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Article: retail game solutions to expensive arcade games, part 1
Botafogo on April 15, 2009

You may have noticed the grumbling going around about the price of Xbox Live Arcade titles of late. We had an article about it a couple months ago, Flea and others have blogged about it, and there’s even a social group here on Console Heroes now devoted to crusading against expensive games. Flea even started a petition to Microsoft pleading for a reevaluation of XBLA prices. As Flea and I have been discussing all the recent games priced at 1200 points – and a couple at 1600 – we came to a conclusion: why just complain about it? Why not come up with a better solution for our fellow heroes here on Console Heroes? I mean, if we’re not paying $20 for arcade games, what should we spend that money on? And what kind of experience will we get instead?

With that in mind I’m going to examine a few of the pricier arcade titles on the marketplace today and compare them to some very similar retail games that you could pick up for the same price – or less. Today will feature part one of our short series of retail game alternatives to expensive XBLA titles.

The problem: Watchmen: The End is Nigh for 1600 points.
The Watchmen is an Xbox Live arcade title that debuted a month or so ago at the “modest” price of 1600 Microsoft Points – the equivalent of 20 US Dollars. I haven’t played the game, but from what I know about the game:
-          Watchmen is an action game about superheroes, or at least heroes of sorts. 
-          You get two playable heroes, both of which have unique fighting styles and abilities
-          You can play two player co-op either locally or online
-          From what I can tell Watchmen offers a fairly limited replay value, and 3 to 4 hours of gameplay is probably all most people will really get out of it.
At first glance that may seem a steep price tag for a game of such proportions, but when we compare it to a similar retail game it becomes absurd.
 
The solution: Marvel: Ultimate Alliance - $10, $20 for the Gold Edition (or the standard edition with the DLC)
If you’re really in need of a superhero fix that offers co-op and multiple characters, may I suggest you skip Watchmen pick up Marvel: Ultimate Alliance instead. How do the games compare? Well: 
-          Marvel: UA is also an action game about superheroes, featuring heroes from the Marvel universe
-          Instead of just two playable heroes you can play as over thirty, all of which have many unique abilities, fighting styles, and even team bonuses depending on which configuration you’re playing as
-          Ultimate Alliance offers 4 player co-op, both locally and online
-          The campaign itself lasts around eight to ten hours, but the replay value is very high. There are comic book missions, costumes and super powers to unlock, stats to upgrade, and even more heroes that you unlock as you play. I estimate I put about 40 to 50 hours into the game getting the 1250 achievement points out of it, and I still go back and play for fun every once in a while.
So there you have it – an apples to apples (at least as close as I could get to one) comparison of a very expensive XBLA title and a similarly priced retail title that, I believe, offers many times more in the way of a fulfilling gaming experience. Tune in next time when I tackle a high priced RPG on the marketplace and suggest another game that just might fit the bill better instead.
KINGxSAINT wrote on 04-15-2009
This is a great article, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance is an amazing game, Watchmen is trash.
The Killer 47 wrote on 04-15-2009
I tried out the demo of Watchmen and it seemed kind of cool, but not 20 bucks worth of cool. I might have bought it for 10 bucks or even 15.
itzallgud wrote on 04-16-2009
I like this concept. Couldn’t agree with you more and never thought about it. I'll be interested to see what else you have in store.
x3nomorph wrote on 04-16-2009
This is what I think Microsoft is missing - there are what - nearly 500 games available for the 360? We have other - cheaper - options out there for us to enjoy. Creating games that offer little to no replay value at outrageous costs is just not fair. We have no way to resell arcade titles and for me it just doesn't make sense to spend money on them - especially when it feels like EVERY retail game nowadays is getting "DLC". Most of us use our expendable income on gaming - and that's dwindling. I wish that they would stop trying to artificially inflate prices and think we don't notice.
itzallgud wrote on 04-17-2009
Hear, hear!! Agreed!
Patriot65108 wrote on 04-24-2009
I remember reading so many articles just a few short months ago about how video game market seems to be recession proof. Yeah, right! x3nomorph is absolutely right about all of the gamers' expendable income dwindling. The best way to tell that IS by the simple fact that XBLA download prices have jumped up dramatically recently, are there very many 400MS XBLA games still left?!
People are resorting to buying used games vs new retail releases more and more which means Microsoft, developers, and publishers alike are hurting and looking to squeeze out as much cash as possible out of their work. Increasing XBLA seems as a great alternative since there's no second-hand used market for XBLA games.

I typically wait till a game drops to $20 or $30 range before buying it new, if it takes too long to reach that point I opt for used copy from GameStop or simply rent it on Gamefly. It would seem to me that Publishers would be smart to drop the retail price of their titles to $20 or $30 after no more than 2 months that way poor bastards like me would buy their new titles vs opting to go for used copy for only $2 or $3 cheaper. That way they wont have to rip us a new one by overcharging for XBLA games.