Xbox Arcade games ‘easily’ portable to Windows Phone 7

Arguably one of the greatest successes with Xbox Live has been the huge selection of Xbox Arcade titles, ranging from retro-goodness like Metal Slug XX to modern FPS spinoffs such as Battlefield: 1943.

Microsoft is now hoping that the upcoming Windows Phone 7 handsets will see a great deal of these Xbox Arcade games making their way across to the portable platform, due to the way the two devices share the same programming framework.

Head of consumer marketing Oded Ran confirmed that the Redmond-based tech giants are working closely with developers in order for ‘Xbox Arcade games to [be ported] to mobile phones easily.’

‘We’re not talking about bringing Halo 3 to your mobile phone…but our XNA framework is a big part [of Windows Phone 7].’

Not all developers are keen on using XNA, however. Distinctive Developments, creator of Hockey Nations and Rugby Nations for iOS and bada, told our sister-site Pocketgamer.biz yesterday that the XNA/Silverlight combo used in WP7 was ‘more of a challenge to support than other platforms’.

‘Technically those problems can be overcome but we'll probably tread carefully to see if the return on investment is there.’