http://majornelson.com/archive/2008/05/21/arcade-penny-arcade-episode-1.aspx?PageIndex=3

Penny Arcade Adventures, On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One, is now on Live Arcade. Go. Buy. Now!

Not for 1600 points HEELLL to the NOOOOOO

I tried the demo, and its kind of boring, and not very funny... and I usually like their comic.

"Not for 1600 points HEELLL to the NOOOOOO"

When did $20 become too expensive for a game?

1600 points. U freakin nuts!!!!

played the first level, laughed a lot, plunked down the points, did not regret it. It's a RPG at heart but the non battle portions are up there with sam and max in entertainment value. The game skews towards the fantasy fans(the game hub even features a working D20 die). there's a few in jokes for penny arcade regulars but most of it is just good ole send ups of RPG standards. some of my fav jokes so far:
just before starting the game with your newly created charectar he utters the line "COME rake we have dark deeds to be done"
one of the offensive potions you find is called "double mild weak sauce" reduces enemy attack stat by 25%.
I spent most of the time just interacting with whatever I could. The main battling is a mix of normal turn based combat with special attacks and secondary charectars available for use. the battles can get quite hectic thanks to having to manage attacks with the menu and block in real time as well. anyways I recommend it.

"Not for 1600 points HEELLL to the NOOOOOO"

When did $20 become too expensive for a game?

Its funny because virtually everyone bitching about a $20 Live game will happily pay $60 for a 8 hour action game on disc.

Demo was pretty cool, combat has potential, very funny, I will buy it at some point.

i would be willing to pay 20 for a disc version but not for download only

how is downloading a game some form of torture? I mean I'd rather do that that go to a store and buy a disc or even order it online and wait. It's the same exact code you'd get on a disc only you get it now.

Its funny because virtually everyone bitching about a $20 Live game will happily pay $60 for a 8 hour action game on disc.

DING DING DING, we have a winner. How many of you have shelled out $60 for a game shorter than an Oompa-Loompa? How many people were lauding the "$20 an episode" idea for Half-Life 2?

how is downloading a game some form of torture? I mean I'd rather do that that go to a store and buy a disc or even order it online and wait. It's the same exact code you'd get on a disc only you get it now.

Probably the issue at hand is the "what if my 360 dies" problem with XBLA content.

The other advantage to having an actual physical DVD is that the game doesn't take up space on the Xbox 360's hard drive. With Xbox Live Arcade titles getting more numerous with each week, and with Microsoft slowly raising the allowable size limit, space could become a factor for some.

I too would rather have seen this title for $10. At $20, it makes me stop and say "Eh? Do I really want this or not?".

I'm not too familiar with this series... To those that have downloaded it, how is it?

Just find a deal on points cards and you can have it for less than $20. I think Target is having a sale next week of $15 for 1600 points cards. Buy 2 and use the $5 off coupon floating around. You can get it for $12.50 that way. This is why I love points cards.

I'm not too familiar with this series... To those that have downloaded it, how is it?

Do you like Penny Arcade? If you do, check it out. Its funny. It looks good. The combat appears to be deep and involving (demo only gives a taste). You beat up tons of hobos. Achievements look good.

Probably the issue at hand is the "what if my 360 dies" problem with XBLA content.

what problem? All of my content was intact and accessible offline when i got my 360 back. i just included a note asking to have my system id changed if I was given a new unit. and even so you stioll ahve access to it for as long as XBL lasts.

The other advantage to having an actual physical DVD is that the game doesn't take up space on the Xbox 360's hard drive. With Xbox Live Arcade titles getting more numerous with each week, and with Microsoft slowly raising the allowable size limit, space could become a factor for some.

I too would rather have seen this title for $10. At $20, it makes me stop and say "Eh? Do I really want this or not?".

It's only 166 megs and feels quite larger than that while playing. I think it's terrific that more episodic gaming is coming. I;d rather spend 20 dollars now and find out if a game isn't worth 60-80 bucks than spend teh 60-80 bucks and feel jipped. and again IMO if you read penny arcade this is a must have title.

Since I'm a big PA fan (and for those of you who don't know the site is www.penny-arcade.com) I picked it up. So far it's fun. Definitely the same spirit as the PA comics, mixed with the old LucasArts adventure game mechanics and Final Fantasy inspired combat sequences.

I guess I'll see how long this episode lasts in game hours played before I can decide whether it was worth the $$$ or not.

