Windows Phone Thoughts: Microsoft Removes Twin Blades From Marketplace

"It has been revealed that Microsoft has pulled one of the Windows Phone 7's Xbox LIVE enabled launch titles from the Zune Marketplace. Press Start Studio's Twin Blades: The Reaping Vanguard is no longer available for download in any territory, with little explanation being offered as to why...An undeniably violent game, Twin Blades: The Reaping Vanguard sets the scene of a bloody battle against zombies in a small town, and also tells the tale of a lesbian romance between two nuns (one of which dies during the course of the game). Which aspect of this premise Microsoft deemed inappropriate is not yet known."

Microsoft has so far been easy going regarding what get in, and stays in, Windows Phone 7's Marketplace. But as perhaps a portent of things to come, one of the initial launch titles - and a LIVE-enabled one at that - has been pulled from the Marketplace with very little fanfare. Twin Blades has some elements that might be objectionable to some, but the fact that Microsoft allowed it in in the first place, and let it sell for over four months before pulling it, suggests that some rethinking has been going on. Personally, I'd prefer some kind of rating system, such as practiced for PC games - inform me and let me make the choice - rather than a potentially arbitrary corporate decision restricting what I can or can't do. But maybe that's just me.