Last time I wrote this post it got put in "waiting for moderation" limbo, and I actually lost what I wrote. So instead, I've rewrote and posted my opinion of this matter in full on own blog post below, and why I think it's important for the long-tail sales for XBLCG developers. Since short term seem to have been proven tricky to "keep up".

My article on direct linking games

The jist of it is the "Download game" links that some developers and xblcg.info provide are, to put it short, inadequate. It's too many steps to get from our web pages to actually having the games queued to download to the XBox360. We need a minimal approach to get to downloads if we are expected to market games on our own and to get long term sales. The current 5 step process is too painful and people will back out often once they see "big page of info" that is the secondary XBox Marketplace website. We need a way to get from our pages to the game being on the download queue in as few steps as possible to encourage our own marketing efforts.


EDIT:
Nick has opened a connect issue on this at the following address for you all to vote on
https://connect.microsoft.com/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=466970&SiteID=226

Stegersaurus Games:

Last time I wrote this post it got put in "waiting for moderation" limbo, and I actually lost what I wrote.

If you ever have that issue, email me at nick@gravelyn.com and I'll approve the post. Still not sure why the site thinks certain things are spam...

I agree with all of this. Obviously being that I run the site mentioned, but just as a consumer the xbox.com experience is dreadful. It's slow to load, doesn't seem to cache anything, and takes far too many clicks to get things solved. If we could have a link directly to a quick loading page that is just the confirmation screen where they hit "Add to Queue" or "Cancel" I think it'd be a win for everyone involved.

Stegersaurus Games:

So instead, I've rewrote and posted my opinion of this matter in full on own blog post below, and

I approved it this morning... I usually look at the moderation queue once per day so things will show up eventually.

OK I KNOW I saw it in the queue and approved it but I can't find it now... did you (or someone) delete it?

The ZMan:

Stegersaurus Games:

So instead, I've rewrote and posted my opinion of this matter in full on own blog post below, and

I approved it this morning... I usually look at the moderation queue once per day so things will show up eventually.

OK I KNOW I saw it in the queue and approved it but I can't find it now... did you (or someone) delete it?

I just checked my own history and it looks like it showed up, but I never knew it showed up because it immediately started on the second page of the forums. Oh well... this article is more fleshed out anyway.

I've never found it too annoying... right now its:

1) click link on someone's webpage
2) you end up on the xbox site - scroll down a bit, click "download" button
3) the 'dialog' pops up and you need to click download again
4) click 'done' again to dismiss the 'dialog'

I suppose eliminating step (3) might be reasonable for trial downloads (certainly not for paid ones).

The thing is we don't need steps 2 or 4. My site should pop open a new window for the user (step 1) and take them right to that final dialog confirming the download (3). Once it's done they can have a button to close the window or they can just close the tab/window. The problem is that step 2 takes forever almost every time I go to that site. It just downloads so completely slow that it negates the convenience of browsing and downloading from my PC.

Yeah, step 4 seems unnecessary.

Hmm, step 2 only takes about 3 seconds for me, maybe that's why I've never perceived it as a problem (I tried in both IE and firefox). In general navigating that site is pretty quick for me.

Step 2 has a few issues...

Step 2 often turns into step 2A, 2B, 2C with people like me, who don't stay logged in on the marketplace site. The average person you're trying to sell to through your site probably doesn't stay logged in there also.

Step 2 is too "searchy". You've been to marketplace probably 100's of times. If someone's going through my site they may have gone as low as 0 times, and when I say "download my game", I want that to be simple. You know that you have to scroll down and explicitly hit those buttons that say "download to xbox", but even I've had times where I've clicked "game demo" at the top only to be taken to a very similar page with less options. Too many button with a similar visual style and the download it not staight forward enough.

I don't necessarily want to go through this page, but I want a page that merges steps 2 and 3 into something that gives a SMALL amount of info, but a very CLEAR way for the average person to confirm a download that doesn't have to go through lots of extra steps if you aren't logged in.

By the way (both as a way to keep this conversation going and because I honestly want to know) I wanted to file a connect feature request with this idea, but I don't think it really runs under either XNA Framework or XNA Game Studio. Is there some other category that goes more alongside the idea of the marketplace as opposed to thing exclusive to XNA/CG related activities?

I'd say file it against anything in the CG realm (maybe the website) and the team will forward it on to the appropriate people. They used to say the same thing for things like having multiple users signed in on Windows (which is technically owned by Windows LIVE). So it should be fine.

I agree with this - the landing page is awful - way too many buttons to click, and if you're not logged in it's even more of a PITA.

I suspect they want to control a consistent experience - they probably don't want people setting up links that automatically add pai items to peoples downlaod queues.

The ZMan:

I suspect they want to control a consistent experience - they probably don't want people setting up links that automatically add pai items to peoples downlaod queues.

I don't think anyone is asking for that.

When the user clicks a link on a website that says "Download trial to Xbox 360" or "Purchase Game" there's no reason they can't just get a confirmation page ("You are about to buy/download GameX"). If they're not logged in, then obviously they would be promopted to login first (or those two steps could be combined as a "Login to confirm purchase/download"). I don't see how this could be abused, but it would certainly increase downloads. Currently the page is such a mess that once you've clicked through, it's not obvious what you're supposed to click (especially if you link to the page that has download links for both trial and full game, since linked to just the trial might miss sales).

Something like this would be great. I really like Nick's xblcg.info/game pages, but having to go to the Marketplace and try to find where to download a trial could be very confusing for some people.

File it on connect and I'll definitely vote on it!

The ZMan:

I suspect they want to control a consistent experience - they probably don't want people setting up links that automatically add pai items to peoples downlaod queues.

I don't expect that at all. But surely I should be able to link directly to a page (on xbox.com so that people can trust it) that is just the "Hey do you want to download this? Yes or No" prompt so that people can get the trials in a faster, easier fashion.

It still leaves it all on xbox.com and LIVE sign in with user interaction so nobody can force the downloads. But then people who link their marketplace page or people who use xblcg.info can have a much smoother and quicker way to get the trials. It's good for consumers who have less hassle, good for developers who get more users, and good for Microsoft who will likely get some more interest and purchases from the streamlining.

Edit: Connect issue filed: https://connect.microsoft.com/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=466970&SiteID=226

Nick Gravelyn:

Edit: Connect issue filed: https://connect.microsoft.com/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=466970&SiteID=226

wha... bu... ack! I just posted a connect issue right before you and was editing my post at the top about it...

This is what I get for being so verbose in my connect issue...


Edit: I think yours is better worded, so I've put a comment on my own connect issue that yours should be the focus and mine be set as the duplicate. I'll be replacing the link I've placed at the top with a link to your connect issue.

Voted! (on Nick's issue as you pointed to)