XBLA Sales| CLOSED THREAD

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reddjoey

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Here is a list of all the current and upcoming Xbox Live Marketplace Sales for the US*. This include the Deal of the Week, Family Plan Sale Item, and any other sales or promotions. I have also included the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade releases. Most sales are for one week.* Please feel free to PM or post if you doesn't see anything listed here. Please note: ALL ITEMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE! and some sales are for GOLD MEMBERS ONLY*. Have fun and enjoy.
(*unless otherwise noted)

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[IMG-L=6565]17018[/IMG-L]
Xbox Live Deal of the Week:


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11/8 - Legendary Warriors

XBLA:
-Deadliest Warrior: The Game - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off - Metacritic - Quick Look
-Scott Pilgrim The Game - 400 Microsoft Points - 50% off - Metacritic - Quick Look
-Shinobi - 200 Microsoft Points - 50% off - Metacritic

Avatar Store:
-Deadliest Warrior Samurai Helmet - 80 Microsoft Points - 50% off
-Scott Pilgrim Guitar (Prop) - 120 Microsoft Points - 50% off


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Family Gold Pack Deal:
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GOLD MEMBERS ONLY
(lasts one week)






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Misc Sales:
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If a start and end date are not listed. Act fast as these "sales" could end anytime.






?????? - Pets GOLD MEMBERS ONLY
-Cat (Pet) - 160 Microsoft Points - 33% off
-Pug Dog (Pet) - 160 Microsoft Points - 33% off









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[quote name='eastx']Pac-Man CE has never gone on sale.[/QUOTE]

I'm pretty sure it has. I have a policy of never buying an XBLA game unless it's on sale, and I own Pac-Man CE.

EDIT: Actually, nevermind, I know what it was. It wasn't an XBLA sale, it was an Amazon sale on the code.
 
[quote name='nerdtown']so it has indeed been on sale yes? case closed[/QUOTE]

Most people wouldn't count that. But you grow tiresome.
 
[quote name='eastx']Most people wouldn't count that. But you grow tiresome.[/QUOTE]

I am in that group of most people. So as it is the chances of Pac-Man games being on sale on Xbox Live seem unlikely if it doesn't go on sale from this vote. I mean these games don't go on sale like Risk Factions or Castle Crashers.
 
blahblahblah

just vote for pacman dx. you know you want to. ;)

No new publisher sales this week? was hoping to pick up sc:c dlc.
 
I might have to vote Pacman even though I really want to vote for Marvel. I need to do my part to keep Castlevania out of first place and Pacman's the better bet right now.

Edit: Screw it! I'm voting Marvel and letting the chips fall where they may.
 
Already bought the Marvel tables for FX2 so I voted for Pac-Man.

I've got 800pts to blow. Any reason why I shouldn't pick up Aqua and Hydrophobia?
 
I was really liking Hydrophobia...and then it ended super suddenly. Is this supposed to be an episodic game or something? I can't believe how short it is. It literally goes to a cutscene that is obviously leading to the next objective and then the achievement for beating the game pops. Wtf?

Edit:

Here is an excerpt from a review " If this is all the game had to offer it would still be worth playing, though not buying, but Hydrophobia’s ultimate undoing is its ending: There isn’t one. It’s “to be continued.” Now, this isn’t the first game to end on a cliffhanger, but even Assassin’s Creed and DeathSpank provided some resolution before setting up their sequels. Hydrophobia offers no resolution; in fact the ending comes out of nowhere, as if the developers played a game of darts to determine where their game should end. It’s that random and unexpected. The only logical reason to end the game where they did is that there wasn’t enough development time to make a full game, which then begs the question, why release it at all?"

This game should never have been released. It is literally like a quarter of a game. Can't believe I gave this developer money.
 
[quote name='norkusa']Already bought the Marvel tables for FX2 so I voted for Pac-Man.

I've got 800pts to blow. Any reason why I shouldn't pick up Aqua and Hydrophobia?[/QUOTE]

I wrote a very comprehensive review of Aqua on my site and am giving away two copies of the game at the moment, which is the only real argument I can make to not buy it at $5, least till Thursday. ;) If you are interested in either, check out the links in my sig.

