Lode Runner reloaded to 1200 MS Points [update]
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Apr 22nd 2009 at 11:49AM } 
($10) on the Xbox Marketplace, instead of the previously announced 1200 ($15) -- oddly enough, it's still $15 for a code from Amazon. We're not ones to poo-poo providence, so we'll take the 33 percent discount and like it.Well, actually, we did poke the sleeping lion to find out about the surprise "discount." Hopefully, doing so won't spur a price hike. If it does -- yeah, totally our bad.
Update: Lode Runner is now priced at 1200
($15). See what happens when you demand we be thorough, follow-up reporters? But, in all seriousness, here's what Major Nelson had to say about the seesawing release: "This was incorrectly priced at 800 points. That has since been corrected." But is it correct?[Add Lode Runner to download queue]
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ahmedz @ Apr 22nd 2009 11:50AM
interesting...
Altairio @ Apr 22nd 2009 11:51AM
Step 1: Announce XBLA game at 1200 pts
Step 2: Gauge community outrage
Step 3: Adjust price accordingly
Step 4: Profit?
Deezul @ Apr 22nd 2009 12:08PM
Concur. When Major first announced it during his podcast at 1200, I thought, "I'll play the demo. If it looks like there's some life in it, I'll buy it." But at 800, it's almost a no brainer. If ONLY other companies would realize - 1 purchase at 800 is better than 0 purchase at 1200. Guess what else? I'll be for every 1 purchase at 800, you could get 3 people to buy at 400. Anyone of this devs taking an economics class?
Fafhrdd @ Apr 22nd 2009 1:12PM
Amen bother!
Professor Lario @ Apr 22nd 2009 11:53AM
Much better price point.
Kizzle @ Apr 22nd 2009 11:55AM
This probably the difference between "pass" and "purchase" for me, so...well done, I suppose.
Kizzle @ Apr 22nd 2009 1:22PM
Well. Forget that, then.
Jericholic101 @ Apr 22nd 2009 11:55AM
Already added it to my download at that price. can not wait to start up my xbox and start playing.
Tony @ Apr 22nd 2009 12:05PM
Awesome~~!
ccc @ Apr 22nd 2009 12:21PM
Even at that price I found this game to be terrable....sorry.
Farseer (GDI) @ Apr 22nd 2009 12:42PM
terrable...
you mean as in earth-like? I think you mean Terra-esque.
ccc @ Apr 22nd 2009 7:41PM
No I mean a load of shit.
TheIcemanCometh @ Apr 23rd 2009 12:58PM
Because sh*t is so much easier to spell than terrible. :-)
ccc @ Apr 23rd 2009 3:09PM
That too:0
I DeX I @ Apr 22nd 2009 12:37PM
Way to get everybody worked up. 800 pts is the the new 1200 pts. This was a day one purchase for me, regardless. ccc, I find your spelling terrible.
ryan @ Apr 22nd 2009 7:18PM
fortunatly for me i bought it when it was listed at 800,
i got the full and i still only paid 800 points
TheIcemanCometh @ Apr 23rd 2009 12:59PM
The same for me. I guess that's one benefit to being an early riser and being up at 5:30 every day ...
Jonathan @ Apr 22nd 2009 12:41PM
Gosh darn you, Joystiq! I can't actually purchase it now, as an error message keeps popping up. Way to ruin everything.
I would buy this for 800, but not 1200.
Farseer (GDI) @ Apr 22nd 2009 12:50PM
When I went to confirm the purchase (at 800 points) on the website, it returned an error. Anyone else getting this? I'll try it on my system when I get home, I suppose.
Jonathan @ Apr 22nd 2009 12:53PM
Nah, it happens on both the 360 and from the website. For me anyway.I tried both.
Cylkster @ Apr 22nd 2009 12:55PM
hmmm - it worked for me.
