Rumor: XBLA new size limit 250MB (or more)?

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night might not be the last, after all. Citing anonymous sources wishing to remain anonymous, 1UP says that Microsoft is going to lift the imposed 50MB size limit for Xbox Live Arcade games, setting the new cap at 250MB (or at Level 70 in Warcraft terms).

The cap could even go as high as 450MB if Microsoft wants, says 1UP. We’re saying that better be one hell of an Arcade game at 450MB – so much that we’ve overridden the autobleeper just to say “hell.”

Oh, and Microsoft says “No comment” again. Figures.

1UP noted that boosting the cap would be very useful in putting to bed one nasty thing of late 2006 – microtransactions. Part of the reason why Lumines Live! came in pieces was because of the 50MB limit. Heck, all we can say is that while we appreciate the minimalism of “small” XBLA games (and Doom did fit within 50MB, did it?) sometimes you just need bigger size limits.

Compounding this rumor is yet another rumor: EBGames shipping an equally-beefed up 256MB memory card on March 1. (EBGame/Stop again? Let’s see if this page will stick around in a couple of months.) This rumor’s already busting at the seams. If Microsoft still has no comment, our bet is that the nearest thing we can get to a confirmation is the development of an XBLA game that looks like it won’t fit inside of 50MB.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night might not be the last, after all. Citing anonymous sources wishing to remain anonymous, 1UP says that Microsoft is going to lift the imposed 50MB size limit for Xbox Live Arcade games, setting the new cap at 250MB (or at Level 70 in Warcraft terms).

The cap could even go as high as 450MB if Microsoft wants, says 1UP. We’re saying that better be one hell of an Arcade game at 450MB – so much that we’ve overridden the autobleeper just to say “hell.”

Oh, and Microsoft says “No comment” again. Figures.

1UP noted that boosting the cap would be very useful in putting to bed one nasty thing of late 2006 – microtransactions. Part of the reason why Lumines Live! came in pieces was because of the 50MB limit. Heck, all we can say is that while we appreciate the minimalism of “small” XBLA games (and Doom did fit within 50MB, did it?) sometimes you just need bigger size limits.

Compounding this rumor is yet another rumor: EBGames shipping an equally-beefed up 256MB memory card on March 1. (EBGame/Stop again? Let’s see if this page will stick around in a couple of months.) This rumor’s already busting at the seams. If Microsoft still has no comment, our bet is that the nearest thing we can get to a confirmation is the development of an XBLA game that looks like it won’t fit inside of 50MB.