August 13th 2009 1:46 pm PT

Cool Looks like More stuff is up too

That is a very nice addition. I noticed it this morning.
Major, the only feature missing to avatar clothing and props is the 9 color option.
Thanks for keeping us up to date.
Keep up the good work.

Good addition but the Avatar items are WAY OVERPRICED. $3+ for items that can only be seen by you and your friends when in a party. Its ridiculous. Lower the prices by at least half. The they would be reasonable.

it will be nice to have some color option for the clothing, not in only one shirt

and another thing, u cant take picture of ur props, it doesnt let you. i mean u can put the props but, the range for the picture doesnt let u go down, for example in the guitar in my picture i cant take a picture of the body, imagine the RC wathog. so it will be nice to do something about it, i dont know like making the range bigger, like if i wanna take a picture of my shoes i can. idk if u understand me.

I think it would be cool if game developers were given an API so they could let their games modify our avatar appearance with custom content from their games. For the Halo 3 gamers, imagine if you could have your avatar always match with your Halo 3 armor.

I think its pretty cool with the exception of some of the complete outfits not being complete. Pretty cheesy not to include helmets also. Otherwise Im actually looking forward to the updates. Price might be a little steep on certain items (lightsabre Im looking at you).

I’m still amazed at the crazy prices Microsoft are asking for games on demand. Games like Mass Effect, Prey, Perfect Dark, Kameo and Viva P all at £19.99 when they’ve been in bargain bins for months (some over a year) at or below £5 brand new. Same with better games like Burnout and Assassin’s Creed which can all be bought for £10 new instore. It’s like they did absolutely no market research before deciding on the pricing.

My opinion of this can be found here: http://is.gd/2c97E I think the Avatar Marketplace Pricing sucks and needs to change.

If you agree with the article, post this on your Twitter:

“I don’t like the new Avatar Marketplace Pricing Structure. #AMPSucks, so lower the price, Microsoft! http://is.gd/2c97E“

Nice.
Now we just need the preview for themes that’s been long overdue. Surely they can’t expect people to buy without seeing them. Especially when it claims now refunds.

*Lower The Prices!*

If you agree, copy and paste.

$3 for something that’s only see able in 2 places is trash. Everything should be at least half of what it is now.

The Avatar Marketplace is cool, the prices are insane. I’m not a cheap person but that’s like asking $10 for a can of soda. $1 to $4 for items in the Avatar Marketplace is exactly what’s going to keep it from being a huge success. Sell everything for a quarter and be rewarded by the volume of sales. The prices for anything in the Avatar Marketing should never exceed $1.

The same bean counters that thought 80 points for a dollar was a good idea are messing up the Avatar Marketplace. Those guys suck.

But seriously, stop trying to rip us off, we are your biggest fans and your screwing us.

Major Nelson,
I would like to see an option to preview themes before buying them. Also I love the new Netflix features and overall the dashboard update has some nice things added. I have to agree with many that the price structure for the props and special items in the avatar shop are very high if you consider it’s just things for looks. I also think that the games on demand seems high when you are downloading the game without a disc and manual some games seem pretty expensive. I am hoping this may just be a trail run and they prices will be adjusted? Maybe I am old school but if I can get the actual game for the same price I would rather run out and buy it. It’s nice to be able to DL it instead but then it should be cheaper not the same price IMO. I do like most of the new changes. One last comment/question will the friends list ever be changed when involved in a event say a community game night the 100 slots fill up fast this is the only reason I would like to have more spaces.

could you please put the new releases for avatar clothing in their own rss feed? my rss reader is getting flooded with avatar clothing.

Lower the prices on this useless stuff and I guarantee sales will increase

I also notice a marketplace blade in my profile showing newest or most popular items one by one. Very nice addition. And I agree that the avatar stuff is too expensive, but I’m sure you will hear about it until you go deaf and your eyes bleed and ultimately lower the prices.

Here’s what i think:

http://forums.xbox.com/28547890/ShowPost.aspx

COL BLAIR said: “I would like to see an option to preview themes before buying them.”
If you subscribe to MuttonAndTheHam on YouTube you can get previews of all the themes by video. They have the FEAR 2 theme that came out today so they’re pretty quick. Would be nice with an internal preview feature but we’ve been asking for this a long time with no response so this will do for now.

Just don’t buy that stuff. It’s just like R-Type which costed 1200 and was worth 400. A few idiots like me bought it (because they thought it was great, but it wasn’t), but most guys just ignored it because of it’s price. A few weeks later most of the games were 800 points again.

I like the stuff in the avatar market place, I love many XBLA games and I spent about 300 Euros on marketplace stuff. But I would have spent the double amount if most of the stuff wasn’t that overpriced.

avatar crap (i mean props, clothes, etc) cost waaayyyy too much… $5 for a lightsaber ? No thank you

*Lower The Prices!*

If you agree, copy and paste.

I have no idea how anyone pays for this stuff. Are you really going to pay $7.00 for a&h for your avatar to wear?

