Retro XBLA games must be repurchased for the Xbox Game Room

by Mike Schramm on Jan 26th 2010 10:20PM

Bad news for those of you who have picked up some classic arcade titles on Xbox Live and can't wait to play them in Microsoft's new Game Room: It looks like you will have to repurchase anything you want to play with your avatar in the 3D environment. Game Informer learned this recently from a Microsoft rep, who went on to say that it's because the Game Room titles are different from the XBLA versions -- in fact, it sounds like they're more old-school and not "revamped," as the rep puts it.

Fortunately, you will get a small price break: As previously announced, the games will sell for 400

($5) to play on Xbox 360 and PC, 240

($3) for the game on one platform or 40

($0.50) for "two quarters'" worth of playtime. But for those of us who've already shelled out 400

for the Centipede/Millipede combo, it looks like we'll have to pull out the wallet yet again.

Source

Tags: arcade, centipede, game-room, games, microsoft, millipede, old-school, purchase, revamped, xbox, Xbox-360, xbox-live-arcade

Reader Comments (90)

microsoft knows this will sell like hotcakes, and it simply will.

If you already have them, tons of people will rebuy, if you dont have it, now is the perfect time to get it.

This will make tons of money, regardless of how unpopular it is (just like MW2 on the PC sold better than the first)

First Monster Hunter, and now this...

Come on, Microsoft. There's still.... 30 minutes left to make it a trifecta of failure for the day.

I can't even get my classic Xbox Live Arcade Games on my Xbox 360! Where's my copy of Alien Storm or the compatibility for the Arcade disc? Work on that instead of some stupid virtual arcade plaza thing.

Pretty crappy deal if you already have many of these games, like I do, but I'm glad they have the 40 point option. Honestly every one of these retro games I've purchase only gets played 2 or 3 times in the end, so that works out prefect for me. I always have a small amount of MS points left over with nothing to use them on, so now I'll have something to use them on.

thats exactly what they want!

I want candy. Come visit me dogg. Also, do it for the shorties.

Nah, I'm pretty sure Microsoft is a bunch of rigid white guys who think "reality" is a form of marketable entertainment appealing to the 18-24 demographic.

I won't rebuy any games I already have in my XBLA list. Sorry MS, bad move.

people love paying twice for things. good strategy microsoft!

Why on earth would you pay for it twice?

Just play the XBLA version you already bought.

Screw you, Microsoft!

At least they didnt beat around the bush like Sony did for PSPGo.

"You have to pay for the content again" is as straightfoward as one can get. Pass...

Sony beat around the bush? how so?? You mean that proposed conversion program that was mentioned LONG before the Go came out? right.....sorry but I didnt have to rebuy anything....I simply redownloaded it....

wat

MS already makes you pay twice for your internet service, why not twice for your games?

I upvoted you based on your name and picture alone.

It never ceases to amaze me how Microsoft always finds new ways to nickel and dime (and in this case, quarter) their users. It has practically been their official motto since their inception, but it's never been more transparent than it is with the 360.

Value fail.

Does anyone else feel that the "50 cents worth of playtime" is just a backwards way of essentially charging for a demo?

The only people that should be charging quarters at a time is a REAL arcade. Last thing we need is that crap going on on a console we own.

If they actually pull this stunt, I bet you that people will pay for this still.

Ladies and gentlemen, Bobby Kotick's wet dream.

Dick move, Microsoft. Throw these lost souls a bone and let them pay for the game they've paid too much for already.

Why just not continue playing the already bought game? What is the problem, i mean, why do you need to go into this Game Room to play it? That's what i thought.
Big deal.

i'm not paying 50 cent to play a game on hardware that i physically own. that was the entire reason for me buying a machine instead of leasing it like i do with my cable box.

Wow. What a douche move, Microsoft.

Not only will I not be repurchasing my already downloaded retro titles but I have no intention of patronizing the Game Room platform. I have a feeling that neither will others in their target demographic. As a child of the 80's, who owns some of these cabinets in my home arcade room, I was excited by this idea but forget it now.

BTW this is the kind of crap that may push me to the SONY option in the next console cycle.