Pacman CE never went on sale on Live, but it did get put on the XBLA compilation disc that you can find for less than $5 all over. (I got the double disc version with sega super stars tennis for $3 a while ago) The only downside is that, well it's on a disc rather than the HD. If DX is half as fun as CE was I want it to go on sale.
 
[quote name='genfuyung']I was really liking Hydrophobia...and then it ended super suddenly. Is this supposed to be an episodic game or something? I can't believe how short it is. It literally goes to a cutscene that is obviously leading to the next objective and then the achievement for beating the game pops. Wtf?

Edit:

Here is an excerpt from a review " If this is all the game had to offer it would still be worth playing, though not buying, but Hydrophobia’s ultimate undoing is its ending: There isn’t one. It’s “to be continued.” Now, this isn’t the first game to end on a cliffhanger, but even Assassin’s Creed and DeathSpank provided some resolution before setting up their sequels. Hydrophobia offers no resolution; in fact the ending comes out of nowhere, as if the developers played a game of darts to determine where their game should end. It’s that random and unexpected. The only logical reason to end the game where they did is that there wasn’t enough development time to make a full game, which then begs the question, why release it at all?"

This game should never have been released. It is literally like a quarter of a game. Can't believe I gave this developer money.[/QUOTE]

Wow that about the story makes me know I am not buying it lol. I hate the idea of getting into a story and have it just end terribly. Makes me feel like my entire time playing was a waste.
 
[quote name='Cornelius']I wouldn't get despondent just because Marvel isn't winning, since the PinballFX guys are totally on-board with running promotions. I'd want the Core Collection on sale at the same time as Marvel, so hopefully both will go on sale at the same time, since we've only seen a 40pt rebate on Core to date (via Rewards).[/QUOTE]

This^^

I don't have Pinball FX and I would prefer to snag both at the same time.
 
[quote name='kidrocklive']Wow that about the story makes me know I am not buying it lol. I hate the idea of getting into a story and have it just end terribly. Makes me feel like my entire time playing was a waste.[/QUOTE]

That is exactly what happens. As soon as you start to feel like you really wanna see how this is going to play out the "Finish the game" achievement pops and credits roll. I cant even put into words how abrupt the game ends. I honestly thought it was a glitch at first.
 
[quote name='genfuyung']That is exactly what happens. As soon as you start to feel like you really wanna see how this is going to play out the "Finish the game" achievement pops and credits roll. I cant even put into words how abrupt the game ends. I honestly thought it was a glitch at first.[/QUOTE]
The game was designed to be episodic from the start
 
[quote name='genfuyung']I was really liking Hydrophobia...and then it ended super suddenly. Is this supposed to be an episodic game or something? I can't believe how short it is. It literally goes to a cutscene that is obviously leading to the next objective and then the achievement for beating the game pops. Wtf?[/QUOTE]

Disappointing. I played well into the second act today, and I'm not thrilled with the idea of the game ending that abruptly.

The first act and the second feel so different in some ways. I really liked the game more before combat was introduced.
 
[quote name='Jaysonguy']The game was designed to be episodic from the start[/QUOTE]
Have a link to where that was said? Because I've played episodic games and none of them just cut out during a cutscene and roll credits. They have a proper ending and a story arc within themselves. This game ends worse than a demo. Thats how bad it is actually, demos have a better arc. Imagine playing through a game and then randomly during a cutscene your 360 turns off. That is how this game ends.

Also, I think the "Swept off their feet" achievement is glitched. I've started the second act and swept 4 guys off of their feet using the rooms full of water and the achievement wont pop. All of the guides for it are based off of the pre update version of the game where the second act starts with a completely different hallway that gives you one more person to sweep off their feet.
 
[quote name='genfuyung']Have a link to where that was said? Because I've played episodic games and none of them just cut out during a cutscene and roll credits. They have a proper ending and a story arc within themselves. This game ends worse than a demo. Thats how bad it is actually, demos have a better arc. Imagine playing through a game and then randomly during a cutscene your 360 turns off. That is how this game ends.

Also, I think the "Swept off their feet achievement" is glitched. I've started the second act and swept 4 guys off of their feet using the rooms full of water and the achievement wont pop. All of the guides for it are based off of the pre update version of the game where the second act starts with a completely different hallway that gives you one more person to sweep off their feet.[/QUOTE]
When I talked to them at PAX East last year

A second installment is on it's way, it's one of the reasons they wanted to fix things in the first one.