At 800 points it is a no brainer - I played it in 1983 on the C64 - now I will play it 26 years later on my 360!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Farseer (GDI) @ Apr 22nd 2009 2:03PM
Nevermind - back to 1200 it is. I guess I don't want it as badly now.
John @ Apr 22nd 2009 12:56PM
Wish I had grabbed this at 800. It is showing as 1200 for me now.
JAmerican @ Apr 22nd 2009 8:33PM
Hells Yeah! I got it at 6AM :) 800 points yoink!
Jonathan @ Apr 22nd 2009 1:01PM
If it does go back to 1200 points, all Joystiq-readers that want it should refrain from buying it at that price. Perhaps Microsoft will see how sells spiked at 800 points and then stopped suddenly after the change to 1200.
Then we wouldn't have anymore overpriced XBLA games.
AoE @ Apr 22nd 2009 5:58PM
Oh, Jonathan... where do we even begin? Oh, wait, I know!
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/l/loderunnerxboxlivearcade/
Note the developer there... notice how it's not a studio owned by MS? Okay, excellent, that's important for this next bit, see if you can follow along: MS DOES NOT SET THE PRICE OF XBLA GAMES, THE DEVELOPER DOES. Sorry for using block caps, I didn't want you to miss that though, as it's a rather salient bit of info. So what does this mean though? Well, it means no matter what MS sees, they can only advise people on how to price their games, MS does not set the price of XBLA titles themselves.
Now then, you know how you were talking about that "sells" spike? Well, this is the first day the game has been on sale, and the 800msp price was around for less than 12hrs. The only people who have noticed/heard about this pricing snafu are hardcore gamers; folks like myself who were up at 2am waiting to buy this the second it came down the pipe, as well of course those who frequent blogs such as Joystiq. This group of people (you and I and other visitors to this site, etc.) we are discussing are a very, very small fraction of the number of the console-owning population. So it's safe to say the vast majority of gamers had no idea this pricing snafu occurred, and the first day sales XBLA games enjoy will no doubt still be enjoyed by Load Runner.
Jonathan @ Apr 22nd 2009 6:53PM
Okay...okay....so replace Microsoft with every game studio. If they noticed that they are losing sales (as evidenced by comments across the web), perhaps they'd stop this excessive pricing.
Why not say...follow Grin's example? I mean, they did an HD remake of a classic game (similar in idea to Lode Runner) very well made with great production values, AND they were also making a game for PC, 360, and PS3 (the next-gen Bionic Commando). Despite all of this, they STILL only charged 800 Microsoft Points/$9.99.
But I'm curious....how do you know that Microsoft do not set the price? Both Penny Arcade games, for example are 1600 points on Live, yet they are only $14.99 on PSN. How do you explain that? If the developers determine the price, why would they choose to make the PSN version $5 cheaper?
Blah, blah, blah....what I really want to know is....why are you defending the soon-to-be-standard price of 1200 MS points?
bscarlavai @ Apr 22nd 2009 1:04PM
Yeah, looks like it is at 1200 now...suck - should have gotten it earlier.
Vidikron @ Apr 22nd 2009 1:14PM
Joystiq ruined it for everyone.
Fhaze @ Apr 22nd 2009 1:21PM
Turned on my 360 first thing this morning, was going to download the trial.
When I saw that it was 800 points I hit buy instead.
Glad I did...
ktsau1 @ Apr 22nd 2009 1:25PM
Picked it up for 800pts as well. But that was at 2 in the morning :D
Cylkster @ Apr 22nd 2009 1:34PM
I purchased it here from my office at 800pts. It is sitting in my download queue. Can't wait to go home and play.
Ghoti @ Apr 22nd 2009 1:39PM
Crap, crap, crap!!! And in case you don't understand how upset I am, CRAP!!!!!!!
Guess I'll have to wait for an Amazon sale or something. Not worth 1200 pts, but I'd pay 800 pts.
