Thanks for covering Xbox live Indy games again! One thing that others should keep in mind about these titles, is that the platform required these games to run in a very restricted environment which meant that we had very few resources on the consul to use, hence why many of these games did not have graphics, which matched those of AAA titles, which came out at the time . I don’t remember the numbers off the top of my head, but the amount of ram we had available would be minuscule when compared to the modern consoles . Still, it’s amazing to see what developers were able to come up with at the time, more than one decade ago! I work at Microsoft now, and while we can no longer sell these games, I know that they all exist on the Internet archive
I was working with the developers for many of these games when they were being built, and now I work at Microsoft and worked on the backwards compatibility program. The biggest issue is that these games ran in a unique environment within the Xbox 360, and therefore had very limited access to resources on the system. I don’t believe we replicated this on the Xbox one, and that was why these products were not available unfortunately
What's even more saddening is you can't even emulate them via Xenia, If I recall correctly. Fortunately there a few handful of those games that managed to get Steam ports, but they were very few and far between. (Plus some were even removed on Steam for whatever reason such as Tec 3001.)
I have a WIP List of Xbox Live Indie Games (Google it), and I list if the games are/were available on any other platforms. As for why they never were BC on XB1, one major factor is that all XBLIG titles were built using the XNA Framework, which MS retired. So it's another layer of complexity for any emulator, as it would need its own implementation of XNA. However, also keep in mind that there were 3597 XBLIG titles, at least by my count, and few of them were major hits, so it wouldn't been a lot of work for little financial return for MS, compared to the retail and XBLA titles. And sure, they could've only done some, but that would've likely lead to complaints from both developers and customers about certain XBLIG titles being excluded. Not to mention it was this odd separate store, which MS would've had to maintain indefinitely.
@DaveVoyles thanks, sounds like some ps3 troubles though at least xbox one/series didn't need cloud streaming for 360 that later ps4/ps5 needed for ps3.
Fun Fact: INFERNO was specifically released on XBLIG because a game of the same name was already released on XBLA, which was a port of an old Acorn Archimedes game (same publisher as Aqualibrium/Cataclysm). Whether that's the reason only the sequel is multiplatform, I can't be sure, but it is kinda fascinating.
I remember Milkstone Studios had a couple of tower defense games, Red Invasion and its sequel Red Invasion Blitzkrieg, that both slapped hard. Shame Milkstone has revisited the Red Invasion series and they're still XBLIG exclusives. Same for Protect Me Knight (though it DID get sequels on the 3DS and Switch), the console port of Dark Reign, Cursed Loot (I'm not counting its iPad port), Epic Dungeon (Cursed Loot's predecessor) and Sum Fighter (which is more or less a similar title to Blocksum).
Aban Hawkins and the 1,000 spikes is a separate game from 1,001 spikes. I believe 1,001 is a sequel / remake which adds different levels and unlockable characters. I've never played 1,000 spikes but I do believe it has different levels.
One gem I believe never left the service was a game called BloodyCheckers which was a surreal and quite well made cross between Kings Field style first person exploration with a combat system focused entirely around checkers with "bloody" twists like booby trapping spaces and such.
I have a 360 in a box now but it has a hard drive LOADED with these. Goblyn Stomp, Extreme Baby Maker 2, Garden Gnome Carnage, Solar. I can't even remember them all. I would do MS rewards for Xbox points before they switched to using normal currency. The shame is that on the unmodded 360 you have to be connected to online to be able to play them which can be a pain
The "online only" requirement was a way to circumvent the ESRB. Back then, every game, even XBLA titles, needed to be rated by the ESRB, which was expensive and time consuming, as ESRB reviewers had to play the game to assess and assign a rating. However, there was an exception for "online content," since developers/publishers couldn't guarantee multiplayer chat wouldn't get laced with obscenities, for example. So MS basically labeled everything in XBLIG as "online content," so developers wouldn't have to pay and wait for an ESRB rating. In April 2011, the ESRB introduced its Short Form, a free streamlined, automated process for assigning ratings for console downloadable games as a way to address the rapidly growing volume of digitally-delivered game, where the developer/publisher basically just self-assigns the rating they think is most appropriate. But this was after XBLIG had been around for several years already.
