April 8th 2009 1:41 pm PT

Hmm, sounds like it could be good so long as Amazon have the sense to drop prices when games stop selling. (since the Xbox Live team obviously hasn’t!)

nice, now when I want that 800mp game I wont have to buy a 1600mp card.

US only, sadly.

“Online Game Code: Currently, this item is available only to customers located in the United States and who have a U.S. billing address.”

So this is US only?

Sweet. That settles all the comments on having the actual price shown (and not by points), being able to gift games, AND being able to purchase games without buying 1600 point cards and have points left over… I’m guessing this was planned to launch after the Tweet-in meeting? =P

Pretty cool, but if only other nations can also make use of this feature…

cool thinks huh,lol

Very cool, I’m sure to use this at some point. Hopefully it’s more user friendly than the pitifully slow online marketplace off of xbox.com

mh… when it’s in europe or especially in germany?

hey Major

My name is william, i live in guatemala now but i used to live in boston MA, were i bought my xbox, but as i said i live in guatemala now and i have my xbox live gold suscription and some microsoft points, the thing is that i love to play call of duty worl at war and when i’ve tried to download the map pack 1 it show me a message telling me that it was not possible to download it at my current location, which is weird because im allowed to download everything else (demos, themes, picture packs, etc) please major help us (central america xbox users) because we feel abandoned since we dont have xbox live support or anything that help us here i thik it is easy for you to contact the people in charge to manage the country block for the map pack my game tag is KBalam GT so you can check my status.

Look at the bigger picture here. With any luck, eBay will hopefully flood with codes before too long and we can pick these up on the cheap, since Arcade codes are multi-region.

Great idea, would be 1,000,000 times better if anyone outside of the almighty USA could use it.

It always seems like stating the fact that a specific feature is “U.S. only” is always an afterthought. Whenever Microsoft comes out with these features (such as Amazon’s service, Netflix support, the introduction of dashboard videos like Major’s Minute), or almost any other company for that matter (most recently, the announcement of the OnLive service), they always seem to forget that it is important to other demographics to know whether said service(s) will be available in their regions as well.

Major Nelson, for example, can almost never remember to include this information is his posts, and always ends up adding a “Edit: US Only” note, as he did here. Seriously, these companies need to start hiring individuals whose job it is to keep other demographics informed about the availability of new services in their regions. If the Xbox and its services are supposed to be global, why not informed people using the same mindset?

/rant

Too bad you can’t purchase codes for add ons. Would eliminate ending up with odd number of points.

It’s interesting that Lost Cities is available on Amazon, but it can’t be purchased on XBL Marketplace (it no longer exists). I wonder, then, if the Lost Cities code you purchase from Amazon will even work!

This is actually amazing! So like now I can purchase a code and run a contest or something. Or even give a game to someone!

Hmm except the pricing is incorrect on some titles, a couple for example: Feeding Frenzy 1 and Gauntlet are both $10 on amazon, but $5 on marketplace.

Very cool. Although, will they ever be cheaper than MSRP? It is usually the only time I stock up on those things… woohoo!

Yet another cool little perk that only the U.S. can use. Sometimes I wonder why I pay more than americans for xbox live and get less. Anyone else?

goodweed you are not the only one

So is the point of this offering to allow you to gift XBLA codes to another person? Thats cool, but Amazon isnt the first to do this, are they? I seem to recall you can buy these kinds of things at GameStop, and similar places.

No thanks, there is a gamestop just down the road so no problem just going in there for some points.

If you hate US-only and/or forgetting to tell us it’s US-only rate this post one star.

Seriously are we that too fraking lazy to go to xbox.com or your xbox?

Top weekly???? For March 30??

The next generation of consoles are likely to be even more dependant on downloadable games. As internet access speeds increase and as the cost of storage reduces, there will be a tipping point very soon where the same dramatic movement from physical media to electronic media will happen for console games, as it already has done for music and (to a slightly lesser extent) in the PC game market.

