Xbox Live Arcade prices are getting out of hand

Two new Xbox Live Arcade titles hit today and they seem...well, a bit greedy. Capcom's alien shephard title Flock will run at $15 (1200 MSP) and some puzzle game that rehashes Bejeweled and Hexic called Puzzle Quest: Galactrix will require $20 (1600 MSP) for purchase.

XBLA titles are generally successful on the basis that they're worth what they cost and it doesn't appear Flock or Puzzle Quest has the kind of backing to be asking for so much.

[Megaton]

If Flock's price translates into $15 on the PSN as well, I'm not buying it. Games like that are reasonable at $10.

[KRUSSIDULL]

Time to cut flash games by half.

[Unbiased1]

I have noticed to be honest, it has crossed my mind. It seems that every game on PSN now is 10 bucks, from what i remeber that was not the case before.
If FLOCK is 15$ on PSN than i am not buying it, sad part is i know a ton of sheap people will buy it on both xbl and PSn even if it is 15$ so publishers will keep on doing it.

[Mindboggle]

I agree, every game used to be £3.50 on PSN in UK, now they are all £6 and above, most are over £10...Its a joke.

[Unbiased1]

MInd

Because people keep on buying them. For example if games before on average were 3.5£ and now are 10£ but at least 50% of people that was buying games while they were 3.5 is now buying them when they are 10£, it still bigger revenue, they make more money. Very simple.
I know i would be buying more PSN games if not every game was on average 10$.
For example Flower is awesome and it is worth 10$ but once you are done with it in some 2-3 hours, than what? I am not one of those guys that likes to replay games over and over, i will move on to next release, so i am supposed to pay AGAIN 10$ for some game that is worth playing 2 or so days and that's it.

[GVON]

Thats only $4 less than wipeout HD,I played the qore deme and it's not a $15 game,and if it translates to £ there's no chance I'm paying that because that would be £4 over the wipeout HD price.I think it will be £7-8 any higher and I can't see myself buying it.

[dragunrising]

The reason I think publishers are charging more right now is because the online marketplace (PSN and Live) are much more competitive and crowded than before. Just as in retail, the prices are more or less standard so that the maximum amount of profit may be made. It wouldn't be a big stretch to assume publishers know that a certain number of people will get the game at said price at $15. On the off chance that there is a sale or permanent price reduction, more sales may be gained without cutting close to the margins. Its hard to support Flock's price tag of $15, although Puzzle Quest is a multiple hour, puzzle rpg. Value is a hard proposition for any arcade game so hopefully the quality of games released improve and the price remains more or less static.

[GWAVE]

XBLA games are pretty expensive, but many of the expensive ones (like Flock) are also on PSN and they are pretty much the same price.

To me, it's a different matter: why spend $20 or $30 on a couple XBLA games like Flock or Braid when you can buy full games like Wipeout HD or Siren on PSN for the same price?

[shocky16]

Maybe because Braid >>>>>>>&g t;>>> Wipeout and siren by a mile, just maybe?

[Cenobia]

Isn't Braid like a 4 hour game?

I don't think he was talking about quality (which is largely personal opinion). He was talking about quantity.

You aren't going to pay $50 for a game like Braid regardless of how good it is. Wipeout also has a ton more replay value than Braid.

[y0haN]

Lol, Lost and Damned was 1600 MSP and it was 'just' a good buy in my opinion, loved it. Paying 1600 MSP or even 1200 for a glorified flash game, no thanks.

[gaffyh]

@shocky - Wipeout HD is basically a full game (atleast 10 hours of gameplay, but it's actually a lot more), but PSN users only got charged £12/$15 for it. Anything that costs over $15 has a LOT to prove. Back in the early PSN days, SuperStardust HD only cost £5 and it was and still is one of the best PSN games available.

[NewZealander]

is it just me or are capcom getting really gready?

sure they make some cool games, but they always seem to be more expencive, and charging for multiplayer on resi 5?

[Unbiased1]

Every company is "greedy" there is no such thing as successful non greedy company, just ask Nintendo.
It's just that they see they can get away with it because core gamers will pay, even if it was 20$, and i won't be surprised if that starts happening.

[jaseo]

I am amused by the comment from NewZealander (where men are men and the sheep are nervous!)

speaking of greedy.

(NZ accent) are you shearing that sheep?

NO! I'm not sharing her with anyone :)

[thereapersson]

lolololol Jaseo

[NewZealander]

grow up jaseo, and keep your pathetic steriotypes to yourself.

[timmyrulz]

Sounds like what they will do is charge this silly amount and then have them on the half price specials for Gold members, i dont know why people buy online games, for the price you pay you can get a used full price game from ebay or amazon, yesterday i bought Brothers in Arms off Amazon for £7.50, i also downloaded the pit for about £7.50 which i finished after 3 hours

[ParanoidMonkey]

400MSP was the norm and 800MSP was considered far too expensive. Bankshot Billiards being released at 1200MSP was just madness. Now 800MSP is the norm. Funny how far we've come (although games have gotten MUCH, MUCH better on XBLA so price increase doesn't surprise me).

Anyhow, back to the topic at hand, Flock on XBLA is priced the same as Flock on PC. Puzzle Quest on XBLA costs the same as Puzzle Quest on PC. Not surprising. Keep in mind another thing about Puzzle Quest, the first in the series was originally a FULL GAME on the DS and PSP.

[divideby0]

psst...dont buy them regardless where they appear....send a message

[fishd]

It's just the begining...

