I have a question about whether or not a game could release as an xbox disc or an arcade release.

What are the perameters that apply to arcade games being put on the XBLA. i can understand games like TMNT 1989, and other games like that but worms just seems like one of those games that could have gone out as a disc and not XBLA download. I think it might have cleared up this business of 50mgs and all that.

If one of the team 17 guys could help me understand that it would be much appreciated.

Arcade is just a term really. Compared to Gears of Wars, Worms XBLA is a much simpler, casual game - thats small and can be downloaded for $10 as opposed to $50-60.

Releasing it via disc would cost a LOT more than releasing it by download.
That's why you don't see any small games in your local game store for 5 quid.

Oh I agree with you there that it would be more expensive. However, wouldn't there be a lot more content to the game.

Oh I agree with you there that it would be more expensive. However, wouldn't there be a lot more content to the game.
Yes. However, to make up for the publishing price, the game would have to be much, much bigger; 2gigs at least! And that costs a lot of recourses!
But hey, who's to say that they aren't doing that?

Yes. However, to make up for the publishing price, the game would have to be much, much bigger; 2gigs at least! And that costs a lot of recourses!

Pff. I could make a 2GB game in an afternoon. It'd just be mostly filler data. Or I'd use ludicrously high quality audio files, or make one texture horrendously oversized. Or I'd write a "compression" algorithm that made it bigger and apply it until it was 2GB long.

Point is, anyway, that filesize is irrelevant. To make up for the cost of publishing it, they'd have to sell it for a price that'd recoup it, and to make people pay more, you need a more impressive game. Not better, or longer, or larger files. Just more impressive.