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Guitar Hero Song Packs Hit Live Marketplace

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Activision, Music, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,

Guitar Hero 2The first Guitar Hero II song packs have hit the Xbox Live Marketplace, according to the Major Nelson blog, and they aren’t cheap. 500 Microsoft Points will get you a song pack of 3 songs. At $6.25 per song pack, this translates to a little over $2 a song. Not only that, but these songs are not original to Guitar Hero 2 for the Xbox 360; all of the songs are from the original set list of the original Guitar Hero. If Red Octane and Activision price the rest of the set list like these first three packs, the whole batch of songs from the original game will cost Xbox 360 gamers over $95. For those still interested, these are the songs included in each pack:

  • Track Pack 1: Bark at the Moon as made famous by Ozzy Osbourne, Hey You as made famous by The Exies, Ace of Spades as made famous by Motorhead
  • Track Pack 2: Killer Queen as made famous by Queen, Take it Off as made famous by The Donnas, Frankenstein as made famous by The Edgar Winter Group
  • Track Pack 3: Higher Ground as made famous by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Infected as made famous by Bad Religon, Stellar as made famous by Incubus

Read More | Major Nelson

Gallery: Guitar Hero Song Packs Hit Live Marketplace


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Lumines Live Is A Huge Disappointment

Posted by Rob Stevens Categories: Editorial, Puzzle, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,

Lumines Live hit Xbox Live Arcade yesterday, and is easily one of the most anticipated games to hit Microsoft’s game service.  Up until now, DOOM was at the top of the charts as the biggest rip off ($15 for a years-old game), but that title is now squarely on the shoulders of this puzzler from Q! Entertainment.  At least with DOOM, the game was there in its entirety.

Despite ringing in at half again the cost of most other Xbox Live Arcade titles (1200 points, or $15), Lumines is not a complete game.  Within an hour, I was bumping into messages telling me that I needed to purchase additional content (which is not yet available, incidentally).  Outpost Kaloki X offers far more gameplay at half the price.  Coupled with frustratingly imprecise controls, and an experience that isn’t as portable as it is on the PSP, I’m instantly regretting having hoarded points for this game.

Click to continue reading Lumines Live Is A Huge Disappointment

Gallery: Lumines Live Is A Huge Disappointment


EA To Charge For Cheat Codes

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Electronic Arts, Sports, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,

Tiger Woods 07 Next Generation is reporting that EA has expanded its plan to suck every last dime from gamers. Electronic Arts already made the unusual move to charge for game tutorials for Madden 2007 on the Xbox Live Marketplace, but the latest word is that the company will now charge for cheat codes for Tiger Woods 07. According to Next Generation, the cheat codes will range from $2.50 and $3.75; gamers should still be able to unlock everything in the game by playing through normally. However, if EA continues to monetize every extra in the game then gamers may find that unlocking items may become harder and harder in order to justify the cost of the cheat code.

Read More | Next Generation

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Gamestop Testing New Pre-Order Program

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: PlayStation 3, Rumors, Wii,

Wii PS3 Pre-order

Word of a new test program for pre-orders at GameStop/EBGames surfaced this weekend. GoNintendo found a thread on the NeoGAF forums pointing to pre-orders for the Wii and Playstation 3 opening for one week, starting September 18. The key part of the pre-order program was the catch: gamers would only be able to place a pre-order by trading in $50 in games or accessories. However, this “improved” pre-order program would not actually fix any of the problems faced by gamers last year. The pre-order would not guarantee a system at launch (or even during the holidays) and effect doesn’t really even hold your place in line.

Since the initial report, it has been confirmed by GoNintendo that the trade-in program is going to be a test program, only for GameStop stores in Hawaii and Guam. GameStop is apparently trying to determine how effective a program would be.

It is pretty easy to understand why GameStop would want to make gamers trade in software and accessories to hold their place in line for a Wii or a Playstation 3; trade-in sales made up by far the largest percentage of gross profit on last year’s annual report. GameStop gets the highest gross margin from used software sales; so much so, that it appears that trade-in software is more valuable to the company than cash. Trade-ins are traditionally the worst possible deal for the consumer, giving meager amounts of money for software that is then turned around and sold for large profits.

So, GameStop has huge incentive to push gamers towards trade-ins. But along with this horrendously punishing trade-in program, little is being done to fix their broken pre-order system. Like last year, the pre-order only gives the customer a place in line at the store they pre-ordered from. Gamers also witnessed in-store hard sell programs, where people that put money down on more of the profit-generating software and accessories got to jump in line. The new program seems to address this somewhat, but a place in line means nothing if the stores never get the product. When the Xbox 360 launched, gamers holding pre-order tickets would see GameStop and EBGames place huge, expensive bundle systems online, while stores were crying for product. GameStop has shown in the past that they care little for the people that have given them money in the promise of a game console at or near launch, and these new moves would seem to indicate that they have learned little from the past.

Read More | NeoGAF

Read More | GoNintendo

Gallery: Gamestop Testing New Pre-Order Program


Hidden Charges In Lumines Live?

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Puzzle, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,

Lumines Live It looks like the saga of downloadable content on Xbox Live will continue with the release of Lumines Live on the system. Gaming Bits reports on a couple of irksome tidbits mentioned in a review of the game in OXM, the Official Xbox Magazine. According to the review, gamers that advance far enough in either Mission Mode or VS CPU mode will see messaging telling the gamer to buy additional content to continue. The review states that the new “Puzzle/Mission Pack” will cost gamers an additional 400 Marketplace points, and the “VS CPU Pack” will run 300 points. This cost comes in addition to the 1200 Marketplace points that consumers will already have paid out for what they thought was the “full” game. Now, additional levels and paid content for games has been a staple of the Xbox Live Marketplace for a long time now, but this is the first instance where gameplay in the unlocked game is interrupted to shill for additional content. Normally, add-ons wouldn’t be a problem, but this implementation seems horribly poor and would be a slap in the face to the gamer that just dropped $15 for the game download.

Read More | Gaming Bits

Gallery: Hidden Charges In Lumines Live?


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