Xbox Live Arcade File Size Bumped to 250MB
Okay, when the Xbox 360 launched, games on the Xbox Live Arcade were capped at 50MB. I can only assume it was done to accommodate those 360 owners who didn’t get a hard drive and had to store their arcade games on a memory card. Well, now many a source is reporting that Microsoft is going to bump up the file size limit five-fold, to 250MB. With Microsoft’s approval, a particular developer could get the limit bumped up further, to 450MB.
While this isn’t yet “official”, I really couldn’t see any logical reason why Microsoft wouldn’t do this. After all, the upcoming Castlevania: Symphony of the Night not only surpasses the current 50MB limit, but it absolutely squashes it, coming in at 96MB. Of course, the 50MB limit was also the reason that Lumines Live! was broken down into a successive series of downloads (which, in turn, was why I didn’t get it). My point is that the 50MB limit is currently placing a limit on games we want to see on the XBLA.
Just think, with a larger limit to the file sizes, we could potentially see games coming from the Sega Saturn and the 3D0 in the future. I know I’d love to see those “lesser known” classics, like Mr. Bones, on the XBLA one day soon.
January 19th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
I remember when Small Arms was a “highly anticipated” title, the developers were working day and night to squeeze their game into an acceptable 50mb. I’m sure they’re suuuuuuper pissed by this news.
January 19th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
It’s 3do, not 3d0 as in zero. hehe sorry to be nitpicky, but I have a 3do and I guess I’m a fan of the failed system. It would be nice to see xbox live arcade move more towards the way Nintendo’s game download service works.