Long Live Xbox Live Arcade

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Posted by ryuzaki0 on Friday March 17, 2006 @05:04AM from the geometry-wars-as-halo-killer dept.

Edge Online has a piece up talking about the success of Xbox Live Arcade. They wonder out loud if the Live Arcade won't end up being the most important next-gen platform in this round of the console wars. From the article: "Live Arcade's conversion rate - the proportion of people who upgrade the demo to the full, paid-for version - is extraordinarily high, according to Canessa: 'The industry average on PC is about 0.8 per cent to one per cent, and in the first generation of Arcade we were hitting about 8.5 per cent, which was fantastic. But in this generation of Arcade we're hitting up to 35 per cent, and averaging over 20 per cent across all the titles. I mean, we had to check the data to make sure it wasn't a mistake. It's absolutely unheard of.'"

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live arcade by apoc06 · 2006-03-17 05:08 · Score: 3, Insightful

teh arcade is a great draw, but the real success is geometry wars. its a runaway smash with alot of buzz. that and the lack of a wide variety of solid retail titles. buying a full version of a demo for a fraction of the cost of a regular x360 title [and happens to be more fun] is a no brainer. when the AAA x360 titles arrive, maybe thats when we should compare numbers.

basically people have a $400 machine and are dying to play something on it. no big deal. but for the time being, they need to give geometry wars most of the credit there.
1. Re:live arcade by psocccer · 2006-03-17 05:34 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  teh arcade is a great draw, but the real success is geometry wars. its a runaway smash with alot of buzz.
  
  I think this really describes it, I wonder how many of that 8% conversion is just people who bought geometry wars. A friend of mine got a 360 and a few games and they were OK, but we got bored of them pretty quick (DOA and Burnout) since it was mostly more of the same we had already been playing (DOA ultimate and .... well Burnout). I heard about the geometry wars thing here and told my friend about it so we tried it out. It was pretty sweet and very addicting, and since it was only like $5 he purchased it right on the spot.
  
  At this point I thought maybe the arcade thing would be pretty sweet so we looked through some more of the titles... and the rest are pretty bad. I mean there are even card games. And total there are maybe 25-30 games right now? I don't know for sure because I didn't count but it's not a lot when you realize they have like 6 categories of games so when you go in to a particular category (like board games, action games, etc) there are only 4-5 games in there. So far he hasn't purchased any other games from the arcade because there aren't really any worth purchasing.
  I know there are getting new games going in soon, like Street Fighter II which will be pretty cool, but I still find it a bit humorous that the best game on the 360 right now is a vector based asteroids clone basically that costs $5. On a machine that cost around $500 for the system, controllers, and hard drive :p
  
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  Free Online Woodworking Resources Directory
2. Re:live arcade by tgd · 2006-03-17 05:45 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  I've bought quite a few games off there (Marble Madness, Zuma, Bejeweled 2, and that frog one thats totally escaping me right now...). The funny thing is I play Geometry Wars a lot, and I don't have the slightest inclination to buy it because I can't manage to get close to running out the four minute demo.
  
  You've got amazing reflexes or have been popping speed pills if you're able to get that far! I'm clearly too old to do it myself.
3. Re:live arcade by Saige · 2006-03-17 06:02 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  PGR3 only has the demo version of Geometry Wars. You can download the demo from Live Arcade to get the same thing there.
  
  The full version is only available for purchase through XBLA.
  
  --
  "You know your god is man-made when he hates all the same people you do."
4. Re:live arcade by bigman2003 · 2006-03-17 06:05 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Geometry Wars is good, but it is not my favorite XBLA game.
  
  That goes to Mutant Storm. A game I can actually 'finish'. Geometry Wars is just too damn hard. It is a good game, but hard.
  
  I like the 'level' format that Mutant Storm has.
  
  --
  No reason to lie.
5. Re:live arcade by apoc06 · 2006-03-17 06:26 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  the funny thing is i own the original mutant storm for xbox. i downloaded it from their early incarnation of live arcade. it runs at high res too. this is regular xbox here mind you.
  
  the let down is that it costs $400 to play a few titles that could very well run on the $150 xboxes we already own.
6. Re:live arcade by bigman2003 · 2006-03-17 06:52 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  But for me, these arcade games are just the little sprinkles on top of the icing on the cake.
  