I remember buying DLC Quest immediately after watching markiplier played it, I loved it Super Amazing Wagon Adventure was another game I remember liking, my older brother bought it after our friends introduced it to us. I miss those days I remember playing Platypus on my older brothers PSP. Damn I need to play that again
That mining game is far more like steamworld dig. Kinda makes me wonder which one came first... but steamworld dig is far more fleshed out and both have a full, completeable campaign.
Miner: Dig Deep reminds me a lot of SteamWorld Dig, a game I got addicted to on the 3DS. The sequel was even better, refining everything and going for metroidvania styled level design rather than the procedurally generated world the first game had.
I cant remember if I bought many of these games or had trials for them but the earlier days of the 360 were very enjoyable and unique. Part 3? I hope so! These are wonderful videos in this series.
9:26 i barely remembered they even had this! much like with the digital exclusive titles (i dont even think they have a name, but i recall it being titled the xbox games store?), it doesnt feel like theres much of a clear difference being made about the types of games as there was on the 360
I love these games. Gladly most of them are available on Steam. There's one however I'm pretty sure it's lost media today: Solar. The sequel, Solar 2,is on Steam, but the original one was an exclusive XBLIG title and not available anymore. Since the developer is pretty much MIA for the last decade, I'm pretty sure there will be no updates on the matter :/
*"Miner Dig Deep" is a shameless ripoff of the legendary flash game "Motherload" that was stripped down for technical limitations and lack of willpower (probably). *With a little more effort it could have been better.... ironically because it was already done better. *Motherload was also ripped off by Cartoon Network's flash games with a Teen Titan ripoff where Cyborg has a drilling machine. The best XBOX live indie game was easily Dishwasher Dead Samurai. The best cheap one was Silver Dollar's "Headshot". Legit great.
![กี่หมื่นฟ้า | Your Sky Series EP.1 [2/4]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qJbQs_nhjD4/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks for covering Xbox live Indy games again!
One thing that others should keep in mind about these titles, is that the platform required these games to run in a very restricted environment which meant that we had very few resources on the consul to use, hence why many of these games did not have graphics, which matched those of AAA titles, which came out at the time .
I don’t remember the numbers off the top of my head, but the amount of ram we had available would be minuscule when compared to the modern consoles .
Still, it’s amazing to see what developers were able to come up with at the time, more than one decade ago!
I work at Microsoft now, and while we can no longer sell these games, I know that they all exist on the Internet archive
I'm kind of upset that none of the games under the "Indie Games" label were never even considered for backwards compatibility
I was working with the developers for many of these games when they were being built, and now I work at Microsoft and worked on the backwards compatibility program.
The biggest issue is that these games ran in a unique environment within the Xbox 360, and therefore had very limited access to resources on the system.
I don’t believe we replicated this on the Xbox one, and that was why these products were not available unfortunately
What's even more saddening is you can't even emulate them via Xenia, If I recall correctly.
Fortunately there a few handful of those games that managed to get Steam ports, but they were very few and far between. (Plus some were even removed on Steam for whatever reason such as Tec 3001.)
I have a WIP List of Xbox Live Indie Games (Google it), and I list if the games are/were available on any other platforms. As for why they never were BC on XB1, one major factor is that all XBLIG titles were built using the XNA Framework, which MS retired. So it's another layer of complexity for any emulator, as it would need its own implementation of XNA. However, also keep in mind that there were 3597 XBLIG titles, at least by my count, and few of them were major hits, so it wouldn't been a lot of work for little financial return for MS, compared to the retail and XBLA titles. And sure, they could've only done some, but that would've likely lead to complaints from both developers and customers about certain XBLIG titles being excluded. Not to mention it was this odd separate store, which MS would've had to maintain indefinitely.
