Xbox Live's Major Nelson » This week on Arcade: Watchmen :

Urban Myth nxs

You got the title of the game wrong Major.

Should be: Watchmen: The End IS Nigh. Not The End OF Nigh.

emuholic

It should be called 800 Points: The End Is Nigh

Khufu23

Whoever was responsible for pricing this, is a tool.

I remember a time when games were 400 and 800. I’m glad Pac Man CE come out long enough ago to fall under those price tags.
I know it’s not MS who priced this as its the same price on the PS, but if Pac Man CE come out tomorrow, I just know it’d be 1,200.

I don’t mind 1,200 for the odd game here and there, but 1,600 is like charging £10 for a £5 note.

And to the person who said that the following ‘episodes’ of this game will be cheaper – do you have that set in stone?
I can see it now, someone buys this thinking someway down the line that get more games cheap. Then episode 2 comes out for 1,600 with the excuse stapled on of “Well, you people didnt buy enough of episode 1 so this needs to be priced higher”

One more thing I’d like to say is how this game comes out on its own this week. You release this with a 800 game and this wouldn’t sell any.

MeS FEAR

Again 1600 Points???? This cant be…if the game will have 6 or 7 hours gaming then the price would be fair but not that…the arcade games are going to be more expensive then i thought..first 400 and then 600,800,1200 and now 1600..thats crazy…when will these arcade games cost 2100? Microsoft really thinks that ppl are rich

SOG Random

There is another way for Microsoft to increase the prices and that is to increase the cost of MS Points.

As for the Watchmen game if it had been 800 MS points it would have been a definite buy as I am a fan of the comics, at 1200 MS points it would have been a get the trial and read the reviews, at 1600 it is a wait for it to come down in price.

If the game had been more than a few hours long then it may have been different but with the Fallout 3 DLC and Puzzlequest Galactrix to be released in the near future there are better things to spend points on.

The question has to be asked if the money they gain through a higher price is lost through significantly fewer sales

Kuji PR

ouch, I’m jumping into the Watchmen bandwagon but this is too much :O

ninshua

I’ll wait for user reviews but I was only expecting to pay 1200 points. Might just wait for it to go on sale.

NBA2kChico

WTF!!!???
1600 points for whut!?
a game thats fake Batman….and got 2-3 hours gameplay…..

maybe 1200, but 1600 is too much……

II QUiCK5HO7 II

You cannot really compare it to Batman, cos it’s not Batman. ANd it’s over priced like most arcade games. It costs as much as TLAD!!!

Hobiologe

I’ll wait for the Watchmen – Deal of the week! In about 3-4 weeks … At this pricepoint this game will fail.

Warrengonline

@Eldon v3
Castle Crasher’s price was well worth it. To those who just want to plow through the game and say “I beated it” (yes, I purposely said the improper “beated” in stead of “completed”). I love the artworks of tom Fulp and Behemoth Dev Team. I met another fan last night playing the game who loves it just a wee bit more than I.

@Col J Matrix UK
IF the games do go to 2000 MS Points, MS will see the errors in their ways when THAT particular game trial downloads are low, sales are even lower and Gold Memberships lapse into Silver for months on end. Then possibly a price reduction will occur. But with like deals at Best Buy (http://kotaku.com/5162895/buy-xbox-live-gold-account-go-see-watchmen-for-free) the movie will live on. I only hope this game has superb graphics and awesome surround sound effects.

Watchmen: The End is Nigh Part I (this is a part one also) and where are Shenmue Chapters 1 & 2, 3 & 4, 5 & 6, etc?

Maybe I’m lost in a time warp, but RPG Experiences were based on time spent playing the standard game, minus the hidden items and the high level up skills? Thus expanding the value of the experience and the price it was worth. And if SOG Random is correct, well I guess my plan is to complete all the XBLA games I have, wait for the 120GB HDD price drop, then I’ll be back to purchasing XBLA games instead of retail. This kind of bites as many of my friends are now pushing “buy used”, but those sales do not support the developers (financially), but those who can’t afford the $59 price tag can afford the $40 and below price.

CosMick

Ahahahahahahahaha….

I’m sorry but that pricing is ridiculous!

Being the same price as The Lost & Damned is a joke.

Doctor Xpro

Were the hell is Halo 3 new maps!!!!!!!!!!

SalamanderSkill

Who ever finalized this price should consider moving into comedy!

