Captain Obvious: XBLA needs better categorization

In an interview with gameindustry.biz, Proper Games CEO (Flock!) Paddy Sinclair was willing to say aloud what every executive in the industry only whispers in the vast labyrinth of developer-only smoking rooms underneath the Earth.

Fully aware that he broke the secret whisper oath bound by the ritualistic bloodletting of koala bears, Sinclair bravely stated that Xbox LIVE Arcade needs a better categorization system, so that consumers have the opportunity to find the games they may enjoy easier. He even went so far as to propose that there are currently “junk” games on XBLA.

At the moment there is a little bit too much junk on there – that’s not to denigrate the guys who have stuff there, but a way to tier and rate content would be nice. Obviously as we’re coming to Xbox LIVE for the first time, it would be nice to be prominent, and we could just get lost in the morass of arcade conversions… So to a certain extent I’m behind the concept of de-listing games that aren’t selling, aren’t well-received, but I think it’s a combination of the two.

After nervously looking over his shoulder several times, Sinclair elaborated that he would like to have a few ways of “properly categorizing games” including most downloaded and popular tabs. It’s a good thing that Microsoft will never, ever have a dashboard update designed to reorganize content. We wish oath-breaker Sinclair well in the future, as the developer illuminati close in.