Microsoft Reducing Straight XBLA Ports
Word comes from Xbox 360 Fanboy that Microsoft has rejected ports of two old school vertical shooters as candidates for release on Xbox Live Arcade, citing a reduction in faithful arcade ports on the platform.
This comes from Famitsu, who spoke to Masaki Sakari of porting studio 5pb. He noted that the rejection of those titles – Dodonpachi Daioujou Black Label X and Ketsui X – prompted a move to traditional retail release.
“They rejected all of our proposals saying, ‘We are going to cut down faithful arcade ports,’” he said. “We felt so frustrated. We wanted to show them that their decision was wrong. So we switched our two most promising projects into retail.”
Xbox Live Arcade has recently been flooded by straight ports, including Triggerheart Exelica and Ikaruga, two very prominent arcade shooters. It seems Microsoft plans on seeing reimagined or enhanced versions rather than straight up ports, seeing as how Mr. Driller Online and Bionic Commando Rearmed got approved.