So, the new Xbox Dashboard Update is live and one of the major new features is support for “Games On Demand.” Looking at the initial offerings, I shouldn’t have thought that demand would be all that high.
If you didn’t know, Games On Demand allows you to download full Xbox 360 titles such as Kameo and Call of Duty, and pay for them using Microsoft Points. No more running to the shop to buy your game in a case that looks sweet on your shelf, and that comes complete with a manual Hells no! That’s like, so 2008.
The only problem is that despite initially suggesting that prices would vary based on the perceived value of the title; Microsoft and its publishing cronies seem to have set the price at a standard £19.99 per title. If you’re thinking that twenty quid isn’t bad for a new game, you’d be right, but the fact is that to avoid making waves with retail partners, new games won’t be touching the service.
So, you’re left with a collection of games that – whilst generally being decent when released – are massively, massively overpriced. Some titles are not available as new products at retail anymore, but preowned copies of anything that troubled the charts are still available in abundance for those who want them. Therefore, the “nostalgia” element isn’t really what is going to encourage people to pay these prices. Let’s take a look at the available products, along with what you’d pay for the same thing at retail…
Assassin’s Creed – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £8.99 (Play.com)
Burnout Paradise – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £9.99 (Play.com)
Call of Duty 2 – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £14.67 (Shopto.net)
EA Sports Fight Night Round 3 – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £9.93 (LoveFilm)
Kameo: Elements of Power – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £4.99 (Shopto.net)
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £14.99 (Play.com)
Mass Effect – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £13.19 (LoveFilm)
Meet the Robinsons – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £15.65 (Shopto.net)
MX vs. ATV: Untamed – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £12.72 (Shopto.net)
Need for Speed: Carbon – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £16.72 (SimplyGames)
Need for Speed: Most Wanted – XBL Price: £19.99 – Unavailable at Retail
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £14.73 (The Hut)
Perfect Dark Zero – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £6.85 (ShopTo)
Prey – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £7.95 (ShopTo)
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £10.95 (Zaavi)
Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £10.97 (Amazon UK)
SEGA Rally – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £9.91 (Asda)
Tomb Raider Legend – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £7.79 (SimplyGames)
Viva Pinata – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £7.79 (SimplyGames)
Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise – XBL Price: £19.99 – Retail Price: £9.98 (Game)
So, there isn’t much value to be had so far. In fact, some would say that it’s a complete rip-off. Especially when you consider that your local Blockbuster probably has Rockstar Table Tennis, Prey, Tomb Raider Legend and Perfect Dark Zero going for £4.99 a pop. I know mine does.
There is hope for the service, since it is incredibly handy to be able to just go online and download a title, rather than ordering it online and waiting for it to be delivered, or traipsing into your local videogame emporium which always smells a little bit like you’d expect it to. But given that they’re asking for double bubble on most of these titles, one would suggest that when Microsoft see the appalling sales figures in week two (once the “oh, I’ll give it a go!” users are out of the way), there’ll be some sort of superb festival of offers in the works – for Gold members only, of course.