  Ghost Recon- now that is the cake- and the icing.
  Call of Duty- lotsa cake, but some fucked up icing.
  PGR 3 - carrot cake- which is cake, but I hate all of the guys on line who have a fit when you rub fenders with them. How is it that a single game can attract so many self-righteous jerks who feel that I am being an asshole, just because I am not GOOD at a game, and therefore can't drive in a straight line?
  
  Hell, I've even spent some time playing Robotron on XBLA. Which is almost an exact port of a 20+ year old game. But it is still fun. And my $400 console is what delivers it to my fat ass while I sit on the couch, so I'm happy.
  
  I *love* fancy, shiny, beautiful graphics. I really think they can add to a game. But if a game is good, I don't need those graphics. So I don't mind playing a game that could be played in last generation's consoles, as long as it is still fun.
  
  Just a disclaimer though, it bugs the crap out of me that many people tend to think LESS of a game because of shiny and fancy graphics. Like there were only 1,000 hours of development available, and the time put into graphics was time taken away from 'gameplay'. I don't think games always need them, but I do think they benefit from them. But the XBLA games are usually the type that are based on very simplistic, repetitive gameplay- which is fun no matter what they look like.
  
  --
  No reason to lie.
New Market Strategy by Slant675 · 2006-03-17 05:08 · Score: 3, Interesting

There's really no wonder why this tactic works. The user ir provided with the ability to actually get hands-on experience with the product (one of the games from Arcade) and is able to play a decent amount of it. After this experience, much like iTunes, the user is able to simply hit a few buttons, enter a few bits of data (if that) and have the full version of the game they just became addicted to within minutes! This is a much better system since the user has to do nearly nothing except enjoy playing a game in order to be sold on the product. It is truely a new era: They already purchased something they wanted (an Xbox 360), now they are doing something they wanted to do (playing a game), and are able to obtain that same game without leaving their home!

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Slant
Between the Spaces
1. Re:New Market Strategy by gorbachev · 2006-03-17 05:44 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  I don't think the trial versions are the main factor why XBox Live Arcade titles are doing so well.
  
  I think the main factor is the marketplace points. Consumers are making the purchase not with real money, but with some abstract points. What's 400 points when you still have 1600 left. Making purchases doesn't feel like you're spending any money. That, I think, is the real reason why the titles have such a high conversion rate.
  
  --
  In Soviet Russia, I ruled you
2. Re:New Market Strategy by bigman2003 · 2006-03-17 06:01 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  I agree with you that the points thing is important.
  
  But it is not just because it isn't 'real money'.
  
  I buy XBLA games because it is EASY. I don't have to go find my wallet and take out my card. I don't have to type in a bunch of numbers, I don't have to fill out any personal information and wonder how much spam I am requesting. I don't have to worry about whether or not my information is going to the Russian mafia.
  
  I just click the 'buy this' button, and I'm done. Easy on-line purchasing has finally arrived. And I'm willing to give them $50 every few months (load up my points) to make it happen. Even putting in more money is easy.
  
  I really don't give a shit about $50, or $100. I don't mind spending it if the process is easy, and it seems like I am getting something for my money. This just works well.
  
  Imagine if QVC could do the same thing...
  
  --
  No reason to lie.
3. Re:New Market Strategy by Saige · 2006-03-17 06:06 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  XBLA games are tied to both the box they were downloaded on, and the gamertag that bought them.
  
  You can put them on a memory card and play at a friend's place - if they have access to XBLA, then they can play the full version as long as your gamertag is logged in, and even copy it to their hard drive. But once your GT is gone, they revert to demo versions.
  
  However, the box you bought them on has the full version available for every person who uses that 360. So you could technically be playing two copies of that game at the same time - one on the box you bought it on, and one on another with the buying gamertag logged in. And yes, this is intentional.
  
