Xbox Game Room pricing, partners detailed

by Xav de Matos on Jan 7th 2010 9:50AM

The pricing structure for Microsoft's newly announced Avatar-occupied Game Room has been detailed in an online fact sheet, and we'd suggest you stock up on Microsoft funny money. Players have three options: 400

($5) grants a dual-platform license for one game (for unlimited play on Xbox 360 and PC), 240

($3) gets you the virtual arcade cabinet on one platform (Xbox 360 or PC), or, for the old-fashioned types, 40

($0.50) is just "two quarters" worth of playtime on a select title -- for the authentic arcade experience, minus the sticky floors. Additionally, when visiting friends' game rooms, you can "try" their games before you pump in Microsoft Points of your own.

The Game Room itself -- developed by third-party outfit Krome Studios (Viva Piñata: Party Animals, Star Wars: Republic Heroes) -- will be free for users to download. Customization options are mentioned in the fact sheet, but pricing for these features is not addressed. At launch the service will include 30 original arcade titles -- with "over 1000" planned for the future -- from multiple publishers, including Atari, Activision, Intellivision, and Konami. (A list of 31 confirmed titles is posted after the break.)

Games will be presented in 1080p (because that's why you bought that HD set) and will support multiplayer for up to two players, as well as cross-platform leaderboards and Achievements. Microsoft's ~~Home~~ Game Room is slated to launch this spring.

Xbox Game Room

Source - "Game Room" Fact Sheet [.doc]
Game Room Titles

Adventure
Armor Battle
Asteroids Deluxe
Astrosmash
Battlantis
Centipede
Combat
Crystal Castles
Finalizer
Football
Gravitar
Jungler
Lunar Lander
Millipede
Mountain Madness: Super Pro Skiing
Outlaw
Pitfall [visible in screenshot]
RealSports Tennis
Red Baron
Road Fighter
Scramble
Sea Battle
Shao-Lin's Road
Space Armada
Space Hawk
Star Raiders
Sub Hunt
Super Cobra
Tempest
Tutankham
Yars' Revenge

[Via Game Room trailer; Giant Bomb]

Tags: achievements, arcade, avatars, ces-2010, game-room, games-for-windows, gfw, gfwlive, krome-studios, Microsoft, pricing, xbla, Xbox-360, xbox-game-room, xbox-live

Reader Comments (149)

I'm not sure anything is official yet. It wasn't mentioned in the press release.

i agree with everyone who said that this games should be free because MS charges a fee for Live and all games are free online. I think this idea is aimed towards older people who used to play this games in the arcades.

I think you'd be paying for the ability to have all these games in one place and be able to play them EASILY with your friends on your television. I don't know if the versions available for free online have multiplayer, but I'm gonna guess that they don't. Or at least most of them don't. Would this be an awesome free feature? Sure, but it sounds cool either way.

If I'm going to throw my money away like that, I think I would find it more satisfying if I had the entirety of my earnings in small bills and tossed it all into a bonfire over the course of a few hours.

But what if you already bought Galaga or some other "classic" arcade game through Live. You have to buy it again?

Not gonna happen.

Wait, so I buy games for my Game Room and then invite friends over so they can pay to play them? Unless I'm getting a cut of the money I don't see the point. What is it you get out of playing these games in a game room rather than just playing them on xbla or one of the many compilations they're included in?

nothing. its a terrible idea and at least the games on Home are new, fresh, fun and free.

Johnny, I fully support bashing Game Room but do you really have to support home while you do it? Everything about home is awful.

i believe if you or your friends have a game you can both play off each others,this more aimed towards social gatherings like bowling alley arcade in home

You guys do realize that, despite the fact we can play these games for free on the PC, that Microsoft can't simply put them on XBL for free, right? Correct me if I'm wrong, but if an Atari game goes onto the arcade, they owe Atari royalties, don't they?

Only if Atari asks for them.

Also, notice how we're already paying for Live Gold to use these?

This whole pricing model is re-goddamn-tarded. Is anybody seriously going to pay 1 Curtis Jackson to play a game of fucking Centipede in 2010? Does anyone at MS live in the real world anymore? What the hell? Gah!

It's a good thing i'm from the future and have games that don't suck, otherwise i might actually care about that shitty list of games

I think a lot of the arcade purchases for me will depend on how they do achievements. If the achievements are interesting, it might be worth the two fifty to romp through some of the old classic arcade games...

I would rather buy 5 indie games than 1 old atari game that I'll only play once.

Dig Miner Deep FTW.

No Rolling Thunder?? Booo!

MS is out of their mind. These prices are absurd. These games are old, these games are available free all over the internet via flash game sites to say nothing of MAME etc. They should be releasing these like a pack of 10-20 arcade cabinets for 5 bucks or something. Do they honestly think someone is going to pay 5 bucks to play asteroids in this economy?

