May 18th 2009 2:02 pm PT

Kinda meh. Well, very meh.

I can’t say this deal really gives me much of an incentive to splash out.
On the contrary, it makes me feel as though keeping a gold sub for these deals is a waste (Online gaming doesnt interest me much)

A drop on a big, popular game like Castle Crashers, or DLC like the Crackdown DLC would be more of a “deal” IMO

Discounted two year old DLC FTW!

Not that the game or the DLC are bad, but…

Seriously, someone needs to take a look at the Steam deals. That’s how it’s done.

Wow. What a “deal”

Thanks but… no thanks.

Two deals of the week?

I would be embarrassed to even post this. I’m sure that you are aware this deal is pitiful…

Not the normal bs they put up for deal of the week. Good to see we have made it through the before. Was actually thinking on buying this, perhaps I will now… less someoen has a gold version they sell me. :p

discounting dlc for a game that no one plays, awesome microsoft, you know how to keep your customers happy!!!!

Also known as the “go buy the gold game for $10 at any store” deal. Wow at least the Bionic Commando was a legit deal (from Capcom mind you). Major, out of curiosity do you relay our comments to the marketing team? I’m not being a smart ass, I’m really just wondering if there is a focus group to look at these.

Ugh, more DLC that I have no interest in or use for . . . Seriously, do these DLC deals actually do all that well, given that they’ve got a limited audience (people who own the game) and are always for older games? I can’t imagine many people going out and buying the game just because of the deal. These “deals” are such a let-down.

My suggestion would be this — rather than doing a single “deal of the week” that could be either a game or DLC, have both a “game deal of the week” and a “DLC deal of the week” each week. That way, you can still give deals on DLC, but you can also give the rest of us something to look forward to (and, as I’m sure you’re more interested in, to buy!).

2 year old dlc discount as stated above Awesome

Major any chance you could give us the actual date when we will see Bionic Commando dropped to 400msp? PSN already has the pricedrop.

blah

Major must be embarrassed to even post this. The incorrect deal of the week was great but this is just plain bad like usual. Give us proper deals!

If I bought that Forza 2/Marvel Ultimate Alliance pack, is this DLC included in it? I read in the download notes for this that Gold Edition already contains this pack, so I am not sure.

The Bionic Commando: rearmed deal of the week is next weeks deal of the week.

http://www.capcom-unity.com/kramez/blog/2009/05/14/bionic_commando_rearmed_price_drop

Capcom Unity says that “Xboxers, don’t fret. The XBLA version of Bionic Commando: Rearmed will also go on sale on LIVE for 400 starting on May 25. Lucky Europeans actually get to take advantage of this price drop today.”

Hey Major, on capcom official blog, they said that Bionic Commando: Rearmed deal was supposed to go live last week for Europe. But it hasnt, and it seems it will be part of the deal of the week now. Can you comment on this ?

As someone who still doesn’t have this DLC for MUA…I have to say this still doesn’t make me want to get it.

It’s not even available for me. Even if I would like to buy it on the Austrian MP there are only both sets seperate for 500 points.

Ok the game didn’t come out here but hey the other DLC is available

I’d love to see Knothole Isle Fable 2 DLC discounted in the future… I’d get that for sure.

Boo! I parted ways with that game YEARS ago.

Would really like to know about this price drop for Bionic Commando. I have the points sat there waiting, and the press release says it should be now for Europe but its still at 800. Please any update on this Major would be greatly appreciated

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Oh, Microsoft.

why not just take the full 5$ off???

I’ll pass your comments along to the Marketing team.

The only “deal” for this product would be making it free. It’s not even worth dusting off the old gamecase. Lame.

Yeah, you’d better do that, Major. A price reduction on a DLC for an almost 3 year old game that is a rip-off in the first place? Seriously?

No offense, but does the marketing team even do any research? Why would anyone spend $6 on this DLC when you can find the gold edition for $10 most places?

I guess I’ll be waiting a week. Bionic Commando 1/2 off? Heck yes, instant buy for me. This week’s selection? Meh. I love the deal of the week concept–but sometimes the selections are puzzling. This would be one of those times.

Bionic Commando will still be half off, but only as of May 25. Europeans can apparently already see the reduction right now.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I BOUGHT IT SATURDAY!!!!!!!