  If the box you buy it on dies, and you end up with a replacement, you can redownload the game, but then you lose the ability to have other accounts play the full version without the purchasing one being logged in. You can try calling support in such a case - more than once they've worked with people who have had to send in their Xbox to get fresh versions on their new Xbox that properly link to that box.
  
  --
  "You know your god is man-made when he hates all the same people you do."
Excellent! by DorkusMasterus · 2006-03-17 05:09 · Score: 2, Interesting

I think this is great! But at the same time, I think seeing the situation one year from now will really tell the tale. Anyone who gets a new system is going to likely get the "whole experience" right away. And then, after paying for the year of service, if they stick around... that will be the true measure of how well people accept/like/obsess about the Live service.

But it's still a great achievement.
1. Re:Excellent! by ab8ten · 2006-03-17 05:20 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  But Live! Arcade is part of the no-fee section of Live! You only need to pay a subscription if you want to play muliplayer online. The content download, high score tables etc. parts of Live! are free.
  
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  I have no .sig
Who'da thunk? by interiot · 2006-03-17 05:28 · Score: 3, Insightful
WHO KNEW these activities would be popular???
- Flash-based downloadable games
- Being able to IM your friends, no matter what game they're in
- High-score lists
Okay, granted, it wasn't clear that this stuff would readily trasnfer to consoles, and still be popular. What I don't get is, now that one console has shown these are far and away very popular, why other consoles don't pick up on it ASAP?
I guess, to some extent, we have to wait and see whether Sony's PNP or Nintendo's online service do these things. But given how unenthusiastically the companies have been dragged into having a centralized online service, and the likelihood that Sony will focus on trying to sell its other media assets, and might neglect the gaming aspects of the online service (central IM, high-score lists, and there's still room for more features).
Going to the Arcade by ClamIAm · 2006-03-17 06:03 · Score: 2, Insightful

I have mixed feelings about services like this.
On one hand, I find it ironic that the most popular feature of a four hundred dollar console primarily propagandized as ZOMG POWREFUL is a service that lets you download games that could run on ten-year-old consoles.
On the other hand, I'm excited for what could be the "return" of the arcade, shifting from a physical place to an online service
Re:Bottleneck by bigman2003 · 2006-03-17 06:09 · Score: 2, Interesting

Actually, it is a little bit worse than that.

If Microsoft had made the hard-drive STANDARD we could have downloaded bigger games.

For a game to be put on Xbox Live Arcade, it MUST fit on a memory card.

But then again, I don't think any of the games are even close to filling that.

--
No reason to lie.
Re:I am so sick... by gorbachev · 2006-03-17 06:13 · Score: 3, Informative

There're some great games on the 360. Granted not as many as people might like, but there absolutely is enough great games on it already.

CoD2, GRAW, PGR3 are all best of breed games. Burnout Revenge is as good as you can get in its genre as well. FNR3 is the best boxing game on any platform. There's a good sports game for every major sports, except baseball (coming out in a month) and hockey (NHL 2K6 is buggy as hell).

Top Spin 2 is coming out in April, as is BF2. Both expected to be phenomenal games from what I've seen so far. Blazing Angels, coming out next week, looks like it's going to be amazing as well. Oblivion, coming out next week, is going to corner the RPG genre.

I own a 360 and I simply do not have enough time to play all of my games on it, even without the new games coming out in the next month and a half.

If you expect a video game platform that's been out only for 6 months to have a game library that's as big as some of the established platforms, you're just not being realiztic. You might've had a point in November, but your point is not a very good one at this point in time.

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In Soviet Russia, I ruled you
Re:I am so sick... by jchenx · 2006-03-17 06:45 · Score: 2, Informative

I wish the folks who knock the 360 for the "utter lack of good software" pointed out what type of games they're actually looking for. The 360 already has plenty of sports games, racing games, and a handful of FPS titles. They're pretty decent as well. It's only got one platformer game as far as I know (Kameo), only one fighting game (DOA 4), and no RPGs yet.

So, is the problem that you love a certain genre and it's not there? (And as an RPG fan, I can agree on that point) Or is it that you've played the 360 games and just don't like them? Or are you just a Sony fanboi who will 3 Sony 4EVAH!!!!

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-- jchenx