I agree with the above comments. Avatar items are way too overpriced considering they do NOTHING. A lightsabre costing more than half as much as most arcade games??
Also £20 for a digital, theoretical, copy of a game when you can buy an actual physical copy, with manual, new, for LESS THAN HALF THAT?! It’s madness!

I was looking forward to the games on demand – but the prices are not reflective of the market, so until there is a drop, I don’t see me jumping on any of those. I think most of the avatar marketplace is not something I will be participating in, no real interest in buying stuff for my imaginary character. Course then I saw the light sabre and I am sorely tempted to grab that. Hopefully a lot of the avatar marketplace items will be unlockables for completing games – kinda like a badge system that would be cool. Beat star wars and you get the light sabre, etc.

I like the shop, but I think you should allow us to “try on” the props and clothing in combos either on the console and also through the website. Also the prices should be reduced on the more expensive items. What next, $20 tee with “M$” on it?

Didn’t we hear over and over that Microsoft would never charge for avatar clothing? I knew that wouldn’t last.

The avatar marketplace is filled with ridiculous prices. But people will buy them anyway. Wasn’t it P. T. Barnum that said “there’s a sucker born every minute”.

But that’s chump change compared to the games on demand. Virtual copies should cost less not more. I think those prices were set so that game stores wouldn’t go out of business.

Interesting. But I think I have to pass, Avatar items are way overpriced. No sales here.

Good Stuff, Major…

@hied: I am pretty sure the Games On Demand prices are the current MSRP… and considering you get a PERMANENT backup I think that any buyers are being fairly treated. =)

I too am a bit disappointed that “we will never charge for Avatar clothing” is not being honored. I wouldn’t mind it nearly as much if the prices were not so high! If anything, please allow for items to be tried on for free, so that we can get an idea of what it can all look like together. Also – there are some items which are male/female only. This makes sense in most cases… but some things such as the Star Wars helmet (which are identical for both genders) should not be separated into the two genders.

Big kudos to the team though with the new dash – it is a lot speedier at loading items on the marketplace than the old one (or it sure appears that way).

Thnx Major, but can you ask them too when are they going to do the same for the Themes & Gamer Pictures too.

TIA

I like the new stuff, especially the games on demand really good selection, the avatar store is awesome

Anyone who buys avatar items, games on demand, themes and gamer pics is an idiot.

*Lower The Prices!*

If you agree, copy and paste.

Major, can you please get the folks working on the marketplace on the web to set the default sorting to “by title” and add a “by price” option? That’s for the entire marketplace, not just the avatar part.
For games it’d be nice if you could quickly jump to the first letter too, but that might clutter things a bit without an overhaul of the design.

I think everything is great. It’s not paying for avatar cloths that angers me, it’s the price of them. 400 ms points for a light saber, come on I can buy a game with that much money.

New additions are great! Avatar Marketplace works great and everything works (payments, downloading, adding to avatar). Can’t wait for more and more Styles, items and gamerelated content.
Q: Where will be published playing which games will unlock avatar awards? Love the addition BTW!

Games on Demand Xbox360 is also a great addition. Will be using this feature in the future!
Q: Why can’t I use MS Points? Or will this be possible in (near) future?

Keep up the great work!

Is Oblivion on demand the game of the year edition?

If not, you’d have to shell out 3200 additional Microsoft points ($40) for the Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine expansions that are included in the game of the year edition.

Awesome love the Avatar Market & Games On Demand on Xbox.com, very easy to find and very easy to understand great job MS web Team…

Good stuff. I love the Avatar Marketplace. PLEASE DON’T LOWER THE PRICES. I don’t want to have the same avatar as a bunch of whiny kids. Thank you.

GoD is way too overpriced! It’s a joke, really.

aStrangeDisease. Your statement made no sense. You go ahead and pay $4 for something thats completely for show and not controllable.

@ Arsenic13, That’s funny. You paid 80 MS points for the shirt you are wearing in your pic and you say I made no sense.

I’m with Mr. Achievement on this one. Current MSRP + lifelong backup = fair deal. That being said, Avatar Accessories are the new Horse Armor.

I’m with Mr. Achievement on this one. Current MSRP + lifelong backup = fair deal. That being said, Avatar Accessories are the new Horse Armor.

80 Points. Nothing else can be bought once you go under 250. Now $4 is ridiculous. Your saying kids will start wearing the same things you have. Wth is that? Thats the most childish thing iv ever heard. Over priced items such as the props are ridiculous and need to lowered. MS can make a profit so much quicker if they didnt over charge for this stuff. Yes, the things are cool. but the prices are not. Being a MS fanboy doesnt change the fact that these things and Games on Demand are overpriced. They’re selling Oblivion for $30, when i can go to gamestop and get the GOTY edition for the same price with Shivering Ilse and Knights. Open your eyes. This is stupid.

why is lego star wars the complete saga $29.99 on demand and $19.99 at most retailers?

@Zero

MS want to take the jerk way out and overcharge. While systems like Steam sell their games for low low prices and make massive profit.

