The party interface improvements are great, the avatar stuff - who cares? How many people are really going to buy this stuff - especially at $1-$2 a pop - that’s very expensive. Stuff should be like $0.25-$0.50 - then I might get caught on an impulse buy on some of the cooler stuff. I still have yet to pay for a theme, gamer icon, or outfit and I doubt I ever will at the prices they charge.
I’ll buy avatar stuff. I like my avatar. :)
Oh shit … has Tom seen the beret yet?
That about sums it up perfectly.
How many people are really going to buy this stuff - especially at $1-$2 a pop - that’s very expensive.
The themes & gamerpics sell a whole bunch; MS hasn’t released public numbers but all the research they shows to people says “whole bunch”. People lap it up. The avatar items are going to be very successful too.
I didn’t know you were a South Beach lesbian!
I was sure I’d never pay a dime for any of the avatar stuff until I watched the video in the first post showing the Monkey Island rubber chicken. That’s worth a buck to me.
Did anyone else see this story at Joystiq reporting that some movies can’t be watched as a party, only the ones that “the rights holders are comfortable with”? I don’t get it. I assume they’re comfortable with more than one person watching a DVD. In the case of the DVD, only one person has to buy or rent it; with Netflix on demand, everyone has to pay separately. How could they not be comfortable with that?
Maybe they think the only real purpose this will serve is a way to watch movies MST3K-style? So if they don’t want their movie eviscerated, they’ll object to it being on the service? I don’t know. It seems strange, especially considering that each party in question will need to have netflix service, as well as XBL Gold membership.
They also mentioned it was the Starz movies that you couldn’t use the party with. My guess is that it has more to do with some weird part of the contract Netflix has with Starz that probably doesn’t have anything to do specifically with the Xbox party feature but happens to apply to it.
I know pricing sensitivity varies from person to person but for me there’s basically no difference between something that costs 25 cents and something that costs a dollar, even if one is 4 times as much as the other. It isn’t until you get to about $2-$2.50 that I start to see a real difference in my impulse purchase decision making process. I’m sure Microsoft pricing on the higher end of this range is because they know this and I’m not unique in this area.
To be clear, I only ever bought one gamer picture pack on Xbox Live, felt like a tool for spending any money at all on it, and since have never bought any gamerpics/themes/whatever, and I’m not going to buy avatar stuff either, but the point still stands that if I were interested in buying this stuff it would make no difference to me if the cost were a quarter or a buck, so they are probably right to charge the buck.
Actually there are all sorts of strict restrictions on public display of DVDs, even ones you have bought outright. Nobody really pays attention to these restrictions, and there’s very little way for them to be policed, but if you read the fine print, they are there.
I’m more surprised that they are allowing this at all than I am surprised that they are restricting it for some movies.
Yeah, I think you pretty much nailed it. I think I’ve bought maybe a dozen themes and gamerpics combined, and I imagine I won’t be above buying another half dozen or so accessories for my avatar. I’m simultaneously aware of the ways I’m being taken advantage of (the disconnect between money and points, and the buying in specified quantities often leaving me with “leftover” points that are easy to spend impulsively) and ok with it, cause hey, it’s a couple bucks. I’ll skip super-sizing my lunch for a couple days and come out healthier for it.
Well, I have to admit, I have bought some gamerpics and themes, particularly when I really wanted to reward a developer. For example, I just love Braid, and even though I don’t use the Braid theme, it is beautiful, and I wanted to support Jonathan Blow and David Helman (sp?). Same with Bioshock. I bought the gamerpics for that well before the game came out because I wanted to let Take 2 know I was an Irrational fan, that sort of thing.
I agree with the pricing sensitivity - I do realize I’m way more sensitive to prices than most of my friends, and it has nothing to do with my income. It’s good for Microsoft that most people aren’t like me. :)
I think that they’d make more money selling lower but what do I really know about selling virtual stuff - nuttin.
Rock8man - I’ve done the same thing, but for game addons. I’ll buy way more DLC type stuff or will be much more subject to an impulse buy from developers or publishers I really like.
I use the Maw Theme that I unlocked while playing the game. :)
I bought the braid theme because I wanted to give Jonathan Blow more of my money for creating one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had in years, but other than that I really have no reason so spend that much on fake items.
You would be outright SHOCKED at how many people buy gamerpics and themes (it surprises me). I can’t see avatars being any different, and in fact, because there’s real gameplay use for avatars, I can’t see it not being absolutely huge, regardless of price. People forget, often the more expensive something is, the more rare it is and thus the more value it has (if it’s a cool design/important brand).
Are there any games yet in which the avatars appear within the game with unique-in-game animations? I just saw this leaked video of an avatar golf game. That actually looks neat. I’m actually curious how ridiculous my avatar will look as he is now, dressed up in a cowboy outfit playing golf in that get-up. I wonder what a game like that will do with accessories like the rubber chicken? Make it disappear? Put it on the avatar’s back while they take their swing?
I laughed, seriously. But around here, It’s Rehoboth Beach.
Rock8Man
The avatars appear in Uno, although there aren’t any unique animations. They all do the same ones based on what’s happening in the game.