Xbox Live Arcade: One Year Later
- December 12, 2006 16:55 PM PST
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There is definitely a line, though, and some companies seem determined to cross it at the expense of gamers. Electronic Arts is the biggest offender, with the array of premium downloads it concocted for Need For Speed: Carbon. The problem is, most of the downloads "unlock" features that are available through extended play (making the downloads, essentially, expensive cheat codes) and that many feel should be available by default. They come shipped on your game disc, after all -- just locked. If you go ahead and buy every Carbon download you'll be out a cool $47 beyond the retail price of the game. Ouch.
Do you know kung fu?
Another offender is Q Entertainment's excellent XBLA puzzle game, Lumines Live!. It's a great game, but you'll miss out on a good deal of its content if you don't also spring for the "optional" Mission/Puzzle Pack. The game is already pricey at 1200 points ($15), and the Mission/Puzzle Pack is 600 points ($7.50). Word is there are at least two other add-on packs in the works. Wait, we thought XBLA games were supposed to be cheap!
Chappelle on Demand
If all those greedy developers are bothering you, you might want to cool down a bit with some episodes of a favorite TV show. Marketplace recently added a huge variety of downloadable TV and movie content, and it all works pretty well. The selection offers a little something for everyone, with offerings from Comedy Central, the major networks, MTV, Nickelodeon, Warner Bros., Paramount, and a number of other media companies. The browsing interface for video is markedly better than in any other section of Marketplace, and you can easily sift through shows, sort episodes by popularity, and even view streaming previews of each download.
The prices vary based on what you're buying. TV shows are either 160 or 240 points, depending on whether or not you opt for an episode's HD version, and you can view 'em forever. Regular episodes are about 250 to 500MB, while hi-def versions can go up to two gigabytes. Movies are a bit different. They're priced at 240 / 360 for older films and 320 / 480 for new releases, and that only gets you a 14-day rental, after which the file is no longer viewable.
He's unstoppable!
Everything works really nicely. You can start viewing a video after it reaches a certain download percentage, although the seek controls are disabled until the download completes. It's really slick and helps hide the longer download times of larger videos. One possible problem, however, is that videos can quickly fill up the meager 12 gigs of free space that the 360 ships with. An HD movie alone is around four gigs... better hope MS releases a new hard drive soon!
Leader of the Pack
While Xbox Marketplace and Xbox Live Arcade aren't perfect, few things are. Microsoft is definitely leading the next-gen pack with these compelling online offerings. Great cheap games, bonus content, free demos, dozens of movies and TV shows... Marketplace and Arcade are a crucial part of the full 360 experience. If you haven't tried it yet, you're really missing out. Just don't let mom know about Bejeweled.