Hey major, If your reading this comment. Can you shine some light on avatar awards in your podcast this Sunday. Still kinda confused and really something that hasn’t really been talked much about.

@Mr Achievement, many of these games are selling way below MSRP in stores and online.

The ability to re-download on demand games that you’ve purchased in the past seems like a nice feature but you never really know what’s more “permanent”. I have “permanent” actual cartridges and discs for my Sega Genesis and Playstation. My Sonic the Hedgehog cartridge is dated 1991 and still works in my Sega Genesis. My PlayStation games still work in my old PS2. Do you really think that if I download Oblivion today I’d be able to re-download it 18 years from now? (Admittedly, nothing is permanent with the XBox 360 hardware.)

Regardless, Microsoft’s distribution costs for on demand games are minuscule compared to retailers (even online retailers). While not having to mess with the disc to play the game would be nice, on balance I’d much prefer to have the actual full-color quality manual and other materials that come with the actual game (without having to find them and print out a substandard copy).

I do appreciate the convenience of on demand game downloads, but they monopolize this distribution channel so they control the prices. By the way, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that if you use a credit card to pay for your gold live membership, they don’t let you delete your credit card number from your account. Let the impulse buys (by you, or, if you’re not careful, your children or roommates) begin!

To those justifying the ridiculous GoD prices by saying “you’re getting a life long backup of a game”, are you for real!?!?. You’ll only be able to play your games as long as the Live servers are still active and your particular 360 still works (and we all know how reliable 360′s are). What do you think is the better deal here?, £5 for a physical DVD copy in a box with manual and NO RESTRICTIVE DRM, or, £20 for the exact same game locked down with DRM, no resale value, no manual and no box?. It’s a no-brainer IMO.

I have changed my motto to : Lower Avatar Prices!

I say all who oppose this pricing do the same and tell friends of the injustice that M$ is bringing to us. Overpriced games, DLC, and not Avatar clothing. Yes it is optional, but other services do the same thing for a lot cheaper and profit incredibly (Steam)

@ Arsenic13, You complain about Avatar Marketplace pricing more than anyone, yet you are wearing a paid-for shirt. And how do you know what Steam’s profits are? If you dislike it so much, why are you here?

The whole games on demand is really exciting, pity about the limit on hard drive space to 120GB though. Would be fantastic if you could use an external drive to store them.

I have 1 paid for shirt. As I said. What else can you buy with 80 points? That was my first and last Avatar purchase. And Im here because I have the right to voice my opinions. Why do you blatantly pay for over priced content and ignore the fact that its ridiculous? Steam makes money, if they didnt, would they still be open? You can be a fanboy all you want. But knowledgeable consumers know this is BS.

I was hoping for lower pricing on GamesOnDemand. Some of those games are old and I can get physical media a lot cheaper. Should be a discount to make it more attractive to download then buy physical. Sell @ $10 or $20 lower than in store… and I’ll buy a bunch, make me feel good about buying a game that I can’t sell to EBGames…

2800 MSP for each game. Ridiculously overpriced.

Kameo costing 2800 is just absurd. Its a damn launch game.

Very disappointed with the price gouging MS is pulling on us, were gold members and yet we have to pay for clothing for a useless character that can only be seen in certain circumstances? I don’t understand the point of pissing off many upon many of their loyal subscribers with this PS3 wannabe HOME crap, if i wanted that i would have gone to PS3. And why can we still not preview any theme or gamer pic? to me it shouldn’t even be an issue, how am I supposed to buy something that has no refund, if i don’t even know what it looks like? Even gumball machines show you whats inside before you put in 25 cents. Perfect example is Bioshock2 premium theme, very disappointing, but i had to buy it in order to see it and it was all a waste of MS points once i saw what it really was, it seems like the reason its not being shown is to trick us into buying something that isn’t worth the $ its priced at. I Dont even need to get into the pricing for the virtual games, this is crazy, why am i paying 12 months in advance if everything thats available for customizing is over priced? i’m at a loss

Wouldn’t surprise me if Microsoft starting charging “rent” on the buttons on your controller.
Maybe 200 MS points per-month for each of A, B, X and Y – or a 600 MS points “deal” for use of all four.
Throw in an additional “trigger + bumpers” pack for 150 MS points per-month.

I think some of the pricing is really unfair. 320 points for the star wars out fit and $5 for the lightsaber?! Hello, what makes the lightsaber so special? It should be priced like an ordinary accessory like the skateboard or guitar. Pricing it exceptionally higher is disgraceful and an insult to 360 users.

As for the clothes options — I like that Sam Fisher’s outfit is offered to me, a female gamer, just as it is. I like that I didn’t get some hooched-up street-walker version of the same outfit. The clothes options for female characters is pretty lame. Yes, lame. How many pairs of jeans do you guys have? We get two. But we’ve got at least two pairs of hot pants. And go-go boots, we’ve got that covered too. And yet we can’t have converse-style gym shoes. Why is that? You use these shoes as the freakin’ icon for footwear on the marketplace — and yet they are only offered to one side of the gaming audience.

