Carbonated Games' Josh Howard has nothing against the standard 50MB Xbox Live Arcade size limit, but he tells Next-Gen that if that limit is in fact increased, he expects developers will stick to a "small is okay" mentality.
Howard, who is head of production at Microsoft's Carbonated Games, helped lead the creation of the XBLA version of UNO, which has seen big success on the console.
UNO weighs in at a dainty 23MB-and much of that amount is attributed to the game's music.
Howard says that an XBLA game size limit increase has been discussed at Microsoft, but even though Carbonated is a Microsoft first-party, he's not heard an official confirmation of an official size limit increase.
A spokesperson for Microsoft told Next-Gen today that the company "has not announced any plans to increase the 50MB size of XBLA games."
But even if the limit is increased across the board, that 50MB target has helped established a small-game mentality that XBLA developers will continue to embrace, according to Howard.
"From my standpoint, more isn't better," he says. "The 50MB cap, I think, has served its purpose. Its purpose was to demonstrate to developers that you can really do a tremendous amount in that size space."
Howard, a self-confessed Mutant Storm Reloaded fan, says that console developers that were used to creating much larger projects felt "paralyzed" by the size limit at first. "It's like asking somebody that writes a novel to put it in a haiku. … It's been exciting to see how [developers have] taken [those limitations] and expanded their ideas on their own," he says.
Carlos writes - "This week has already proven exceptionally busy for Xbox One’s Backwards Compatibility program with the arrival of several Xbox Original titles. It seems all is not over however, as now we see even more games added to help expand the ever-growing list even more. In typical fashion we’re here once more to bring you our thoughts on the latest additions, and give our views on whether it’s worth the time, and effort, to head back to these past titles once more."
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Oh wow how fast they keep adding them it's so good to know all new Xbox consoles are gonna carry all these games with better graphics it's amazing
Backwards compatibility should be a standard going forward. There should be no reason it can't be done. I expect the PS5 to play all PS4 games. We already know that's going to be the case with Xbox 5.
It’s hard to believe in 2015, but the choices for twin-stick shooters a decade ago weren’t so much limited as nearly nonexistent. Smash TV, Total Carnage and Robotron were only playable by emulation, with the latter having had an attempt at reviving the name on PS1 and N64. Llamatron had been made freeware and was playable through Atari ST emulators, and Geometry Wars was a hidden bonus in Project Gotham Racing. It was pretty dire, but then Mutant Storm showed up as one of the earliest Xbox Live Arcade games and started to turn it all around.
Eurogamer writes: "I tell myself that I pretty much hate Achievements. Sure, a few games have used them beautifully - to guide the eye of the player, to offer a gentle shove towards hidden fun - but so many more seem to delight in getting it all wrong.
They either dole points out for ludicrously simple tasks, leaving you faintly patronised, or they use them to tempt you, vindictively, into empty displays of mindless repetition: treasure hunts that never end, or kill-counts only obsessive-compulsives will ever notch up. You want me to shoot 100,000 enemies in the nuts? You shoot 100,000 enemies in the nuts. Hey, and start with yourself, eh?"
The pic of UNO reminded me ...
Any idea when they will have Camera Support for Texas Holdem ???
means better games, go for it i say
Lets all listen to the guy that made Uno. I have uno on my Ti-85 graphing calculator. While card games can easily fit under the 50mb limit, we want real games!