Load Inc: Delisting was 'news to us,' not a concern

by Xav de Matos { May 29th 2008 at 2:00PM }

In an exclusive interview with X3F since Microsoft announced XBLA delisting, Load Inc. business developer Denis Bourdain told us the Mad Tracks dev team heard about the new initiative the same way we all did -- through the press.

"It was news to us, but doesn't make a lot of difference," Bourdain told X3F as the team finishes their new Xbox Live Arcade title, Things on Wheels.

Mad Tracks, an arcade party car title, received mixed reviews when it was released in May '07 netting it just under the 65% Metacritic rating minimum for delisting, putting its availability on the XBLA platform in jeopardy.

"Our conversion rate is much higher than 6%, but Microsoft remains the only one calling the shots." Bourdain said. "Prior to making XBLA games, we were making retail PC titles. You get taken down without notice after 6 months in most stores ... [after almost a year] We feel already privileged to have lasted this long."

The full interview will be online later this afternoon.

Tags: delisting, load-inc, mad-tracks, things-on-wheels, xbla, xbox-live-arcade

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Geoff Gibson @ May 29th 2008 2:18PM

I was a huge fan of Mad Tracks... the expansions were kind of weak, but me and my friends would play the original game for hours on end. Wind-up car Mini Golf ftw!

iFester @ May 29th 2008 2:25PM

I wanted to buy this title but I didn't have anyone on my friends list who bought it to play with. As cheap an excuse as that sounds I just don't like playing with random people. It's like a box of chocolates, you never know who the nutty ones are.

Neuromancer @ May 29th 2008 2:55PM

"We feel already privileged to have lasted this long."

You know he could have been a dick about it, I give him credit for being a little humble about it.

Procris @ May 29th 2008 3:30PM

Yeah he was certainly nice about it. To me, if i created a game for the service i'd be incredibly annoyed at Microsoft by this move and as a consumer i still am. Maybe if they lowered the metacritic score to below 45 it would make sense but not 65.

AoE @ May 29th 2008 3:49PM

Well, don't forget that MS said it was a combo of low metacritic score + low conversion rate. Assuming MS was telling the truth, and Mr. Bourdain is telling the truth, then MadTracks won't be axed. Which I hope is the case, it's one of the better games on XBLA imo...