All in all, I think the changes show promise. I’m glad to see some items have a color scale — I’d like to see more of that. And I like that I’ll have the options of getting gaming constumes as they appear in the game — not a watered down girlie version. But please — PLEASE — the wardrobe options for women suck, and genuinely pale in comparison to their male counterparts.

It’s only a rip-off if you pay for something you didn’t want. If you don’t want it, don’t buy it. That’s life. Gianni Versace cost more than Levi’s, but doesn’t give any more value. You buy it to be unique.

In the case of Games On Demand. I can find it cheaper with no DRM, a manual and a physical copy that i can move from place to place.

I agree, you should be able to preview themes. I think the reason you can’t preview them is becaue you’d realise pretty quickly that most themes either suck completely, or are utterly covered up by the dash anyway.

I don’t like Games on Demand prices either. That’s why I buy my games from a store. Let your wallet do the talking.

Yea, very nice. Some cool items. But they are just too expensive.
I hate to harp on about that like everyone else is, but it does seem to be a universally held opinion. Even the idea of paying 80 points for a t-shirt, OK, everyone will see that on your avatar, but it’s still surely more than is necessary.

Can we not learn from Steam/Valve, that reducing the price of a sought after item will almost double the number of people purchasing it, thus making the amount of money you’d make in the first place?

Can someone explain why most 360 games on demand are twice the canadian retail price of the physical media brand new version of the same games?

awesome. mine looks the best

aww….at these prices i’ll never be able to play digital dress-up dolls again.
lol

nice to see it but keep the games pirce to high 29.99 for call of duty 2 i can get for 10.00 in a shop

Yeah they said they wouldn’t charge us for avatar stuff. Which to be fair they said it would be a store. So its kind of a double edged sword. You can’t have a store without charging. Still though the said “no charge”.
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I’m kind of annoyed because supposedly no one can see your new avatars or props they hold anyways. Well whats the point then? Yeah its cool if I see myself holding a lightsaber but if no one else can see it why would I pay $5 for it then?!? I feel ripped off now! I want a refund. >.>
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I love my 360 and all. But next gen I am getting whatever Sony releases. Sure PS3 isn’t that great on some things but at least they don’t play head games and nickle and dime you for everything. If theres anything I want to play on 360, I’ll just play it on PC instead. O.o

@”oAssassin Xo” Others can see your props if they wait on the main “Friends” part of the new dashboard.

These “micro transactions” are starting to take the piss. Games on demand, well, you would have to be stupid to buy them when you can buy them on disc for less.

Oh ok. well thats good to know then.
.
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BTW why would anyone pay for GoD when you can’t actually take the game with you or put it on another system…well you get my drift. I’d much rather have a disc. Sure people claim it saves time. What a few seconds? If your that inpatient then you shouldn’t be playing video games. lol. This is why I am against anti-piracy methods. A disc means it can go anywhere and be played anywhere because YOU OWN IT. If its on a harddrive you can lose it and it can’t go anywhere you want it too easily. To much complications. And yes its a rip off. The manual is online, that does no good for when I need a quick answer. Plus there no trade in value if I want to sell it. Need I go on!

I love how when we the community make a complaint like this, no one from MS seems to care. But if it was us just ass kissing then they come on and go “thanks for your support” and junk like that.

aStrangeDisease, if you think that because the prices are high, you are part of some elite group of people with a unique avatar, then that is pretty funny. Whatever makes you feel better about your horse armour…

I love the idea of Games on Demand, but I hate the pricing. Charging MSRP is bad enough, but in some cases like Lego Star Wars, they’re actually charging a lot more than MSRP (Best Buy, Walmart, and GameStop all sell it for $20 new so why does it cost $30 to download?).

COG Armor for fugly avatars – 320 space bucks, but wait, you don’t get the Helmet! If u want it – spare more 160 points. Oh my God.

Games On Demand – all these OLD games must be worth 1200-1600 points. Anything above this is stupid, because you can get same game with box, covers, DVD from retailers even cheaper.

LoL, Need for Speed: Carbon can be purchased NEW on Amazon for less than $8.00!

Anyone who pays money to dress up their dashboard doll needs to turn in their man card.

Just released Avatar Marketplace and prices are already out of line… not to mention digital downloads that are much more expensive than physical copies. A bad start MS.

One sentence sums it up: Horse armor FTW…

The avatar marketplace and the games on demand are a complete rip off.

cool, but this shit’s way overpriced!!!!

@Sneeches you forgot a * it should be ****’s

The avatar stuff is cool. I agree with everyone else that these old games can be purchased at a retailer at least half the cost.

Games on Demand prices are way to high. I can buy these games elsewhere for much cheaper.

Avatar items are high too, but not a pressing issue. I mean where else are you gonna buy these. It’s a luxury.