Of course I'm still on the fence about the game, it came out broken and while they spent time and energy fixing it that still doesn't excuse releasing a broken game.
 
[quote name='utopianmachine']Disappointing. I played well into the second act today, and I'm not thrilled with the idea of the game ending that abruptly.

The first act and the second feel so different in some ways. I really liked the game more before combat was introduced.[/QUOTE]

Just wait until you unlock the challenge room. The challenge room introduces a mechanic that was so incredibly obviously supposed to make it into the main game but didn't because the game was never finished. There is even a cutscene showing you getting the mechanic and, I don't know if its just my game or not, but when I load it it actually shows that I've hit a checkpoint as soon as I start the challenge room. It's like they just clipped out this one section of the game from one of the later acts and threw it in just so the mechanic wouldn't be a total waste of development time.
 
[quote name='Jaysonguy']When I talked to them at PAX East last year

A second installment is on it's way, it's one of the reasons they wanted to fix things in the first one.

Of course I'm still on the fence about the game, it came out broken and while they spent time and energy fixing it that still doesn't excuse releasing a broken game.[/QUOTE]

Don't get me wrong, I really liked it, which is why the way it ends is so disappointing but theres no way I'll pay more than 5 bucks for the next one after this.

Hopefully they get better voice actors. I know it will break continuity but to me the voices were so bad in the game I actually just played with subtitles on. The updated version seemed to be a little better, maybe because there was less talking, but I still couldn't take it.
 
if it's episodic it should have some way of noting it, like episode 1 or part 1, something. Otherwise the average consumer just thinks it's the full story.
 
[quote name='genfuyung']Just wait until you unlock the challenge room. The challenge room introduces a mechanic that was so incredibly obviously supposed to make it into the main game but didn't because the game was never finished. There is even a cutscene showing you getting the mechanic and, I don't know if its just my game or not, but when I load it it actually shows that I've hit a checkpoint as soon as I start the challenge room. It's like they just clipped out this one section of the game from one of the later acts and threw it in just so the mechanic wouldn't be a total waste of development time.[/QUOTE]


The game is finished. It was announced 1.4 years ago the game would be episodic. It costs you $5 and you are freaking out.
 
[quote name='gordojones88']The game is finished. It was announced 1.4 years ago the game would be episodic. It costs you $5 and you are freaking out.[/QUOTE]
Not freaking out. I'm letting people know what they are getting into with this game before they buy it. If i had read that specific review before yesterday I wouldn't have bought it because even though what is there is good it isnt a complete, or finished, product.
 
[quote name='genfuyung']Not freaking out. I'm letting people know what they are getting into with this game before they buy it. If i had read that specific review before yesterday I wouldn't have bought it because even though what is there is good it isnt a complete, or finished, product.[/QUOTE]

I for one am happy for the information. I didn't burn my one month gold membership card to get this game.
 
I also am glad someone mentioned that as I was on the fence to grab it. Episodic games need a proper cliffhanger/ending to each episode in order to be enjoyable IMO.
 
[quote name='genfuyung']Not freaking out. I'm letting people know what they are getting into with this game before they buy it. If i had read that specific review before yesterday I wouldn't have bought it because even though what is there is good it isnt a complete, or finished, product.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the heads up. I was deadset on buying it, but from the info I have learned fron you as well as a few others, I will be using my points on some Castlevania DLC. Thanks again for the heads up fellow CAG.
 
[quote name='gordojones88']The game is finished. It was announced 1.4 years ago the game would be episodic. It costs you $5 and you are freaking out.[/QUOTE]But didn't it release at 1200 points? I never knew it was episodic and would've been pissed if I bought a $15 game that turned out to be a part 1.
 
They could definitely put an 'Episode 1' in the title, but I can see why they chose not to. Sonic 4 has 'Episode 1' in its title and there's a ton of negative reaction to that, even when it went on sale for 800 points. I've seen plenty of people say they just won't buy episodic games, which is ignorant IMO. Then again, Sonic 4 has a real ending, while Hydrophobia apparently doesn't.
 
