Summer of Arcade may terrorize your wallet [update]

Yup 1800 points means myself and probably a few other people will not be getting this

I agree, at 1800 points no sale for me. I'll bite at the 800 point price.

I can't resell Steam (or Stardock) games and yet I use those services to buy retail softcopy games. If a game is worth it, then it will sell. If it's not, it won't sell well and then it will be discounted.

Digital distribution is, for better or worse, the future of the industry.

I'm curious why so many people have this problem expensive games on the Arcade service. Is it the name? If it were titled 360ware or 360store, would people have a different opinion?

To me, games like Castle Crashers and Braid could have be released to retail. Heck if they were on Wii they probably would have been.

I think if we want really cool innovative games on the service then we should also be willing to pay for them. If were not, we are going to keep getting crappy ports of arcade classics or other shovelware because no one is willing to pay anything more that 800 points.

And..... for this price I should be able to purchase the game on a credit card for the exact price and not have goofy left over points.

The purpose of the points were to allow companies to do micro-transactions, the points would allow them to avoid the credit card transaction fees for purchases under $5.

Now MS seems to be happy fixing prices and pushing the bar higher and higher on pricing to see what they can get away with. Lets say you have to buy 2 1600 point cards to buy castle crashers you will have to spend $40 to get a ~$20 game. So not only do they get the sale, they also come out of the deal $20 ahead.

Would this make sense if any other business would do this? Imagine going to McDonalds to buy a Double Cheeseburger Meal for $4 and them forcing you to buy a $10 Gift Card to make the purchase.

I understand using points are a great way for people without credit card to buy games and they allow companies to charge less than $5 for content to avoid credit card fees (but it seems that MS has forgotten about that marketing bullet point).

Imagine if Bungie charged $1 - $2 for the map packs (or even better use an Itunes business model and make it $1 a map), nobody would hesitate to buy the content. Look at how the community balied on GRAW and GOW when they launched the paid map packs. The other benefit of doing this would be the community would not fracture into haves and have nots. And if you keep a strong community your business will prosper (i.e. Valve and Epic who have supported the PC community with free content for years). Imagine a game lobby that will launch into a game without blinking that someone hasn't purchased the content, its awkward and divides the community. Someone should try to take advantage of the knee jerk purchase reaction that happens at .99, many people may not feel they play COD or Halo enought to justify and $10+ map purchase, but if it was only .99 a map people could feel if they played the maps once they got their value out of the content. Were talking digital downloads where the cost of distribution is low, why not take advantage of it?

Oh come on. Two guys made this game over two or three years. What's the budget on that, $500,000. That means you only need to sell 50,000 copies at $10 to make up that cost. That wouldn't be a difficult feat for a game as hyped as Castle Crashers. No need hurting those sales with a high price point.

Too bad the supply is unlimited. It's more like demand.

w00t!

Damn right I am!

I dont think that it is too much for that game. Pending reviews it looks like it has quite a bit of depth and fun for everyone to play together which gives it replayablitity.

These people are far to price sensitive around here. He hand drew every animation for Christ sakes.

Penny Arcade has a fan base.
Castle Crashers doesn't.

Richard, Dustin, Alexander
Is the game worth it at this price?

I played Castle Crashers at E3, and 1800 points is expensive, but IMO still worth it. For anything above $20, I'd kind of like to get a disc and a case, but for Castle Crashers, I'll make an exception.

I can't think of another arcade game I'd do that for, though. I also played Braid, and it's terrific, but not $15 terrific. They do a disservice by making these so expensive. Braid is a great experience and a great example of how developers can break new ground on smaller platforms like XBLA, but not nearly as many people will experience it at that price.

Of course, people will still buy Castle Crashers, because it's co-op, and just that good. But innovative games like Braid will get murdered by a high price like this.

That's true, at $10 I can bother my friends to buy the game. With this price, I doubt they would fork over the money to get in on the fun.

Also, with the higher prices I want more cheevos.

okay.. first of all, MS would only be to blame for this price if they actually published these games themselves.

the pricing decision is made by the publisher, not microsoft.

and second of all, quit bitching (not directed at you qbix) about value b/c you can't trade it in after you're done. the pc people that buy digital download games don't.

yes MS doesn't publish some these arcade games but they did recently increase their cut of arcade games didn't they? this would lead to a need for the publishers/developers to increase the price to make back the money It might not be so sever as to raise the price a full price level but it seems like you have to go in patterns of 400 pts

you you can buy $20 cards and $50 cards right

amazon.co.uk lists 2100 point cards at 17.99 pounds. Don't see where you're getting your numbers from...

What I meant was. I have to pay 40 odd dolars. Because pounds is near twice as much ( although more accurately its less but still alot less than you pay in the UK.

To be fair, you got Crackdown more than a year after it came out.

That said, if Castle Crashers is as good as everyone is raving about, then it'll probably be a purchase for me. The best part is at least we get a demo on the same day to feel things out. You can't say that for many $60 games out there.

True, it definitely isn't an "in" game right now. But I'm just equating the value of a new (to me) gaming experience in Crackdown, which I think will be much better than that of Castle Crashers. Although I would love to get CC - $22? That's insane. I'm already getting taken down shits creek with the new DLC for Ticket to Ride!

You stole the words right out of my mouth.

Hell I picked up Gauntlet when it was on sale for 200 points, and that's *also* 4 player compatible.

I believe Streets of Rage and Golden Axe are 3 player.

If Castle Crashers was 1200 points ($15), it would be higher than I'd like, but I'd still buy it and play it over Live 'cause I'm sure it will be fun. But over $20 is preposterous.

Yes & its a similar story elsewhere in Europe. Here in Ireland its gonna work out at $22.50 + 50% = $33.75 or €21.71.

Penny arcade i pulled at stretch and really enjoyed, thought it was a well valued purchase... and very close to purchasing geowars 2, even tho i suck at the original. Spose its going to be impossible to gudge to we get our handss on them, with which it may turn out to be the best arcade game, and worth $30...

Stranger things have happened right?