@ Twilight Now: No we can not ^^ atleast 2 hours ago, but it should have been on since 4 days

Major, I think Deal of the Week would work if you guys applied it to content in the top 10 of the Xbox LIVE charts for that week. Like having the Gears maps discounted or the Fallout 3 content discounted would make way more sense than the games that were posted.

Sometimes, you have to loose a little to gain a lot. Look at what Steam did. They got 3000% increase in sales for Left 4 Dead. I bet they made a lot more than they lost.

I sold the game long ago but would’ve went out and bought it again if it was like 400 points. I tend not to get things that are odd prices because I don’t want to have points in my account that I won’t use for anything.

Major, I’d like to point out that ‘Deals’ like this hurt my goodwill toward Microsoft. First we had EA offering discounts on old DLC for games most people aren’t playing anymore, and now Activision is doing the same thing. This sort of ‘deal’ does not make me feel like a valued member of a premium service. Instead, I feel like I’m being used for blatant market research and corporate exploitation. About half of the Deals so far come from mega-publishers like EA and Activision, whose discounts scream to me “We’re trying to claw every last penny we can out of this old, dead title.” I don’t purchase the things they’re offering.

That said, I love the idea behind the Deal. The offers when it launched in December 2008 were amazing. I bought Bomberman and all its DLC, and was going to get Halo but the deal expired by the time I got around to looking up its Marketplace entry. I also bought Penny Arcade when it was part of the Deal, along with Alien Hominid (and its DLC) when it was on sale. I’ll buy discounted games, most of the time! If you’re going to continue featuring old DLC nobody cares about as the Deal, please expand your weekly offerings; have a DLC pack AND a game or other thing with broad appeal both be on sale. Deals like the ones I just described make me feel good, and I usually buy them.

Deals like the ones EA and Activision are offering through your service have the opposite effect; I feel like they’re trying to literally exploit me. Worse, I feel directly insulted by them. True, no genuine harm is done to me by offering unappealing discounts, but you have to understand the Deal is supposed to entice me and Microsoft is specifically trying to get my attention. Once you have my attention and then offer something lame, I feel insulted for having wasted my time on a corporation that seems out of touch with reality. An end-user who feels insulted over a long enough time will start looking to your competitors.

Please, either make your single Deal each week better, or expand the Deal’s scope to offer multiple things so that surely something will interest someone. I don’t expect every Deal to specifically thrill me but I do expect to at least see a Deal and remark, “Hey, I have a friend who will want that.” Often, Microsoft doesn’t even manage that. I think it could be avoided by doing less exploitation, and more genuine thought on what we like.

I’m guessing my purchase of this DLC about a week ago reminded you guys that it’s still around. It’s just too much of a coincidence that I buy 2 year old DLC and then you mark it down.

Well, since the DLC is pretty much a must-have if you’re into the game, I guess most people have bought it when it was still “hot”. I know I did. Of all the “Deals” in the past weeks, exactly 0% have been of any relevance for me. Instead I’ve splurged all my MS points on stuff like Fallout 3 DLC.

I am glad this is being looked at again by the marketing folks. Hopefully this time around they will look at it from the point of view of the consumer and try to do their best to impress them. Their goal each week should be to make people look at the deal and say “WOW! I’ll buy that right now.”

1. This is a horrible smack in the face to people with a Gold membership. M$ needs to make gold “worth having” or do away with it completely.
2. Old content should be priced down over time. (M$ can decide the timeframe, but make it realistic and make it catch people’s attention.)
3. Weekly sort of deals should involve new and old at the same time. A new(ish) piece of content should be made cheaper like it has been up until recently… (~50% of the original price please). Older content could even be made cheaper.
4. More freebies / perks for gold members in general.
5. Weekly deals should cover a wider audience. If you are going to pick a game that isn’t owned by almost all 360 members then consider throwing in a pack/addon/something from another game as an option too so that more people have a chance of finding something “wow” to buy each week.

Why all the complaints? It’s a bargain, and I’d forgotten about this content. Truth be told, I played the game for a bit and forgot about it. I’ll probably give it another shot, soon. I’ll take the content at the bargain price…

I’ll probably (still) just forget to play the damn game.

wow i am a little disappointed … i was ready to fire up the xbox and download BC reloaded but instead i have to wait … i guess it’s ok since i already am spending too much when i get the fable 2 and saints row 2 dlc and i already bought broken steel

and if you do plan to play Marvel UA game the addition of venom is great amungst others … however if you haven’t played this game by now then you probably aren’t going to play this game

At least pick something that’s available worldwide. I don’t even get the chance to hate it.

