Comparisons of XBL/PSN/VC

[Flip]

Is this in the indie game section? Something at 4-6 hours is probably more than most of those games give you.

Oh thats a problem with the XBox, too? I've noticed a lot of crap being pushed out on the PSN and specifically PSP Mini's. A 1.99 game is usually total junk and the only gems are the ones we already know about like everyday shooter. The stupid iPod touch gets better 1.99 games.

[Zeus]

Is this in the indie game section? Something at 4-6 hours is probably more than most of those games give you.

Oh thats a problem with the XBox, too? I've noticed a lot of crap being pushed out on the PSN and specifically PSP Mini's. A 1.99 game is usually total junk and the only gems are the ones we already know about like everyday shooter. The stupid iPod touch gets better 1.99 games.

You can thank Sony and Microshaft for that. They're the ones who force the publishers to charge a certain amount (look at Valve and the L4D updates) and not allow true price points based on market conditions. The indies on Live range from $1 to $5 so there is some level of freedom there. But that's about all you get on the consoles

[Flip]

There isnt a fair review system on the PSN, either. So you have no idea if the minis are any good because, atleast on the PSP, they dont allow users to rate or submit comments. Really lame.

[Zeus]

There isnt a fair review system on the PSN, either. So you have no idea if the minis are any good because, atleast on the PSP, they dont allow users to rate or submit comments. Really lame.

Do they at least have demos of the minis? I don't think Nintendo has them for the DSiWare which is silly. Hell, they even only had them for a "limited time" on the WiiWare and VC stuff which is stupid

[Flip]

Some games do and some dont. Its not consistent across the board,

[SineSwiper]

Every single game in XBL must have a demo. All of the indie games have time limits. Sometimes, the demos don't give you much (BC:R, for example), but it's much better than nothing. (Nintendo, why do you have to be such huge fuck ups?)

Despite some of the pricing, XBL is still the best thing around. At least Microsoft is consistent with its rules.

[Zeus]

Every single game in XBL must have a demo. All of the indie games have time limits. Sometimes, the demos don't give you much (BC:R, for example), but it's much better than nothing. (Nintendo, why do you have to be such huge fuck ups?)

Despite some of the pricing, XBL is still the best thing around. At least Microsoft is consistent with its rules.

Nintendo's actually far more consistent. Not once have we seen any premium pricing bullshit that M$ has pulled. They just don't have the indies or the breadth of titles XBLA does.

[bovine]

Every single game in XBL must have a demo. All of the indie games have time limits. Sometimes, the demos don't give you much (BC:R, for example), but it's much better than nothing. (Nintendo, why do you have to be such huge fuck ups?)

Despite some of the pricing, XBL is still the best thing around. At least Microsoft is consistent with its rules.

Nintendo's actually far more consistent. Not once have we seen any premium pricing bullshit that M$ has pulled. They just don't have the indies or the breadth of titles XBLA does.

I know that pricing is the only thing you care about Zeus, but comparing the xbox live to nintento's online service and saying one good thing about the nintendo side does not make up for:
- $10 for an unaltered n64 game (you get perfect dark on the 360 for $10 with a online functionality added, and the game running at HD resolutions)
- easily the worst voice chat support ever
- friend codes
- both use a retarded point system
- extremely uneven and mostly awful network experiences on wii games
- import game prices being elevated over NA region games even though there was no translation or changes done on the game

Nintendo is not consistent, they price things fairly consistently. I think that Sine might be talking about how every game has to be compatible with a variety of things on the 360 like:
- cross game chat
- party system
- custom soundtracks
- achievements
- if it's an XBLA game, it must have a demo
- if it's a XBL Indie game, it must have a trial

The only aspect of a wii game that must remain consistent across the board is that the game must be able to be played on a wii system with the wii remote as a possible controller (some games also require the nunchuk).

[SineSwiper]

Everything bovine said. So what about their pricing? If they don't have demos, the pricing is fucking useless. I also object to having to pay $10 for these older than shit Nintendo games, when I can just play them on an emulator. At least XBL has updated versions of games from one or two generations ago, but Nintendo is trying to pass off third and fourth generation games as $10 offerings.