[quote name='eastx']I've seen plenty of people say they just won't buy episodic games, which is ignorant IMO.[/QUOTE]I've never seen to appeal of playing a game one slice at a time and then having to wait for months (or in Valve's case, years) of downtime. It absolutely kills any momentum the player has built up with the game. It seems like unless an episodic game is made by Telltale, these types of games have a habit of getting abandoned as soon as the developers begin to see the diminishing sales with each entry further into the series. Plus, if the game does manage to complete its run, the complete game is usually bundled at a much better price compared to buying the chapters as they're released.

The concept of episodic gaming doesn't really seem to be all that much of a the benefit to gamers, but more for the developers to test the waters.
 
[quote name='eastx']They could definitely put an 'Episode 1' in the title, but I can see why they chose not to. Sonic 4 has 'Episode 1' in its title and there's a ton of negative reaction to that, even when it went on sale for 800 points. I've seen plenty of people say they just won't buy episodic games, which is ignorant IMO. [/QUOTE]

I used to feel the same way, till I started Penny Arcade: Episode 3... oh wait...

I got really into those games only to get a text only version of the final parts of the story because the Hothead decided to make Deathspank instead (or the guy from PA couldn't get the writing done depending on who you believe, but most likely somewhere in between).

Disappointed to hear this about Hydrophobia, I honestly never have heard it being billed as episodic and they don't seem to ever mention it when talking about the game. Take into account how long this game has been out and they are still patching it (they put up a "listening post" for more feedback on the game last week), episode 2 might be a very long time away.
 
All of this episodic stuff goes back to Valve's experiments, right? The Half-Life 2 episodes and such?

It seems to be that the real lesson there is about the value of small-scale projects, with their increased opportunities for risk and innovation (Portal, Team Fortress 2) rather than episodic sagas, which have a funny way of never getting finished, and of pissing off the fans in the process (the Half-Life 2 episodes).

It seems to me, then, that Costume Quest and Stacking are better examples of small-scale gaming than are Sonic 4 and Hydrophobia. In the end, episodic is usually code for "incomplete, and unlikely to ever be completed."
 
[quote name='mokmoof'] In the end, episodic is usually code for "incomplete, and unlikely to ever be completed."[/QUOTE]

which for smaller stuff ultimately I think goes back to said product not selling as well as they wanted. Obviously this isn't the with the HL2 episodes but for the smaller games, I think it is.
 
The only dev I trust with episodic content is TellTale and I honestly think they are turning their back on XBLA development. I can't blame them, I am pretty sure I have only bought one of their games on XBLA.
 
[quote name='kidrocklive']which for smaller stuff ultimately I think goes back to said product not selling as well as they wanted. Obviously this isn't the with the HL2 episodes but for the smaller games, I think it is.[/QUOTE]

While money is an obvious influence on making all the episodic content, the fact the developers were able to abandon it at all says something to the fact that they hadn't started work on it in the first place (or had such a limited amount of work into it that it was still a financially viable option to scrap it)

Money aside, I think the problem with developers can be related to Star Wars. Lucas claimed after the initial success of a new hope that he had always had six episodes planned, when at best he maybe had thought a bit about a single sequel. Hence why Empire was good, but Return of the Jedi gave us Ewoks and the prequels gave us Jar Jar and emo Anakin. The episodes sounded like a good idea in his head but he had never really put much thought into them. Now, Lucas had the money and the franchise had the popularity to push them out anyway and overall the end result wasn't terrible, but most of the game studios in question aren't in that position. I think they create a fancy idea in their heads without any idea where they'll ultimately go with it or how they will accomplish it.

Any time you decide to do a game that will span episodes you have to craft a business plan that will allow you to make all 3 without relying solely on the profits of the first to make the 2nd and so on. Furthermore, you have to know what episodes 2 and 3 will be; otherwise you waste precious time and money starting each episode like a completely new game. Too many studios seem to just call a game episode 1 because they want to start seeing a return before the game has truly been finished.
 
[quote name='reddjoey']The only dev I trust with episodic content is TellTale and I honestly think they are turning their back on XBLA development. I can't blame them, I am pretty sure I have only bought one of their games on XBLA.[/QUOTE]

Have they ever gone on sale?
 