The demo was kind of boring. I'm not a fan of turn based RPG games. The couple of laughs I had were from the non interactive comments of the fruit f'er robots and some of the inspection comments.
The narration was painfully boring and I was wishing it would end whenever that guy talked. $10 would be the point I would buy it. Not fun enough for me to buy it.

I love demos they help me save my money.

Probably the issue at hand is the "what if my 360 dies" problem with XBLA content.

Speaking only for myself, it's the issue that if I decide I don't like it I can't sell or trade it away.

Also, at least 90% of my 360 games were cheaper than $20.

i would be willing to pay 20 for a disc version but not for download only

That makes no sense at all.

That makes no sense at all.

Why not? Can't sell or trade a downloaded copy.

Why not? Can't sell or trade a downloaded copy.

Great point, because if it sucks, you're stuck with it. Epitome of a sunk cost.

Why not? Can't sell or trade a downloaded copy.

That's it exactly. At least Valve offered The Orange Box games on disc for the Xbox 360. This is the same reason why I dis-like Steam. XBLA games can never be passed on to someone else. And when I replaced my original unit, I can only play the full versions of those games while connected to XBL. That is pure BS. It might be better if MS didn't rip people off with their HDD prices. At least with a PS3 I can buy anyones HDD and not a specific Sony brand.

Great point, because if it sucks, you're stuck with it. Epitome of a sunk cost.

And that, my friend, is why there is a demo for every XBL game.

"Not for 1600 points HEELLL to the NOOOOOO"

When did $20 become too expensive for a game?

I never said it was too expensive to buy games for $20. Based on the demo no I will not pay $20 for the full version. Hope that cleared any confusions.

Also, at least 90% of my 360 games were cheaper than $20.

Exactly.

eh, episodic content isn't worth 20.00 - maybe if you are established, but this is their first run, and at a high price to pay out of the gate.

Pass.

I think more developers perfer DLC so that the games can't be rented.
I quit buying games (other than GTA4) unless I can get it for 5-8 bucks. I just use an online rental, play 6 games a month, comes out to 2.00 a game. :)

These guys are smoking too much herb.

1600 points for a game that lasts 5-10 hours (according to an interview they did with Major Nelson (http://majornelson.com/archive/2008/05/18/show-279-gabe-and-tycho-from-penny-arcade.aspx)). To get the complete story, you have to get all 4 parts, so they want 6400 points or $80.

Hell no. They're crazy when I can get plenty of quality Xbox 360 game for $60.

Someone should do a comic with a Economics lesson for those clowns.

These guys are smoking too much herb.

1600 points for a game that lasts 5-10 hours (according to an interview they did with Major Nelson (http://majornelson.com/archive/2008/05/18/show-279-gabe-and-tycho-from-penny-arcade.aspx)). To get the complete story, you have to get all 4 parts, so they want 6400 points or $80.

Hell no. They're crazy when I can get plenty of quality Xbox 360 game for $60.

Someone should do a comic with a Economics lesson for those clowns.

worked for sam and max (they're on their second season)

worked for sam and max (they're on their second season)

Sam and Max is 35 for season 2, 60 for both seasons, and 30 for Season 1. There are 6 episodes in seasons 1, and 5 episodes in season 2, with each episode probably taking about 3-4 hours. So, to get the complete story of Season 1, you buy Season 1 and get around 20 hours for 30 dollars. So far as I can tell (I'm only on ep 1 of Season 2) the two seasons are pretty unrelated. In fact, there's the loosest of threads tying together the episodes in season 1, so you're still getting a relatively complete story for much cheaper. I don't think its anywhere near the same. Besides that, the whole thing is available on Gametap for no extra money to the regular subscription.... hey wait, we're paying for a subscription for XBL too? ;)

Besides that, Sam and Max is pretty funny throughout (though off topic, the voices in the original SCUMM game were far superior). Does the humor in Penny Arcade get better after what the demo encompasses?