And it's pretty much their entire catalog, too. A grand majority of their sales on VC is those damn Nintendo games. That's pretty sad, and shows how much their model is failing. (Hell, even if they are making money off of nimrods that would pay those kind of prices for 25 year old games, it's still a failure in my eyes.)

[Zeus]

Pricing is not the sole factor, it's one of the main factors. All I was saying is no one is more consistent in that department than Nintendo. Does that mean that every VC title is worth the money they charge? Not at all. But at least they didn't decide "hey, Super Mario RPG is very rare and popular, we know we can fleece our consumers. Why not charge $12 or $15 instead? Microshaft got away with it with games like Braid and Shadow Complex. Likely won't affect our sales, we should just suck the extra coin since we can".

[SineSwiper]

You bitch soooooooo much about the pricing schemes, and ignore absolutely anything else. You want to bitch about prices? Fine. Why the fuck does 5000 Wii points cost $50? If I'm paying 1000 Wii points for $10, why am I paying the exact same price per point for 5000 Wii points? Microsoft doesn't do that; they have a discount for higher amounts of points. That's the whole point of having a point system.

I would rather have an "inconsistent" pricing problem than a lack of demos. For example, I wanted to try out Cave Story. I can't. It's on Wii and there is no demo. Therefore, I will not buying this game. It's disappointing. Even games that actually have demos don't have demos. World of Goo has a demo on Steam, but no demo on Wii.

I don't even have ratings on the games, like I do with XBL. Nintendo has had the same interface on their Shopping Channel since Day 1. Microsoft keeps updating theirs and making it better. Nintendo is content milking that casual cow dry and not bothering to update the interface, because there is no incentive to.

[Zeus]

What world do you live in? In Canada, 1400 MS points cost $19.99, 2800 cost $39.99. And if I check Xbox.com for buying points and it's $7.25 for 500, $14.50 for 1000, $29 for 2000, and $72 for 5000. I'm only an accountant and my math skills ain't that hot, but it sure looks like the same price per point to me....

And no, the entire point of the points system is to avoid having to worry about the different tax laws from different countries/provinces/etc at the point of sale of the product. I can't remember how it works, exactly, but I believe it's a place of sale issue. With points, you buy them online but they're sold in the US, so no additional taxes. That's why in Canada, if we buy MS points online, we don't get charged taxes (it's basically a gift card). But if we buy them in a store, we do 'cause it's retail sale. For Sony, it's a card with no taxes on the sale of the card but when you go to redeem them online, you get charged taxes then. That's why when I bought 1942 on the PS3, it wasn't $5, it was $5.64 to account for 8% Ontario and 7% Federal taxes. When I bought Bionic Commando RE-Armed, it was 800 points, no additional taxes 'cause the tax issue was assumed to be taken care of when I purchased the points. Sony seems OK to deal with the taxes when you buy the game directly but Nintendo and M$ don't want to bother with all that jazz so they offer the points. Also, they can fleece you for unused points....

And I've bitched about Nintendo not including demos. I think it's fucking retarded, especially after Smash Bros show exactly how they can work. Nintendo is just being stupid and they deserve to be smacked around for it.

Ratings on XBLA are useless. And the WiiShop channels has always been better and easier to navigate than Marketplace. Sony's PSN is the best, easy, but Nintendo's is superior to M$'s crappy interface. I hate it and it hasn't gotten any better.

[SineSwiper]

Actually, I've found the ratings to be very accurate for most games. If it's a top notch game, it's going to have near five stars. If it's pretty crappy, it's in the 2-3 star range.

As far as the points, last time I bought points it's was something like $62.50 for 6000 points or something like that. I never saw a $72 option.

[Zeus]

Actually, I've found the ratings to be very accurate for most games. If it's a top notch game, it's going to have near five stars. If it's pretty crappy, it's in the 2-3 star range.

As far as the points, last time I bought points it's was something like $62.50 for 6000 points or something like that. I never saw a $72 option.

I was going by the Canadian price of the points. We pay 1.425 cents per point, you pay 1.25. REgardless, there is no change regardless of how many points you guy

[Blotus]

Also worth noting that while you can buy points in 200 or 400 intervals as a US customer, here you can still only purchase them in 500 intervals. I am referring to direct purchase from the service, not point cards.