As good as Windows Phone's Mango update might be, there are more pressing issues for Microsoft to be concerned with claims Jason Doucette, co-founder and lead programmer at Canadian outfit Xoina Games.

Given the firm's release Decimation X2 – available since Windows Phone rolled out – doesn't carry the Xbox Live tag, Doucette has a different take to life on Windows Phone Marketplace than those developers who've been published or supported directly by Microsoft.

In short, launching on Windows Phone without Microsoft's backing is a fruitless experience according to Doucette, with the platform set up to support the big releases almost exclusively.

We caught up to ask why he thinks it's indie studios, and not consumers, Microsoft needs to impress now.

Pocket Gamer: Mango updates the Windows Phone's Xbox Live hub and Marketplace. Do you think this will make any difference to a game's visibility?

Jason Doucette: No, the visibility of games remains the same. The Xbox Live titles show first in both your local game library and in the Marketplace itself.

Microsoft has only added a quick launch for the last three titles played, though this at least includes non-Live titles.

That's a step forward from the dashboard on Xbox 360, which doesn't show recently played indie games – a horrible shame, since the longevity of games increases when you're more aware of them.

That in turn leads to more sales, and that's not to mention how annoying it is to have to search out any indie game when you want to play it. You tell me how long it is before most people give up and move on to something easier to access.

Windows Phone also still only shows Xbox Live titles when listing related games in the Marketplace, when it should actually show any games related, regardless of whether they've Live games or not.

Basically, consumers want to see what similar games people are buying, and at the moment their phone is lying to them.

By showcasing Xbox Live titles yet again, it reduces the value of the related games lists and will make people stop paying attention to it.

You don't have to view the related games list very often to realise it's the same games over and over, and as such, you disregard it. This hurts the consumer, developers, and the perception of quality of the marketplace. It hurts everyone.

Mango adds multitasking. Was this a feature you'd been looking for?

This is a great feature. I don't have this programmed into Decimation X2 yet, but it could really use it.

I had no idea how the phone would be used until I had one, and I developed the game using an emulator. Once you get into the phone and start to multi-task, which is implemented so wonderfully and is easy to use, it suddenly becomes a requirement for games to include multitasking.

Most games now handle both this and the phone's back button very well, and it makes for a great experience.

What's your take on the platform's performance to-date?

The performance has been horrible - Xbox Live titles take all of the visibility. What's more, Xbox Live titles are very poor for the most part – most of them would be ripped apart if they hit the indie channel on Xbox 360.

It makes me realise that my own simple game, Decimation X2, isn't that far away from being WP7 Xbox Live worthy – it just needs a few additional game modes. If it had those, it would be more fun to play than the majority of Live release, which are just disappointment after disappointment.

Most of the games I play on my phone are not Xbox Live enabled. Blocked In and Math 24 are my current favourites, and while they are just simple puzzle games, they are just better games in terms of delivering a in fun-factor, in terms of their implementation, and even in terms of their frame rate, than most of what Xbox Live has to offer.

The public perception of the rest of the games on the platform must be very low considering Xbox Live games are hailed as the best, and they're simply not performing.

One you get to the non-Live titles, you can't even sort them by rating, The 4.5 out of 5 stars users have rated Decimation X2 is lost in the mix – who will ever see it?

It would be nice if people – people who would actually love to play it – knew about the game. That's the platform's job. It's also a disservice to the consumers who can't see the best games, Xbox Live or not.

How do you think Mango compares to the likes of iOS 5 or Ice Cream Sandwich?

I have no comment regarding Mango itself. I have no experience of either iOS 5 or Ice Cream Sandwich, so all I can on is the experiences my friends have had - iOS 5 appears to be buggy and hangs a lot.

Indeed, iOS as a whole has some severe data loss issues – there are twice as many Google results for data loss on iPhone than the desktop version of Windows in its entirety, despite Microsoft's PC platform selling more copies than iPhone.

Two of my friends in particular lost everything – literally everything - on their iPhones because it doesn't understand syncing with an empty device doesn't necessarily mean you want both devices empty. Windows Phone is vastly superior on this score.

In terms of multitasking, WP7 is now instant, and it’s on par with the other platforms. No complaints.

I think Microsoft has bigger issues to fix, such as the way the platform dictates in multiple ways what games will sell and what games won't. Microsoft needs to stop promoting Xbox Live titles exclusively - simply show the best games, no matter where they are from.
Thanks to Jason for his time.

You can find out more about Xona Games on the firm's website.