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Lumines Heralds New Costs for Xbox Live Games
Posted by
Zonk
on Fri Aug 25, 2006 09:57 AM
from the down-the-wrong-path-forever-will-it-dominate-your-destiny dept.
from the down-the-wrong-path-forever-will-it-dominate-your-destiny dept.
Game|Life reports on the upcoming release of Lumines for the Xbox 360's Live Arcade. Despite the high interest in the unique game (previously only on the PSP), gamers may be frustrated to learn that playing through the whole game will require additional purchases. From the article: "But then, once you hit a certain point in the 'Mission' or 'Vs. CPU' modes of the game, you'll be asked to pay up again for the ability to keep on progressing. All in all, you'll have to spend another 700 points ($8.75) to get the rest of the levels, bringing the real cost of Lumines Live to nearly $24. What lesson can we take from this? Clearly, Microsoft understands that there's a major disconnect here between what they'd like to make off direct-download game sales and what customers are willing to pay based on their perceived value. That's why, rather than go with straight dollar amounts, everything is priced in 'points.' 1200 points seems somehow cheaper than $15."
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Odd, I like it. (Score:2)
Re:Odd, I like it. (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
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Re:Odd, I like it. (Score:4, Insightful)
IIRC it's a requirement that all XBLA games have a free trial version (which is really just the full version but locked out of full functionality)
As for the articles clam that the arbitrary point system is to confuse people, I'd have to disagree. I thought the same at first myself but after using it for a while I actually think it's a great idea... The Xbox Live Marketplace is GLOBAL if something costs 400MP in the Us then it also costs 400MP in Canada and 400MP all through Europe and 400MP in Japan. Rather then trying to localize the price of things for every currency in the world they just made their own pay scale, and IMO it works really well.
After having purchased a few things it becomes easy to follow. in US dollars 400MP = $5 exactly considering most game expansion packs, XBLA games (pretty much anything other then themes and pictures) cost 200, 400, 800, or 1200 it's fairly simple to figure out in your head how much they're worth in real money.
As for Lumines being the most expensive XBLA game to date, it's really not all that bad considering the PSP version is a whole lot more expensive, Not to mention you'll be able to play the free demo version to your hearts content before deciding to actually buy it.
Parent
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Yes, and then half way through, buy it again. Look, it's simple: all those people claiming "great, you get to try it, and if you like it you can buy the rest!" don't really get it. As you point out, you can *already* try before you buy. So, clearly, that isn't the point. The point is to nail people a second time, plain and simple. I just hope, as others have pointed out, that this will
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Besides that, not everyone thought Lumines was crappy. I'm actually a minority here.
Just a Rumour (Score:5, Informative)
not that bad of an idea... (Score:5, Interesting)
-Rick
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Except there's a demo (Score:5, Informative)
This is greed at best, and honestly I'd call it bait and switch at worst.
Parent
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some of the demos arn't all that good because you don't have time to see what the story line is like..
some might be intresting and then after getting it realize that the story like sucks and that it is boring..
i don't mind the idea of paying for little bits
it is why i refuse to play wow.. either give me the game and charge me to play or i pay for the game and you let me play it..
now i don't know what t
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It of course depends a lot on the timing, ie. is the basic game in itself complete and enjoyable and the $10 extr
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But hey, they're better than Mitsubishi. I paid them $5,000 for my car back in 2003 when I bought it new. But now they've had the nerve to, every month, demand an additional $200 from me! Every single month since May of 2003, and they have signaled they intend to continue straight through to 2008! At least Microsoft only charges you twice.
Seriously folks, you can get the whole game for $24 appa
Point System (Score:4, Interesting)
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Most Americans go blank when they hear outside temperature quoted in degrees Celsius because they're not used to it. (Here's a handy scale: 0 = freezing, 10 = cold, 20 = cool/nice (just below standard office temp), 30 = warm, 40 = hot.) However, if you spend any decent amount of time in the new system and get feedback from it ("oooh, it seems hot today - wonder what the temperature is... oh, it's 34
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Just a thought
Not bad (Score:2, Insightful)
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Proof Microsoft has lost Xbox Live. (Score:4, Interesting)
Why was the first 6 monthes of Live popular? 5 bucks a game? What happened around June? Tons of new content all for 10 bucks a pop. Personally I'd buy 2 or three games for 10 bucks, but I'm sure as hell not buying legacy games for 10 bucks, I'm also not buying crap like Cloning Clydes or Bejeweled for 10 bucks a pop. I mean if it was 5 dollars I'd probably pick up both of them. If I had to pay 15 bucks for Luminies I'd be happy to pay that much but at the same time for 15 bucks I should get the puzzle pack and Versus for free. Instead I could go get Luminies for 20 bucks on the PS2, and that should contain both these modes and I'd get a CD/DVD for it.
That being said Gamespot is saying it's likely bogus but us raising our voices against it should help it even if they were considering it. http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_entry.php?
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Cloning Clyde, Bejeweled, etc are NOT written my MS either. If you have a problem with what NinjaBee thinks their game is worth, don't buy Cloning Clyde, don't by Outpost Kaloki X, don't buy any other their games. Just stop blaming Microsoft for this...god you
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Do they actually set the prices? Not exactly but at the same time it's their system, they can easily say "I'm sorry we're not going to offer your game at that price". Game stores are able to do it. If
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I spent probably a total of 10-15 hours playing Cloning Clyde.
I've spent probably at least the same playing Bejeweled...
