Jump to content

Downloadable Xbox games coming to the 360

Hitcher

By Hitcher,
in Discussion

 Share

Recommended Posts

Hitcher

Hitcher

Posted
Posted
Xbox LIVE membership soars past 8 million mark, Microsoft unveils new download service for Xbox games direct to your living room beginning Dec. 4.

REDMOND, Wash. -- Nov. 13, 2007 -- On Nov. 15, Microsoft Corp. will celebrate the fifth anniversary of Xbox LIVE. In addition, the company notes that the latest membership figures show more than 8 million members are now actively engaged in the largest social entertainment network on TV. Xbox LIVE has grown from a small community of gamers in two countries, playing a handful of games online with their friends, to a worldwide social entertainment network offering online access to gaming, music, movies and TV shows. As friends across 26 countries and nine languages have connected on Xbox LIVE, it is their feedback and active participation that has guided the service to become what Wired magazine recently called "the king of the online arena." As a gesture of thanks to the gaming community, all 8 million members will have the opportunity to download a free Xbox LIVE Arcade game [Carcassonne, except in Korea were it'll be Hexic 2],* available for downloading between 12:01 a.m. PST on Nov. 15 and 11:59 p.m. PST on Nov. 16.** In addition to this, every active member who joined the service in 2002 will receive 500 free Microsoft Points.

Starting on Dec. 4, all Xbox LIVE members will receive a free system update with a host of new features and enhancements. Included in this update will be the launch of Xbox Originals, which, for the first time, will enable consumers to download and own full Xbox games, such as "Halo," "Psychonauts," "Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge" and "Fable," among others, directly to their Xbox 360. This new service will launch with an array of blockbuster titles spanning the most popular genres from action-adventure to classic role-playing games.

With no disc necessary, and at just 1,200 Microsoft Points per game, Xbox LIVE members can easily rediscover these hit titles, or check out a game they missed the first time around. This launch lineup is only the beginning, as Xbox 360 owners can expect to see a growing catalog of Xbox games to download and own over the coming year.

"In just five short years, Xbox LIVE has revolutionized the way friends and family have fun in the living room," said John Schappert, corporate vice president of LIVE, software and services at Microsoft. "On its fifth birthday, Xbox LIVE truly is the place for hanging out with friends and enjoying downloadable TV shows, movies, videos, game add-ons and now downloadable Xbox games on demand."

More information can be found online about the downloadable games available on Xbox LIVE, the evolution of Xbox LIVE or the Xbox LIVE is 5IVE member rewards at http://www.xbox.com.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MK-1601

MK-1601

Posted
Posted
"In just five short years, Xbox LIVE has revolutionized the way friends and family have fun in the living room," said John Schappert, corporate vice president of LIVE, software and services at Microsoft. "On its fifth birthday, Xbox LIVE truly is the place for hanging out with friends and enjoying downloadable TV shows, movies, videos, game add-ons and now downloadable Xbox games on demand."

Interesting how he doesn't even mention online gaming there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mr. Gerbik

Mr. Gerbik

Posted
Posted
Props to them? Did you miss the bit where it said they'd cost around £10 each?

Better than not being able to play PS2 games at all on the PS3 ;)

Seriously though, I agree that it's expensive and useless if you've already got a chipped xbox. I'm interested in Halo, assuming they've fixed the vga issues, and the rest can fuck off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RubberJohnny

RubberJohnny

Posted
Posted
Props to them? Did you miss the bit where it said they'd cost around £10 each?

That's roughly how much they cost second hand in stores. Here's hoping for 16:9 support, upscaling, FSAA, Achievements and (in Halo 1) online.

Thats Backwards Compatible updates out the window then

If they're planning on releasing, "Most of the Library" then that means better BC updates, since they can get a game working and then flog it again, making profit from BC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ryan

Ryan

Posted
Posted
If they're planning on releasing, "Most of the Library" then that means better BC updates, since they can get a game working and then flog it again, making profit from BC.

No, it means that they've taken the games and recompiled/converted them to run on the 360. No need to make the original disks run, after all they don't earn more money from them, do they?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gerald_D

Gerald_D

Posted
Posted
No need to exaggerate, Soong is just pointing out that £10 is maybe a bit steep for these old games. Nothing wrong with that.

;)

In all serious though, MS missed a trick here. I can't believe this will be a significant income stream for them. They should just give the games away (at least, those they own the IP for).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sng

Sng

Posted
Posted

What's annoying is you can't even put 1200 points onto your account, can you? I can't remember, I had to put 1000 points on mine when I only wanted to spend 600. So if you want a 1200 point game do you need to put 2000 on? Or maybe 1500.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Joyrex-J9

Joyrex-J9

Posted
Posted
In all serious though, MS missed a trick here. I can't believe this will be a significant income stream for them. They should just give the games away (at least, those they own the IP for).

It might not be significant but it's revenue all the same, and for very little effort.

All these games were already BC on the 360 AFAIK, so it's just get the Xbox disk contents for each game, and host them on a server.

Why anyone would think they'd give them away is beyond me.

If you want them for free go to torrentspy.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gerald_D

Gerald_D

Posted
Posted
It might not be significant but it's revenue all the same, and for very little effort.

All these games were already BC on the 360 AFAIK, so it's just get the Xbox disk contents for each game, and host them on a server.

Why anyone would think they'd give it them away is beyond me.

Because it would be brilliant marketing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
arhra

arhra

Posted
Posted

If they've any sense, they'll use this as an opportunity to republish those games that got limited print runs and are now nigh-impossible to find (and with Psychonauts in the initial list, they certainly seem to be on the right track there).

How anyone can possibly spin this as a bad thing is beyond me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Use of this website is subject to our Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, and Guidelines.

  I accept