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Lumines Heralds New Costs for Xbox Live Games 100

Posted by Zonk 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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Lumines Heralds New Costs for Xbox Live Games More

Lumines Heralds New Costs for Xbox Live Games

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  • Since I played the original Lumines for about 2 hours and wasn't past the first few boring levels, paying for part of a game and then only paying for the rest -if I care- appeals to me. I'd like to see more crappy games go this way and make my wallet happy.

    • Re:Odd, I like it. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by cerelib ( 903469 ) on Friday August 25, 2006 @11:16AM (#15978500)
      My thoughts exactly. I have never purchased one of these games, but my only concern is that customers know they are only purchasing "Part 1" of the game and are not under the impression that they are buying a full game.
    • Yeah, but in that case, why don't they let you buy the first, say, 2 or 3 levels for $5, and then if you like it, spring $20 for the rest? Oh right, because the point isn't to let people preview the game. The point is to soak people for more money.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by iocat ( 572367 )
        Most XBLA games have a free demo option, exactly so you can preview the game. This has saved me many hundreds of points on games which don't appeal to me, and also gotten me to try (and buy) games I otherwise wouldn't have considered.

        • Re:Odd, I like it. (Score:4, Insightful)

          by twistedsymphony ( 956982 ) on Friday August 25, 2006 @01:24PM (#15979676) Homepage
          not most... ALL

          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.
          • Not to mention you'll be able to play the free demo version to your hearts content before deciding to actually buy it.

            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
          • 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...

            The PSP version is $20. I've seen it for $17 used.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by zyl0x ( 987342 )
      I'd like to see more crappy games go this way and make my wallet happy.
      I'd rather see less crappy games being produced.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Aladrin ( 926209 )
        Why, do you think that'll somehow make more 'uncrappy games' be produced? It won't. It will simply change your perception of what is 'crappy' and you will still be dissatified with how many 'crappy' games are being produced.

        Besides that, not everyone thought Lumines was crappy. I'm actually a minority here.
    • I agree, every now and then I go into these little spending sprees. for example, I purchased an XBox with a couple games, I've played each of those games for about an hour and now they just sit there collecting dust. They weren't bad games, just that sometimes life gets in the way and you either don't play it again or you pick it up a couple months later. The price of a game is easier to take over time than it is in one pop.... not that $24 is a lot, just saying that if i'm going to play it for an hour
    • So shouldn't there be a discount on getting only part of the game instead of a price hike on getting all of it?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Aladrin ( 926209 )
        There was. They only pay $15 for the first part. The total with everything together is still only $24. That's less than it originally was for the PSP. They -did- get a discount.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by rtb61 ( 674572 )
          Since when do old games sell for the same price as when they were when they were a new release.

          This kind of scheme is targeted at their 'non-main market', those under 16, who microsoft are hoping well get caught up in the game and keep paying (microsoft have to get the profits from some where but childrens pocket money via bait and hook mind games). The reality for the majority of the older so called 'main target' market is, they generally get pissed off the first time they get caught, and never go back.

  • Just a Rumour (Score:5, Informative)

    by Avacar ( 911548 ) on Friday August 25, 2006 @11:00AM (#15978328) Homepage
    While this may end up being the truth, right now it is just a rumour [gamespot.com].

  • not that bad of an idea... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by RingDev ( 879105 ) on Friday August 25, 2006 @11:04AM (#15978368) Homepage Journal
    So you pay $15, you get the first half the game. If the game blows, you're only out $15, if the game is good, you cough up $10 to get more content. Seems like a better idea than blowing $25 per game regardless of quality.

    -Rick
    • My question is whether or not this will be made abundantly clear to the player/purchaser before they buy the game. Will they be aware that they're only getting the first half and will be asked to pay again to finish it?

    • Except there's a demo (Score:5, Informative)

      by Asmor ( 775910 ) on Friday August 25, 2006 @11:45AM (#15978792) Homepage
      Except that there's a demo for all arcade games, and I doubt lumines will be any different.

      This is greed at best, and honestly I'd call it bait and switch at worst.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Amouth ( 879122 )
        i don't know.. it depends on how it is presented..

        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 .. if they don't charge me the full price up front too..

        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

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by grumbel ( 592662 )
      I think the core problem with the idea is psychological and has little to do with the actual money you spend. The problem here is that the classic videogame logic gets turned upside down, if I am good and advance in a game I want a reward, be it another level, cutscene or the credits at the end of the game. Now however the 'reward' is to spend another 10 dollars, not exactly what we were used to.

      It of course depends a lot on the timing, ie. is the basic game in itself complete and enjoyable and the $10 extr
    • But you forget. This is Microsoft we're talking about. There's got to be an ulterior motive hidden there somewhere!

