[quote name='ViolentLee']You bring up a good point -- though unintentionally.
That point is, this is really the first time in gaming that we've had "impulse-buy" games. With points in the bank and quick, easy downloads, it's nothing to drop a few bucks on a game that you may forget about quickly. When they're classics, you can justify it by saying you're happy to always have them readily available -- like iTunes songs that end up hidden amongst hundreds of others in perpetual "shuffle." Of course, you may also love the heck out of it and play nonstop for 30 hours. But regardless, it's an impulse buy. You don't need to do much research, comparison shop, or any of that stuff that's normal with buying retail games.[/quote]It's true. It's kinda like a perpetual clearance sale (you know, without the low, low prices
), only without the panic that a certain title may disappear in 5 minutes. You have a continual supply of cheap games (compared to retail releases), some of which you know, some you don't. It's kinda like browsing the cheap DVD sections of Target. Sometimes you buy something you know and love for cheap, sometimes you take a chance and buy something you only sorta heard about, and sometimes you buy something you thought you loved but watch at home and it sucks.
I'm unclear why I feel the need to jump on these "Day 1!" I happened to be up and got TMNT on the Live Marketplace within minutes of it going up; I bought SotN this morning before work too. It's not like any of these downloadable titles are going anywhere. Yet the impulse, and the immediate gratification coupled with a chance at nostalgia or playing games you never played before is a powerful marketing tool.