@DaveVoyles thanks, sounds like some ps3 troubles though at least xbox one/series didn't need cloud streaming for 360 that later ps4/ps5 needed for ps3.
DLC Quest and Wagon Adventure...wow that takes me back. Thanks for covering these nostalgic games!
I never knew Beat Hazard and DLC Quest were originally from the Indie marketplace. Both are classics and are still worth it today.
If you plan on doing another one of these, I suggest looking over Time Slip, which was originally a PS1 indie game made with Net Yaroze dev kits.
My favorite game from XBLIG was the Penny Arcade RPGs from Zeboyd. They're free to play on steam and remember them being really fun turn based rpgs.
1000 spikes got a sequel/remake called 1001 Spikes. It's on pretty much everything. Adds a lot of new content; worth checking out.
Miner Dig Deep reminds me of Dome Keeper! Thanks for covering so many Indie games :D
Miner Dig Deep and Zombie Estate were my stuff back in high school lol
One Finger Death Punch will always be my GOAT of Xbox Live Indie Games. Still play the sequel every once in a while.
Aw hell yeah. A new Frame video? Frick yeah, FrameRater!
Fun Fact: INFERNO was specifically released on XBLIG because a game of the same name was already released on XBLA, which was a port of an old Acorn Archimedes game (same publisher as Aqualibrium/Cataclysm). Whether that's the reason only the sequel is multiplatform, I can't be sure, but it is kinda fascinating.
I remember Milkstone Studios had a couple of tower defense games, Red Invasion and its sequel Red Invasion Blitzkrieg, that both slapped hard. Shame Milkstone has revisited the Red Invasion series and they're still XBLIG exclusives. Same for Protect Me Knight (though it DID get sequels on the 3DS and Switch), the console port of Dark Reign, Cursed Loot (I'm not counting its iPad port), Epic Dungeon (Cursed Loot's predecessor) and Sum Fighter (which is more or less a similar title to Blocksum).
Aban Hawkins and the 1,000 spikes is a separate game from 1,001 spikes. I believe 1,001 is a sequel / remake which adds different levels and unlockable characters. I've never played 1,000 spikes but I do believe it has different levels.
glad you went back to the 360 indie games. They were some of my favorite things to explore on the XBLA store so long ago.
I was thinking yesterday about how nostalgic I am over the xbox 360, and my family didn't even get the console until 2012
A suggestion: Best games and weird indie avatar games.
I appreciate the video because I already own some of these on Steam and hadn't gotten around to them yet!
Little Racers Street looks cool, and its Steam Deck verified! Thanks for showing off that one, just bought it for myself!
Beat hazard recently got it's third title released in EA and it's still a blast
One gem I believe never left the service was a game called BloodyCheckers which was a surreal and quite well made cross between Kings Field style first person exploration with a combat system focused entirely around checkers with "bloody" twists like booby trapping spaces and such.
DEAD KINGS was even better..
@@thegsk I had to look it up because I had never heard of it. Really wish this would get a steam port because it looks fantastic.
The lack of zombie square 2 is makin me sad
I have a 360 in a box now but it has a hard drive LOADED with these. Goblyn Stomp, Extreme Baby Maker 2, Garden Gnome Carnage, Solar. I can't even remember them all. I would do MS rewards for Xbox points before they switched to using normal currency. The shame is that on the unmodded 360 you have to be connected to online to be able to play them which can be a pain
The "online only" requirement was a way to circumvent the ESRB. Back then, every game, even XBLA titles, needed to be rated by the ESRB, which was expensive and time consuming, as ESRB reviewers had to play the game to assess and assign a rating. However, there was an exception for "online content," since developers/publishers couldn't guarantee multiplayer chat wouldn't get laced with obscenities, for example. So MS basically labeled everything in XBLIG as "online content," so developers wouldn't have to pay and wait for an ESRB rating. In April 2011, the ESRB introduced its Short Form, a free streamlined, automated process for assigning ratings for console downloadable games as a way to address the rapidly growing volume of digitally-delivered game, where the developer/publisher basically just self-assigns the rating they think is most appropriate. But this was after XBLIG had been around for several years already.
