Xbox 360 Consumables! (It starts...)

[Dark Jaguar]

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3152856

Microsoft mentioned a new kind of microtransaction at the session, as well, which they are calling "consumables." These purchases would be re-purchasable items i.e. if a game was selling 100 gold pieces, you would be able to rebuy 100 gold pieces when you needed them. The "consumables" tech will be included in this fall's release of the SDK.

You have to be kidding me. People can now officially PAY MS MONEY to cheat? Will this lead to a new craze of game designers making something impossibly difficult unless you pay for specific "item placement" in various locations so you actually stand a chance of finishing a level? This better not be some video game related method of extortion...

If that's NOT what this is, well guess what? If I'm in the middle of a battle against Dracula and I need an extra potion and decide I want to cheat, I'm not BUYING a NONEXISTANT item with real money. I'll just get a Gameshark and get as many cheats (or alternatively, ways to make the game harder) as I could ever want.

Just wait until gamesharks are "frowned upon" by MS because they would rather you BUY the extra gold or whatever...

[Great Rumbler]

No thanks.

[Dark Jaguar]

:D That's a more polite way to look at it. I note that the article also states MS still is going full steam ahead on the whole charging for XBox guide theme packs and those "gamer ID icons". Yeah, no, I'm not paying for something I get for free all the time on my PC, and further are things I really see no interest in anyway (the guide is only a means to an end, and while it looking nice is nice and all, my current "glassy" (built in) theme is more than sufficient for my needs, plus I don't pay anything extra for it).

[Great Rumbler]

The only thing I've bought so far on Live is a few arcade games and some of the add-ons released for Oblivion [not the horse armor, though].

[A Black Falcon]

There are online RPGs that don't have online fees (or are free to download) but instead charge for buying items and gold and stuff on the PC, actually... some have been successful, particularly in Korea...

[lazyfatbum]

Dumb.

I also had one of those 'hmm' moments when I thought of the idea of paying cash for in-game cash which would buy in-game items which you may trade or sell to other users on the network for in-game value or real pocket value, and since these items have actual cash value and the game is actually giving you different ways to aqcuire in-game cash (such as taking chances or getting lucky) and suddenly one has to question the overall legality of the entire scenario.

[A Black Falcon]

Well, in the specific case of those PC games, it's not nearly so bad because the micropayments are in lieu of having to pay $50 for the box and then $10-$15 for a monthly fee, in most of the games that have them... for what MS is talking about here though, yeah, dumb. Most online gaming companies do NOT encourage the sale of game money for real money for a reason, it can easily destroy a game's economy... though that only matters for persistent world games; for other ones, it's just a money-grabbing operation for the game operator. :)

[Dark Jaguar]

I've seen that "Knights Online" game where you do pay real world money for in-game armor and stuff. No thanks. All that does is create a world where how well to do someone is in reality affects how well to do they are in the game. We play games to ESCAPE the reality of being desperatly poor (it, along with all OTHER entertainment, is what drives our economy! It's the opiate of the masses, and the fact I spelled that word wrong should tell you exactly how unfamiliar I am with drugs), not to be reminded of our real world failings in a game! They should be some sort of Great Equalizer! :D

I thought Monopoly was supposed to be the world's most cynical game (it claims as much right on the box) but wow we have some contenders! Monopoly never sent us on a buying spree to obtain more monopoly money by paying real money, thus netting an advantage during play with more starting cash.