I bitch when I pay $10 to see a movie, but that only lasts 90 minutes. $10 for 10-15 hours of gameplay is a steal, in my book. Thats a far better deal than $60 for 20 or so (Tomb Raider, which was still fun, or Kameo which I got stuck in)
Hell, I think $10 for a game, and another $10 halfway through is GREAT, if I like the game. If it holds my attentio
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The problem however is that Live doesn't work with 1 person buying a game. Live works when you sell 10,000 copies of a ga
How is this a bad thing? (Score:2)
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Good Idea (Score:2)
On a side note, Lumines is fantastic. The only game of that style that I've enjoyed more than Tetris. The idea of racing "against the clock" two seperate ways (one being the speed the blocks fall and one being the thing that sweeps out your completed blocks) really is a cool mechanic. Once I got into it, I couldn't stop playing
Nickel and diming... (Score:4, Insightful)
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The fact of the matter is, XBL is still just a flat rate for the service, and charging for content (not functionality) is nothing new.
Old News (Score:2)
"What lesson can we take from this?"
People are greedy, corporations doubly so, and like to milk money from their consumers. Nothing NEW here... but if true I'm glad I'm going with the Wii, if only because at least I haven't seen Nintendo do anything spectacularly stupid yet (as opposed to the other two guys, esp Sony).
Re:Old News (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
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NES games- $3.00 (maybe $5.00 for uber-classics, or reworked-redone games, maybe a bit more).
SNES games- $5.00-$7.00
N64 games- $7.00-$10.00 (I'd even consider paying a smidge more if they were able to up the framerates on games such as Perfect Dark, if they added in networked multiplayer for some of them, I'd probably pay up to 20 just for PD or GoldenEye)
Other systems- ??? Would be nice if they didn't cost more than 4 or 5 bucks.
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Oddly enough, that was after they sold those same games for $5 each for the e-reader (guess they were mad at us for not buying their $40 dongle). They also sold games like Metroid and Dr. Mario that were previously released with other GBA games (Metroid: Zero Mission and WarioWare) that were much more deserving of $20 or $30. I never really understood the whole NES on GBA thing. Thoug
Scumbags with kindly potential (Score:4, Insightful)
That's the trick casinos use - issue chips and cards and hide the clocks so that you mindlessly keep plugging in cash.
Then again, this incremental pricing model isn't necessarily a terrible thing. I love buying used games, but sometimes I trade in a game for one third the price I bought it for because I didn't enjoy it. It'd be nice to pay for the first half of a game to see if I like it before shelling out the rest.
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It's not bad math, it's sunk costs (Score:4, Insightful)
While I'm sure that plays a role (it must, or gas wouldn't be priced out to tenths of a cent), I don't think it's the largest reason MS uses points - or even the largest reason it's easier to spend points than money.
The big reason to use points, if you're MS, is that it allows them to sell points outside the Live system. You can buy redeemable cards in Best Buy et al, which makes them convenient stocking stuffers. Yes, there could be other ways to accomplish the same result, but:
Points are, as the article suggests, easier to spend. But not primarily because people are somehow "tricked" into not thinking of 1200 points as $15 - it's primarily because people see 1200 points as money they've already spent. The disconnect is between the perceived value of the points when purchasing them and the perceived value of the points once they've been purchased. People tend to have a reasonably good grasp of the concept of sunk costs.
When purchasing points, it's easy to dump $20 into it, thinking of how many little purchases that will cover. Once you've got the points, though, you know you're not spending any new money.
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No, the real reason to use points instead of real dollars is to hide the costs. Otherwise, they would just sell them like any other gift card you buy at Best Buy or any other big box retailer which can be charged up with money and spent like money. Look at what iTunes Music store does. They charge 99 cents,
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Psychologically, though, the idea that it's money already spent is still, IMHO, the driving force. While in a strict sense, it's still currency, the fact that the "real" (psychology, remember) money is already spent makes the points, once acquired, of less perceived value than
Shareware, all over again (Score:2, Interesting)
Perception (Score:2)
"That's why, rather than go with straight dollar amounts, everything is priced in 'points.' 1200 points seems somehow cheaper than $15"
Yes, it does seem cheaper. That's why when you go to a casino, you don't use "money", you use "chips". Throwing $100 on the blackjack table is a lot harder than throwing a single black chip. People are used to evaluating the value of dollars and they automatically make the connection when they see a price tag. It's menatlly different when it's shown in a different wa
You know, at first I was disgusted... (Score:2)
$24 for lumines is quite in line with the market.
Not his business model (Score:2, Interesting)
When I purchase a game I expect a full game that I may play as often and as far as I want to what would be considered the end. This episodic content or toll-bridge gaming model is exactly what I don't want but of course it means more money for the game companys so they will continue to push it. Yes, vote w/ you $ of course but keep posting to any and all forums so that they get the message. We want a full game but wi
Re: (Score:2)
I agree with you (and everyone else) that paying less at the start and then paying again for additional content is better than overpaying for a full crappy game
It's called a demo. (Score:3, Insightful)
I tried Test Drive Unlimited last night, the controls were a little stiff, but damm if I didn't like driving with 10 real people in free drive, that's an easy "mu
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The biggest reasons the game wasn't that great is the demo was very timed and linear, it's missing
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Re:How is that different than HalfLife/SIN episode (Score:2, Insightful)
Because the groupthink notion of "making money is bad, unless I'm the one doing it" permeates this board like a cancer.