Hmm…. I was thinking to myself: The good thing about Games on Demand is that families can download games for the kids and the kiddies and not worry about scratched discs. I own all but 1 or 2 of the titles offered, so the prices do not bother me. Getting a bigger HDD so I do not download, play, delete, download, play, delete, etc and burn up the server to make room to play Games on Demand because I do not have the space to store more than 2 at a time. That is my concern.

As for the Avatar clothing. I’m happy, I have my white tank top, flipflops and Hawaiian-ish beach shorts. I’m set (though currently I’m ‘trying’ to sport Kratos – not easy). IF I can put in more requests, I’d like: a kilt (for males), Altair’s full garment from Assassin’s Creed, Original Classic Mortal Kombat 1 and 2 Costumes, Crackdown (G.I. Joe the Movie) Super Suit, Capcom and SNK Character Costumes (no remixes PLEASE), Viva Pinata Costumes and that should be good. As for Accessories – a Go Cart and Mini Bike that both CAN be used in a future Avatar (Mario Kart-ish) multiplayer racing game.

@Ganon255
You said it right, “It’s a Luxury.” Bling-bling ain’t cheap! Nor is it needed, but you know you want it.

Sort out the bloody pricing!

I wonder just how having GoD being tied to your gamertag suddenly makes it fair deal to charge more. You have to consider that you can’t resell it if you no longer like it, can’t loan it to a friend, and if anything ever happens to your account, you’re basically screwed. Not to mention that you’re also wasting harddisk space, and that you’re buying old games.

It’s not about being whiny, these prices are infact just wrong. Anyone who buys these is not spending their money wisely.

Also, in regards to the avatar marketplace, it’s very silly to charge us for clothes to begin with, but I don’t really care for them anyway.

You guys have lots of free clothes to choose from… The stuff in the Avatar marketplace is PREMIUM content, and seriously – the prices aren’t that bad. I spent a buck on a Halo3 T-shirt, and what – three bucks on an RC Warthog – big deal! If I wanted to give up the Warthog, I wouldn’t think twice about dropping $5 on a lightsaber – it’s that cool…

GoD, however – is…whack. Okay – lets say H3:ODST comes out in September, and I’ve got the choice of getting it through GoD or driving across town to the store for a copy. I know I’ll never sell it, so if the GoD and the store are selling it for the same price, that seems like a deal to me. Of course if M$ is clever and wants to lean the scales in the favor of GoD, they could do something like “$5 off MSRP – special first 24 hours promotion” on newly released titles.

But, the older games? The convenience of GoD does NOT in any way warrant the difference in price between it and what I might pay for the same title across town or off eBay. I was excited about the idea of being able to download Bioshock, as I haven’t played it yet, but not at the way-too-high price in the marketplace. When I’m ready to play the game, I’ll grab a copy off eBay and save a large chunk o’ change…

Great idea, insanely stupid pricing…

My post doesn’t mean a lot because it is merely rehashing what everyone has already said.

Dressing up my doll isn’t worth the asking price. I vote with my wallet. The same goes for buying Games On Demand. If I didn’t have all the games I already wanted, I wouldn’t buy the amount to get them because the asking price is too high.

I do, however, love the new Netflix update. A lot more things to choose from, a seemingly faster load time for what I want to watch and a more organized menu. I’m just one man, though.

Microsoft, I’m not mad… just disappointed.

I think that both Avatar Marketplace and Games on Demand are overpriced. Especially GoD prices are too high, when you can buy these titles at half the price in normal store.

Nice idea. Woefully ill-thoughtout pricing.

To be honest, I think the only good thing about this update that is any worth is the rating system, which is basically very simple. All the ripoff download stuff is a joke, and the streaming video market place isnt even up there yet. Jeez, I might even get PS3 at this rate

While they’re doing this they can fix the Photo Party MIA issue. It just dissapeared from the ‘Spotlight’ section during the update. You can still get to it if you have downloaded it by using the quicklaunch feature and going to all and scrolling down to the ‘XBOX Live Photo Party’ but this is very annoying to do.

Way over priced, don’t plan on buying any of it.

Little by little – my reasons for owning an Xbox 360 are fading away.

Now add previews for themes and gamerpics. C’moooooooon Microsoft, you’ll make money that way if we know how cool things look (and not trick us into buying crappy gamerpic packs ;D ).

And I love how the Canadian marketplace charges $24.99 for Burnout Paradise when stores are selling it for $19.99 NEW.

These prices are just a test. MS wants to know how many nerds are there.

New from Game
Oblivion GOTY Edition: £19.98

Games on Demand
Oblivion: £19.99
Knights of the Nine: 800 points = £6.80
Shivering Isles: 2400 points = £20.40
Total = £47.19

*Lower The Prices!*

If you agree, copy and paste.

Loving the avatar marketplace, please keep adding new features and content. i probably spend 2 or 3 nights a week since the preview started just playing around with my avatar on the dash. enjoying the latest update, keep up the good work.

it sucks that if you want to have a full stormtroper outfit or the gears armor you have to buy both the suit & helmet seperately, why not allow us to get both for the same price. so if the version of Oblivion is not the game of the year edition, why buy it when you aren’t getting all of the DLC also.

its really too bad that nobody from MS listens to all of the complaints about the pricing of avatar items & games on demand.

