In for 1! Thanks, Shag.

Congratulations on your upcoming promotion and home purchase, though I'm not really sure how the cost of a family of 4 eating at McDonald's has to do with all of that...

I haven't played this game, nor do I really have much idea of it other than it's a real-time strategy type game, which is completely different than a turn-based strategy game like Worms.

I just don't understand why people freak out at the difference between 800 and 1200 points. It's a measly $5. I've gotten way more enjoyment out of some of my $5-15 XBLA purchases than I have out of my $60 game full retail purchases.

As was said a few pages ago when this argument previously sprung up.

It is perceived value, lack of the ability to resell, unknown future on the Xbox 720 (or whatever), etc.

For something totally new i might perceive the value to be higher. For another angle shooter (RT or TB i don't care) it isn't quite as thrilling when i already have Worms for much cheaper. If another twin stick shooter came out at this price point i would be saying the same thing.

However, if someone was dying for a real time Worms (although this echoes Scorched Earth a little more) then maybe this game would have enough perceived value to merit it's price point.

To me, it's all about the dollar-to-hour entertainment ratio. Say I play it for 5 hours, then that's $3 an hour. Is it worth it for me to do something ejoyable for an hour for $3? You bet your ass it is!

I could give a fuck about resale value on something that costs me $10-15. That's some "CAG" mentality right there.

And I'm fairly certain that whatever the next generation holds, one of those things will be full backwards compatibility. Not only with software, but also DLC.

I gladly paid $15 for Braid and the Penny Arcade episodes. Nothing in the Death Tank video make it looks like something I'd want to spend $15 on. I'll try the demo, but in my mind, the $15 price point is for a game with really high production values and/or some feature/mechanic that is new and unique.

I'm not sure why "it's too expensive" is not a valid reason to pass on a game. I'm sure some people will spend the money for Death Tank, but the average user probably won't drop that kind of cash on a little-known game that looks sort of primitive in screenshots and videos.

I'm not denying that many XBLA games are better values than many full price games, but that doesn't mean that every XBLA game is priced at a level that makes sense from a business perspective. iTunes games are proving that most people are willing to buy a lot of games at the $5 price point that they wouldn't buy at $10 or more, which is why it's strange to see XBLA prices moving in the opposite direction.

How dare you 2 have different values than guttermouth!

Guttermouth?

Main Entry: guttermouth
Part of Speech: n
Definition: a foul-mouthed person

My problem with people saying that $5 doesn't matter is that you have to draw the line somewhere. Guess no one should complain about the $10 price hike this generation either. Everyone's entitled to place their own value on games. $5 not spent on a XBLA game is $5 that can be put toward something else.

Nicely put. I just see nothing in Death Tank that warrants the higher price point. Castle Crashers, SSFIIHD Turbo, Braid? All something special and I didn't begrudge paying 1200 points for any one in the least. This one just seems to be overpriced. And as the (apparent) dismal purchase rate for R-Type Dimensions showed a couple of weeks ago, overpriced games do not sell well in the Arcade. Like many of you, I'm quite concerned that MS is feeling more and more comfortable overcharging for XBLA games. If they think that since we'll buy Castle Crashers for $15, that we'll get anything at that price, well they're sadly mistaken. I vote with my virtual wallet and hope others do the same.

15 bucks moves it out of "impulse purchase" territory and into opportunity cost. For five bucks more I could get a disk copy of Mass Effect.
Especially when I distinctly recall playing a game very much like Death Tank in college for free (not sure if it was legal or not, admittedly).
There isn't 15 bucks worth of gameplay in that game for me, and the fact that you can't resell it does raise the bar on a purchase. If I buy it, and don't get 15 bucks worth of gameplay out of it, I can't resell it to recoup my costs (I know there's a trial available, which is one thing XBLA does very well and I give it credit).
Some XBLA games are definitely "worth" 15 bucks, even though I might not buy them; some games aren't. Some games (Minesweeper?) aren't worth five bucks to me, though I'll acknowledge that that much work did go into creating the game.

