Today was supposed to be a great day for Xbox Live! users as the new “SUMMER” dashboard update
was released to all connected Xbox 360s. For the most part the update has been well received and from what I have been seeing on Twitter and Facebook everyone seems to like the new features on Netflix and a ton of little tweaks to the UI for a more enjoyable experience. Now I for one love the Xbox 360 so please don’t think of this as a hate letter to Microsoft or the Xbox team. I am merely here to offer information to XBL users of a huge rip off (IMO) that is taking place right in from of our faces and that is the pricing of the games available on the new Game on Demand offering. I have never seen such a huge price difference in digital distribution vs retail pricing on any other platform. The following information is only here as a reference point and the prices are as of Aug. 11th and can change at any time from this point forward. I did a back and forth with XBL Games on Demand and Amazon.com for my comparison, so take this how you may.
Microsoft has comented on question’s concerning Games on Demand pricing:
No one retailer has the lowest pricing for every product, and our program is about giving people 24 x 7 convenience and selection when shopping for Xbox 360 games. We’re incredibly excited about what Games on Demand means for digital distribution, and will continue to evaluate and evolve the service to meet market and consumer demands.
O.K. now on to my price comparison list. The first price is the price on XBL and the second price are from Amazon.
Xbox GAMES on DEMAND/Amazon.com
Assasin’s Creed – 29.99 / 15.34
Battle Field: Bad Company – 19.99 / 11.94
Bio Shock – 29.99 / 13.99
Burnout Paradise – 19.99 / 13.79
Call of Duty 2 – 29.99 / 6.04
DDR/DS Universe – 29.99 / 5.94
Fight Night 3 – 19.99 / 5.90
Kameo – 19.99 / 6.50
Karaoke Revolution: American Idol – 29.99 / 19.85
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga – 29.99 / 15.99
Mass Effect – 19.99 / 11.99
Meet the Robinsons – 29.99 / 5.50
MX vs. ATV: Untamed – 29.99 / 13.35
Need for Speed: Carbon – 19.99 / 8.59
Need for Speed Most Wanted – 19.99 / 14.99
Oblivion – 29.99 / 12.36
Perfect Dark Zero – 19.99 / 3.25
Prey – 19.99 / 1.81
Rainbow Six Vegas – 29.99 / 5.66
Ridge Racer 6 – 19.99 / 8.81
Rockstar Table tennis – 29.99 / 4.70
Sonic the Hedgehog – 19.99 / 5.99
Viva Pinata – 19.99 / 6.86
Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise – 29.99 / 13.99
Well their you have it, now it’s up to you whether or not the GoD prices are worth the convenience or if you feel Microsoft needs to reevaluate their prices.
**NOTE**
The prices I took from Amazon were not always the lowest prices. When I looked up the price of a game I looked for the lowest NEW or VERY GOOD conditioned titles.
they wont put the games at trade in prices so you wont see them too low…….
But I wonder if maybe they will possibly start puting newer games on it for a discount… doubt it though lol
I agree that the prices are to expnsive, on non platinum games. But the rest shouldn’t be more than retail. It’s one thing to add a few bucks to cover bandwidth but our monthy fee pays for that. Also I wouldn’t use amazon as a price reference because amazon sells shit dirt cheap u have to use a major competitor like gamestop and go by their prices because they are a game store
Also you would think games would be cheaper because there’s no disc no booklet and no box .
Isnt the point of buying games to find the lowest price? For me I love amazon because I can get a brand new game two weeks after launch and save $20. GOD seems like a scam to the uninformed. If I dont buy my game off amazon i usually buy it of Gamefly; which also saves me 15-20.
Umm to be fair most of the xbox prices are typical retail prices from walmart, bestbuy or ebgames/gamespot. They pretty much cost the same as a brand new game which is a little over priced since it doesn’t cost them as much to manufacture the game. But the prices aren’t as bad as you make them out to be, like honestly majority of the public doesn’t buy from amazon. I would say the prices would be fair if they were $5 cheaper than retail but then again it’s Microsoft they want your money.
yeah the prices r high but thats why its a option so no big deal i guess
Games on Demand aren’t used games so your point is bull shit.
maintenance wise digital distribution is great no hassle watso ever but then again prices are high. hmmmm well i dont got a working 360 right know so i cant really say much in this.
I waited a day before I added to the responds.
First off I want to thank everyone for the comments both positive and negative.
My point (if there really is a point) was to give you a chance to see the huge savings you can get buy “not” buying games from the Games on Demand service on XBL!
I don’t see the value in downloading a game (mind you just software) from any console when the truth is that the retail prices will cost you less money and you get both the case and manual in most cases.
I have insider contacts at Gamestop both managers and employees and they agreed with my opinion and have also sent me E-Mails with prices not on the website that proves my point.
Though some may say that the prices can not be compared to used games at online/retail, I must disagree. When you download a game you are only getting a small (a fraction) of what you would get “even from a used game” at retail.
