Lumines Live to charge for unlockables
by Kyle Orland 
{ Aug 24th 2006 at 10:55AM }
First they charged for horse armor. Then they announced plans to sell one-time use "consumables." Now, even additional levels for a puzzle games will need to be purchased on Xbox Live.
A review in the latest issue of Official Xbox Magazine reveals that the $15 (1200 MS points) purchase price for Lumines Live on Xbox Live Arcade will not include the entire game. Advancing past a certain point in the game's Mission and Vs. CPU modes will require the purchase of additional level packs for $5 (400 MS points) and $3.75 (300 MS points), respectively. Regular readers may remember rumors back in June that Lumines Live multiplayer would require an additional purchase. While those rumors were denied, these single-player packs may have been the source of confusion.
In a way, this is nothing new -- multiplayer maps for game like Call of Duty 2, Ghost Recon and The Outfit have always cost money on Xbox Live, and players have had to pay for new missions in Oblivion and new cars in Project Gotham Racing 3. But charging to progress in a puzzle game seems different somehow. Success in classic puzzle games of the past was limited only by the player's skill. Now, it seems, it may also be limited by the player's pockets.
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Alcoholic Zombie @ Aug 24th 2006 1:04PM
@ ZENegade:
Thanks for the response!
I just wonder when I post and vaildate my response. It show it as 1st post and not 3rd. I guess it counts when you posted the comment but havent vaildated it yet.
Im not towards any system. I like making the jokes!
Only thing positive for PS3 is that I am going to make a killing on eBay. That is probably the only good that ps3 is for now.
Burn! Now, if Sony made a games with just brains bouncing around, I cheer the ps3 on. :D
knight37 @ Aug 24th 2006 1:04PM
What? No COUPON CODE for existing Lumines PSP customers?! SCREW YOU, MICROSOFT, YOU GREEDY BASTARDS!!!!11!!one
But really, $15 is reasonable. I rarely get far in these games anyway.
Now back to Ridge Racer! Riiiiiiidge RACER!!!!!
fagaymer @ Aug 24th 2006 1:32PM
Don't forget...Lumines 2 is available at Amazon.com for the PSP at only....$29.99 so those who said it was 40 dollars are full of it.
GunForHire @ Aug 24th 2006 2:09PM
What a fucking con.
I love Lumines, but this just feels like I'm getting the shaft when I go to buy Lumines Live when it's released. I'm already paying 1200 points for it, which is the ceiling price for Live Arcade right now, so I should get a bloody full game. I'd buy extra challenges for puzzle mode, or maybe some new skin packs, but to charge me just because I'm good enough to progress to a certain point in the game? Fuck off Konami, you gouging bastards.
As for the price on the PSP - this game can be picked up in the UK for £15 new, which ain't that much, and at least there you're getting a full game.
KR @ Aug 24th 2006 2:13PM
Since I don't own a PSP (and therefore I don't own Lumines), I'll pick up the base game. Not interested in being milked for another 10 bucks for stuff that should be included in the first place, though.
jabbertrack @ Aug 24th 2006 2:28PM
ouch...
Ubisoft WTF?
Mark D @ Aug 24th 2006 2:35PM
I was so pumped for Lumines on 360, I was definitely going to get it. But now...nope.
OTAM @ Aug 24th 2006 3:12PM
BULLSHIT. This is absolute bullshit,seriously. How much farther are we going to allow this shit to continue?
It's not the point of "well,the PSP version is this much so",it's the point of that it's the Live Arcade and the games are supposed to be little arcade games around $5. With Lumines it's like they are selling a full fledged retail game through the Arcade.
DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. No matter how much we stress it people will still buy it and then the game companies will keep going with it.
I can't wait to see wrestling games. You want a shirt for your wrestler? Oh well,buy it at the Marketplace. How about different colored ring ropes? 2 dollars please!
STOP BEING SUCH MINDLESS DRONES AND DO NOT BUY THIS.
Infil @ Aug 24th 2006 3:14PM
While the full game at $23.75 might be considered a good deal, there is something still inherently wrong with this approach. Derbeste hit it right on with his mock dialogue; this is where gaming is going. They will ship unfinished, incomplete games for full retail price (with ads in it), and then they will charge you to buy the stuff they should have included in the first place. And they will patch the hell out of your game to fix all the bugs that comes along with rushed development. What if they start charging for the *patches*? Can it be too far off?
They're trying to deceive gamers into thinking you're getting extras, but you're really buying half a game at half the price. Just sell the whole thing, instead of milking people for more money later. And you're only punishing the *good* players, those who are dedicated enough to play through your game. You're not milking suckers here.
I just hate where this microtransaction thing is heading. It's a good idea in theory, but so is communism. People (and especially corporations like EA and others) are greedy, greedy, greedy. They WILL unfairly milk you for money. Give it 3 years and see if buying a retail game for $60 and then $20 or more worth of extras just to see all the intended content isn't the norm rather than the exception.
Sigh. Everything starts slow. This is a fairly large step showing us what companies are willing to do. If enough people buy this, it will only encourage them more.