So Jokes aside… What is the real price Major Nelson?

b0omz

How are they going to make an action game out of a graphic novel that was heavy on the psychological and political stuff, and light on the action just like V for Vendetta. Sure there are a couple action scenes and a prison break out scene, but this is no action movie or some regular superhero movie.. It’s about washed up retired heroes being caught up in a conspiracy involving them and people they know, and like I said, any action there is, you can already see in the trailer..Those are the only scenes with action. This game has no point existing. This game and the trailers are misleading people into thinking the movie is going to be something it isn’t, and the story is too good to warrant this treatment. Warner Bros. is pulling an Adrian Veidt(Ozymandias) with the products here…Veidt corporation would do this, but WB doing it when the story pokes fun at this sort of marketing, is not clever.

Mickeh

Well it’s the companys fault/microsofts too (like how CC’s King Pack, they wanted it to be FREE, mircosoft said no 150 points) when they moan about poor sales. I wonder why, not been much news/info on this game really, can’t see it even having good reasons for a 1200 price tag nevermind 1600.

Get back to 400,800,1200 [Thou far too many using the 1200 price point. 1200 for braid yea worth it but not some of the other crap that we don’t even know about, like CC’s I knew about that when first came into production, 2 years worth waiting for)

No more stupid prices unless its something little bit special. Uno is 400 points, its one of the highest sale games in total on XBLA and its always in the top 10 sales every week for the arcade… GET THE HINT -_-

Side Note: I still can’t change my gamertag on here, keeps saying xbox live gamercard checks not active or something.

Louie

Just another reason why i don’t buy any games in the marketplace.

JORBO TRON

well you can go to best buy get a 1600 point gift card and the you get 2 watchmen movie tickets free ($24 value) so a movie and a game for $20 isn’t bad. Plus I did an online order and it took Best buy so long to put it together that they gave me a $10 gift card.

ShaggyB

$20??? Ok i like Watchman and all…. but thats a bit steep for an arcade title. In stores id pay that but online…. perhaps as a deal of the week a few months from now.

ShaggyB

Also let me add 1200 aka $15 should be the absolute max for an Arcade title. Its a rare game that I find is worth a $15 buy. $5-$10 seems to be a magic spot. A $10 title being put on sale at $5 is a bargain and instant buy for me. a $15 title put at $10 is a buy for me if i was interested in the title.

If you guys want to make a new category for Download Full Retail Games, similar to what sony did with Warhawk…. thats fine. You could put Watchmen in that and charge $20. (yes i realize there wont be a retail version to go with it…. but you get the idea)

ShaggyB

Xpro PT: They are in the Halo Wars Limited Edition. They wont be up for download to non Halo Wars buyers for a month or two…. Hopefully not longer… but i could see it getting posted at E3…. Thats a bit of a wait though.

If you want it now, consider Halo Wars……

Makavelo

i remember buying a game for 400mp, then buying another one for 800mp and then Castle Crashers for 1200 but thats as far as it goes what happened to the days of 800mp at maximum for top games? this is suppose to be Arcade i want Arcade games for reasonable prices.

Robschach

What really annoys me is that, i think, while a lot of people voice their opinions of disappointment and disgust at the price, a large majority of people will still buy it therefore proving to these over charging companies that we are willing to bend over and take it like chumps.

Therefore nothing will change and we will still be expected to pay over the odds for these games. If people didnt actually buy it and stuck to their guns then maybe we might see the price drop that we feel realistic.

So please people dont fold and get it if you truely feel its too expensive. Speak with action.

I think that Microsoft or whoever is in charge of the XBLA is losing sight of what the Arcade is. (retro games/small private production games like Braid) Watchmen cant be counted as an arcade game! Its more like the first breed of this new age of downloadable games everyone talks about us coming into. So if they are going to count it as an arcade game then it should be priced as an arcade game (absolutely no more than 1200 points maximum), otherwise Microsoft need to make a new section on the dashboard of digital download games along side XBLA.

As follows-

XBL Arcade games
XBOX Digital Games downloads (ie a step above arcade) Perhaps combining old xbox games, remakes like Banjo Kazooie and now new Proper games that could retail properly like Watchmen.
XBOX DLC

CARNAGE RULES

@ MACPH1ST0

You’re just a cheapskate and if it’s not free you’re not happy. I looked at your games played and you have a whopping 37. You got Aegis Wing for free. You got Yaris for free. You got Carcassonne when it was free. You got Undertow when it was free. You got Dash of destruction for free. Hexic HD is free on the HD. You probably even preordered fable to get the Pub games for free.

Mickeh

It’s like any nice simple clean arcade games (for example newish release. The Maw) I’d buy a lot more games if was all like that and only 800 points. (unless it’s one that I love [castle crashers] and one that I’d get a lot of play out of)

MACPH1ST0

@ CARNAGE RULES: I see you conveniently overlooked all the Arcade games I have bought, like Castle Crashers (one of the rare games worth its higher price), Braid (at 800 points, the price it should have originally been), Puzzle Quest, both Geometry Wars, Duke Nukem 3D, etc etc, not to mention all the DLC I’ve bought too. I’m more than willing to spend the points if it’s worth it. So yeah, nice try. So you can keep throwing your insults around and trollin’ it up on here, but that’s still not going to change the fact that there’s been an unnecessary increase in Arcade game prices lately.

