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The XBL microtransaction tracker
Posted under Games, Market Place, Microsoft, Steve519, Xbox, Xbox Live by Steven Artlip (Steve519)
Microtransactions or: Death by a thousand paper cuts. Sure, it all seemed so innocent at first, but then we started having Oblivion horse armor, Kameo Uno decks and now EA’s Need for Speed: Carbon shows up exploiting the system to its full and most disgusting potential — oh wait, EA already did that charging for Madden tutorials. And how many are willing to pay and feed this exploitation?
A group of writers at GamerFeast created a microtransaction tracker and started keeping tabs. Guess who’s the top offender? (Find out in the list below) They’ve also broken everything down in spreadsheet form to review with a fine tooth comb, if you wish. It’s a great resource and know we’ll be checking back in again soon. The top 10 (MSRP + Content as of 11-3-2006):
1. Need for Speed Carbon - $94.97 - Electronic Arts
2. The Godfather - $90.79 - Electronic Arts
3. Chromehounds - $83.73 - Sega
4. Tiger Woods 07 - $74.23 - Electronic Arts
5. Oblivion - $74.11 - Bethesda
6. LotR - Battle for Middle Earth II - $68.74 - Electronic Arts
7. Prey - $59.99 - 2K Games
8. Call of Duty 2 - $54.98 - Activision
9. Lego Star Wars II - $52.49 - Lucas Arts/TT Games
10. Kameo - $39.99 - Microsoft
found at www.joystiq.com
These Are Pointless!
why is that?
Because MTN up there’s one of the lemmings who would probably willingly fork out just under 100 bucks for NFS carbon.
EA is slowly destroying the marketplace. It is going to continue though is because MS gets a cut of every transaction made. The only way to stop more overpriced crap like EA’s current content appearing is to NOT BUY IT!
Of course that’s not going to work either because odds are a few hundred/thousand people with too much money have probably just bought it for the sake of it.
All i can say is i hope the marketplace doesn’t go downhill anymore because if it does, i’m probably better off building a new PC and jumping ship to that instead.
Somthing is not right with this list. I know GRAW has a 15 dollar content download making it $75.00. and there are a CRAP more games that cost more than Kameo.
But back to the point of the artical…
We have extreemly limited control over this. They are gonna continue to release this “crap” regardless if they profit from it or not. You already paid for the game! Helloooo, they already got your 60 bucks! If you end up not buying the content, why would they give a crap or not?
So don’t just not buy the content, DONT BUY THE GAME, PERIOD.
-rUST.
not all the games are listed other wise you would see fifa, madden, ncaa and many others on that list too
I could go with the normal reply: DONT BUY IT! But I have a different take. PC gaming was a better expierience with downloadable maps, player mods, and easily accessable content. They wanted you to go to their website, so they offered stuff to get you there.
MS has a captive audience: Everytime you power-up your console you are at their descrition as to what’s available. They say it’s a way to give the gamers more content, features, and media. I disagree. I am one of those who could care less about the ARTIST OF THE MONTH. Usually someone I wouldn’t listen too anyway. The trailors for games can be gotton, much faster and in HD (without 100 dollar cables, and a nice t.v.) from so many other places. And the game add-ons are usually things that could have been unlocked in the game, or been incorporated into the game at launch.
So to put a finer point on it: The Marketplace is just that! A way for MS to make profit on crap they couldn’t sell in stores. The best thing to do is wait, and hope, for compitition. I heard, on Major Nelsons Podcast, the guys from EPIC (Creators of Gears of WAR) have a track-record for giving content back to it’s loyal fans. (I am one of those Unreal Map-Pack reciepients) I doubt it will be different on the 360. The days of game developers doing Xtra features too keep their customer base happy and logging onto their games are over.
Welcome to the new era of gaming: Sell as much as you can to the gamer, before they move onto another game. Then act like your doing them a favor, and push the blame away from you. I gheard someone say, “It isn’t MS it’s the developers!” So where are the stats for how much money is being made, and distributed to who? I mean MS has no problem releasing stats about it’s console sales, live memberships, and downloads. I want to see the person(s) who are responsible for selling me a meal, then charging me for the silverware!
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