I appreciate that you’re listening and willing to help us out Major.

And to the other guy from Australia, Marvel Ultimate Alliance did get released here mate, it just didn’t get sold much, lol, but I have it.

Australia is not Austria @BeAkEr0o

I bought this “deal” because I’ve been waiting for the price to come down for the last 2 years…

$3 is a savings, and the addition is a good one if you already had the non-gold game (like me), but why not just make it $5? Marvel UA 2 will be out soon, so if you don’t have Marvel UA 1, I can’t see why anyone would bother with this “deal”.

So let me ask you this. Considering these deals of the week are supposed to be a reward for Gold subscribers, and an incentive for Silver freeloaders to jump on board, why are so many of these “deals” only serving to make the opposition’s “free” services look tastier?
Only thing Live has over PSN right now is slightly lower prices on some other DLC, but that’s not enough to offset paying to play and recieve these “deals”.

Another one to add to the pile of ‘I don’t care’…

Is it just me, or does the DLC still show up as costing 800 points anyway? No discount showing for me when I follow the link above, or if I navigate there through the marketplace…

@L0rN
lol, that’d be the dyslexia kicking in again
well lloyd christmas made the same mistake so it’s all good

id be all over this… but i already got it.

thanks anyway though… keep them coming.

more arcade title price breaks please.

Don’t just complain, folks. Tell Microsoft what you’d LIKE to see. Personally, I’d like to see more events. Stuff like “Crackdown Night”, “Perfect Dark Night”, “Rainbow Six Vegas” night, etc. Especially for older games, stuff that people aren’t playing as much. Make the content half off, or free, the week prior.

For me, the Burnout Paradise community play event was GREAT. I’d love to see a lot more of that. It doesn’t have to be new games, people are already playing them. Also, I could care less about “gaming with fame”. I just want people getting online and playing.

MUA is 2/3rds off at $19.99, so the DLC should be 2/3rds off too.
Maybe the marketing team needs to be reminded that times are tough, and so are jobs. So think carefuly what the next deal is going to be.

Umm…. whatever.

I think I’ll spend some money in the Playstation store this week. In fact, maybe I’ll buy Bionic Commando there, for a lot cheaper than your so called deal of the week.

Sheesh.

Not even 50% off either… cheapskates.

L
Lame
M
E

How about more than one deal a week, why not be outrageous and have two items on offer – or even three! The sky is the limit really.

Steam did a brilliant offer over the weekend in the UK for COD World at War, it was half price, that is a Triple A title and 50% cost. That was a helluva deal.

I fed up with the live marketplace.Im not going to renew my gold account.

Feels like I’m 10 again and getting clothes on christmas.

@ brooksterMax, can’t agree more. The MS Marketplace / partners could learn something from the amazing offers that Steam offers! btw: bought CODwae…

I am a live member since the beginning and gamer of the first hour, but my enthousiasm is getting lower each week, as the prices and offers are getting worse in over a long period…

Come on MS AND partners… when will you take your customers seriously????

Love the Deal of the Week, but…….if you really want to push old DLC might I suggest two offers for the Deal of the Week. One can be some DLC, the other an XBLA game. Just an idea.

I do hope you mean it when you say you will relay these comments to the marketing staff, Major.

As it stands, Xbox Live’s service hasn’t a whole lot going for it IMO when juxtaposed against other such services.
When one weighs XBL against Steam and PSN, the prospect of paying for online gaming becomes significantly less attractive a prospect.
My Gold sub is pretty meaningless atm. As mentioned umpteen times already, people should be given an incentive to be a part of the Gold Members community, and online gaming is simply not enough.

Its a pricey annual subscription, so make the customer feel as though he/she is worth the bother.
These offers are quite insulting. Patronising to say the least.

This isn’t how you compete in the digital distribution market.

This isn’t a very exciting new deal. Personally I think that after 2 years (or a certain amount of time) these old DLC packs for games people barely play anymore should have their prices reduced. Maybe instead of a fairly low-impact deal each week (which seems to be giving Microsoft/Xbox a bad press) there should be a monthly or weekly announcement of reduced DLC packs. A reduction which should be permanent.

