Microsoft’s New Motto: “Screw Our Heritage”?

You may have noticed I was a bit peeved with Microsoft’s announcement that they would be instituting a system for Xbox Live Arcade games to be delisted, should they fail to meet certain criteria. I’m far from the only one who’s a bit disgruntled with the new move. Chris Kohler over at Game|Life isn’t pleased, either, which he explained in an excellent piece entitled “Microsoft: Don’t Cut Off the Long Tail.”

Amazon and iTunes, to name two companies, have built their businesses on the back of Long Tail economics. And for all of Microsoft’s talking at the beginning of this generation, we all thought that’s what it wanted to do with Xbox Live Arcade. “These aren’t just games, they’re our shared heritage,” said Peter Moore of Xbox Live Arcade at E3 2006.

“Screw our heritage,” seems to be the new motto.

Now, I know there are even people within Microsoft who aren’t happy with the news, and the community outcry has been great — but will it be enough to convince the Microsoft decision-makers to change their mind? I really hope so, because this is the kind of April Fools’ Day prank that seems too absurd to really last.