Microsoft ending Xbox Originals, starting 360 Games-On-Demand in August

Microsoft will be ending work on their Xbox Originals service in order to pave the way for offering full Xbox 360 games for download over Xbox Live.

There are currently 29 original Xbox games that gamers can purchase and download on their Xbox 360, ranging from classics like Halo: Combat Evolved and Psychonauts, to erm.. less popular games like BlowOut and Zapper: One Wicked Cricket.

Microsoft will be adding one last game to the service (highly likely to be Halo 2) before the introduction of Game-On-Demand. Xbox Originals currently cost 1200 MS Points (£10.20), but we’re hoping that these prices will be reduced when the new service is introduced.

MS also provided a few more details on the new Games-On-Demand service, which will be launching this August. Around 30 titles are promised for the launch of the service, all of them currently older games. Microsoft have refused to comment on whether they eventually intend to make brand-new games available online also.

Game prices will apparently be “comparable to retail”, and users will be able to purchase titles via direct credit card payments as well as the usual Microsoft Points option. Microsoft intends to release a new game each week on the service, and users will be able to rate games using a star rating system.

Titles that have been confirmed to be present in the inital batch in August include: Bioshock, Mass Effect, Assassin’s Creed, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Crackdown, Colin McRae DiRT, Call of Duty 2, Lego Star Wars and Sonic The Hedgehog.