*Lower The Prices!*

If you agree, copy and paste.

Maybe its time to buy a Playstation 3?

Can I also just say that the lightsaber looks naff, its doesnt even glow, plus, does it even make a noise?

Is it just me or is the avatar marketplace on the web no longer there? The links to it take me to a rather static page with info about avatars, but not the avatar marketplace. I thought I’d check out if there’s anything new there or if they perhaps adjusted the prices (yeah right) without having to turn on my 360…

“rastansaga

Wouldn’t surprise me if Microsoft starting charging “rent” on the buttons on your controller.

Maybe 200 MS points per-month for each of A, B, X and Y – or a 600 MS points “deal” for use of all four.

Throw in an additional “trigger + bumpers” pack for 150 MS points per-month.”

When I read this I never laughed so hard in my LIFE! As funny as this is, the saddest part is that I’m scared if this comes true, especially on the ‘Nextbox’.

Now that we have an Avatar MarketPlace, I can’t wait to see what the next free avatar update looks like :/ I wasn’t going to to buy anything from AMP but since I wanted to enter the DL&Win contest. I decided that if I was going to have to buy something, then I would get something that I actually wanted. I bought the lightsaber. Let me just say that a $5 lightsabler that makes NO NOISE is just sad. I know that avatars don’t make noise, but if you’re going to premium prices for certain items, they should be exceptional in some way.

*Lower The Prices!*
If you agree, copy and paste.

BTW, when will we be able to have non-realistic skin/hair tones for our avatars.

Buenas dias mi pregunta es la siguiente soy hispano y tengo una duda si la version de oblivion viene con idioma español o es la misma version que compre en una tienda que solo viene en ingles?

*Lower The Prices!*

If you agree, copy and paste.

the update should be that this stuff is free

*Lower The Prices!*

If you agree, copy and paste.

When will GTA4 come to G.O.D.?

Boss.

Why? So you can pay $10 extra for it? Go to Gamestop or Bestbuy and get it for cheaper.

I think the problem is MS doesn’t think about ALL of its people. It only thinks about the well of or something. Sure you people with disposable incomes (or you teens with parents that give you what you want) have the money to blow on anything. But thats the exception not the rule.

If MS would lower the price on everything they release they would still make a little more money then now because then EVERYONE could afford things. They only seem to think about the big picture. I don’t want to get political here but its the same idea like with the bigwigs in Washington. They tell us what they want for healthcare and other things yet they have no idea since they live large lives. Well same thing for the higher ups at MS that make these decisions. Alot of people now a days don’t make crap and don’t want to spend $5 for a ligthsaber that in the end does nothing or $30 on a GoD that they could get for $10 elsewhere.

prices for the avatar clothes are way too much. I would accept £0.30p for T-Shirts. £0.40p for hats. £1.00 for all props. £0.80p for trousers. -and believe me. more people would buy. plus its fair.

Ether way. I still bought 3 “T-Shirts” 2 “Trousers” and 3 “Props”. My MSP amount was dropping like crazzy.

*Lower The Prices!*

If you agree, copy and paste.

*Lower The Prices!*

If you agree, copy and paste.

kool

I think people need to stop whining about the Avatar Marketplace, you have to buy it because it’s PREMIUM content that sets you apart from other avatars on Xbox Live. I don’t mind the prices AT ALL, the prices are fine. I would be pretty mad if they dropped the prices. Yep, I said it, you people going to whine about that now?

The Games On Demand prices are rather high though, you can find these games in stores for lower prices.

You would be angry if more people could access the content for a better price? What are you? Satan?

Again i asked for “When will GTA4 come to GOD?” my old one broke. I purchase viva pinata: TIB and it worked fine and i save 50kr(I think 10$ or 8$) by buying it on GOD(That’s on the net and in stores, GOD was cheapper by 50kr), and saved 70kr by paying with MS points instead of money.
All in all i saved 50kr by buying it on GOD, so again >>”When will GTA4 come to GOD?”<

Maintenance is complete. Avatar marketplace is now available on Xbox.com

TheMacJedi
The Avatar Marketplace is cool, the prices are insane. I’m not a cheap person but that’s like asking $10 for a can of soda. $1 to $4 for items in the Avatar Marketplace is exactly what’s going to keep it from being a huge success. Sell everything for a quarter and be rewarded by the volume of sales. The prices for anything in the Avatar Marketing should never exceed $1.

The same bean counters that thought 80 points for a dollar was a good idea are messing up the Avatar Marketplace. Those guys suck.

But seriously, stop trying to rip us off, we are your biggest fans and your screwing us.

100% right MacJedi
WTF Major?
Over charge for themes over charge for Pics
Now this garbage?
Come on!!!!
This is a outrage

Lower the goddamn prices, Microsoft is unfuckingbelievable with this bullshit.