I remember buying DLC Quest immediately after watching markiplier played it, I loved it
Super Amazing Wagon Adventure was another game I remember liking, my older brother bought it after our friends introduced it to us. I miss those days
I remember playing Platypus on my older brothers PSP. Damn I need to play that again
That mining game is far more like steamworld dig. Kinda makes me wonder which one came first... but steamworld dig is far more fleshed out and both have a full, completeable campaign.
I fucking loved applejack as an indie game. Dollar well spent
I've played DLC Quest and I liked it.
Blood & Bacon was my fav but im biased cause i did the voices and guitar riffs.
Wow, I forgot all about that game.
@@FrameRater np we did well enuff with it.
Man I remember platypus. I swear I played it on the pc back in the day
Nostalgia
DLC Quest, I remember that game. I've seen Markiplier play it
Super amazing wagon adventure is still available on steam.
Miner: Dig Deep reminds me a lot of SteamWorld Dig, a game I got addicted to on the 3DS. The sequel was even better, refining everything and going for metroidvania styled level design rather than the procedurally generated world the first game had.
I cant remember if I bought many of these games or had trials for them but the earlier days of the 360 were very enjoyable and unique.
Part 3? I hope so! These are wonderful videos in this series.
9:26 i barely remembered they even had this! much like with the digital exclusive titles (i dont even think they have a name, but i recall it being titled the xbox games store?), it doesnt feel like theres much of a clear difference being made about the types of games as there was on the 360
Miner kinda reminds me of Steamworld Dig series :)
I love these games. Gladly most of them are available on Steam. There's one however I'm pretty sure it's lost media today: Solar. The sequel, Solar 2,is on Steam, but the original one was an exclusive XBLIG title and not available anymore. Since the developer is pretty much MIA for the last decade, I'm pretty sure there will be no updates on the matter :/
Favorite schlock was castle miner z, shit was so damn fun splitscreen
Nice video as always.
i loved little racers street
Where'd your Serious Sam weapon videos go? Did you delete them? If so, why?
Where's Battle High 1 and 2?
Name of the opening song? I've been looking for ages
Now if only someone can make a XBLIG emulator that reverse-engineers the XNA development tools used for the service.
yeah framerater
But is I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!1 in one of these videos?
It was going to be but I couldn't think of much to say about it, self-explanatory that one.
Omg! Framerater! ❤
You're one of the few I have notifications on 🩷🩵🩷 Love your videos keep it up!
Thank you 😊
I miss the Xbox 360
Remember has buy it cthulhu save the world and the arkedo series...
holy smokes a lot of these games had potential, what happened to 'em? 😫
Not an xbox indie but platypus has a sequel, tho not made by the original dev
Shame those games are not ported modern switch and ps5 platforms 😢
So cool ❤
*"Miner Dig Deep" is a shameless ripoff of the legendary flash game "Motherload" that was stripped down for technical limitations and lack of willpower (probably).
*With a little more effort it could have been better.... ironically because it was already done better.
*Motherload was also ripped off by Cartoon Network's flash games with a Teen Titan ripoff where Cyborg has a drilling machine.
The best XBOX live indie game was easily Dishwasher Dead Samurai. The best cheap one was Silver Dollar's "Headshot". Legit great.
Inspired by text adventures? Kids today and their lack of Oregon Trail knowledge.
Which is a text adventure game?
@@FrameRater it was more a collection of mini games. It wasn't graphic "heavy" but it had graphics. Least the Apple 2 version
I thoug that dlc quest was an actual electronic arts game💀☠️
Nope. Don't remember them because by the time they did this I switched to PS3 and was playing Infamous and Motorstorm. 🤔🤷♀️