Castlevania to break Live Arcade size limit

By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpotPosted Jan 11, 2007 11:36 am PT

Konami says its Symphony of the Night won't fit in 50MB; Microsoft's Greg Canessa addresses implications for future XBLA games.

The upcoming release of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night as a downloadable Xbox 360 game is noteworthy for a few reasons. Beyond adding the highly regarded game to the system's catalog, it breaks the mold of an Xbox Live Arcade game in several ways.

Symphony of the Night is not a "small-scale" game in any sense of the phrase. It's based on an existing home-console game, a distinction on Live Arcade only shared by the upcoming Alien Hominid HD. Konami has confirmed to GameSpot that the final size of the Symphony of the Night download will surpass Microsoft's 50MB size limit for Live Arcade games.

Microsoft's group manager for Xbox Live Arcade, Greg Canessa, told GameSpot why the company instituted a 50MB limit in the first place.

"By keeping the file size small for Xbox Live Arcade games, gamers can put one or more games on a memory unit and easily bring those games to a friend's house to share and play," Canessa said. "Small file sizes also mean fast download times, making it possible to download and begin playing any Xbox Live Arcade game within one or two minutes."

Even though Symphony of the Night will exceed the size limit, Canessa indicated that there is still a 50MB cap on Live Arcade games, although Microsoft is willing to make exceptions to the rule. "If any games do exceed 50 MB, it's for a very specific reason that would ensure that the gameplay experience is the best it can be," Canessa said.

Microsoft is willing to look the other way on Symphony of the Night, and according to Canessa, it won't be the last of its kind on Live Arcade.

"Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is one of the most popular games of all time, and you can [bet] that you'll see similar high-quality games come to Xbox Live Arcade in the future," Canessa said.

However, there is at least one Live Arcade rule that not even Symphony of the Night will be breaking. Canessa said that a free demo of the game would be made available to all Live Arcade users, and that it would be small enough to fit on a memory unit.

[UPDATE] After the publication of this story, a Microsoft representative contacted GameSpot to clarify one of Canessa's comments. While Symphony of the Night will have a free demo version, it will not fit on the system's 64MB memory unit.

221 Comments

  • huskerman34

    Posted Feb 23, 2007 11:53 am PT

    when is the release of Castlevania Sympothy Of the Night ? This is a good thing Microsoft is doing in bringing good quality games to xbox live market place. We are going to see some top quality games in the near future.

  • nazraq

    Posted Feb 13, 2007 2:40 am PT

    How about a new KI for 360? I've wanted that for a while.

  • aet

    Posted Jan 28, 2007 8:57 pm PT

    I can't wait for Castlevania SOTN. I'm gonna buy an wireless internet connection just for SOTN. It's got one of the best soundtracks a 2D game has ever had.

  • SPANNER-MAN

    Posted Jan 23, 2007 12:06 pm PT

    Yes, i've been waiting for killer instinct for years now man. I know they own the rights to it dam, that microsoft, keeping us in suspense.

  • Gamewako

    Posted Jan 23, 2007 11:47 am PT

    So.. anyone else want to see a Killer Instinct "Arcade" port ? kuz i know i do

  • Raven87

    Posted Jan 23, 2007 6:55 am PT

    Fair enough its' not like you cant get a technically impressive game onto 50mb, just look at small arms, or roboblitz. I don't think MS will start letting everyone throw 700mb sizes everywhere, those that do will surely be justified.

  • XAF1

    Posted Jan 23, 2007 6:40 am PT

    The cap sucks in away. Because of MS's thinking this way we will probably never see games from the 90's that many people want. We are stuck with a great deal of 2D games that really don't work aswell as the Mamed games do. I like XBLA but I'm sorry those of us who bought premium 360 packages on launch and those who have bought harddrives should not have to suffer because of those who didn't. We want the earlier Virtua Fighters and Sega Arcade games that were 3D also the Neo Geo Games not just the crap that I have seen lately. Come on the word Arcade is being used here and it appears to be being used rather lightly. Sony may just overstep Microsoft in this one area of MS's Online plans. Come on guys kick XBLA in gear and give those of us who want the option the option and use this as away to sell more and bigger Hardrives to those who are serious about their Arcade games. Memory cards smemory cards that concept should have died last generation. Flash or SD sticks would have been better.