MS have quite rightly been keen to exploit this trend by selling full copies of XBox Original games and of course with XBox Live Arcade. However there has been a problem in that the only way somebody could buy these games was through MS themselves. MS set the cost of the downloads and nobody else up until now has been able to provide any competition. At least in the PC market there is Steam and Direct2Drive and other services. With music, there is iTunes, Amazon and a host of others. But if you want to buy a downloadable game for the 360, there is only one place to buy it from. The same of course can also be said for Sony and Nintendo.

This announcement is a very important first step to Microsoft breaking their own monopoly on downloadable content. I applaud them for taking this step early instead of (as has been the case in the past) being dragged through the courts.

There are two more steps which are equally important and must be taken as soon as possible.

Firstly, this needs to be extended both beyond the US and beyond a single supplier (one competitor where MS can easily control the wholesale price and possibly even the selling price is not real competition!). Anybody who wants to sell a downloadable game online for the XBox should be able to buy the rights to distribute that game wholesale from the publisher. It should then be up to them to choose the price at which to sell that download. This will encourage competition and will ensure that there is pressure throughout the supply chain to keep prices at a sensible level – the retailers will compete with each other and will in turn put pressure on the publishers to price their content competitively.

Secondly, as we move away from physical media, it is absolutely vital that we are given the right to resell our licences from games when we have finished with them. The secondary market is phenomenally important to the video game industry. Younger gamers in particular may get a console for Christmas or for a Birthday, but often cannot afford many full price releases. To be able to buy a game second-hand and to trade in games which they have completed is very important. If in the future only full price games will be available as downloads, then such people will no longer be able to buy the games. This is actually bad for MS, Sony and Nintendo because the ability to trade-in games allows people who could not otherwise afford it to buy new games. Also people who cannot afford new games won’t want to buy a console if they can’t afford the games.

My suggestion is that MS should allow people to sell their licences in a secure environment within NXE. At the moment MS and the original publisher get no money at all when a second-hand game is sold in a shop. By providing an auctioning/brokering facility, MS and the original publisher could take a small percentage on each transfer. There could be a limit on how soon licenses could be offered for trade (e.g. 6 months) which would ensure some protection to the price when the game is first released. But after this protected period, it would be an added incentive to lower the price of older games as used licenses flow back onto the market. I don’t know how quickly sales for XBLA games drop off, but I suspect that many of the older games see very few sales these days. There could well be a bump in revenues at the point in time when licenses are first allowed to be sold second-hand (through the collection of commission charges when a code is transferred). So the publisher and MS make more money for something which they have already sold once and those people who couldn’t afford the game when it first came out (or were willing to wait) get the game at a cheaper price. Simultaneously, people who have sold the games have more money to spend on new games – especially if the proceeds of the sale are paid into the seller’s Live profile as MS Points and they have to do an additional step to transfer the cash value to their bank account – they may well be tempted to spend the points in the Marketplace instead of converting the points back to cash.

Everybody wins.

interesting idea, but it doesn’t seem any cheaper than live, & is it going to have the new release for the current week, so what is the point? although you no longer have to try to figure out the point to dollar ratio, in case you forget it

I would like to have this sevice in germany.

@yolarrydobomb xbox.com and the xbox itself are extremely convenient, but there is no competition. I think that people would be willing to make the effort if this is an introduction of genuine competition and are able to save some cash.

Woohoo!!! Finally I can live without Microsoft Spacebucks!

This is awesome! I’ve been looking for a way to gift games to my friends for a long time, and finally I can…oh crap, US only.

If I had a dollar for everytime something good was US only, I’d have, like, eleven dollars.

US only restriction can be circumvented by using a regular US address as shipping address (stupid because they don’t need to do any physical delivery) and browsing amazon.com from an US IP (using a vpn, vnc, remote desktop, your choice)

this doesn’t stop me from making rant about it since it’s plain stupid they do this basic and circumventable restrictions that only keep people from spending money on their products, oh wait there’s not even physical product, it’s just bits of information, ok let’s say in their “experience” or “intellectual property” for that same reason this code prices should be lower because there’s no card printed, nor blister packs costs associated

I complained contacting amazon, as I am a frequent buyer, and now I rant in here because all this US-centric policies are disgusting, probably tied to legal reasons and liability of some sort, but still useless and in total detriment of us international customers

