If you thought Electronic Arts was bad when it came to Xbox 360 microtransactions, take a look at this horror story. From GameLife via NeoGAF:
In aquarium simulator Aquazone, there are only 480 achievement points that you can get out of the box (as opposed to 1000 for all other retail 360 software). They've just unleashed a whole bunch of downloadable new fish -- and if you buy all of them, it'll cost you 5000 (five thousand) points -- that's 7400 yen ($62)!
Oh, but it gets so much worse. The downloads are only 108 KB each. What's that mean? That means that the fish are already on the disc, they're just charging players to unlock them.
Yo, I got mad respect for you Microsoft, but you gotta clamp down on publishers trying to get away with this microtransaction boosheet. This Wild Wild West online plan of Xbox Live is only hurting your image. Regulate.
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Contest:
4:50 PM on 02.01.2007
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there seriously needs to be baselines for publishers, and what they can/cannot do in the marketplace. on the other hand, who the hell plays aquazone? if i made that i might try to milk the idiots that bought the game for all they're worth.
EA must be paying these guys to make them look less like assholes.
Just because they're already on the disc (and you need to pay to unlock it) doesn't change one thing. The delivery mechanism shouldn't change their value. Regardless of how you get them, the work put into creating them is the same. A fish is a fish -- it shouldn't be have a higher or lower value just becuase it's an unlock.
There would be very, very little difference between a fish that's downloaded vs a fish that's unlocked, in regards to the amount of time spent on making them. So getting into a tizzy just because it's pay-to-unlock does'nt make much sense. It's just a delivery mechanism.
WOW, this game must be soooo awesome...
well from my life experience isn't it simpler to simply buy a fish and an aquarium, instead of a aquarium simulator?
When I say you I mean me.
I would not put up with that crap at all, if its on the disc it should be included in the price. Map expansions and new levels and such I can understand, but unlocking a fish or a new color....they can just die
Trannies? Where?
Huh?
a retail AQUARIUM SIMULATOR????
this smell like bullshit......
who the hell would even put a game like that out????
my bad.
Extra paid content is extra paid content, love it or hate it. How you get that content shouldn't change change your opinion. Saying "I don't mind paying two bucks for a fish if it's downloaded, but not if it just unlocks!" is stupid.
If you think the fish is worth 2 bucks, or however much it costs, the delivery method shouldn't matter. End of story.
If it was downloaded you could say it was created after the main game or along side, but always intended to be seperate.
With that said, please... stop paying for this crap. That's the only way it's going to stop.
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