A little tale to get started.....
"There was once a tale of an Xbox Live Arcade game that cost a whopping 1,200 Microsoft Points to purchase. It had wild success on other platforms (Notably PSP) and was expected to be a huge hit on the Xbox 360. But Alas! the masses protested, our 1,200 points only got us half a game! Despite the defense that all the modes and game play are there, it looks like the people were right."
Amidst all the chaos last week with the Fall Maintenance and the release of such Heavy hitters as Tiger Woods PGA Tour '07 and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Lumines Live! finally found its way onto Xbox Live Marketplace. The $15 seemed a lock to get us a high quality game with plenty of action, skins and puzzles. In reality, the less than detailed information that announced the release of Lumines Live! and the Advanced Pack have us thinking that the 1,200 Point download itself was just the first piece of it's own larger puzzle: a complete game.
John Porcaro at Gamerscoreblog posted on October 19th what the Lumines Live! base game and Advance pack actually contained. He also dropped the word that there are three additional (at least) add-on packs coming in 2007. Despite John's acknowledgment that they mishandled the announcement, and the complete game is all there, many people are still skeptical.
After checking it out for myself, it appears that Lumines Live! and its four modes are truly just the foundation of a complete game. If each of the announced expansion packs costs 600 pts like the Advance Pack, then to get the "complete" game, it will cost an additional 2,400 Marketplace points over and above the 1,200 paid to have the "right" to get these add-on packs. So in order to get the complete set of announced pieces of this puzzle, someone would have to shell out $45! Even if the add-ons are half that amount combined, it's still $30.
So I guess the ultimate question is why even brand this as an Xbox live Arcade game and dangle it under our noses? Why not wait and package all the content on one disk and sell it as a retail Xbox 360 title for $39.99 or $49.99. You piss off less people and stop fanning the flames of discontent with people worrying more than ever that developers will continue to release "incomplete" games with an eye at nickel-and-diming us for the rest.
Even though I'm ranting about this instance, the explanation of ill-conceived timing of the add-on (at release) and the underwhelming info in the press release seem to be the logical cause of the uproar. However, it is one more bad piece of karma for those of us that are worried about the future of Xbox Live. With the recent controversial content that has hit Marketplace (Chromehounds consumables, Tiger Woods PGA Tour '07 charges for cheats and the exorbinate fee for a bunch of Ghost Recon rehashed junk that wasn't necessary), I think we have valid concerns.
Microsoft, here is a bit of advice (and only 1,200 Microsoft points to boot). Sony and Nintendo are out there, looking to lure back any defectors from your one-year head start into the next-gen. Now is not the time to start alienating us by letting developers hit us up with immediate add-ons and/or stupid content. Be smart and have the developers keep the add-ons under wraps until the game disks at least have some some scratches on them. Perception is critical, and right now you need to get Xbox Live Marketplace back to being seen as a great way to get quality content at a good price.
"There was once a tale of an Xbox Live Arcade game that cost a whopping 1,200 Microsoft Points to purchase. It had wild success on other platforms (Notably PSP) and was expected to be a huge hit on the Xbox 360. But Alas! the masses protested, our 1,200 points only got us half a game! Despite the defense that all the modes and game play are there, it looks like the people were right."
Amidst all the chaos last week with the Fall Maintenance and the release of such Heavy hitters as Tiger Woods PGA Tour '07 and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Lumines Live! finally found its way onto Xbox Live Marketplace. The $15 seemed a lock to get us a high quality game with plenty of action, skins and puzzles. In reality, the less than detailed information that announced the release of Lumines Live! and the Advanced Pack have us thinking that the 1,200 Point download itself was just the first piece of it's own larger puzzle: a complete game.
John Porcaro at Gamerscoreblog posted on October 19th what the Lumines Live! base game and Advance pack actually contained. He also dropped the word that there are three additional (at least) add-on packs coming in 2007. Despite John's acknowledgment that they mishandled the announcement, and the complete game is all there, many people are still skeptical.
After checking it out for myself, it appears that Lumines Live! and its four modes are truly just the foundation of a complete game. If each of the announced expansion packs costs 600 pts like the Advance Pack, then to get the "complete" game, it will cost an additional 2,400 Marketplace points over and above the 1,200 paid to have the "right" to get these add-on packs. So in order to get the complete set of announced pieces of this puzzle, someone would have to shell out $45! Even if the add-ons are half that amount combined, it's still $30.
So I guess the ultimate question is why even brand this as an Xbox live Arcade game and dangle it under our noses? Why not wait and package all the content on one disk and sell it as a retail Xbox 360 title for $39.99 or $49.99. You piss off less people and stop fanning the flames of discontent with people worrying more than ever that developers will continue to release "incomplete" games with an eye at nickel-and-diming us for the rest.
Even though I'm ranting about this instance, the explanation of ill-conceived timing of the add-on (at release) and the underwhelming info in the press release seem to be the logical cause of the uproar. However, it is one more bad piece of karma for those of us that are worried about the future of Xbox Live. With the recent controversial content that has hit Marketplace (Chromehounds consumables, Tiger Woods PGA Tour '07 charges for cheats and the exorbinate fee for a bunch of Ghost Recon rehashed junk that wasn't necessary), I think we have valid concerns.
Microsoft, here is a bit of advice (and only 1,200 Microsoft points to boot). Sony and Nintendo are out there, looking to lure back any defectors from your one-year head start into the next-gen. Now is not the time to start alienating us by letting developers hit us up with immediate add-ons and/or stupid content. Be smart and have the developers keep the add-ons under wraps until the game disks at least have some some scratches on them. Perception is critical, and right now you need to get Xbox Live Marketplace back to being seen as a great way to get quality content at a good price.
