Weekly Thought: Long Live the Downloadable Game

Why LIVE and PSN titles are full of win.

In a year already bursting at the seams with great, AAA multi-million titles practically falling over each other in a desperate bid to get noticed, it may come as a surprise to learn that many of my favourite 2010 games are actually downloadable titles - platformer Limbo, Halloween RPG Costume Quest, classis Sonic 4 and puzzle-shooter Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light are easily the most notable. What’s even more amazing, however, would be to stop and think about how far things have come in the realm of downloadable games since their mainstream emergence a number of years back.

In those days I don’t think it would be going too far to suggest that there were very few titles worth looking at, and even then the decent ones weren’t exactly complicated either; Texas Hold ‘em, Geometry Wars, Hexic… and now we’re seeing titles like the goliath, Metroid inspired Shadow Complex and time-turner Braid. In terms of progress it’s comparable to jumping straight from your mud-hut and promptly leaping to the moon, and now we’re approaching retail-standard quality for most big downloadable releases.

But still some folk manage to turn their nose up at such titles. Why? The advantage of downloadable games is obvious as you pay less and developers can try out new formulas (or risks) that they wouldn’t be able to even consider for a larger production, meaning that we’ll be left with lots of original, bold new content for less (not to mention more frequently) that could provide exactly the sort of change that a jaded, shooter riddled gamer might want. Fancy a bit of a change from Halo or Fifa? Then pick up a downloadable title.

And who’s to say that the quality has to be any worse? With the likes of Lara Croft and Sonic now becoming a regular feature on the PSN or Xbox LIVE, it’s hard to make the argument that such titles are half-baked and sloppily made. Indeed, many of the above have even garnered some of the best reviews this year and have undoubtedly earned a lot of praise from both the public and critics alike during their time in the limelight.

So, if you find yourself bored this week then take a look on your console’s market-place - you might even find your favourite game of the year.