Today, PopCap Games announced that they'll be bringing some of their Xbox Live Arcade hits to retail stores November 15th with the release of PopCap Arcade Volume 1. This first Arcade volume will include XBLA games Bejeweled 2, AstroPop, Feeding Frenzy and Zuma and retail for $29.95 on the 360, a savings of $10 if purchased separately via the XBLA.The move by PopCap to bring their XBLA games to retail is smart and almost a no-brainer especially for those who want to get a taste of the Arcade at a discounted price or for those who aren't connected to Live and want their Arcade fix. To be honest, we aren't sure why Microsoft has given up on their Unplugged series and maybe, just maybe, if PopCap makes a habit of releasing their Arcade games to retail it'll spur Microsoft into action. Good move PopCap, good move.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-09-2007 @ 2:07PM
xenocidic said...
kinda dumb. Bejewled 2 was on the XBLA unplugged Vol 1 disc, and Zuma was already released at a discounted rate.
I agree that XBLA Unplugged discs should make a return.
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10-09-2007 @ 2:12PM
Scott said...
I really dislike the idea of the disc version of the XBLA personally. I can see how some people don't have their 360 always connected, so these would be good for them. For the vast majority, we are always connected. For me, the best part of the arcade games is not having to put a new disc in (I don't want to take Halo out, but I want to play a little Zuma ). I would at least like to see them put out the "disc" on Live, so that if I wanted to buy all 4 games at a discounted rate, then I could.
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10-09-2007 @ 2:18PM
xenocidic said...
@scott, fully agree.
i got really addicted to Texas Hold'em XBLA , but it was such a bother to change the disc in and out every time, I ended up buying it so I could have it on my Hard drive.
I just wish I could send in the XBLA vol 1 disc and get a "redeem code" for all the games that it has on it.
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10-09-2007 @ 2:34PM
borandi said...
I agree with Scott and Xenocidic. My idea is that in the case, you'd have a set of cards with the codes to unlock the games on, or make it available as a combo-purchase on LIVE (all 4 games make up 3200MSPs btw, so a discounted rate of say 2400 or 2100 would be nice)
If it's a CD that enables you to download them, Popcap aren't going to make money as people would just trade it in.
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10-09-2007 @ 2:44PM
Tony said...
There supposedly is a significant amount of 360 owners that don't even know what XBLA is... I'm always surprised by it, but you see it pop up in interviews and articles somewhat often.
And in that case, getting these out there via a different channel makes sense I think. I think combo download pack ideas is cool too, but it doesn't address that issue.
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10-09-2007 @ 4:09PM
Scott said...
Having them on a disc doesn't solve the problem that people don't know that the arcade exists either.
I am actually surprised arcade devs are putting them on disc. Right now, there is no way to re-sell your arcade game (which kinda stinks). When you put it on a disc, people can play it, then sell it used, and now the developer gets no new money from that sale.
The idea of selling the games in a one-time unlockable way (like a single code card) in the stores would allow for a way to not re-sell the games, and make the Arcade more mainstream since you could buy the cards in the store. Or if they really like the disc for people who want to play offline, there should be a single-use code built into the disc (so that you couldn't get the code and sell it) to unlock the games from the Arcade.
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10-09-2007 @ 4:31PM
Michael Paul said...
I wouldn't mind having a local backup of all my XBL games in case of HD failure. I GUESS they'd reload that way with no points hassles, right?...
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