      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)

    by colganc ( 581174 ) on Friday August 25, 2006 @11:07AM (#15978409)
    Perhaps the point system makes an easy way to decouple the prices from local currencies and allows parents to give their kids a bunch of points to spend each month. I used to go rent games at the video store when I was a child. Now some of that might be replaced by parents giving their children points to buy games.
    • It's just like amusement park tokens and other funny money, but in this case, people will eventually catch on.

      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

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by colganc ( 581174 )
        Decoupled from local currencies. I'm thinking that the amount of points to buy game Y is always the same no matter where in the world. With the points you can buy them with whatever currency you use and they will be converted into points.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by fotbr ( 855184 )
          So does that mean it might be cheaper for the brits to buy games if they purchase their points in US dollars? (Example used because the UK'ers often complain that a $60 game here in the US is priced at £60 there, or ~$100 here, etc)

          Just a thought

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by k_187 ( 61692 )
            probably, but do you really think MS would allow that?

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by fotbr ( 855184 )
              Oh, I know MS will try to avoid it. But unless they have some way of enforcing "points bought in country x can only be spent in country x" thus eliminating any possibility of detaching points from money, its going to happen.

  • Not bad (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Aleman ( 825040 )
    ... when you take into account that the PSP version originally retailed for $40.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      And is currently 20

  • Proof Microsoft has lost Xbox Live. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by kinglink ( 195330 ) on Friday August 25, 2006 @11:12AM (#15978459)
    If this is true, it's proof Microsoft is going to destroy Live.

    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?t opic_id=24928329&page=1#comments [gamespot.com]

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by aesiamun ( 862627 )
      Does Microsoft own the company that writes Lumines? No, they don't. Ubisoft has the choice of the cost of the game, how they charge for content and how they release episodic content like this. Stop blaming Microsoft for this, it's not their call.

      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
      • The question is why doesn't microsoft just say "make your games cheaper" Microsoft publishes best practices papers that they suggest stuff in. They don't require it but it's not the companies that say "we wanted to be on live" It's Microsoft who saw that Live was working and went and shopped around for games.

        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
        • If the game is overpriced, it won't sell. Microsoft doesn't have to play Daddy to these companies and say "you're doing a disservice to customers...".

          Customers won't pay the price if it's too much, and at that point, they will drop the price. APparently people are buying it from the number of cloning clyde icons i see floating around.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by blowdart ( 31458 )
      Who is forcing you to pay for the games? Is Bill standing behind you with a gun to your head? Personally I found Cloning Clyde rather funny, and it keep me amused for a couple of weeks. Considering $10 is the price of a cinema ticket or DVD rental I found it a bargain. Last night I even managed to find a complete free game, Texas Hold'Em, which was a free download until 8am this morning. Unlike iTunes companies selling on Live Marketplace are free to set their own price. So are you blaming Microsoft for hav

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tgd ( 2822 )
      How little is your entertainment worth?

      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
      • See I would agree, but I only agree when we add "worthwhile gameplay" You can play the crappiest game ever for 10 hours. I beat the first couple doors of Cloning Clyde on a copy I played. It took me about 2 hours. Actual worthwhile gameplay time? 10 minutes. Bejeweled I have gotten a lot of time out of just because I'm trying to get to the next level and it's a great relaxing game.

        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
  • I paid far more than that for it back when it was released for the PSP. The episodic release means you dont have to shell out so much money and get to play far more than free "demo" would let you. With xbox live there is also the possiblility of more dynamic content like new music tracks and themes as well. This sounds more like a good idea of what xbox live could be rather than a negative.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Winterblink ( 575267 )
      Nobody has any problem with additional optional content, since the user still has that choice of whether they want to shell out additional cash. A game like Lumines sees NO benefit from limiting its delivery to episodic releases.
  • As long as they make it clear ahead of time that this is the pricing model then I think it's a great idea. It's kinda like a step up (or to the side) from traditional shareware.

    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)

    by acomj ( 20611 ) on Friday August 25, 2006 @11:21AM (#15978555) Homepage
    The thing about Xbox is that if you keep charging for more and more functionality. MS finally has the AOL model, where they have you credit card and are going to chanrge for all sorts of things on top of the recuring subscription fee. As a casual gamer, I can't see paying all those fees. I like to buy the game and be done with it.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by MoriaOrc ( 822758 )
      Charging for functionality? Since when was Lumines (or any other game) "functionality"? I could see this almost working if you were complaining about the themes/icons, but complaining that they are charging for a game?

      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.

  • "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)

      by clontzman ( 325677 ) on Friday August 25, 2006 @11:29AM (#15978628) Homepage
      Is this the same Nintendo that was charging $20 for GBA ports of ExciteBike, Ice Climbers and the NES version of Xevious? The Nintendo download service isn't going to be free, and I wouldn't get too excited before you see some pricing.
      • I'd like to see some kind of price points like:
        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.