Magical Pro

Whoever tries to defend this $20 price tag either works for the publisher of this game or an idiot.

VEGEMITE 98

@ CARNAGE RULES, You forgot Texas Holdem was free, and Australia got TMNT for free! and I got Tetris for free!

Major, and you organise to get OFFICIAL price list for XBLA, as the old one
that stated 400, 800, 1200 seems to have disappeared!

Also we would like hear your response on this situation. it seems a bit dodgy that you post that the game is 1600mp without you batting an eyelid. Take your Microsoft hat off and tell us the truth about the pricing. and silence is an answer!

CARNAGE RULES

@VEGEMITE 98

Yeah, I know. I was just pointing out the ones MACPH1ST0 got for free. He hasn’t paid for Sh@T and he’s complaining about high prices. There are 62 games at 5.00 how many has he purchased? 2. There are 111 games at 10.00 how many has he purchased? 9. Let me also just point out that people don’t like MACPH1ST0. A 4 star rep in 2 years. Yeah right.

L0ng5h0t

I wouldn’t mind paying the 1600 pts if this was a complete game, but this is episodic. At $20 a pop, and I think I read somewhere that there is going to be at least 5 episodes, this will cost way more than if it was a retail release.

MACPH1ST0

@ CARNAGE RULES: How stupid do you have to be to not jump at the chance of getting a free game on the rare occasion that Microsoft actually offers one? (provided you’re actually interested in it of course) That has nothing to do with being cheap. If you want to keep wasting your points on any crap game that gets released, then go ahead and be a sucker. And when it comes to my star rep, don’t talk about something you don’t have a clue about. Now shoo, troll!

UnarmedGorilla

This one looks at though it was intended to be a full release based on the movie IP, then part way through the developers realized it was sh$t and decided to slap a $20 price tag on a half-baked game in order to try and make some of their money back. I wouldn’t waste a penny on this kind of title… another useless kick-punch-boot button masher.

CARNAGE RULES

I’m not trolling. What have I exaggerated, I’ve only pointed out the facts about you. Are they untrue?

KP ScuzzyBunny

@ CARNAGE RULES: Look at MY games played and talk that trash…I have PURCHASED over 100 XBLA games, and have played 348 games total (most of the retail games are purchases as well). I have multiple systems, multiple HDTVs, multiple accounts, 10k ms points, and I am saying this price is ridiculous and that I won’t buy it. Am I “cheap”? I don’t think so, and there is nothing wrong with only having free arcade games or a smaller game library, since not everyone got a 360 at launch (a lot of people worried about the RROD), and others just recently got on Live (without which, of course, you cannot use XBLA), and of course some budgets are bigger than others. There is a line, and they crossed it.

That being said, the big “change” in the pricing came from two main factors. First is that the “retro” game market dried up, so they moved the 400 price point to the Community games. The second factor is that they removed the 50MB cap that was on developers, so they could make bigger (i.e. more expensive) games. So now the price points are 400- Community Games, the rare promotion, or an even more rare retro title; 800- and original game whose size is usually less than 100MB; 1200- an original title that is a few hundred+ MB; and then the 1600- which is the largest and usually for a licensed title (like this game that DOES have stunning graphics and everything, I just don’t think $20 is a good price for a short, local-only, episodic game).

MACPH1ST0

@ CARNAGE RULES: Yes it’s obviously untrue, and everyone else can see that too. You pick and choose what you want to fit your version of what you think an XBL member should be, and just make up everything else. So yes you are trolling.

CARNAGE RULES

@Killer Scuzzy J

Listen up jackhole, You have right to complain. You have spent the money on titles that are 400 to 800 points and now you feel your loyalty is being taken advantage of by higher prices. My argument comes from someone who hasn’t purchased these titles and is still complaining about higher prices. I didn’t say there was anything wrong with getting free titles but, if you’re not even buying the 400 to 800 point games than why the hell are you complaining about the prices. aaaaaand nascar sucks.

Makavelo

@Carnage Rules

Go away troll

A Place for Us

Wow. Those pesky film companies really want to rake in the $$$. How about selling it at 1200 or even 800 and maybe that’ll gain more sales and more money for them that way.

Shonk

I own

133 Full Arcade Games
167 Retail Games
112 HD-Dvd’s

1 Elite
2 Pro 120 Gig
1 Pro 60 Gig
7 White Wireless Joysticks
1 Black Wireless Joystick
3 AV Breakout Boxes (£35 a pop)
2 Wireless Headsets
2 Big Button Sets
3 Hd-Dvd Drives
1 Camera
6 Chat Pads

Im Sure there’s more as well

I wont buy 1200 or 1600 Point Games

Am I Cheap Also?

