Actually, they've updated since then.
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Actually, they've updated since then.
Nintendo should learn a thing or two from this ... sure it's cool to say "you can play thousands of games from decades ago", but in practice almost no one actually wants to.
The Revolution's backwards compatibility via download will most likely be pay-per-play and a flop.
I'd love to play some older stuff on this service. Mainly stuff that hasn't been released five hundred times, for less money. Hopefully, MS doesn't fuck up the 360's Arcade service like they did with this one.
I still stand by my previous comments. With the behind-doors E3 demo, it looks like Sega is going all out for the 360. Why not devote 3 or 4 people to an XBLA project? Once they're done, they're done. They just give MS the software and the ROMs, and they start collecting the money.
In addition to seeing a Genesis library, the other thing I'd love to see is an actual ARCADE. Get together with Sega, Capcom, Konami, Midway, and Atari, and work on a product akin to MAME. Again, integrate it w/Live and, if possible, setup the system to allow people to play together across Live, talk smack or coordinate, etc. Have a high score system that is retained...and, since MS is pushing micro transactions, set this virtual arcade up as 25 cents a game. Rather than paying $10~$20 to download an old arcade game that you may or may not want, instead you simply spend your virtual quarter to play on the virtual arcade machine. Again, once the programming is done, there is no product to package and deliver. The publishers just wait for their cut of the proceeds, the consumer gets some enjoyment and nostalgia, and XBLA becomes a place for more than just VelocityGirl.
I saw someone who (supposedly) works on XBLA on the GAF boards recently. When pressured about the exorbitant pricing for current XBLA games, especially when compared to all the good XBOX games one can purchase for $20 these days, he responded that his wife wouldn't spend $5 on one of those game, but she would spend $20 to play Bejeweled, because she enjoys it. Bollocks. If my wife wasn't a gamer, she'd never buy a system just to spend twenty more dollars on a game she can play on MSN Zone for free. At launch, GAMERS will be what drives the 360. Casual players will come eventually, but MS can't focus on them at launch, If anything, they should be building up the service to make money off of people like us (by delivering product we like and will spend money on) so that they can offer more free stuff to the casuals to help them get their toes wet.
Right now, XBLA is an idea with incredible potential, especially as a prime example of micro transaction-purchasable content. Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn't seem to know what to do with it. I just hope they figure it out in the next 5 months.
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Originally Posted by Wolffen
Hmmm... intriguing. It would certainly fix the usual emulation problem of just putting in 50 credits and plowing through the games.
How does everyone else feel about this?
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Originally Posted by Buzzatronic
Dont underestimate the stupidity of hardcore Nintendo fans.
((Looks at all the sales of 20 dollar Ice Climber))
I think it's a bad idea, because if it's on my Xbox, i want to be able to continually play it as long as I want. In the end I could end up paying well over the $10 I would have been charged otherwise.Quote:
Originally Posted by Korly
Why not offer both options?
I think it would be great if they had a buy option or single play. That way people that want to play once or twice only need to spend 1 dollar or less and those that want to buy it can. I am not sure how many people want to play zzyzzyxx but I don't mind spending 2 dollars and then never seeing it again.
The problem with all of these proposals (which are good) is that its not up to Microsoft. Its up to the copyright holders. If the copyright holders dont want the game on singleplay, the game doesnt get put on singleplay. If the copyright holder charges a $10 per-download fee, then MS isnt gonna sell the game for $5 on XBLA.
Of course, they could negotiate hardcore with the copyright holders to get the prices down (like what Apple did with iTMS, and the labels have been trying to get them to raise the price ever since) but it wouldve been a waste of time on XBLA because the potential was so limited.
But, MS wants to reach a lot more people with 360, so anythings possible...