Microsoft has apparently relaxed the previously inviolate 50MB download limit for Xbox Live Arcade games for the upcoming release of retro PS one title
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night by Konami.
The limit was originally imposed so as to ensure that Xbox 360 owners without a hard drive could still download games onto a memory card (which has a maximum capacity of 64MB). The most obvious effect of the limiting decision was seen recently in Q Entertainment's
Lumines Live, which was controversially split into three downloads, two of which acted as pseudo expansion packs to the core game.
According to a
report by consumer website GameSpot the release of
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night – widely regarded as the best of the modern
Castlelvania titles – will avoid this problem by using a single download larger than 50MB. A free demo will also be made available that also exceeds the 50MB limit.
Speaking to Gamespot, Xbox Live Arcade group manager Greg Canessa indicated that the 50MB limit was still in place but that Microsoft was willing to make exceptions in odd cases. “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," he said.