  • Trashface

    Posted Jan 23, 2007 1:07 am PT

    Humanchild, saying gamers who bought the Core unit aren't real gamers at all is a very stupid thing to say. I have the premium by the way. I never played another castlevania after the N64 version. The 1st Castlevania was so hard at the end.

  • Vraeth

    Posted Jan 22, 2007 8:55 pm PT

    This is the first game worth getting on XBLA.

    While Doom is notable, there's literally like 20 different releases of it already.

  • DrCLos

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 2:51 am PT

    I can't wait. This was the best game on the PS1 and will be the best XBox Live game if done right... at least it better be

  • Uteron

    Posted Jan 16, 2007 4:33 am PT

    i just got done beating this game on the *psp*. but i still plan on getting it for x360. I hope all the bug/gliches still work. Some of them make the game more fun.

  • SeanBond

    Posted Jan 15, 2007 10:16 pm PT

    Thanks for the info, Pixy.

  • PixyMisao

    Posted Jan 15, 2007 2:07 pm PT

    "Clsmoothest1
    Funny how all these people who keep talking about Castlevania think this was on the PS1 only and don't know it came out on Saturn befor that. I hope MS keeps this up, I would love to see more full size game releases on XBL"

    Actually it was ported from PS1 to Saturn about a year later (and a very shakey port at that done by Konami Nagoya).

    But no SeanBond, Maria will not be playable. This will be a pure PS1 port with a slight graphical support bra beneath it. Al the incomplte items should be in tact, and it will be interesting to see if all of the glitches work.

  • joomen

    Posted Jan 13, 2007 1:57 pm PT

    ive been lookin for a reason to play this game again ;p

  • DeathmageMokey

    Posted Jan 13, 2007 10:30 am PT

    You know what would great to see on XBLA? I'm thinking perhaps Homeworld (PC) or the original Resident Evil games for the Playstation. Homeworld may be a bit too big, but seeing how it's hard to find, it would be a good addition.

  • SeanBond

    Posted Jan 12, 2007 10:54 pm PT

    Does anyone know if the Live Arcade version is going to have Maria as a playable character, like in the Saturn version? Although I already own SOTN for the PS1, I'm going to purchase it again on Live, and the addition of Maria would make it even sweeter...

  • Clsmoothest1

    Posted Jan 12, 2007 7:43 pm PT

    This is fantastic news, I can't wait to download this game. I wonder what the price will be though. Funny how all these people who keep talking about Castlevania think this was on the PS1 only and don't know it came out on Saturn befor that. I hope MS keeps this up, I would love to see more full size game releases on XBL

  • THETRUEXBOXMAN

    Posted Jan 12, 2007 7:07 pm PT

    Is this going to be more than 1,200 MSP?

  • Rayze78

    Posted Jan 12, 2007 6:26 pm PT

    One of my favorite games that I never got to buy. I cant wait.

  • jeffreystark069

    Posted Jan 12, 2007 1:56 pm PT

    Slayer420
    I completely agree with you qiwihead. The Core system in the long run is going to be the bane of the Xbox 360. The PS3 will never have to worry about this kind of issue. Other then that, the 360 is an amazing console

    I don't think the core system is really a bad thing at all. I just recently bought a core system, then i got a hard drive, hd cables, headset, remote, and wireless controller on e bay for 40 bucks. can't beat that. I f you shop you can make a premium 360 for less than 400. I did.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Quick Links

Summary | Reviews | News | Previews & Features | Images | Videos | DLC & Expansions | Answers | Hints & Cheats | Forum

advertisement
advertisement
Click Here

Related Unions

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Boxshot
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
  • Downloadable Game

Game Stats

Full Game Details »Close

Games you may like…

Users who looked at content for this game also looked at these games.

See More Similar Games
advertisement
Click Here