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Chindie

Chindie

Posted
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Thought I'd give the Cheeve Challenge a go this week as well, thanks for the heads up on it even existing.

Only needed to do the Guided by Sparks achievement in Limbo, easily done.

Hopefully no duplicates or Kinect games coming my way...

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MW_Jimmy

MW_Jimmy

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I think a few things make this smart marketing for Microsoft:

1) Promotion for whatever game has come out that week (as they are usually part of it) and might persuade people to buy early instead of waiting on deal of the week.

2) The people who are interested in this will probably have lots of arcade games anyway, lots of duplicates codes will lead to newcomers hearing about XBLA and maybe buying a few more games. Its surprising just how small the majority of XBLA sell given the vast user-base.

Its good marketing for the platform, and it promoting conversations on places like here and keeps the focus on the service. I think they tend to give-away Microsoft published games aswell, so it effectively doesn't really cost them much either.

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Rsdio

Rsdio

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According to the blog:

Proof of Cheeves earned must verified either by screen shot or submitting your Gamer Tag privately to PlayXBLA@microsoft.com

I hadn't really paid attention to this until today, when I noticed I already had six achievements. Based on the above I just sent them my gamertag so I imagine anything else should in theory be more than enough?

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harbey

harbey

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I think that introduces other issues such as why would people buy new games if they can get them half price in six months? Some stuff does get reduced in a few months, but it shouldn't ever be a default thing. I already find myself waiting for a lot of stuff to be a Deal of the Week, if it was almost guaranteed that a game was going to be cheaper in six months I wouldn't ever buy new games, and they need to avoid that.

Fair point. I just wonder if many of the games that get past their sell by date ever make any money again. I think I'd pay full for titles I liked to get them on release, and would have a go at the also ran if they were down to half price 12 months on. Deals Of The Week seem quite limited - how many times are they going to reduce Bastion? Meanwhile many titles from 2 years ago are still out there at full price and surely no one is biting. Not saying they should reduce everything after x-months, just think they would make more money, and do us favours, by widening the reduced content scope. Can't complain tho. there's some great stuff out there. XBLA and the indie stuff have definitely been my main gaming expenditure this year.

By the way TTK, have you done an indie round up recently? (wrong thread i know).

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toythatkills

toythatkills

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... Meanwhile many titles from 2 years ago are still out there at full price and surely no one is biting.

I think Deal of the Week works well for Microsoft. I mean, take SeaLife Safari for example. That released at 800pts and was recently permanently reduced to 400pts, and I've heard as many people talking about it now as I did when it came out. None. It's actually an alright game, but I think some stuff is just destined not to sell. If they'd have had it as the Deal of the Week, though, I think that week of visibility probably would have resulted in far more trials/purchases than the permanent reduction has. Obviously that's conjecture, but I do think it's the case. Recently, Toy Soldiers dropped to 800pts and ITSP dropped to 800pts, these are pretty high profile releases but I haven't heard anyone talking about them. Permanent reductions do happen, it's just quite limited, and they don't actually tell anyone they're doing it.

I did an indie round up last month, and someone else did one for this month

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Dudley

Dudley

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You pretty much need to complete both games. If you go through each without a guide first time and then use a guide to mop up, you're probably looking at around 12 hours or so. LIMBO is pretty short and Shadow Complex you can complete on the easiest difficulty.

Alternatively you could actually play 2 of the best games of this console generation rather than spending 12 hours rushing through them in order to get a tenners worth of other games you won't bother playing until they appear in this contest and you rush through those as quick as possible in order to get even more.

Ignore this week, sit down and actually properly play Shadow Complex.

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toythatkills

toythatkills

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12 hours to complete LIMBO and Shadow Complex isn't exactly rushing, and I suggested not using a guide precisely so it wouldn't affect the enjoyment of a first playthrough. I found that Shadow Complex was more fun when you'd basically completed it anyway, and you had everything unlocked and could explore at will. Even if it wasn't for this contest I'd suggest going through it and enjoying it at the end.

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thesnwmn

thesnwmn

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I remembered why I didn't finish Limbo at launch. It's just darn dull. I feel honestly bad saying that. It looks great and the atmosphere is generally good but I just find it so boring for some reason. It's a game I feel like I should love but can't. Playing the second half to complete it before finding the eggs I found myself as before: talking to the TV to pass the time whilst playing. Too darn slow.