      • Is this the same Nintendo that was charging $20 for GBA ports of ExciteBike, Ice Climbers and the NES version of Xevious?

        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

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by DeeDob ( 966086 )
      Lumines for PSP = 40$

      Lumines for Xbox Live = 25$ with all options in (if this "rumor" is to be beleived, cause this news is only at rumor status right now).

      Where do the customer get screwed? with MS or with Sony?

      Answer: nowhere near those two companies. If you're not happy with the price, go see the company that actually makes Lumines and complain to them. It's their product and they set the price.
  • Actually, this may be a pretty clever way to sell a game.

    If you buy a game and later find out you don't really enjoy it, you don't have to buy all of it and the money loss won't be as bad.

    In the end, this could be a very encouraging move that allows for a reduction of the risk/cost of trying out new games.

  • Scumbags with kindly potential (Score:4, Insightful)

    by spyrochaete ( 707033 ) on Friday August 25, 2006 @11:29AM (#15978627) Homepage Journal
    1200 points seems somehow cheaper than $15

    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.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by colganc ( 581174 )
      I thought the main reason they used chips was as an anti-theft/security measure.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by DeeDob ( 966086 )
      But the thing is that "points" are used because of international currency.

      The price of the points vary depending on your country, but their online point cost doesn't.

      It makes for a simpler marketplace online.

      So while it does have that "casino chips" effect, i think it's more a "side-effect" to internationalization procedures.
      • Ah, kind of like Microsoft Euro 1.0 for Tweens. Pretty clever way to bridge the global economy, actually.
    • It'd be nice to pay for the first half of a game to see if I like it before shelling out the rest. ...I refuse to pay for demos, and that's essentially what it would be.

  • It's not bad math, it's sunk costs (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Control Group ( 105494 ) on Friday August 25, 2006 @11:47AM (#15978814) Homepage
    1200 points seems somehow cheaper than $15

    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.

    • 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.

      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,

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by iocat ( 572367 )
        Doesn't MS sell points cards? I swear I've seen them at EB, although maybe I'm mistaken (maybe those were Live Gold prepayments?)
        • Doesn't MS sell points cards? I swear I've seen them at EB, although maybe I'm mistaken (maybe those were Live Gold prepayments?)
          Yes, they do. The point I was trying to make is that they sell them in point values, not like a Best Buy gift card with a dollar amount on it, to hide the true cost of games. If they wanted to they could eliminate the point system and make everything have a real dollar price tag on it, but they don't.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by nasch ( 598556 )

      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.

      I'm sure both play a role. If MS didn't want to take advantage of the masking effect of substituting points for dollars, they would have made one point equal one dollar. By decoupling the value of a point from the value of a dollar, and not in any obvious way (1200 pts = $8.75?) th

      • I won't argue your point regarding the definition of sunk costs - I'm using the term as I remember it from a (mandatory) GAAP accounting class I took in college, and am not terribly surprised to find out that I'm using it incorrectly.

        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

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by nasch ( 598556 )

          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 money.

          Not only that, they're of less actual value since their use is restricted.

          If there was an aftermarket for points, or a way to cash them out, perhaps this wouldn't be the case - but as it is, I stand by my assertion that, in the minds of most people, points are money already spent.

          I agree.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by nasch ( 598556 )
      I realized a way to put this that might be more clear, or maybe just more correct. After you've spent the money to get the points, you still have something of value that you can choose to spend: points. Where the sunk costs come into effect is that you've already bought the points, so you should choose to spend them based on whether you want to spend them or not, not based on whether you already paid for them. However, there's nothing in economic theory (AFAIK) that distinguishes between one carrier of v

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Banner ( 17158 )
      Good point. Hadn't thought about it that way.
  • This just sounds like a new spin on the old shareware concept. Having to pay for the initial trial wasn't necessarily unheard of during the shareware days as well (though usually it involved buying a 3.5" disk or CD).
    • Exactly. I'd like to know why shareware seems to have died such a death - it seems to me the perfect purchasing format for the internet age.

      Here's a large section of the game, that will give you plenty of opportunity to figure out if you like it. If you do, click here and go straight to the online ordering webpage. Enter a few numbers, click on a link, wait for the download to finish, and, oh, looky there - full game.

      Are companies afraid they'd lose sales because people wouldn't bother buying the full game
  • I am not trying to debate whether or not paying for a game as you go is good or bad. It definitely has its pros and cons.

