Xbox 360 Fanboy

Yup 1800 points means myself and probably a few other people will not be getting this

I agree, at 1800 points no sale for me. I'll bite at the 800 point price.

I can't resell Steam (or Stardock) games and yet I use those services to buy retail softcopy games. If a game is worth it, then it will sell. If it's not, it won't sell well and then it will be discounted.

Digital distribution is, for better or worse, the future of the industry.

I'm curious why so many people have this problem expensive games on the Arcade service. Is it the name? If it were titled 360ware or 360store, would people have a different opinion?

To me, games like Castle Crashers and Braid could have be released to retail. Heck if they were on Wii they probably would have been.

I think if we want really cool innovative games on the service then we should also be willing to pay for them. If were not, we are going to keep getting crappy ports of arcade classics or other shovelware because no one is willing to pay anything more that 800 points.

And..... for this price I should be able to purchase the game on a credit card for the exact price and not have goofy left over points.

The purpose of the points were to allow companies to do micro-transactions, the points would allow them to avoid the credit card transaction fees for purchases under $5.

Now MS seems to be happy fixing prices and pushing the bar higher and higher on pricing to see what they can get away with. Lets say you have to buy 2 1600 point cards to buy castle crashers you will have to spend $40 to get a ~$20 game. So not only do they get the sale, they also come out of the deal $20 ahead.

Would this make sense if any other business would do this? Imagine going to McDonalds to buy a Double Cheeseburger Meal for $4 and them forcing you to buy a $10 Gift Card to make the purchase.

I understand using points are a great way for people without credit card to buy games and they allow companies to charge less than $5 for content to avoid credit card fees (but it seems that MS has forgotten about that marketing bullet point).

Imagine if Bungie charged $1 - $2 for the map packs (or even better use an Itunes business model and make it $1 a map), nobody would hesitate to buy the content. Look at how the community balied on GRAW and GOW when they launched the paid map packs. The other benefit of doing this would be the community would not fracture into haves and have nots. And if you keep a strong community your business will prosper (i.e. Valve and Epic who have supported the PC community with free content for years). Imagine a game lobby that will launch into a game without blinking that someone hasn't purchased the content, its awkward and divides the community. Someone should try to take advantage of the knee jerk purchase reaction that happens at .99, many people may not feel they play COD or Halo enought to justify and $10+ map purchase, but if it was only .99 a map people could feel if they played the maps once they got their value out of the content. Were talking digital downloads where the cost of distribution is low, why not take advantage of it?

Oh come on. Two guys made this game over two or three years. What's the budget on that, $500,000. That means you only need to sell 50,000 copies at $10 to make up that cost. That wouldn't be a difficult feat for a game as hyped as Castle Crashers. No need hurting those sales with a high price point.

Too bad the supply is unlimited. It's more like demand.

w00t!

I dont think that it is too much for that game. Pending reviews it looks like it has quite a bit of depth and fun for everyone to play together which gives it replayablitity.

These people are far to price sensitive around here. He hand drew every animation for Christ sakes.

Penny Arcade has a fan base.
Castle Crashers doesn't.

Richard, Dustin, Alexander
Is the game worth it at this price?

I played Castle Crashers at E3, and 1800 points is expensive, but IMO still worth it. For anything above $20, I'd kind of like to get a disc and a case, but for Castle Crashers, I'll make an exception.

I can't think of another arcade game I'd do that for, though. I also played Braid, and it's terrific, but not $15 terrific. They do a disservice by making these so expensive. Braid is a great experience and a great example of how developers can break new ground on smaller platforms like XBLA, but not nearly as many people will experience it at that price.

Of course, people will still buy Castle Crashers, because it's co-op, and just that good. But innovative games like Braid will get murdered by a high price like this.