I hate where this industry is headed. The game companies are moving more and more towards a "nickle and dime em to milk em dry" approach to game selling. And it stinks. And when the whole "digital distribution" thing really takes off in full force, say goodbye to game rentals and lending games to your friends and buying games used.....so pretty much say goodbye to your hobby if you aren't rolling in disposable income.

I can download Civilization IV for free on thepiratebay so why should they try to charge anything for it on Steam? They're out of their mind!

lol Home? Seriously Microsoft... copying ANOTHER idea... give me a break.

It's nothing like Home. If you weren't completely retarded you would probably see that.

@nutman

It's actually worse than Home because you have to play to play these shitty old games that are free on most of the manufacturers websites.

for a minute there i thought we were getting "Yaris Revenge" lol.

I don't care what anybody says. That was funny.

[banned]

Basically, this is like if Apple charged a subscription fee to iTunes, and then charged for the songs on top of it.

lulz Home amirite?

lulz pay for game again amirite?

lulz old game should be free game amirite?

lulz Flash version is free amirite?

That should about cover it.

What about the old arcade games that we have already purchased that were previously available on xbox live? will those be incorporated in game room?

ya, like galaga, arkanoid or even Pac Man CE, WTF?

Okay...here's a question...

If you have already downloaded all these old arcade titles on XBOX LIVE Arcade.....do they transfer to your game room???

No way they would charge us 2x for the same Roms/emulators.....

You poor, naive little man.

Fact: If any of you pay even one microsoft point to play any of those games, you're fucking retarded.

Proton Kid? That's awesome, never heard that one. I'm using it. :)

Swearing is the best form of punctuation. You can't hear a exclaimation point, but you can damn well hear a well-performed "FUCK". But you're right, on here we can keep it clean... I was just caught up in the frusteration of Microsoft finding new ways to try and weasel dollars out of our pockets.

And to think, they probably paid some employees to implement this "Xbox Game Room", when they could have paid those same employees to create something useful and actually fun! Use that wasted money to finance Duke Nukem Forever, then the greatest game yet to be released could be released exclusively for the Xbox 360

Yes, but can you beat my time on mode 2 of adventure at atari.com?

I meant it looked like home jeez chillout. Anger issues, seriously.

I meant it looks like Home, maybe if YOU weren't so retarded you would know that.
Jeez though, chillout.

GME GAUNTLET!

So what happens if I decide to cancel my gold account after buying some of these games? Will I still be able to play them offline? Not that I would ever pay those crazy prices, just trying to figure out how big a rip off this really is.

I think this arcade payment system is going to outright fail. When you went to an arcade, it was more then just playing the game. You didn't put a quarter in a machine just to play a game until you ran out of lives. You paid for whatever arcade the machine was located in, for not having to buy a $300 console to play the games on, for not having to buy an arcade stick which is still the best way to play a lot of these old games, for the social experience of going with friends or playing against random people, the convenience of probably being able to grab food while you were there.

There was so much more to the arcade experience then just the being able to play the games. With so many of these games being so easily emulated on everything from a browser window to a cell phone, I don't think there's a chance in hell this shit will actually pick up.

is it me or is the list missing classic arcade games that i already own(Galaga, Arkanoid)? i hope these will work in the game room

i'm disappointed it costs money. but really. 3-5 bucks. who cares.

you should care as that isn't 3-5 bucks for a pass to play all the games.

oops, guess i didn't read it carefully.

ya 3-5 bucks PER game is bs.

To all the people hating on this because it will cost money I ask you this....

If you were out at a bar/restaurant somewhere and you saw an old arcade cabinet of a game you love, would you be willing to spend a few bucks that night to play it for a bit for old times sake?

If you answer yes to that then what are you complaining about? This is the exact same damn thing except you can play it online with any of your friends from around the world.

NEWSFLASH PEOPLE: NOTHING IN LIFE IS FREE. DEAL WITH IT.

Whilst i love gaming I can't help but laugh at this concept, both the games and the sales pitch. I wouldn't touch those titles if they were Free...

Oh Pitfall on my Commodore, i hated you then when my even smaller brain and uncoordinated fingers couldn't grapple over the gators. I'm in no hurry to play you again.... Evar!

@Nefariousity speak for yourself . i have no problems with paying for these games . i consider it a walk down memory lane playing these games.so if a fee i must pay so be it.

This is really really not good.

Who asked for this? Does MS 'focus group' their own staff? I can play these games for free, why would I...

You know what, MS just reaks of corporate agenda. The idea is to make money, but to do it successfully they have to offer us convincing software.

This is stupid. Anyone who thinks this is a good idea, needs to locate an ACTUAL arcade. Nothing but weak-sauce from MS @ CES.

Of cause MS are gonna charge us dont no why ppl complain ill be buying the games (well all the decent ones anyway

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Xbox Game Room pricing, partners detailed

Xbox Game Room

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