(Sorry, I chose to omit the source posts in which I reply to for this message, I lost them
)
I like the direction of deals and discounts we're getting which builds my anticipation up for the coming (US) holidays which should feature some discounts that I hope to make me glad I have Microsoft points. Granted we had a lot of repeat sales this week between the Deal of the Week, Sales & Specials + app, and Xbox Live 10th Anniversary sale, but I appreciate getting
Wreckateer for free in case I ever do own a Kinect. The star item for discount this past week for me was
Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo HD-Remix, which I had waited years to get a discount and now I am finally satiated. [Also, I already had bought 3 of those titles from prior discounts that are now on the Capcom Digital Collection, so it's just a better option for me to just get Puzzle Fighter from this sale; and I have no interest in the remaining 4 on the disc]
Among disappointments, I really wished the DLC for
Puzzle Quest (1) was placed on sale as well for those of us who had purchased it the last time it was on sale. I will have to wait longer, and hope to see it gain a price reduction or discount sometime in the future. However, I believe this was the first time the sequel,
Puzzle Quest 2, was at this low price point of 400MSP. I listened to my friends' opinions along with what eastx wrote which was in line with what I had thought with my initial impressions of
Puzzle Quest 2, and opted to not make the purchase. As for
Puzzle Quest (1), I am glad so many found it as delightful as I with its nice flourishes (quirky over-wordy dwarf, like my posts here), yet I am aware it is different than the DS version which allowed for practically looping sequences of actions/combos of skills by (now on XBLA) incorporating cooldowns of skills, but the game is still a solid time-waster even with the nerfing (probably for better competitive online play) ^^.
I already owned the Magic the Gathering: Duel of the Planeswalkers games. I used to play the card game long long ago, so my perspective on the games will be biased in some manner (aside from my usual odd tastes in games). I found the 2012 edition most tolerable amongst all 3 editions on XBLA if you were to play against the computer; its "archenemy" mode was so fun, I was elated to had also purchased the DLC on (a prior) discount which allowed the player to be the archenemy. However, if you were looking to use the XBLA games as a way to play against others, I feel the 2013 edition at least featured decks which were relatively balanced against one another. [Also contributing to my possible favoring of the 2012 edition could be due to my loyalty to 'blue' which was one of the overpowered decks in that edition, 'direct damage' was up there too] ... and I found the original Duels of the Planeswalkers game really awful (details and reasons can be given, but my post is long enough already); you cannot own your losses when they were not your decks, but at least the later editions allowed you to sort of tailor the decks a bit.
I also already had both
Carcassone and
Catan for XBLA from previous discounts. Along with
Ticket to Ride (not on discount this week), having board games available on XBLA allows me to continually enjoy the games alongside friends even when physical distance separates us. That is why I still look forward to
Zombies!!! to hit XBLA, even when it was promised over 3 years ago. Other platforms have great conversions of board games, and I feel Xbox Live would benefit from having many other board games available as well, I wish for games like "History of the World," "Risk 2210," "Cosmic Encounter," etc. [I didn't include a game like "
Cards Against Humanity" because like "Apples to Apples" it's one of those games which unfortunately are best in person and a digital substitute just cannot suffice] ... I keep passing on
Full House Poker even though I'm not an achievement whore and I know the weaknesses in gameplay of a Texas Hold'em game without real stakes, I guess that is one of those games which also I cannot have in a digital format and personally prefer in a live setting (with at least some stakes).
I still have the
Section 8 Prejudice items which were on sale on the Sales & Specials + app in my backlog, so I cannot comment, but I hope I didn't make a bad choice when I purchased them from a prior discount (I believe at the time I was starved for a discount on something I didn't have yet and purchased it all). Also in my backlog was this week's constantly mentioned
Bastion, and I really should promote it up so I can see where I stand on how I'd feel about the game given the conversation about the title throughout the week on this thread which was similar when I had mentioned a while back how I had felt to be in the minority side that really did not like
Castle Crashers (establishing my odd taste in games, but elaborating on the technical reasons for my distaste in the title) which was also a 10th anniversary discount. At least those who purchased
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 from this sale got it for way less than I did; in some ways I am jealous of your great timing to acquire it at 200MSP, when I thought 400MSP was great for (in my opinion) the definitive twin-stick shooter on XBLA.
You guys on this thread keep reminding me how I really got to get started on
Battlefield 1943, since it is an online only XBLA title, and I just do not know if/when the community will dry up or the servers go down. Yet, I think I really should get to promote
Nexuiz on my backlog as well for the same reason, the difference being is that I feel
Nexuiz may have already suffered my aforementioned feared problems. Both of these titles are purchases I appreciated being on discount, but if I don't get to giving them some proper time, may quickly change into regret purchases even when they didn't cost much (I think
Nexuiz was at the sweet 200MSP price, and
Battlefield 1943 at 560MSP during a New Years countdown).
Oh yeah,
Peggle is always a great time-waster as well. It is one of those games you must have at least tried on some platform, and hopefully you chose to get it on one of the many sales it has been on if not now for XBLA (but it's okay if you chose to get it on another platform and chose to pass up its "chill gaming" experience on an Xbox 360).
This coming week, unfortunately I will pass on
I am Alive given its discount price being a tad higher than what I am willing to give for what I know of it. I hope the Sales & Specials + app or some Games on Demand title (like
Deathsmiles 2X) brings a discount that will eat into my moon point pocketbook. At least I have great expectations for the Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts ... don't let me down, Live team.
EDIT: Sorry I lost the original posters on this thread, but I want to thank the one who opened my eyes to "
Derrick the Deathfin". Also thanks to Cornelius to great descriptions to the value of the DLC to XBLA
Catan and
Carcassonne, helps in my decision if those ever drop in price. Finally, on an unrelated note, dammit Konami you released
this on the 360 a year ago, I am still wanting a localization NAO!