I'm looking forward to the Wii, where (I hope) I can buy games and know I've gotten everything. And using their marketplace will be only for stand-alone products that come in their entirety.
deathneo @ Aug 24th 2006 3:27PM
What are you guys talking about this $40 dollar lumines. It's only $20 right now. So do the math now. Sure lumines was 40 before but now its 20. And Lumines 2 for the PSP is going to be 30. This download new pay content crap sucks. Why can't they just inlclude everything in one package? They sure like to find new ways to suck our wallets dry.
striderhayasa @ Aug 24th 2006 3:39PM
this is a rip off. Plain and simple. Anyone that thinks otherwise is delusional. In order to play through to the higher levels I have to buy those levels first? They should already be in the damn game. I call bullshit on this one and I wouldn't support it. Companies go to0 far when they fleece their fanbase by releasing unfinished games and using microtransactions for "new" content for purchase.
soma @ Aug 24th 2006 3:41PM
No way in hell I'm buying this. I'd much rather have the portable Lumines 2, thanks.
doubtful @ Aug 24th 2006 4:46PM
Derbeste FTW!
I'm sorry, but this is not "extra content."
You're paying to allow pieces to fall faster and sweeps to take longer.
This isn't like buying a new car for a racing game, it's like paying to allow the car to go above 85 mph.
Count me out.
Jigen @ Aug 24th 2006 4:53PM
What's the source of this info? Every other rumor about additional costs for Lumines has turned out false.
Anyways, I'll be buying it for sure.
Donutta @ Aug 24th 2006 4:58PM
"37. They NEED to price it like this. If they could, they would charge you 30-40 USD for this XBL game. But, that goes against MS's pricing strategy for XBL games.
So, this is a workaround/loophole: buy, it in chunks and if you want the full game you pay the full price."
I'm surprised that it took so long for anyone to say it. The thing is, if they don't want to stick to the MS pricing system, then I'd prefer they'd just release it as a budget-priced full title that I can buy at a store. Why? Because XBLA games only offer 200 achievement points, whereas full games over 1000. And If I'm going to pay US$20+ then I expect to get more achievements than what a US$5 XBLA game offers. Especially as I already have Lumines on the PSP.
But, as people have said, this is the joy of the marketplace: I just vote with my wallet. However, if this game sells poorly, I hope the company looks at themselves rather than packing a sad like Namco did when RR6 sold like ass.
Aex @ Aug 24th 2006 4:58PM
At $20 it doesnt sound bad, but I really don't like paying for content that should be included. Would have been easier to just charge $20 straight out instead of 15$ + addons
camaro_ss @ Aug 24th 2006 5:17PM
i dont understand why people are so cheap if halo 3 was like thie everyone would be all in but for a game like this (that id pay anything for) everyone is a penny pincher who here cant afford five dollars and if u cant how can u pay for xbox live i think u guys need to be less cheap and care less about a few dollars i could find that much on the floor at the mall
striderhayasa @ Aug 24th 2006 5:34PM
@ camaro
Are you mental? The game is going to be released incomplete. You can't advance past a certain level unless you pay for it. That's bullshit no matter how you slice it. Don't give me that penny pincher nonsense. It's a rip off. I'll pass and get Lumines 2 for the PSP.
caeonosphere @ Aug 24th 2006 5:39PM
Hear this, Microsoft!
You dumped the cool and quirky soundtrack of Lumines for some crappy tune-of-the-moment MTV jukebox. Now you are charging for progression through the game? I was going to buy this game, no doubt. Now, I will not. I hope others feel the same way.
Shogan @ Aug 24th 2006 6:06PM
Until Sony and Microsoft get this straightened out, I'm not buying either of those systems. If I buy a game, I expect to have the damn game, not to have to go online and PAY for more levels of the game I just bought!
I was excited about this, but now... not at all.
John H. @ Aug 24th 2006 6:34PM
LAME.
Plaid Ninja @ Aug 25th 2006 12:19PM
I might just have to avoid this game on principle now. I don't mind the idea of releasing the full game at a higher price, but releasing it bit by bit and charging bit by bit sets us all on a bad road. Are we going to have to buy virtual bullets for our FPS' next? Bad enough they went and tossed crappy videos in.
I'll just try to stick with Lumines Plus on PS2.
I do very nuch disagree with a statement above:
"The XBLA is full of stuff, and there are plenty of retail games and dozens of worthwhile BC games to play as well."
XBLA has a very small # of good games, and a bunch of crap. A bung of puzzle games are direct ports off the games you can play on Yahoo games. The billiards game is awful and extremely overpriced. As for backwards compatibility, that's a tragic joke. Sure the Halo addicts are happy, but that's about it. Nearly every game I own is NOT on the list, and I haven't heard anything recently about updates to the backwards compatibility. So now instead of being able to move my old massive XBox out, I need to keep that available on my component shelf.
DA360 @ Aug 26th 2006 8:44AM
This is probably for extra unlockable content, like what their doing with Oblivion. So I don't see the big deal.
I already figured out this game is EXACTLY the same game as Lumines 2 for PSP, and the game will be $12-15 on Xbox Live, while its $39.99 on PSP. So I guess they have to make up for the huge price difference somehow, and this is how they found out to do it.
So if you don't want certain extra content, don't download it. That's one thing, you have a CHOISE, its not like their forcing you to get it.
I swear, people in these comments seem to do nothing but complain...
wii60 @ Aug 25th 2006 1:15PM
First I should say that I only bought my 360 3 weeks ago, so I'm pretty new at this Xbox Live thing.
But I can tell you that I am not going to get Lumines Live now because - as many others have said - this will in fact encourage this subscription content practice from developers.
I don't mind paying more for Lumines Live, but it would have to be the complete game. Just charge a flat fee. Keep it simple. These money grabs are turning the video games into a fashion commodity like cell phones. I don't want to encourage that and I urge others not to buy add-ons of this sort.