I like this idea, but I still want the ability to “gift” things to my friends on my friends list. So if I want to send a friend 800 points for his birthday, I should be able to do it from marketplace.
—
the whole “points” thing was developed so that an item would cost 400 points worldwide, but the amount of national currency required to buy 400 points would vary from country to country. Microsoft Points are just an “invented” currency. I don’t know if it’s working the way they intended though, and this move appears to be a move away from that system…???
—
Still, good move on this as it gives you a different way to purchase a single game without having to purchase a block-amount of points (500, 1600, 4000, etc.). Thumbs-up from me!!!

Hey Major, are there any plans to make DLC available through this too? That would be awesome if we could get EVERYTHING downloadable through here and no longer have to worry about having an odd number of points leftover!

Will all of the god-damn morons complaining about it being US only SHUT UP and actually try to understand WHY these sorts of things are US only??? It’s not Microsoft’s fault. It’s definitely not Major’s fault. Try moaning to the stupid government that runs this country, or the muppets that run the EU. They are the reasons deals like this are more difficult for a company such as Microsoft to implement outside of the US!

@BryceS – I’m not too concerned about selling “used” copies of digital downloads. Instead, I’d like to see the ability to buy a “secondary license” for a title. If I pay the full price for an XBLA title, my relative/friend on the other side of the world should be able to pay 100 Microsoft Points for a “secondary license” to use that title. He can only play the game when I’m online: his console downloads the game from my console, but it can ONLY be used ONLINE when I am ALSO online playing the same game.
—
There, I probably just gave away an idea for somebody to get rich on… :\

@Maj and Amazon
At first thought, THIS IS GREAT! But then seeing 800 MS Points vs $10 made me queezy. “I paid how much!?!??” Don’t get me wrong, I buy point cards 1600 for $19.99, so basically I know that the game costed about that much. It’s just now to see the $$$ I feel… (oh my). Can we gift the numbers? If so, that would be awesome!

@BryceS
Glad you brought that up. That digital downloads (of entire games) scares me to a point. But then another collector informed me that game companies would not put rare hard to find games up for download as that ruins the ‘collectable value’. It made sense, but I still think “Why Not?” But at the same time, I REALLY wish that ‘a company’ would take my games on my HD and burn them to disk for me for a small price and I can delete the game from my HD and have which ever ones on the Disk.

@Turtle502
That would be awesome if we could gift games we do not play any more. Hmmm… nice thought, but would it pick up.

Woohoo! I’ve been waiting a long time to do this. I’ve already put a couple games on my wishlist.

@Memphis Reins Things like this may not be Major Nelson’s fault. I and many others have great respect for him and what he has done for the community. However he is the contact point for the community, has set up this blog to maintain contact with the community and is therefore one of the few senior MS employees that people can make comments to with the hope that they may actually be noticed.

Also if he is communicating to the community and the purpose of that communication is to promote the XBox brand, then it would be helpful not to antagonise people by saying “Here’s an interesting new feature” and then some time later having to come back and say “But it’s not available to a huge proportion of you”. A little bit more thought when writing the message and a little bit more research before posting the announcement could avoid this.

I also don’t think that Amazon and Microsoft are being stopped from selling downloadable games by the UK government or the EU and it is specious to suggest that that may be the case. It’s much more likely that this is a programme which will be rolled out into other XBox Live regions and to other Amazon stores but that the US store happens to be first. I’m just saying that it would have been helpful if Major could have taken a few additional seconds to explain this in his original post. He’d still get a load of posts like “US Only again!!!”, but some people would be happy that they are at least being kept informed.

But it is perfectly fair to ask why in the 21st century with instant communication and when we are dealing with electronic products which can be delivered at virtually no cost to any point on the planet, that MS (one of the greatest high-technology companies in the world) is still desperately trying to hold on to an 18th century view of the world when communication was measured in weeks and the world could legitimately be carved up into distinct markets with drastically different prices in each relating to the cost of transportation, packaging, storage, etc.

