Microsoft defends Pac-Man CE pricing

I found it great! i played the demo once and had to put down 800 of Microsoft's points for this fine game!

It could have been worse they could have sold it as a boxed game for more!

Sorry but for 800 points it should of @ least had Multiplayer!! What a Jip!!

I'll wait for Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 With MP!!!!

Get it Right & Do it Right the 1st time!!

I think it should be illegal to make games without multiplayer support.

I think it should have multiplayer too, but what's there is absolutely excellent and I had no problem paying the $10. As far as I'm concerned, it's easily one of the best games on XBLA.

In some ways, it probably should be called Pac-man 2 or something. I think the CE gives the impression that it's just the same game with a timer on it or something.

I didn't like the price at first but after reading some reviews, I dropped the 800 MS points and gave it a go. I haven't been disappointed. It's a fantastic update to the original. It's quite challenging and a lot of fun to play. Definitely worth it if you're a Pac-Man fan.

Greenberg can suck my left one. No matter how good (or even bad) the game may be, saying that an announcement was coming which would "make videogame history" was a douchebag manoeuvre.

Pricing for some 360 titles has been fucked up so frequently that people are calling 'bullshit' on just about everything now. $10 is a fair price in my opinion.

@ 6
Amen to that.

So they justify 10 bucks for changing some graphics, colors, and sound. Wow I still don't see any changes to the gameplay other than aesthetics. MS gouges prices on these arcade games plain and simple. Whether you love the game or not 10 bucks is still overkill for such an old school game.

600 Microsoft points would be a perfect price for this. :I

Not worth 800 points, period.

$10 is a fair price for an entirely new and updated version of an old game. I wipe my ass with $10's..

800 isn't too steep, but I would have been more than willing to put down 800 if it had multiplayer.

"Wow I still don't see any changes to the gameplay other than aesthetics."
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Are you serious? It feels more like a "bullet hell" game now than standard pacman. Yeah you eat pellets and move around mazes still but the layout of the grid is constantly changing and gameplay speeds up at an insane rate! It's more akin to a nuts game of psyvariar or geometry wars now with the psychedelic visuals and pumping house music. Jeff Minter must have crapped his pants when he saw it.
Easily one of the best games on 360 full stop, not just Live arcade.

I bought it for 800pts and I think it's a good game, BUT I have to agree that for that price they should at least have included multiplayer, it can't be that hard to throw it in.

They also should have added:
-an options menu for music and sounds
-screen resizing/adjustments option
-should have given the damn modes actual names! Extra mode 1? extra mode 2? seriously how did MS approve that? Where is are the usability guys in the design process?

It's not getting my money, that's for sure.

I bought it and love it too. I think multiplayer would be KILLER for this game though.

800 ms points actually equals 1000ms points because you can only purchase that amount in that increment, therefore it costs £8.50/$17.

For £1.50 more, I can buy Amped 3, King Kong and many other games from play.com brand new and delivered.

£8.50 is much too expensive. The price is the limiting factor in why I don't buy more arcade games. Often, it's not that I don't have the money, it's knowing that for about the same price I can buy a brand new retail game which I can sell on reclaim most of the money.

Recently, I bought second-hand (but in excellent condition) copies of Tomb Raider Legends and Just Cause for less than £15 each.

On this understanding, I know I shouldn't buy arcade games unless they're really good. I'd love to buy Pac Man CE, but unfortunately it's not good enough to warrant a purchase.

But trust me now, even if they dropped the price just a little or even allowed me to purchase 800 ms points instead of 1000 or 500 each time, then I guarantee I'd buy more arcade games.

It's an outrage. I think it's Microsoft's way of ushering in higher Marketplace prices. They'll put it into context - so Pac-Man CE is 800 points, what do you reckon they'll charge for something like Bomberman in comparison? 1200 points at least, easily.

Jetpack also has "new gameplay, artwork, music and HD implementation ". But, it only costs a more reasonable 400 MS points.

I also deem it very unfair that those in the US have to pay much less. Most other companies would have the pricing structure the other way around, with the less well off benefiting from cheaper prices.

"In its own right", surely?

Sorry, Dustin. ;)

This one is hard for me. The game is a blast to play and it's truly fun. However every time I go to unlock it I sit there and think about it being $10 and I end up not unlocking it.

For $5 this game is an easy buy for me and a lot of people I know, however for $10 it's keeping me to just playing the trial.

Which sucks because it IS a good game and I would like to play the full version, but $10 is asking too much for what I'd be getting.

This is the first "retro game revamp" that I've enjoyed in years. It's a totally new game. The gameplay is very different (and much more fast-paced) than the arcade original. It's truly a sequel and not a port.

Cripes, when will the XBLA point whining end?! This ain't no horse armor, folks.

You can definately tell those who've actually played the FREE demo from those who are just bagging on the game.

I too wish the game was only $5 but those claiming that it's just Pac-Man with updated graphics are off their rockers.

I'm not going to say that I'm against the price. I played it and found that there was a lot of work put into it. It was fun and easy on the eyes. What I do find interesting though is the fact that Microsoft keeps saying how pricing is not set just yet, and that they are still trying to find the right balance for pricing content on the marketplace. If they really are concerned about that balance, then why are they always "defending" the price for every piece of content put out there? I would think the voice of the people should be the biggest weight in the balance, and as of yet, that appears to be about "half a bubble of a plum".

I think new Arcade games are entirely fair at 800 MS points. Out and out ports ought to be 400... it's that simple. Pac-Man is an entirely new game... therefore 800 points.

Releasing Geometry Wars at 400 points set a bad precedent. 400 Points is about the cost of an action figure... I think a game is worth more than a single action figure... if you don't agree, don't buy it and quit whining.

What is more telling about Microsoft's pricing on the Marketplace and Xbox Live Arcade is the frequency with which they most "defend" their pricing scheme. If they were pricing their content appropriately they should not have to ever defend the purchase, it should be apparent to gamers that they are getting good value.

Personally I think the Pac-Man CE is great, but 800 MSP is pushing it. That happens far too much. A lot of the pricing on Marketplace is pushing it. It's not ridiculously high, but high enough that it creates hesitation about the purchase. At 400 MSP I would have bought Pac-Man CE within 5 minutes of playing the trial, at 800 MSP I passed. I am sure I am not the only one who feels this way.

come on...you only have to pay 800 pts for "video game history". Seeing that it's history, it's practically free

I'll just stick to my 5minute trial games for now.

$10 for a live arcade game is for the most part a rip off. These games should be $7.50 tops. For $10 it better support multiplayer

If you compare it to a game like Jetpac 800 points seems stupid for this game. Although I'll admit, the game had some form of multiplayer, or at least one untimed mode I would have bought it by now.

Well well mixed opinions 4 sure about Pac Man CE. At first I was pissed off because of the hole Gamming history announcment. Then add 2 that that I didnt give a shit about Pac man. Then I downloaded the free trial version just to see what it was made of. I bought the game the same day it is FUCKING AWSOME! It is it's "own" game. not an updated Pac man, the bass in the tunes is kicking hard and the action is fast with ghost trying thier damndest 2 flank U every chance they get. Every1 should try this out its fun.

first post!