Arsenic13: Well I guess I am satan then, because yes, I would hate it if these items became free. I don’t mind paying for them, and I know I’m not the only one.

If you guys don’t like the prices, don’t buy it, simple as that. It’s premium content for your avatar, of course there’s going to be a price to it. Would you rather everything free? I know I wouldn’t.

I think the prices are fair for the Avatar Marketplace, the prices for Games On Demand are kinda whack though.

@Radiating Chaos – Agreed.

I didnt say free. I said reduced.

On a separate note, just like i said. They ignore out complaints.

I am on Vacation so I have not Updated, is it good enough to care about? and any ideas on the Facebook, Twitter, Last.FM update release date?

@xfoolsgoldx
I have seen many people post “It’s time to buy a (Insert Game Console Title Here).” I have been inclined to ask “Are you a gamer?”. Most gamers I know and play games with own two systems or all three. Most agree that the Xbox360 is superior to the current systems (Wii and PS3) when it comes to community and ease of use setting up and inviting friends to play online. Crying over ‘high prices’ on a ‘luxury’ is kind of odd. The prices do seem high, but with that being said, it also makes them exclusive to people who are willing to purchase them at the current prices. Please do not confused with ‘making the prices high’ with ‘being the few with certain products’.

@Supreme Entity
C’mon “Rent Buttons?” That would be crazy and unbusiness-like. I know Milo looks awesome and I enjoy LightHouse Games’ myFishtank, but I’d love a pet simulator like Dogz 2 (with voice control by PF.Magic) or Nintendogz. Something like thas that could ‘grow’ with the system with AI upgrades and possibly ‘assistance’ in video games, more like R.O.B. (fad) with the NES than the Fable 2 doggie. Ehh, that’s just me and what I’d freely spend my moola on.

Now if they could just get the 1 vs 100 Live show fixed…

Wow, fanboys are really annoying.
Anyone who thinks that little outfits and props for what is basically a virtual doll are premium items really needs to stop listening to corporate marketing reps.
There is noting high quality of high grade about them, just high priced.
Also, how exactly does making the prices high equal exclusivity to anyone? If there is one thing I’ve learned from most of the Xbox community, it’s that many of them will purchase anything that comes out no matter the price(Don’t forget some people actually purchased horse armor). How is this stuff any different than horse armor?
That said, I wasn’t expecting them to be giving the stuff away for free, people need to be paid for their work. But really what takes more work to program a prop with a little animation or an arcade game?

it seems to me like M$ is basing their pricing off of how popular they think the item will be. For example the lightsabre is 5$. (which is BS and is why im not gonnna buy anything from the store)Why is it 5$ dollars? Because M$ knows that its a cool item and they think they can make that much on it. I for one think its cool but im not going to be paying 5$ for anything of the sort.

My major problem with the avatar marketplace is that items I buy are not available for other users on the 360. Why aren’t the licenses the same as games or other content? I’m not going to link a CC with my son or daughters profile, so if they miss out. I would definately buy more items if it meant other accounts on my 360 could access them as well.

Items definitely need to be cheaper. I’d often spend left over points on a few items I think would be cool, but I’d never spend over 160 points on something like that. It strips these items from being cool little impulse buys, and turns them into a serious investment. When I can buy an XBLA game for the same price as looking like Obi-wan Kenobi.. (almost 800 points) I’ll go with the game!

I think its sad these people buy this rubbish for their avatars and downloadable overpriced geames. It just shows how stupid and retarded they are with their money. Keep on doing it and Microsoft will be charging you take a shit soon.

Most games on XBLA are fairly priced. A lot of people complain about the ones that cost 1200, but those ones are usually much bigger and good value. There’s very few games I think have been completely unfairly priced. Certainly nothing to moan about when we’re forced to pay upwards of £40 for retail games, which often have much less value than XBLA ones.

Since the update, all my Xbox does is freezing. I hate it. It all has to do with my dvd-drive. I guess they patched the firmware with some bug in it. It’s annoying.

*Lower The Prices!*

If you agree, copy and paste.

Change motto to “Lower Avatar Prices!” to further spread the message.

Ai Kago: You think people who by this stuff are retarded? That is ridiculous. How old are you again? 12?

Don’t be so pathetic.

well, people spending £4 for a virtual stick which has no purpose must be slightly retarded. i’ve never been one to buy and dress up dolls, but everyone has their taste right??

The only items I have a real issue with is the shirts. It takes next to no effort to put a different logo on a shirt. I can understand props being charged for because someone has to actually do some work to code the animations.

Digital download for Bioshock is $30…
for $10 more you can buy the Oblivion + Bioshock 2-pack

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0028IBTPC

This doesn’t make sense.

@TotalD78
“Also, how exactly does making the prices high equal exclusivity to anyone?”
A: how many people you know personally who’s flown to the moon and back? What about a weekend getaway to a secluded island for 2? Or owner of a very rare flower’s seeds? All of those are exclusive and very expensive. As much as I hate to say this, I don’t like the prices of some props, but I agree with them. Why? Someone might like it and i would not want to see 50+ of them copying each other so freely. Honestly, I just want more of a variety, mix and match, male and female clothing just to save on the ‘his/her’ closet space.