@Turtle502 I like that idea. The first company to think outside the box and really take advantages of the differences between electronic and physical product (i.e. that they cost almost nothing to replicate, store and ship once they have been developed) will make a shed-load of money. The idea that somebody on your friends list could buy a discounted copy of a game that you have previously purchased could be a fantastic money-spinner because you then have two people playing the game, possibly watching in-game advertisements, possibly buying additional DLC, etc.

The companies which have made money online are those that have determined a way to find a way for a small number of businesses to fund the creation of content which you can then give away to everybody else for free. This is how things like Google Earth work – large companies such as CNN or the BBC pay for the commercial re-use of the data in news broadcasts, etc. so they pay for the costs of running the service. But because the cost of distributing the data to a non-commercial user is negligable, they are able to give the general public access for free.

If somebody can come up with an idea which leverages the negligable distribution costs of games in a similar way, then they stand to make an awful lot of money.

I hope this comes to Canada soon…

@ BryceS: How is it specious to suggest that when Major’s already been basically saying the same thing in his Marketplace FAQ for YEARS now? That’s why Major never addresses these “US-only” complaints. The answer is already here – people just don’t know about it or choose to ignore it. Even the almighty Microsoft can’t do as they please in other countries, as the EU antitrust case against them showed. Until some kind of global policy governing this kind of content is created, it’s always going to be like this. And it’s not like Microsoft is the only company to be subjected to this – Sony and Nintendo face the same issues. As far as keeping us informed goes, I’m sure Major is very restricted about what he can tell us about planning something like this.

Seems like this should satisfy those “I don’t want to buy points” people. Other than that nothing terribly special, more advertising for MS I guess.

Very convenient for avid Amazoners. I wonder if the titles and/or points will ever be at discounted prices…

this is nice now when ever I go to coinstar I can get the amazon gift card so I can use my spare change to buy arcade games or points.

It would be fantastic if we could get something like this for Community Games. Having the ability to buy several copies of your own Community Game and then giving them to various sites for use as review copies would be invaluable for getting the word out about the better games.

BryceS

wall of text much?

PS…I dont think you will save money becasue they both look like the same price as xbox.com

That’s great. I’ve been hoping for something like this so I can gift games to my friends and still be able to get a game myself. (It’ll make getting my friends into the co-op games I like much easier now. )

Fingers crossed something like that comes Down Under too.

I like this, it’s a good way to give gifts, and saves throwing away the packets with the 12 month cards, good for the environment, sorta.

Suggestion: Add Solo, Maestro to payment methods for Europe. I had to go out of my way to get a Visa debit card to purchase stuff directly.

This sounds like an interesting idea! I just noticed something… “Dig Dug” on Amazon.com = $5. On XBLA, it is 200 points…so XBLA is the better deal…by about $2.50…if my calculations are correct.

I’d be more excited if it were on Amazon.ca. Still, I own 23 arcade games already though, so I guess I don’t NEED this.

oh look us only same shit as always

Other countries should get cheaper Xbox live because we don’t get anything else

sweat? nice grammar Dustin Krieger, go back to school and stop playing games. I hope you realize that attitude is why people all over the world hate Americans.

Hate, skyfire420? Such a strong word! And besides everybody loves the US again now that we have Obama! lol http://www.chiaobama.com

@MACPH1ST0
Amazing! Barack Obama transforms into George Washington via ch-ch-ch-chia! Weird, but cool. But no thanks, I’m not a chia fan. Also, I like Ryu and Ken’s “Sure-You-Can!” over “Yes We Can.”

@Over use of the word ‘sweat’ in the use of sweet.
Sweat = to perspire; sweet = having the flavor of sugar, slang – “COOL!” Honestly, I thought people using ‘seat’ instead of ‘sweet’ were using it as a joke sometime ago. Seems I was wrong.

WARNING: Do not buy the Lost Cities code on Amazon. The game hasn’t been available for purchase on XBL Marketplace for a long time, and these codes won’t get you the game, either. Trying to redeem the code will reward you with an error. So, unless you don’t mind spending $10 for an XBL Marketplace error code, don’t purchase Lost Cities from Amazon. I previously brought the absence of Lost Cities on the XBL Marketplace to Microsoft’s attention, but never received a reply. I wonder if they’ll take this issue seriously?