Dubbington

I don’t think it’s right to have this idea that the Live Arcade “should only be this, and never move away from it”. It’s just an alternative method of distribution, developers should put whatever they want on it and not be restricted to classic rereleases and new games in that style. If they want to put a game that’s less than a full-on retail release, but more than the typical Arcade game up, why shouldn’t they, and why shouldn’t it be priced to reflect what it is? Because you “don’t think that’s what Live Arcade is for”? Come off it.

Is this game worth 1600 Points? I don’t know yet, I haven’t played it. Neither, I’d wager, has anyone else commenting on it. Where has this “2-3 hours of gameplay” come from, anyway? The previews I saw gave a 4-8 hour range. Then you have to consider if that’s just a single playthrough, or taking into account going through as both NiteOwl and Rorschach? How’s the replayability?

There’s no point judging anything about the game and its value until reviews and the trial are out, but people on the internet love any chance to complain about things and argue amongst themselves I guess.

CARNAGE RULES

@Shonk

You may not be cheap but, you’re dumb as dirt. Read

VEGEMITE 98

I got you All beat, check my arcade list, I have 192 of them, including two that have yet to be released which unfortunatly don’t show up on my list! I also have every XNA released and the majority of XBOA originals, so BEAT THAT!.

and Major you STILL haven;t answered my question! mmm typical

smileriraq

Think things are getting too personal here, a persons gaming history is irrellevant wether they have bought 100 games or only 1. The point is they prices for the games are shooting up but the quality for the most part stays the same. In the beginning arcade games were like cheap n cheerful games that allowed you to go back to a game you loved in the past or a quick gaming hit. Now they are working on a pricing level thats just under a full release and as a result gamers wont download on a whim as they might of in the past and the gamer needs to justify paying the cash for it.

Myself personally Im voting with my wallet, in a few months my Gold account will be up for renewal and I wont be renewing it. However that is viewed by the forum will not worry me one iota , if enough people do that then MS will have to relook at their pricing but I dont think enough people will do it to dent MS profit margin.

THC FightDog 85

Where is it now? Want to play the Demo.

VEGEMITE 98

it’s on there but it’s locked for download at the moment.

Kartanym

Watchmen = 2-3 hours gameplay for $20 … Iron Man = 8 hours gameplay for $100 … as much as it’s expensive for a LIVE title, it makes sense when you look at it like that *shrugs* not that I’ll buy it anyway, I don’t really have much interest in it. The movie, on the other hand, I can’t wait to see on IMAX tomorrow.

Oh, and Puzzle Quest, any update on its delay please Major? Like a reason why perhaps? That’d be nice, thank you.

MetalGearFloppy

Hmmm, still not available to download… what’s occuring Major?

Warrengonline

[Looks puzzled at everyone and wonders what is the fuss all about.] None of this makes sense. It’s a game, it is fun to a point, its based on two characters in a book and it costs only $20 ‘brand new’. I do not look at this game in particular as an ‘XBLA’ game, but a game if sold on a CD $20 is nice. It’s not Final Fight, no. It’s not Double Dragon, no. It is beat’em up fun, yes. As many of us have said, show your support by buying it or not buying it. Then take your praise of disapproval to the xbox.com forums where 90% more people go than here. Whining about the price over and over is like telling your dog he stinks and he just stares back at you. What then? The Dishwasher cometh so you have a lot more options in the arcade coming soon. I’m a bit over it. My question is “If it were free would you even play it to the end and beat it?”

@Magical Pro
I do not defend it or neglect the $20 price tag. It is a quality product just as is/was Syphon Filter was. If I do not like something, I rarely speak of it and urge my friends to join me. Rarely has that happened. I really do not think I buy that many arcade games, but being pinned as “Warren will buy any game” of the group is not a good thing. And most scoff at “What happens if you get the Red Ring?” and all that hoopla. From what I’ve played, its a good game. The ONLY reason I haven’t rush to buy it as it takes up too much space on my 13GB HDD (Xbox360 Pro / Premium or whatever it is titled today). Enough said. “If you’re selling me a 4 bedroom house, the fourth bedroom better NOT be the garage.” Play and delete has been a current activity I have never had to do until now.

GentlemanGhost

I think people should just avoid purchasing this game until the movie is out of the theater. You know people will loose interest once that happens, and when they do the price of the game will come down. I played the demo and it’s all right, but you know if the movie hadn’t just come out there’s no way people would pay $20 for it.

March 2nd 2009 3:28 pm PT

This week on Arcade: Watchmen

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