Xbox Live Arcade

Xbox Live Aracde, or XBLA for short, launched November of 2004 for the original X Box and just one year after Steam, and was the first digital distribution channel for a video game console (if the Sega Channel and Broadcast Satellaview don't count).

The service's main titles seem to be Casual Games, but other games (such as updated re-releases) also exist. For the most part, the service is split into four main categories:


 * Xbox Live Arcade Games (the main focus of the channel)
 * Game Add-Ons
 * Games on Demand (Downloadable X Box and Xbox 360 games, ranging in quality from Grand Theft Auto IV to G.I. Joe the Rise of Cobra)
 * Xbox Live Indie Games (Exactly What It Says On the Tin; The first attempt by any major console publisher to accept homebrew games. It takes $99 a year to publish games, and rules are often draconian ], but it's a start)

Compare with Playstation Network, Wii Ware, and D Si Ware.

Notable Xbox Live Arcade titles include:

 * 1942: Joint Strike
 * Aegis Wing (Freeware)
 * Alien Hominid HD
 * Altered Beast
 * Apples to Apples
 * Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie
 * Bastion
 * Battlefield 1943
 * Beyond Good and Evil HD
 * Bionic Commando: Rearmed and Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2
 * Bit Trip Presents Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien
 * Blade Kitten
 * Braid
 * Beat Hazard
 * Bloodforge
 * Blood Rayne: Betrayal
 * Breath of Death VII
 * Cthulhu Saves the World
 * Call of Duty Classic
 * Castle Crashers
 * Castlevania Harmony of Despair
 * Castlevania Symphony of the Night
 * Chime
 * Clash of Heroes
 * Comic Jumper the Adventures of Captain Smiley
 * Costume Quest
 * Crazy Taxi
 * Crimson Alliance (Allegedly Free Game)
 * Crimson Dragon (Spiritual Successor to Panzer Dragoon due Summer 2012)
 * Daytona USA
 * Deadliest Warrior: The Game
 * Deadliest Warrior: Legends
 * Dead Pixels
 * Dead Space Ignition
 * Death Smiles II X
 * Defense Grid the Awakening
 * The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
 * The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile
 * DLC Quest
 * Doom and Doom II
 * Doom and Destiny
 * Double Dragon Neon (TBA)
 * Dragons Lair
 * Duke Nukem 3D
 * Duke Nukem Manhattan Project
 * Dungeon Fighter LIVE (TBA)
 * Dust: An Elysian Tail (due Summer 2012 as part of the "Summer of Arcade" titles)
 * Earthworm Jim HD
 * Ecco the Dolphin
 * Every Extend Extra Extreme
 * Fancy Pants Adventures
 * Fez
 * From Dust
 * Garden Gnome Carnage
 * Gatling Gears
 * Gotham City Impostors
 * Guardian Heroes (Updated Rerelease in 2011)
 * Gunstar Heroes
 * Guwange
 * Half Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax
 * Hard Corps Uprising
 * Hell Yeah Wrath Of The Dead Rabbit
 * Hydro Thunder Hurricane
 * I Am Alive
 * Ikaruga
 * Ilomilo
 * I Made a Game With Zombies In It
 * Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
 * Iron Brigade
 * Islands Of Wakfu
 * Jet Set Radio (Updated Rerelease scheduled for Summer 2012)
 * A Kingdom For Keflings
 * A World Of Keflings
 * Limbo
 * Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers
 * Marvel vs. Capcom 2
 * The Maw
 * Mega Man 9
 * Mega Man 10
 * Monday Night Combat
 * Nexiuz
 * Nin 2 Jump
 * Outland
 * Pac-Man Championship Edition
 * Peggle
 * Perfect Dark
 * Portal: Still Alive
 * Prismatic Solid
 * Protect Me Knight
 * Puzzle Quest
 * Quake Arena Arcade
 * Radiant Silvergun (Updated Rerelease in 2011)
 * Raskulls
 * RayStorm HD
 * Renegade Ops
 * Resident Evil 4 HD
 * Resident Evil: Code Veronica X HD
 * Rez HD
 * Rock of Ages
 * The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
 * Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge: Special Edition
 * The Sega Vintage Collection compilations:
 * Alex Kidd & Co. -- Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Revenge of the Shinobi, and Super Hang-on
 * Monster World -- Wonder Boy in Monster World, Wonder Boy in Monster Land, and Monster World IV
 * Golden Axe -- Golden Axe, Golden Axe 2, and Golden Axe 3
 * Streets of Rage -- Streets of Rage 1, 2, and 3
 * Sequence
 * Shadow Complex
 * Skullgirls
 * Sonic the Hedgehog series:
 * Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog 2
 * Sonic the Hedgehog 3
 * Sonic and Knuckles
 * Sonic Adventure and the DX: Director's Cut Downloadable Content
 * Sonic CD (Updated Rerelease)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1
 * Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2
 * Soulcaster and Soulcaster II
 * South Park: Let's Go Tower Defense Play
 * South Park: Tenorman's Revenge
 * Space Channel 5: Part 2
 * Splosion Man
 * Ms. 'Splosion Man
 * Spelunky (TBA)
 * Stacking
 * Strania the Stella Machina
 * Street Fighter II
 * Super Meat Boy
 * Super Time Force (TBA)
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the Arcade Game
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Turtles in Time Re-Shelled
 * Torchlight
 * Torch Light 2 (TBA)
 * Toy Soldiers
 * Toy Soldiers: Cold War
 * Triggerheart Exelica
 * Trouble Witches NEO! Episode 1 ~Daughters of Amalgam~
 * Trouble Witches Episode 2 ~With Decendents of Ancient Dragon the Souless~ (TBA)
 * Uno
 * Vanguard Princess (TBA)
 * Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showndown
 * Virtual On: Oratario Tangram M.S.B.S. Ver.5.66
 * The Walking Dead: Episode 1
 * Warhammer 40000 Kill Team
 * Warp
 * Yars Revenge (Reboot released in 2011)
 * Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition
 * Zuma