[peeps]

Capcom again lol (just read article on the size of resi 5 'dlc') It seems they're just not happy with having several top selling games out atm. I keep seeing extra costumes for sf characters on the psn store as well each week, all costing a few ££.

but yeh trying to stick to the topic, i haven't bought any arcade games, but on psn i'd only really consider spending around £3-5 on an arcade game, i mean wipeout HD was only about £10 which is the same price as an arcade game now adays??

[DARK WITNESS]

i really wish gamers would just take a stand and not buy all this over priced crap. Don't worry, when i said wish i meant just that ( its a wish )... i know it will never happen.

Still, for what its worth, i refuse to buy 90% of the crap that's on there. I use to buy more stuff on the psn, but again i have noticed that the prices are moving up as well.

i remember getting tekken of psn when it came out, i think it was about £5.99. it may have been on special offer, i can't quite remember now. but i thought that was more like the sort of price i was expecting, and that was a full game.

[JaggedSac]

Puzzle Quest:Galactrix costs the same as the PC version and is cheaper than the DS version. Nothing to see here, move along.

[bob saget remix]

They are basically just flash games in HD.

[glennc]

i spend that on a few drinks at the pub. if you can't justify it, don't buy it.

[MrJack]

Its a game based on sheep.

Every man in Wales will be buying this as soon as possible :D

[II Necroplasm II]

I just wonder where all this money goes...

[dcbronco]

I refuse to pay these kinds of prices for $10 games. Slow your roll Microsoft, you can't get it all back at once.

[BlackRaven85]

It's the same on PC too, Microsoft doesn't own Capcom last I checked, and just shows you don't do any research when you see stuff like this.

[lowcarb]

There needs to be some laws set in place to prevent MS and others from nickel and diming there customers. I would personally like to know exactly why I'm being charged so much for cheap games and also why I'm paying for Live in detail. Now I understand these companies want to make money but so do I. There's just to much bs going on in the world right now for these companies to have the nerve to charge so much for these crap azz games. One would think that prices drop on games and services like everything else right now, but they don't because they know they can get away with screwing us. Anyways sorry for the rant.

[BlackRaven85]

I guess you would buy the PC version instead uh? Opps, it's the same price on there too. Why is it, you are always jumping at Microsoft when some cases are the publishers problem? Microsoft isn't Capcom. Go blame them, or at least acknowledge them somewhere in that post.

[lowcarb]

Ok fair enough but if you read my post you clearly see that I don't blame this solely on MS. I'm a 360 supporter and never talk bad about it or MS. The point is there seems to be this get you for everything (not only from MS)vibe going on which I'm just not ok with. Sure my comment might have been childish, and uncalled for, but seriously I just want to know why. After E3 when MS drops some killer news I'm sure I will be ok, but as for now don't pay attention to me if I'm whining.

[Silly gameAr]

I got through qore was cool. Loved the animations and it was pretty creative based on the demo. But, I doubt I would spend 15 bucks on the full game. Got to save my PSN cards for upcoming games like Fat Princess and Rag Doll Kung Fu.

Same goes with my MS points. The Gears 2 map packs and Dish Washer Dead Samurai is much more enticing than either of these games. Cheaper too.

[FantasyStar]

This is why I refuse to buy Castle Crashers. A game like that is better at $10 (800MS) -I can't justify that game at 1200GS for basically a flash game. Even if the game was worth 1200GS, there's the issue of having left over MS points. If the game was 800: I could buy 2 XBLA games, but no. I knew XBLA games are getting more expensive since 09 and games like Flock and Puzzle Quest just justify my convictions even more.

...oh don't forget about Braid.

[Socomer 1979]

If i do buy something that is expensive at least i have the pleasure of not having to deal with left over microsoft points again.
I also am fortunate to be able to share the purchase with family members with game sharing.

capcom is on some real bullcrap but i dont blame em. If i were them i would be doing the same thing 10x worse after seeing that people actually want to pay to play online like its a privalige. Then you should be honored to pay for these vs. mode too suckas.

[FantasyStar]

I agree, its' BS that I have to purchase "packaged" MS Points. If I didn't, I would've bought Castle Crashers at the 1200MS cause I know that 400 won't be left to sit there. And then there's the issue of game-sharing. I buy PSN games more than XBLA games cause PSN is more lenient with me.

[iHEARTboobs]

Luckily I have PSN too. But there's still stuff on LIVE that I want. I just bought the Snowblind map pack and now i'm left with like 200 MS points which allows me to get nothing but maybe some lame pictures or maybe a theme. So now i'm left with these 200 MS points which i'd like to use but nothing to use it towards that i'd like so what am I encouraged to do? That's right, buy more points, and the cycle continues.

[Socomer 1979]

The american motto:
Theres a sucka born every minute.

[ForROME]

Heres my deal, any dled small game over 9.99 is no where near its worth.

[Pootie Tang]

I'm guessing this is the same scenario as with Braid where the developer has no say in the price and MS is requesting should a high price.
It works out to $23.60 CDN for 1600 points, I think MS has lost site of what the Arcade was supposed to be.
I think their greed will catch up to them (peripherals,xbox live, arcade,etc)

[sukru]

MS was the publisher of Braid, and they chose the price, that part is correct.

However they are not the publishers of these two games, and as many people stated above, it's the same price on PC. It does not make sense for a publisher to sell a downloadable game for $20 on PC and $10 on XBLA.

[Pootie Tang]

The developer of Braid was pretty vocal about wanting it to be sold @ 800 points and mad that MS wanted to charge so much- I was questioning if it was the same scenario.

[sGIBMBR]

If people refused to pay those prices, i'm sure they would come down... !

[SprayandPreycom]

i got all my old shcool titles some were even to expensive but this is just way beyond for some reason i though arcade would be a place to get cheap buys for reasonable games something to reward 360 owners there just turning it into greed arcade its sad