for the first time ever to allow people to digitally download and own full retail games. We've never done that before. Frankly, I think with the exception of Halo, almost all these titles are next to impossible to find at retail anymore, so we're making them very available to consumers who would like to purchase them.
GS: So the work you've done on backwards compatibility is the basis for the Xbox Original releases?
AG: Exactly. You basically download the bits of the game and they have to have passed all our backward compatibility certification and testing. We're only going to make available the ones that we know perform extremely well and have a high quality, if that gives you an idea of some of the titles you may see. To start, I think we have a good lineup. To be able to download them, own them, and if you delete them you can download them again, it's very similar to how Live Arcade games work.
GS: So there won't be enhanced content or added online play in Xbox Originals?
AG: No. What we're basically doing is taking the games as they were originally created and maintaining that. We want to preserve the integrity of what that original game experience was like. If they have online multiplayer, it's there. Whatever functionality was built into that original game is what people will get.
GS: We know about Xbox Originals and the Family timer controls. What else will be included in the December 4 update?
AG: At this point we haven't gotten into any of the other details. Just like any other update, there will be changes to the dashboard and the blades, cosmetic stuff. We always have fine-tuning of playback of movies and music. But at this point, we're going to wait closer until that date, probably the last week of November is when we'll do a lot of show-and-tell with everyone in the media so people can see what they're getting. The reason why we do that mainly is because the team is still finalizing and testing a lot of the functionality. There are always a couple of things that are on the bubble.
Aaron Greenberg: We've always said we felt like online and digital distribution was the future of this business and I think this is the next step in that evolution, to be able for the first time ever to allow people to digitally download and own full retail games. We've never done that before. Frankly, I think with the exception of Halo, almost all these titles are next to impossible to find at retail anymore, so we're making them very available to consumers who would like to purchase them.
GS: So the work you've done on backwards compatibility is the basis for the Xbox Original releases?
AG: Exactly. You basically download the bits of the game and they have to have passed all our backward compatibility certification and testing. We're only going to make available the ones that we know perform extremely well and have a high quality, if that gives you an idea of some of the titles you may see. To start, I think we have a good lineup. To be able to download them, own them, and if you delete them you can download them again, it's very similar to how Live Arcade games work.
GS: So there won't be enhanced content or added online play in Xbox Originals?
AG: No. What we're basically doing is taking the games as they were originally created and maintaining that. We want to preserve the integrity of what that original game experience was like. If they have online multiplayer, it's there. Whatever functionality was built into that original game is what people will get.
GS: We know about Xbox Originals and the Family timer controls. What else will be included in the December 4 update?
AG: At this point we haven't gotten into any of the other details. Just like any other update, there will be changes to the dashboard and the blades, cosmetic stuff. We always have fine-tuning of playback of movies and music. But at this point, we're going to wait closer until that date, probably the last week of November is when we'll do a lot of show-and-tell with everyone in the media so people can see what they're getting. The reason why we do that mainly is because the team is still finalizing and testing a lot of the functionality. There are always a couple of things that are on the bubble.
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