This works on another level as well. Some people get upset by purchasing some DLC and having it reduced the week or a few days later. If people knew when to expect these price drops, Microsoft may see a much greater increase in old DLC sales. From my own experience, I’m holding back on buying a lot of old DLC (such as Crackdown, old Arcade games, and certain map packs) because I’m worried it will be a reduced deal next week. If like with the Lips DLC we knew what was coming each month, we would save up and know when to make a purchase.

I’m not sure if I have explained my idea well enough, but I think it is a much better approach at selling old DLC. It would be better for the customer (satisfaction and buying with confidense) and for the public image of Xbox and Microsoft. As at the moment, these deals are a bit of a laughing stock on many online blogs and news sites.

I’ve slowly been drifting away from my xbox since january. I’ve realized the prices for the games were too much for as old as they were and most of the games I just got on steam for much cheaper. Honestly the few good deals of the week are the only reason I’ve been using the gold service recently which isn’t a whole lot. I got my live for 30 bucks for amazon so but probably won’t spend 50 for it again. I mainly got it for the left 4 dead DLC when it came out so I could play online. Probably should’ve used my money for the PC version through steam when they had it on sale.

Sorry Major that I have to say this, but this “deals” are completely worthless… MS Marketing Team, please have a look at Valve’s Steam platform and their weekend deals and reconsider your “bargains”.

I really hope you do pass these comments along to the marketing team. These “deals” are a pathetic joke. We pay $50 a year for a gold membership and this is all we get? If you want to push very old DLC then it needs to be a lot cheaper than this. I realize Microsoft is trying to make money but how about a little free content every once in a while? After all the RROD’s and E74′s we have all dealt with I think we deserve a little better.

PSN just gave us rag doll kung fu, a $10 game for nothing, good game as well

Wow, let’s see if you look at the comments for most of Major’s post they pretty much consist of people complaining. Statistics show people who comment are more likely to complain than say anything positive. Negativity is a strong and aggressive energy. Don’t get me wrong it’s OK to voice disapproval but getting on here and ranting about how you’re gonna cancel your Gold account is a bit much, just go ahead an cancel it. For as many complaining post some of you post how many positive things have some of you posted??? Kudos to those who posted offering suggestions, if you’re going to complain offer solutions.

i don’t know if you know. But microsoft wants money. They don’t care what we think…

@K04 Passat – I suppose it’s a bit of a bargain if you have the game and don’t already have the DLC. But that’s a pretty small, select group of users when it comes down to it. For the rest of us, it’s just a waste of time. We’re just getting fed up with week after week of seeing meaningless “deals”. I for one have yet to see a deal on DLC for any game that I own, and even if I did, if I really cared enough to get the DLC for a game I’d have already bought it. I’m certainly not going wait around hoping that maybe one day, possibly a few years down the road, there might be a deal on it where I save a whole $3. These “deals” have such a narrow audience that they’re pointless.

@BlackSmoke – Well, I am one of those who posted with a suggestion, so I suppose that your comment wasn’t so much directed at me, but I think that Microsoft needs to hear that we’re unhappy. Right now, the *only* thing that I get out of my Gold membership is Netflix, and honestly, I’m more than a little offended that I have to have a Gold account for that when I’m also paying for the Netflix service. I’m not really an online gamer — haven’t even gamed online enough yet to get my rep increased from the starting default. So what exactly is Microsoft giving me for my membership fee? I’m still in my first year on the XBox 360, but I have to say that right now, unless some significant changes are made to entice me to keep it, there’s a good chance I won’t be renewing my Gold account when it expires next year. I would hope that Microsoft would rather hear that and hear why than have me just cancel it, so that they can perhaps entice me to stay. I don’t expect something for nothing, but I do expect that if they’re going to charge me a subscription fee they’ll provide me something worthwhile in return for it.

@Secret Fuller – I would hope that if Microsoft wants my money then they care what I think. Because if they don’t care, they won’t get my money, I have other places that I can spend it. Simple as that.

you can buy the Gold Ed. *brand new* + *free shipping* for $30 @ buy.com

Blacksmoke, people post great deal when it IS a great deal. Even if it is something they already have or might not want.

The logic here is pretty simple.. And I hate to hop on the bandwagon, but just looking at services like Steam you can easily see how something like this should be done.

If you offer up more worthwhile deals, more people are going to purchase them.. and if you can continue offering good deals like that, you may even convince silver members to sign up so they can get in on the deals as well.

As it is, no one is interested at all. I understand that you can’t offer something amazingly great every week, but the only deal I’ve ever been interested in was Alien Homminid.