This just in: Microsoft makes a product, charges for it, people find this outrageous!

It's like albums, when a band releases a greatest hits or a re-release digi-pak with 2 extra songs, you don't get a discount because you own the original cd. If you are neutral about the band, don't buy it, if it's your favorite band, plunk down the cash. This happens with music, movies, games, electronics, why is it a) shocking or b) ms's fault

So we have to pay for our gold membership, and then pay twice for the same game. Yeah uhmmm no. Smells like....a giant ripoff. Looks like a giant ripoff....feels like a giant ripoff....i'm gonna go ahead and call this one a giant ripoff.

wow.. and here I thought the game room would be free or given a discount price to play all the retro titles. lame

Annnnnndd.... I'm out.

Wow.

Lawsuit for price gouging in 3.... 2.... 1.....

Does Microsoft not realize that we're in the middle of a recession? Alot of people don't have the disposable income they had only 2 years ago.

Seriously, MS.... Keep up with the greed. See how well your next Xbox (or even Natal) sells. I'm sure they'll find a way to charge us a monthly fee for using Natal, too...

E.S.A.D. @ Microsoft. No way will I pay to play games that I have ALREADY purchased just because you changed the method of access. If they wanted a one-time CHEAP fee to upgrade ALL of my games to this new system (like Rock Band -> Rock Band 2 import) then fine... but not this. Screw that.

So wait a minute... people were expecting that if they already bought Centipede or some other game in its normal XBLM form that they would get free access to the new version of the game (which is really just the original version as I understand it) inside the new arcade?

I'm not sure why anyone would make that assumption. What method would MS use to do this? The new games are either handled a completely different way (being a componant of the Arcade app?) or will at least have a completely different download ID tied to them. So to give the new versions out to previous buyers MS would have to issue codes or something.

Seems like a stretch that they would spend the money to come up with a system to implement these "free games".

I feel this is a case of gamers having unrealistic expectations...

Two more things:

(1) MS has not taken away the ability to play the games you bought the way you bought them. They will still work just fine exactly the way you expected them to when you paid for them. Why are they expected to do more?

(2) A lot of people seem to be saying they won't use the new arcade system because of this. Really? Just because you've got two or three games they won't give you a free upgrade for the whole system is worthless? I just don't get it.

I haven't really formed much of an opinion on the new arcade environment yet (need to see more), but this really seems like a lot of strange complaints to me.

Definition: Idiot - Anyone who buys this crap from Microsoft.

i would prefer Ms giving this feature free to gold members, we already pay for gold and this should be a benifit of the $ we spend. instead both gold and silver have to pay for individual games in the game room,and we cant even play games that our friends own in their game room, we have to buy all the games so that we can play them in each others game rooms.

this sucks, not worth the $ amount. having serious thoughts of letting my gold account laps and just playing silver. MS isnt offering anything i consider benificial to gold members.

I have over 70 arcade games purchased. I was looking forward to the Game Room so I could load up my games in there and invite friends.

Now? I'm not even downloading it (if it is a download instead of an update forced on me), and I will seriously cut back on the arcade titles I do purchase from now on.

Bye Bye Arcade games!

Well....that sucks....considering I've bought ALL classic arcade games on XBL....

I'd hope they'd offer some sort of discount.......booooo

Way to garner the support of your consumer base. This was a great foot in the door opportunity for Microsoft to really push the "Game Room". They should've let anyone who has bought an Arcade title prior to 2010 get the upgraded version in the Game Room at no cost.

If they'd do things like this they'd have a much better reputation among all gamers. Disappointing.

that sucks. this is why I LOVE ps3 instead of xbox, cause xbox just blows.

iPhone-Everything.com

LOL at the person who said they had to endure Trixie 360. What happened to her anyways?

I have to agree I'm not feeling this new idea in the least. They need to make quick with the proper deals and stop this financial assault on their loyal customers before they bail and go elsewhere.

Previous 50 Comments

Retro XBLA games must be repurchased for the Xbox Game Room

Reader Comments (90)

Posted: Jan 26th 2010 11:27PM BrianH said

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