I'd definitely be interested in Dungeon Twister as an XBLA title....I was interested in the physical game Last Night on Earth, but A Touch of Evil seemed to be a little more up my alley--but I went with Arkham Horror instead, which is great (co-op and single player gets big points). I think AH could definitely be an XBLA or disk based game, although there's just something different about the tactile experience of managing the pieces/cards and rolling the dice. Plus one big benefit to computerized board games is AI or online opponents; AH can be played singleplayer just fine.

"It's too expensive" *for me* can definitely be a valid reason to pass on a game. The game might not appear to offer that much value for the person, plus some people are wary of buying lots of 10-15-20 buck games because that raises the bar, so the only times we'll see 400 point games again is when it's Minesweeper...especially when the marketplace is totally controlled by the vendor.

Not much worth adding that we didn't discuss last week but I thought it was worthy of quoting these two points. Apple has proven that cheaper sells (which is ironic given their phone plans). Once something is out of 'impulse buy' range, the consumer is thinking about the purchase. Once the consumer starts weighing the purchase, the sale is as good as gone. I'm not surprised MS is moving in the opposite direction of Apple though.

I don't see how anyone can come to that conclusion just yet. Look at this generation. MS promised 'limited' backwards compatibility and Sony promised 'full' backwards compatibility. How did things pan out? MS now has the majority of original games on the back compat list while Sony has all but dropped support. Things change. DLC has a higher chance of being forward compatible but nothing is for certain.

Yeah, or some people are just cheap!!

Or some people aren't wasteful.

Still patiently waiting for Scrabble to come to XBLA ..

Look, people aren't saying they won't pay $15 for any game, they're saying that they won't pay $15 for certain games. That's not being cheap.

I won't pay $15.00 for a McDonald's Hamburger. This isn't because I'm "cheap", it's because a McDonald's Hamburger isn't worth $15.00 to me.

Exit 2 comes out tomorrow also 800pts 240 stages.

I have right at 15,000 points in my account that I haven't paid anything near retail for and I'm stingy as hell. There are games I want to play but haven't bought (The Maw, Portal, PA 1 & 2, many older games). I have 54 Rock Band songs on my Wishlist.

I could easily buy what I want right when it comes out, but I still don't. Maybe it's the price. Maybe it's content. Maybe it's whether or not I have other games I already need to play. But it all comes back to value. I would love to have those Rock Band songs, for example, but I don't play it enough to justify spending the points just to have them sit on the hard drive.

If you tell me something costs $X, I'm by default going to assume that's the worst I can do on it. The CAG in me, which goes far deeper than just games as I'm a true CA at heart, won't let me pay the retail price for something unless I absolutely have to have it right then. But I'm fine paying retail (what I consider a premium) for that immediacy.

A game like Death Tank would be fun. For as long as the community supports it. I can't say I'd get the value I need out of a game like that. I just picked up Mass Effect CE for $18 and The Sega Collection for $27. One game promises 50 hours or so, the other includes roughly 50 games and countless hours and ways to get my kids familiar with more titles I played as a kid.

Death Tank doesn't seem worth it. Not for $15. Again, I will try the demo with an open mind, but it's not looking likely. Especially with The Maw still sitting there for 67% of the cost.

Really???? That's a day one purchase for me! I LOVED the first one on the PSP and will happily buy this, espeically at the correct price point (800). I love me some Mr ESC.

That's not a bad idea. I'm going to stop calling myself cheap and just say I'm not wasteful. I have 7200 live points that are still in their little plastic containers. I have yet to buy anything on live. I may have to change that soon though as I really want Darth Vader for SC4 but it's 400 points!!

CAG has made it very hard to buy stuff at retail prices.


I was actually talking about myself. I mentioned being cheap earlier when r-type was released.

I don't have a problem with people saying that they don't think a game is worth $15 if they were on the fence to begin with. That's completely understandable.

It's the people that see that $15 game that they had little to no intention of getting in the first place, and complaining about the price.

FWIW, from page 1 of this thread (almost 6 months ago): http://forum.dvdtalk.com/8903201-post10.html

Price fails and I was excited for it.

Wasn't really targeting you. I actually see you as one of the "good guys".

Then you don't know me.