    What I am trying to point out is the psychological game they are trying to play. If they (Microsoft or anyone really) can get you to not look at an actual dollar amount, it will in your mind change the "worth" of the dollar. You wont be speaking in terms of dollars, but points. Points arent worth anything to you, they are just insignificant numbers on a TV/Computer screen. Dollars on t
  • Really this is just an online verion of episodic content like Half-Life 2: episodes and SIN: episodes.

    The only difference is that you get to buy all the episodes at once instead of having to wait a year between each episodes.

    I'd also like to point out that the Live model on the xbox is actually CHEAPER than the retail version.
    PSP Lumines = 40$
    XBLA version = 25$ (with all the content)

    So really, why is everybody complaining?

  • "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

  • But frankly this is pretty much in line with what you'd pay for incredibly comperable 'indie' games, the likes of which are available for $20 a pop at places like http://reflexive.com/ [reflexive.com] and http://gamehouse.com/ [gamehouse.com]

    $24 for lumines is quite in line with the market.
  • If there's no free demo available, and you're shelling out 15 dollars to play the first portion of the game, you've just paid 15 dollars for a demo of the game. That would be moot if there's a demo for download, but I personally wouldn't go spending 15 bucks a pop just to see if I like a game and want to buy the whole thing.
  • What does this do to the Game Rental Market?

    Imagine that you have rented a game for a few days from Blockbuster or wherever, you have invested 20 hours of time into the game, and all the sudden, you can't go any further? How would that work? Would they make you pay to continue playing? Would there be special versions of the game that game rental companies would have, with the complete game? Sure, there are services like Gamefly that even stretch that further, because you can essentially keep a game as l
    • You can rent XBLA games at Blockbuster? That's news to me.

      Games from XBox Live Arcade aren't always from houses like Ubisoft. A lot of them are from indie developers who probably don't want to front the cost of pressing hundreds of thousands of discs. XBLA gives them a channel to provide customers with their content. Most of the time you can get demos, but they are severely limited or buggy if it's not a finished game.

      This model works, if you've played lumines or even heard of it enough to feel $15 is w
  • What happens if after you buy a game on live with regards to "your copy"? If your hard drive fails can you download it again on a new machine or do you have to repurchase it?

    What about if you sign into live on another persons xbox? Can you download it again there? Sort of like Steam allows?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by DeeDob ( 966086 )
      What happens if after you buy a game on live with regards to "your copy"? If your hard drive fails can you download it again on a new machine or do you have to repurchase it?
      What about if you sign into live on another persons xbox? Can you download it again there? Sort of like Steam allows?

      Yes you can re-download again.
      The downloaded content is tied to your xbox "gamertag" or "identity". You can play it an another person's xbox. You can also put it on a memory card and bring it with you to your friend'

  • ...HL 2 or Sin Episodes as stated previously. In addition, the same model is being applied, at least in principle, to Oblivion when users are paying for new and exiting things, like horse armor.

    You might as well prepare yourself for more of the same, because if this business model succeeds, the industry as a whole will jump on board.

  • Ultimately doesn't this lead to better games though.... How many crappy assed games have you bought over the years, shelved it after 2 or 3 hours of forcing yourself to try and enjoy it? If I could have all new games cost me $5 to try them out and pay a few extra bucks depending on how long/deep into it I play, isnt; that in effect promoting the survival of better games thata re more fun to play? Bad games would die quickly. There's a cottage industry of crappy games out there. Minimal cost to develop.

  • Not his business model (Score:2, Interesting)

    by wift ( 164108 )
    This business model has been suggested before but I never thought it would start so soon.

    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
  • "The guy who invented Poker was very smart. The who invented poker chips was a f*cking genius."

    Points == Poker Chips
  • I bought a PSP just so I could play Lumines, and now I'll have to buy an XBox 360 AND purchase it (again) online so I can play it on my big screen, play new skins, have more challenging computer opponents, and presumably other people online?

    Cruel world! Why must you tempt me with your colored blocks and hypnotizing music?!!??!

    (999,999-filled high score list. Everything unlocked. Got to about level 400 before I was too tired to keep concentration. Haven't yet done 100 blocks in 60 seconds. Playing v

  • with the total price of the game. I also like online distribution, not only as it costs less, but I can get it NOW (age has not made me any more patient).
    My main gripe with paid for updates is that it is at the expense of what we used to get free. For example in Oblivion I can now pay a few pounds to get some new buildings, locations, items etc - a while back these would have just been chucked in for free in a patch.
    The same goes for the PC, I play Battlefield2 - some of the early patches included some ne
  • 1200 points seems somehow cheaper than $15.

    There must be other people that don't see it this way as well as myself. To have this sort of logic you'd have to already have a few thousand points piled up, which have obviously cost you money in the past, a long, forgotten past that is no longer relevant to your current financial situation, which you just throw around without remembering that at some point in time they did actually cost you money. I only buy points when I want to make an immediate purchase, w

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