Xbox Live Game Room Loses Luster

So, there was some hope that the recently announced Xbox Game Room, which lets you explore a virtual arcade of your own or a friends, would let you play already purchased retro titles. The Live Arcade is filled with a number of classics, including Ms. Pac-Man, Rally X, Rush’n Attack, Contra, and more.

However, those are considered separate versions from those that would be included in the Game Room, because the latter versions would be 100% true to the arcade originals. In other words, no new menu screens or Live support, assuming it was included.

In other words, Microsoft wants you to pay (again) for a downgraded version, admittedly more accurate though, of something you already own. The absurdity of that idea, and assuming it would be difficult to craft a slightly altered virtual arcade cabinet for the XBLA versions of these games, is absurd. Why not let Namco, Konami, Capcom and others charge a minimal fee, maybe $1, to put these games in someone’s arcade?  As is stands, you will have to pay $3 for a different version of the same game, just to have the privilege of playing something you already purchased on the same console.

Absurd.