XBL Arcade Games - Average prices over the past ~4 years

[Vectorman0]

I made this graph for myself and I figured I would share it with everyone here.



Notes:
-XBL Arcade Games refer to download only titles, NOT the recently added retail games offered for download
-Free games not included
-Original release prices used, ignoring promotions or discounts
-DLC not accounted for
-"Family Game Night" counted as a single 800pt game
-Q1: Jan-Mar, Q2: Apr-Jun, Q3: Jul-Sep, Q4: Oct-Dec
-Q4 2005 was not a full quarter

[SegaAges]

Well, I guess I am glad that I am starting to make games through XNA. I should make my own post to announce it or something, but our first couple of games we were planning on letting them go for a max of 200 points.

[GrandAmChandler]

Q2 2006 was the best Q ever.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

SegaAges,
Are you planning on releasing those games as a Community Games release or full fledged XBLA release? There's a lot going on between the two in the background, but concerning your comment: Microsoft only allows for certain price points for XBLA. You would only be able to release for 400MSP at lowest.

[Vectorman0]

Q2 2006 was the best Q ever.

Uno was the only game that game out during those three months! Considering that game's popularity, maybe it was the best quarter ever.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

The rise in price, IMO, is mainly due to Microsoft attempting to increase the quality of games released on XBLA. They stated in the past that they did not want to flood XBLA with low quality or unoriginal titles, so those that are now passing through Microsoft certification are those with greater quality (and those with lower quality are being removed from the XBLA title list). This, unfortunately, translates to higher prices due to the amount of work that goes into the polish for these games. This is why more and more games are being released at the 800MSP+ price point.

An interesting though popped into my head: are the price points for PS3 rising as well with this trend? I don't know what the price points are for PS3, unfortunately.

[Vectorman0]

The rise in price, IMO, is mainly due to Microsoft attempting to increase the quality of games released on XBLA. They stated in the past that they did not want to flood XBLA with low quality or unoriginal titles, so those that are now passing through Microsoft certification are those with greater quality (and those with lower quality are being removed from the XBLA title list). This, unfortunately, translates to higher prices due to the amount of work that goes into the polish for these games. This is why more and more games are being released at the 800MSP+ price point.

I think that is definitely a large part of it, along with the shrinking amount of simple ports of old games. If you look at all the games released through Q1 2007 (see list below), I would say they are essentially all very high quality games. Through that period though, there are also considerably more (very basic) ports of "classic" games. Now there are fewer ports coming out, with more full remakes or completely original titles, both coming with a higher price. However, I do think that those who decide pricing, as a whole, are charging more than they once were. I'm afraid that we won't still be seeing original stuff like Omega Five or Mega Man 9 for $10 a couple years from now. I don't think Lode Runner, Death Tank or Virtual-On would have carried 1200 pt prices a couple years ago, either.

It's mostly understandable, so I'm not complaining. I am just buying fewer games.

Gauntlet 10/03/05
Geometry Wars Evolved 10/03/05
Hardwood Backgammon 10/03/05
Hardwood Hearts 10/03/05
Hardwood Spades 10/03/05
Joust 10/03/05
Hexic HD 11/22/05
Mutant Storm Reloaded 11/22/05
Outpost Kaloki X 11/22/05
Smash TV 11/22/05
Zuma 11/22/05
Bankshot Billiards 2 11/22/05
Bejeweled 2 11/22/05
Wik: Fable of Souls 12/15/05
Robotron: 2084 01/06/06
Marble Blast Ultra 01/23/06
Crystal Quest 02/07/06
Jewel Quest 03/03/06
Feeding Frenzy 03/10/06
AstroPop 03/22/06
Uno 05/09/06
Frogger 07/12/06
Cloning Clyde 07/19/06
Galaga 07/26/06
Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting 08/02/06
Pac-Man 08/09/06
Texas Hold'em 08/23/06
Time Pilot 08/30/06
Scramble 09/13/06
Doom 09/27/06
TotemBall 10/04/06
Dig Dug 10/11/06
Ultimate MK3 10/21/06
Jetpac Refuelled 10/24/06
Contra 11/08/06
Defender 11/15/06
Small Arms 11/22/06
RoboBlitz 12/06/06
Assault Heroes 12/13/06
Novadrome 12/20/06
New Rally-X 12/27/06
Heavy Weapon 01/17/07
Lumines Live! 01/24/07
Root Beer Tapper 02/07/07
Paperboy 02/14/07
Alien Hominid HD 02/28/07
Worms 03/07/07
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 03/14/07
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night 03/21/07

An interesting though popped into my head: are the price points for PS3 rising as well with this trend? I don't know what the price points are for PS3, unfortunately.

If I can find a good list of titles with pricing and release dates, I will try to do the same for the PSN games.

[kaedesdisciple]

Lumines Live! 01/24/07

Side note: I still think this game, when purchased with all of its "add-on" packages, had the worst XBLA price point of all time.

I see the trend and I am speaking with my wallet; it's getting tighter.

Thanks for putting in the time to assemble those numbers, Vectorman!

[Vectorman0]

Side note: I still think this game, when purchased with all of its "add-on" packages, had the worst XBLA price point of all time.

I see the trend and I am speaking with my wallet; it's getting tighter.

I agree with you on Lumines. This kind of thing is still happening, most recently with Arkanoid. Ever since the bad press Lumines got, I have been waiting for Microsoft to change the wording when you go to buy a game from "Unlock full game" to something less all encompassing.

My wallet is tighter as well.