AWESOME, now how about you make it available for other countries, and Amazon.ca

Thanks

don`t ask about other countries as you will get the same usual crap about international law, god i buy things from amazon.com yes dot com not .co.uk so don`t give us anymore crap microsft you are just concerned about your usa customers same as always never mind the rest of the world

@BryceS
Regarding “If somebody can come up with an idea which leverages the negligable distribution costs of games in a similar way, then they stand to make an awful lot of money.”

Isn’t that what GameTap.com and Gamefly are somewhat doing?

@LivinItUp
Did you report that to Amazon and Microsoft? That would be most helpful for the busy mom (dad or uncle, etc) who does not visit or know about majornelson.com and will not see your warning. Um, did you document your issue correctly? I’ve rarely had issues needed me to call 18004myxobox, but when I did they took care of it with VERY little run around. Also, is the download in your download history? I usually check all of that so when they look they can see the incident. Head over to the xbox.com forums where more official xbox agents actually read/view some comments.

FFS, i was happy there for a second until i read the normal “US Only” comment. How long until this is implemented in Europe? When will Europe get all the extra features US get over Live? MS need to realise they do have consumers outside the US.

That’s pretty sweet! Will sales from xbox come over to Amazon? (looks like Penny Arcade E1 is full price at Amazon)

@Warrengonline Yes those are good examples. Also look at what id are doing with Quake Live. But PC gaming has been in decline for quite a while now, so there may not be the market to support such services. Could MS/developers make money by providing some Arcade games for free but supporting them by advertising? A game like Uno must have a pretty low development budget and there is plenty of time between turns when people might read on-screen adverts. Could an ad-supported version of that game be provided for free alongside a version where users could pay to get rid of the adverts? It could be quite attractive to advertisers and shouldn’t be too intrusive in that sort of game.

@Warrengonline

Already posted on the forums weeks ago (regarding the absence of Lost Cities from the Marketplace, even though it was nominated for an XBL award and whose trial version could be downloaded only via the award app), and sent Major Nelson two messages. MS seems content to ignore this issue, although it’s more volatile now that Amazon is selling codes for a game that doesn’t exist. I can’t imagine that Amazon will be too pleased with MS.

I don’t know if this open the door for eroding prices or not, but that is an issue that should be addressed. My friend and I really want Switchball, but neither one of us is willing to pay $10 for it. We’d definitely buy it for $5. The developer should be able to adjust the price at any time. If they want to see revenue bump up, this is necessary.

This would also allow a good sale when the game first comes out. Give a 25% discount for the first week. Then let it hover for a year at the regular price. This is done for all new released DVDs every week and it works. A bargain shopper will either buy it immediately or wait until the price erodes in the far future. However, do not bump up the regular price just to make the sale look good.

Prices need to be fair. You’ll be surprised at the volume spike when the price is fair.

No wonder everyone wants to emigrate to the US!

this sounds good.

mmm, well I guess I got excited for the second it took me to realise its a USA thing again, I aint going to rant about that, its been said a million times but nothing is ever done.

Now I could also understand here if it was something like “walmart”, a USA only store, but jesus were talking Amazon, probably THE biggest online retailer in the world today.

So why can not thsi be implemented across the board..its extremely poor business sense.
But you know what, and I mentioned this on my podcast this week, (crankygamersuk.net)
And thats the fact when situations arise lie mine, it only makes folks more angry and actually put them off the XBLA.

My scenario, wanted puzzle quest, saved up for a while, expecting 1200, get screwed over again for 1600, but guess what, I have 1560 MS points, now being as I dont use credit cards any more on the xbox system, my choice was simple..buy 2100 for around £16….bottom line..stinks to high heaven, poor business sense and poor customer loyalty.

OK Major so you say “It is currently US only”. That makes me think this will be done around the world at some point? Can you confirm this Major??

I hope so because this is a great idea. I’d gladly pay an extra £1 or so to get the game I want without having to fork out £17 for a 2100 points card. If MS have any sense they will be working like mad to get this (cool) idea up and running worldwide.