As an owner of all three systems I cannot help but first make a comparison between what all three have to offer with their respective downloadable games.

The greatest thing that the XBox Live Arcade does successfully that the competition hasn’t quite duplicated well, is the standard additional features they include.  Even if it is a straight port of an arcade classic, they always integrate it well with XBox Live.  Be it online co-op or simple leaderboards.  The fact is that you never feel alone, even when you truly are and none of your friends are even online.  You could always compare scores, try your hardest to surpass your friends and wait for their response once you do.  A level of camaraderie and competition has come to the general gaming public that previously only the best gamers in the arcades were lucky enough to experience.

I never thought I would say this but I think there are simply too many games available in the Arcade.  Let me rephrase that.  There are too many low-quality games in the Arcade.  Our demand for more software may have forced Microsoft to lower the bar a little too far.

Ever since the success of Uno I was fully expecting a bum-rush of other card and board games to swarm the Arcade.  Monopoly, Life, Sorry, Reversi/Othello, Scrabble, Risk…  Something more imaginative than multiple chess titles.  Enough with the two-stick shooters, get back to the classics!  If they don’t want to do straight ports then perhaps they can re-imagine the original games.

Picture Cranium with mini-games replacing the clay molding or using the camera for the charades portion.  If Microsoft is truly interested in the mainstream audience Nintendo is reaping so well, then they need to go after those mainstream board games.  You know Nintendo won’t be getting online cooperative play right any time soon.

Microsoft, now is the time to strike.