[quote name='kidrocklive']Have they ever gone on sale?[/QUOTE]

Wallace & Gromit: Fright of the Brumble-Bees (Episode 1) did on 4/1. It was 400 points.

I don't think any other IPs or releases have been on sale. (A quick look at MajorNelson's site and Google isn't returning any sales)
 
[quote name='reddjoey']The only dev I trust with episodic content is TellTale and I honestly think they are turning their back on XBLA development. I can't blame them, I am pretty sure I have only bought one of their games on XBLA.[/QUOTE]

I'm guessing Microsoft was a real pain in the ass and wouldn't give them a Wednesday each month to release their games. With the Microsoft Certification apparently being terrible they probably couldn't get release dates close to the other platforms either.

Both Sam & Max games released as a single release instead of episodes, which is fine with me, and could just be due to them being complete when Telltale decided to release on XBLA. But then Wallace & Gromit's first episode came out and months went by with nothing, and then the final three episodes were just dumped onto the marketplace one day. I own both Sam & Max games on XBLA, but only because I'm a Sam & Max junkie, I've been playing Hit the Road regularly for 15 years. However, I didn't bother with Wallace & Gromit because I'd finished it on the PC months earlier.

I don't blame Telltale since they've shown themselves to be completely reliable on other platforms, but I do blame Microsoft. There are some excellent games on the service, and I think it has PSN beat in terms of quality and frequency of good releases. However, between this stuff and seeing what Valve can do with the PS3, but not Xbox when it comes to Portal 2, I really think they need to make some changes in how they do business and treat developers.
 
[quote name='eastx']They could definitely put an 'Episode 1' in the title, but I can see why they chose not to. Sonic 4 has 'Episode 1' in its title and there's a ton of negative reaction to that, even when it went on sale for 800 points. I've seen plenty of people say they just won't buy episodic games, which is ignorant IMO. Then again, Sonic 4 has a real ending, while Hydrophobia apparently doesn't.[/QUOTE]

It is the same reason I don't watch any TV shows until after the season ends (or the show ends). I do not want to become excited at the end of one episode to just wait a week or possible month depending on the show just to see what happens.

Also when I hear episode I think of less content for more cash essentially. They can pass of Episode 1 as some short game with almost no features because it isn't a "full" game. And then in the end all the episodes combined cost way more than a normal game would.

So yeah I can totally understand why they wouldn't want to have "episode" in the title, but then again this is also a developer that had to fix their game so the controls would make sense... I can see missing a bug or glitch, but how can you not tell that the controls feel wrong? I would be in shock if this developer didn't put in the word "episode" for a real reason.
 
[quote name='reddjoey']Wallace & Gromit: Fright of the Brumble-Bees (Episode 1) did on 4/1. It was 400 points.

I don't think any other IPs or releases have been on sale. (A quick look at MajorNelson's site and Google isn't returning any sales)[/QUOTE]


ahh well hopefully they put the sam and max games on sale sometime. I wouldn't mind trying them out. PC lags and doesn't play right for me.
 
[quote name='louiedog']I'm guessing Microsoft was a real pain in the ass ..... [/QUOTE]


I agree, MS seems to be the problem. TT and Valve's dealing with Sony are hopefully going to get MS to change how they deal with third parties. I'll spare us the long discussion since this is the deal thread.
 
[quote name='reddjoey']I agree, MS seems to be the problem. TT and Valve's dealing with Sony are hopefully going to get MS to change how they deal with third parties. I'll spare us the long discussion since this is the deal thread.[/QUOTE]

It will... if it works. Likely though, people who own only an xbox, or prefer to game on it, will buy Portal 2 for the xbox. Very, very few people will go out and buy a PS3 because Portal 2 will be better supported on it, and Microsoft knows this. Xbox versions of games do typically sell better than PS3 simply because more people own Xbox's. If by chance Portal 2 sells better on PS3 Microsoft might, MIGHT, view that as a sign. Course, valve also will have to hold their end and give a good reason to believe PS3 owners "got more for their money", and furthermore Microsoft will need to genuinely believe both of these factors are connected. Then, maybe then, they'll reconsider how they do business.
 
[quote name='Blade3D']I enjoyed all the episodes of Half-Life 2[/QUOTE]

Only problem with that statement is that no one can actually say that they've played all the episodes of Half-Life 2. :lol:
 
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