Xbox Originals is a new service for Xbox 360 that allows you to download classic Xbox titles such as Halo, Crimson Skies, Fable and Psychonaughts at a price of $15 (1,200 Microsoft Points) and will be debuting with the next system firmware update on December 4th.
The Xbox Originals program is part of the Xbox 5th Anniversary Live is 5ive celebrations, and in addition to offering downloadable Xbox games Microsoft will also be giving away a free Xbox Live Arcade game for 48 hours, beginning on November 15th, which is the actual 5th anniversary of Xbox Live. Most Live subscribers will be able to get Carcassonne for free, whereas Korean gamers can get Hexic 2.
In this interview Xbox Live group marketing manager Aaron Greenberg discusses the new Xbox Originals service, including the criteria for how new games will be added.
GS: How frequently will you be releasing Xbox Originals?
AG: It will be a very regular flow. Obviously we have a large library of backward compatible titles, so we’ll have access to that library, and over the coming year we’ll release a very steady flow. Ideally, it will be close to a weekly basis. We haven’t ironed out exactly the flow, but it should be similar to what you see for Xbox Live Arcade game releases.
GS: So the work you’ve done on backward compatibility is the basis for the Xbox Original releases?
AG: Exactly. You basically download the bits of the game and they have to have passed all our backward compatibility certification and testing. We’re only going to make available the ones that we know perform extremely well and have a high quality, if that gives you an idea of some of the titles you may see. To start, I think we have a good lineup. To be able to download them, own them, and if you delete them you can download them again, it’s very similar to how Live Arcade games work.
GS: Beyond having a game that runs well, what are the criteria for selecting Xbox Originals?
AG: We look at sales of the titles, which is obviously important, and we look at the performance of the game. We also look at a third criteria–if it’s a cult classic. Psychonauts is a great example of that. It’s a title that maybe didn’t sell extremely well, but we know is very popular with our community and is something people would like that is not available at retail anymore. We’ll continue to make those titles available.
GS: So there won’t be enhanced content or added online play in Xbox Originals?
AG: No. What we’re basically doing is taking the games as they were originally created and maintaining that. We want to preserve the integrity of what that original game experience was like. If they have online multiplayer, it’s there. Whatever functionality was built into that original game is what people will get. We’re not going back and getting the teams that made the game and having them open the vault and recode them or anything like that.
GS: Will achievements, in-game messaging, and the rest of the Xbox 360 trapping be integrated somehow?
AG: It will perform just like a backward-compatible game, so you’ll have limited access to those things. You’ll be able to hit the guide button to get into the dashboard, but you won’t have access to in-game messaging and things like that.
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Game developer Valve’s co-founder Gabe Newell talked in a recent interview about a good place for retro games nowadays, their online game download service 