Look at it like this, you have the freedom to buy what you want and how you want so if I’m given a choice to buy a used copy Call of Duty 2 from Gamestop for $12.99 (since you can not buy a new copy of CoD2 anymore from Gamestop) or just download it from G0D for $29.99! you already know my answer.
My point was extreme but Microsoft needs to see what it is doing to it’s supporters and I prey that they do not get to carried away with it’s growing popularity.
We are already paying for Live! so I though that was for bandwidth use and now the GoD want more….? Even if I was at home and scanning the Games on Demand selection I don’t see anything worth the price on “ANY” game.
I was planning to buy Oblivion from GoD since I only own it on PC (best version) but for the sake of parting up with my peoples on Live! I was gonna get it but for $30.00….! Fuck That..! You can get Oblivion/Bioshock combo pack for $39.99? Come on people I am just giving you Real Talk.
One
Yea obviously you can get games cheaper in stores where there are sales or they are used. It’s all about perception about the worth of the game, GoD allows you to conveniently play your games off the HDD for the price of a retail game. If someone has a lot of space and doesn’t want to switch discs then they can. You get the same game for the same price at most retail. The problem with xbox is that they use their own HDD so people are limited to 120gb. There are some full retail games I would love on my HDD like Little Big Planet on my ps3 since I know I would play it more if it was that easy to play it. Of course you are loosing bandwidth and space of your HDD so they should price the games cheaper to make up for your expenses. Sure GoD is not a great deal at all but I would say it’s for people who would always play that game and would like it on their console. Spend more for convenience or buy the disc for cheaper. Atleast they don’t make the games exclusive to GoD then that would be a rip off, it just gives you an option if you dont mind the price.
You do realize that what this new feature is really for is the people that don’t worry about deals. The people that are going to use this the most are the ones that don’t go out and buy games from Gamestop, Best Buy, or Amazon.
This service isn’t for you as you have made clear. Your already said your going to go and buy it cheaper else where. You and I already have that knowledge. Some consumers are not going to have the first thought in their mind what if I can get it cheaper. Alot of consumers look for convience and that is all this is. These same consumers are not here at thebitbag.com or its affiliates, forums, midnight game launches, or N4G. Who this is going to attract is the casual gamers that don’t go out searching for the latest release. At the end of the day it is a convience to have the “option” as you did point out to purchase it straight to your system. Hell, all we have to do is wait for the prices to drop which is a possiblity in the near future.
Also, I don’t understand the arguement about cases and manuals. What game today do you play that requires the manual that you don’t already get that information in the options/settings/tutorial? The manual has become a waste when the game itself tells you everything you need to know. The good thing about purchasing on the 360 is you never have to worry about repaying for it if your system crashes. You have the same gamertag and your purchase history on xbox.com and the Live account is avaialble for anyone that decides they want/need to redownload based on their situations like space size or a replacement system.
Uhh man u cant be serious. U must be real young or cant read well if u dont use a manual. Do you play rpg’s?
What are you talking about? What RPGs are you talking about? Nintendo days?
The manuals are available for you as an option when you purchase them online so it really doesn’t matter what my personal opinion was about that. It wasn’t even the main point.
I think mboojigga’s point was with the way games are nowadays the opening level in a game is usually used to explain the controls and aspects of a game, so having to read the manual is usally not needed like it was back in the previous generation of games.
I agree with him on the whole convience idea. If all the average parent has to do is download a game instead of rushing to stores trying to find the game, their not going to really care or pay attention to price.
Of course we all have a choice as whether to pay their inflated prices or not but the fact is the naive people including young children and parents who are not xbox savvy are being exploited by microsoft, of course they are not breaking any laws, but their etiquette is questionable. I wasn’t aware of this update so when i came back from my holiday to find a digital version of need for speed carbon on sale on the xbox dashboard for £19.99 i didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. And by the way the prices in british pounds are higher than the price charged in US dollars, £19.99 is $33, the game is old and shit. But i guess you are paying for the privilege of not having to leave your house to buy games. The differences in price between retail and games on demand may not be worth worrying about to anyone on a half decent salary but it is the ethics behind it which is a little unsavory and why many of us won’t use the service. Each time we redeem a prepaid card our memebership goes to “auto renewal on ” without actually letting us know, they just keep taking money out of your bank account without any notice saying that it has been renewed, it is only at the end of the month that you realise they have taken out £5 for one month of gold membership and that is from your bank statement!! Then you have to go to xbox.com to turn this auto renewal feature off. The fact that it automatically changes each time you redeem a 3 month or 12 month card back to “auto renewal on” is sure to catch people out the first time it happens as you have no idea as they don’t tell you, and even after the first time, each time this happens you have to go to xbox.com to turn the feature back off again, UNNECESSARY HASSLE that we shouldn’t have to put up with when we have bought the 360 on launch date, and have had multiple consoles due to reliability issues, bought map packs, gold memberships etc etc.