Anyway, nice to have a reasonably simple Cheever Challenge as I had the Shadow Complex ones so not all bad.

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earlymodernsteve

earlymodernsteve

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12 hours to complete LIMBO and Shadow Complex isn't exactly rushing, and I suggested not using a guide precisely so it wouldn't affect the enjoyment of a first playthrough. I found that Shadow Complex was more fun when you'd basically completed it anyway, and you had everything unlocked and could explore at will. Even if it wasn't for this contest I'd suggest going through it and enjoying it at the end.

This is how it's playing out for me really. Shadow Complex is reminding me a lot of Metroid: Other M (and of course the earlier ones) in that playing through the story is only one part of the experience. Going back in on a higher skill level and looking for everything always happens on a second playthrough. In terms of exploring at will, is that as in a New Game+ or just having a nosey around before the end?

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toythatkills

toythatkills

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IIRC, you can beat the final boss and then reload your save from just before it. So you can get the achievement for beating the game which you need for the Cheeve Challenge, and then go back and have a proper explore with all the skills you've got. I can't remember there being a New Game+ but I haven't played it in *ages* so I can't be totally sure about that. You do need to beat it more than once for all the achievements though.

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earlymodernsteve

earlymodernsteve

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IIRC, you can beat the final boss and then reload your save from just before it. So you can get the achievement for beating the game which you need for the Cheeve Challenge, and then go back and have a proper explore with all the skills you've got. I can't remember there being a New Game+ but I haven't played it in *ages* so I can't be totally sure about that. You do need to beat it more than once for all the achievements though.

Cheers. Been kicked off the telly so that the wife and daughter can play Abba on the Wii. Do they not understand the importance of finishing Shadow Complex... (Oh well, I can always do it later whilst waiting for the WWE PPV to begin).

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harbey

harbey

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Permanent reductions do happen, it's just quite limited, and they don't actually tell anyone they're doing it.

I did an indie round up last month, and someone else did one for this month

I'm not as up to date with gaming news as I once was, and these reductions had definitely gone unnoticed by me.

Thanks for the round-ups, always enjoy reading those.

EDIT: Just spent an amazing couple of hours with the kids playing Hidden In Plain Sight (Indie Game so wrong thread again). Tears running down our faces and sides aching. Would have missed it if not for the above links so thanks.

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bradigor

bradigor

Posted
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Sure it was out in few weeks as well, could lead to a long delay which sucks big time for the devs.

Dtp were quite a good wee publisher as well, always had retail point n click packages/distribution.

Was coming this Weds.

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Jimmy Shedders

Jimmy Shedders

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Seeing some people mention that they've missed any potential sales / price drops on the Marketplace - Would anyone find a "What's available this week" style post useful - With information like what that week's Arcade releases are, what the deal of the week is, if there's any other sales on etc.

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Camel

Camel

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Yes, massively so. The Sarge used to do this every week.

Seeing some people mention that they've missed any potential sales / price drops on the Marketplace - Would anyone find a "What's available this week" style post useful - With information like what that week's Arcade releases are, what the deal of the week is, if there's any other sales on etc.

Yes, massively so. Didn't The Sarge used to do this every week?

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toythatkills

toythatkills

Posted
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Seeing some people mention that they've missed any potential sales / price drops on the Marketplace - Would anyone find a "What's available this week" style post useful - With information like what that week's Arcade releases are, what the deal of the week is, if there's any other sales on etc.

Yeah, this'd be great.

This website needs to be bookmarked by everyone, though, if they haven't already. It automatically tracks when prices on the Xbox marketplace change. It's tied in to the US marketplace so if a sale is UK only you'll still need to rely on this thread, but I think that's happened about one time in five years so not a big worry.

Turns out that all the Family Game Night shit has been reduced this morning. Yet another example of discounts that nobody's bothered to make people aware of.

EDIT: Oh, it turns out EA are turning the servers off tomorrow for all that stuff. "Here, have a discount on a bunch of games that will be totally fucking pointless tomorrow!" Nice one, EA, you really know how to treat your customers with respect.

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