Destination Arcade Delayed, Will Be Removed After Summer Of Arcade

Destination Arcade, the upcoming free browsing alternative for Xbox Live Arcade, has been delayed until next week to coincide with the start of the Summer of Arcade promotion, and will only be available until that promotion concludes on August 18. Announced last week for the United States only, Destination Arcade adds a variety of new sorting methods, allowing users to browse downloadable Xbox 360 games by price, user rating, and other criteria. It also includes a "recommendation engine" that compares games to other similar titles. At the time, it was assumed that Destination Arcade would be a permanent alternative to the standard Xbox Live Marketplace interface, but according to a post by Microsoft's Larry Hryb, that is not the case. "I have learned that the Destination Arcade app will only be available for the duration of the Summer of Arcade promotion which ends August 18th," he said. It is possible that Microsoft intends to use the software's reception as a regional test case, but Hryb did not give any indication whether that is the case.