“But really what takes more work to program a prop with a little animation or an arcade game?”
A: If you only knew. You have polygons that ‘pop’ out of place when animated, you have textures that become transparent at certain angles, the prop had to co-exist with dynamic avatar configurations. Need I say more? Since I know you won’t be buying Poser 6 or 7, go make a prop for IMVU (Cinema4D or even Milkshape can be used,) but you will need 3D Studio Max 7 for Cal3D file export. Create a prop, texture it, animate it and then put it on the market and view your results. It is still a job in itself. Both are equal depending on who you are talking to.

@Warrengonline

“A: how many people you know personally who’s flown to the moon and back? What about a weekend getaway to a secluded island for 2? Or owner of a very rare flower’s seeds? All of those are exclusive and very expensive. As much as I hate to say this, I don’t like the prices of some props, but I agree with them. Why? Someone might like it and i would not want to see 50+ of them copying each other so freely.”

Relativity my friend! You are comparing things most people can’t(can’t being the key word) afford with things that are a couple of dollars. That just doesn’t work. The only way that argument would work is if the marketplace stuff was a couple of million dollars each. The best example for you would be to keep a look out for all the different avatars on this site and the forums with a light saber(and that’s one of the most expensive props). I understand people wanting their dolls to look original but high prices aren’t the was to do it. Having more options and user created items would be the only way to ensure originality.

“If you only knew. You have polygons that ‘pop’ out of place when animated, you have textures that become transparent at certain angles, the prop had to co-exist with dynamic avatar configurations. Need I say more? Since I know you won’t be buying Poser 6 or 7, go make a prop for IMVU (Cinema4D or even Milkshape can be used,) but you will need 3D Studio Max 7 for Cal3D file export. Create a prop, texture it, animate it and then put it on the market and view your results. It is still a job in itself. Both are equal depending on who you are talking to.”

I’m not saying that the process doesn’t involve work, but there is no way that a little animation has more programing than an entire Arcade game. Look at two equally priced items, Uno (400 points) and the light saber (400 points). You don’t even need to know about programing to see there are more different animations in Uno. Not to mention just programing everything else that makes it a interactive game as compared to two or three set motions of a prop.

“Create a prop, texture it, animate it and then put it on the market and view your results.”

I’m not a programmer, also I’m not a surgeon, so I’m not going to go and perform a heart transplant just to see how difficult it is.

@Radiating Chaos

Yes I do think they are retarded. Paying that sort of money to dress up your charater, or paying over the odds for a digital download were you can get it for half the price if you order it elsewhere…whats NOT retarded about that?

The problem here is some people will buy this overpriced junk, Microsoft will see its selling, and think its ok to charge that price because because some mugs are lapping it up. All this stuff should be free for Gold members anyway.

ACtually, I just had a great idea. How about keeping the price the same, but Microsoft donating half of the money that we pay to charity or something?

I am pretty sure the pricing has something to do with license fees the companies want, more than MS “price gouging”…all the expensive stuff is from popular, “name brand” items, while the more generic stuff is more than reasonably priced. Like others said, if you want to look “exclusive” fork out the points and be an Elitist! I want to know where my NFL Avatar gear is…I will be the first to admit that money will be no object if I have the option of putting my Avatar in a Dallas Cowboys uniform w/ helmet!!

@KP ScuzzyBunny

Chief, Fable and GoW are MS products… and look at the price of the outfits. Heck, the Stormtrooper outfit (lucas arts / EA) comes with everything while the GoW and Fable outfits are broken into pieces and more expensive as a whole. Tell me that MS is not price-gouging under this premise…

@TotalD78
“I’m not a programmer, also I’m not a surgeon, so I’m not going to go and perform a heart transplant just to see how difficult it is.”

I was just being a little sarcastic as you can do everything I stated – minus the Cal3D export – with Poser 6+. But I understand what you are getting at. Being different and original is not everyone’s goal. I have yet to try on the shirt with all the color options. I like to look different in real life, not extreme (dress shirt, khaki pants and black shoes / unmarked tee shirt, shorts, low-cut socks and tennis shoes), although these are digital dolls, I like to spread my creativeness amongst that. My fighting game crew (all guys over 25 with kids) like to make Terry Bogard and will casually argue the point of the version they could be sporting. Some guys have and do sport female avatars out of boredom and not willing to spend points on items that they can not customize.

This is just the beginning for avatar stuff. I think if MS started a “What do you want?” forum and put a few photo samples of what the item would look like, it would prep everyone for certain items. But you must remember, not everyone wears Dolce&Gabana clothing, price really has nothing to do with it. I’ll take Hurley and Adidas designs any day. (smiles)

@KP ScuzzyBunny
I’m not big on sports, but I hear you and agree. “1, 2, 3, Hut…” – Johnny Maximum, SNK