Mike @ Apr 22nd 2009 2:10PM
Can someone who has the game confirm if the original is included with the new version? I believe the Brutherbund (sp) version will have better puzzles. (I'll miss those simple white guys and bright blue bricks)
Shogan @ Apr 22nd 2009 2:36PM
If it had that game included, it would be worth the $15 no question. I bought the XBLA version this morning for $8, but I do not see the original or any of the older games included. Maybe it unlocks it? There's a history section with a screenshot of the old game.
TheIcemanCometh @ Apr 23rd 2009 1:01PM
It does not. And actually, all the maps are new. It doesn't have the original 150 maps. It has a total of 220 maps now, to include the new modes.
butaneko @ Apr 22nd 2009 2:12PM
What a load of bullshit. Now it's overpriced and I bear it ill will for jerking me around. I hope you dig a hole and fall in it and your fancy clothes require a moderately expensive dry cleaning.
Biggie @ Apr 22nd 2009 2:13PM
Game just went from a buy to a not buy... sorry MS and I really like Load Runner. I will wait until it is on a deal.
I hope this all blows up and the game get re priced... you know what they should really do is have preorder discounts... now that would drive sales.
Tavin @ Apr 22nd 2009 3:55PM
I would have bought it at 800 just for the nostalgia factor, but not at 1200. That just seems like price-gouging to me. Ah well, maybe amazon will have a sale on it sometime in the near future (a la Flock).
Tavin.
Sam Diaz @ Apr 22nd 2009 2:21PM
Ah Ha! I call shenanigans!
Deezul @ Apr 22nd 2009 2:21PM
Thank you MS for the screw up! I stuck it in my queue for 800, but might not get a download completed until tomorrow. Personally, I'd like to see MS do this more often. A 6 hour sale on a game...
Paul @ Apr 22nd 2009 3:30PM
while this was an error, i agree about ms doing sales every so often. heck remember texas hold 'em was free for the first 48 hours (?) it was out. i snagged that and then it went up to 800 msp after that promotional period.
I DeX I @ Apr 22nd 2009 2:24PM
Great game, just bought it at 15 bux. Problem being is that the game is difficult enough on its own, add in the crappy analog stick control and it becomes very frustrating quickly. I am still having a blast and can't wait to play some good community levels. Microsoft, again, screwed the pooch on pricing. When will these idiots execs learn that you will sell more at less and less at more?
Jonathan @ Apr 22nd 2009 2:33PM
.....they won't learn that, because you actually spent 1200 points on it.
By the way, since when did frustration become fun?
Metal Gear!? @ Apr 22nd 2009 3:00PM
It is people like you that caused the prices to go as high as they have. Paying more than $10 for a game that has been around for over 20 years just because they slap a new coat of paint on it and add online multi-player. I thought that this was(fun, but can play the older ones for free) too much at 800 and 1200 is just stupid.
I guess, at the very least, it is a lot better than Flock for $15.
Really getting sick of these Arcade prices. The last Arcade game I bought was, I think, Duke 3D. I will get Banjo-Tooie(even though Rare are dicks), but that is only because I missed out on it the first time around and I can't find it for less than $15 for the N64.
Paul @ Apr 22nd 2009 4:22PM
what a tool! you complain about the pricing of arcade being too high in the same post as you saying you bought one of these overpriced arcade games??!!
murph @ Apr 22nd 2009 2:31PM
^%$#@
Should have grabbed it @ 800 points. For $15...I'm gonna have to wait until I get home and play the demo.
Shafnitz @ Apr 22nd 2009 2:55PM
I hope someone grabbed it while it was 800. Stick it to the man! It's too bad, too. I was going to buy at 800, but not at 1200. I can see I'm not the only one, too. Good job, MS!
freeleeday @ Apr 22nd 2009 3:01PM
Anyone know what e-mail line to Microsoft to file complaints? This is ridiculous the screwed up and should atleast make it 800MSP for today. Or make it next weeks deal of the week.
:( very disappointed.
ChomskyKnows @ Apr 22nd 2009 3:22PM
awww what the fuck man...