Sam and Max is 35 for season 2, 60 for both seasons, and 30 for Season 1. There are 6 episodes in seasons 1, and 5 episodes in season 2, with each episode probably taking about 3-4 hours. So, to get the complete story of Season 1, you buy Season 1 and get around 20 hours for 30 dollars. So far as I can tell (I'm only on ep 1 of Season 2) the two seasons are pretty unrelated. In fact, there's the loosest of threads tying together the episodes in season 1, so you're still getting a relatively complete story for much cheaper. I don't think its anywhere near the same. Besides that, the whole thing is available on Gametap for no extra money to the regular subscription.... hey wait, we're paying for a subscription for XBL too? ;)

Besides that, Sam and Max is pretty funny throughout (though off topic, the voices in the original SCUMM game were far superior). Does the humor in Penny Arcade get better after what the demo encompasses?

if you like penny arcade yes (then again I unlocked the game before teh demo timed out so I'm not sure where it stops(probably after the first run through of teh first stage). You revisit the areas many times to find new thing and face new enemies. Equating cash to hours entertained just seems to silly to me. I either like teh game enough to buy it or don't. I get people not liking the gameplay enough to plunk down 20 bucks but saying that the game is mispackaged doesn't quite make sense to me.

Sam and Max is 35 for season 2, 60 for both seasons, and 30 for Season 1. There are 6 episodes in seasons 1, and 5 episodes in season 2, with each episode probably taking about 3-4 hours. So, to get the complete story of Season 1, you buy Season 1 and get around 20 hours for 30 dollars. So far as I can tell (I'm only on ep 1 of Season 2) the two seasons are pretty unrelated. In fact, there's the loosest of threads tying together the episodes in season 1, so you're still getting a relatively complete story for much cheaper. I don't think its anywhere near the same. Besides that, the whole thing is available on Gametap for no extra money to the regular subscription.... hey wait, we're paying for a subscription for XBL too?

Well, that bundle came out AFTER every episode was released - something I am sure is gonna happen with Penny-Arcade. I think Sam & Max was $9 an episode when they were coming out, so the first season came out to around $45 for 24 hours. If PA ends up costing $20 an episode (no confirmation yet) and gets 5-10 hours, that is $80 for 20-40 hours of play... so the high side comes in AROUND the S&M price. Of course, there is no guarantee the price will still be $20. Keep in mind with Episode 1 at least Valve hit us up for $20 for about 4-6 hours of (crappy IMO) FPS gameplay. Same with SiN Episodes 1. Both games sold rather well. The price is high for XBL but there is precedent.

Not that it should matter anyway. If its good, who cares? If you don't like it then don't buy it... but if its good then whatever.

I think more developers perfer DLC so that the games can't be rented.

You're damn right about this, except its not rentals that piss of publishers but the 800 pound pawn shop of the gaming world, GameStop.

"Not for 1600 points HEELLL to the NOOOOOO"

When did $20 become too expensive for a game?



A game that's memory based and not on a disk of some type? Yeah that's to much. Keep drinking the koolaid.

Also, the demo blows pretty hard. But if you like it then props, you're easily amused.

I didn't mean to imply that there was a specific hour amount per dollar or anything that makes it worth it, just that with Sam and Max, you get a pretty self-contained story no matter how much of it you buy, and from what I've read, that's not the case for this. To get the whole story you have to buy the whole thing.

That's it exactly. At least Valve offered The Orange Box games on disc for the Xbox 360. This is the same reason why I dis-like Steam. XBLA games can never be passed on to someone else. And when I replaced my original unit, I can only play the full versions of those games while connected to XBL. That is pure BS. It might be better if MS didn't rip people off with their HDD prices. At least with a PS3 I can buy anyones HDD and not a specific Sony brand.

Microsoft is changing this:
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10620&Itemid=2&limit=1&limitstart=2

A game that's memory based and not on a disk of some type? Yeah that's to much. Keep drinking the koolaid.

Also, the demo blows pretty hard. But if you like it then props, you're easily amused.

actual web ads for this game(not photshopped!):
http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/7005/pennyku0.jpg

ALSO

here's a 4 page comic penny arcade produced as sort of an intro to the main charectars and world.
http://www.playgreenhouse.com/
it shows more of what to expect dialogue and plot wise after the demo ends.

Microsoft is changing this:
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10620&Itemid=2&limit=1&limitstart=2

It sounds good, but let's see how it really works before we jump for joy. With DRM, there always seems to be a catch.

Well, that bundle came out AFTER every episode was released...

Not true. I paid for the bundle before episode 2 was released and got a few dollars off. And in the end I have a physical copy I can sell or trade if I choose. Sam & Max is one of the rare games that I won't part with.

That's not to say I wouldn't feel the same about Penny Arcade or even that I definitely won't buy it. But for now I'll give it a pass until the price comes down, or they release it on a resellable disc, or they give it to me free after the next Live meltdown.

Since you guys mentioned Sam & Max, I need to mention this. The entire first season is now available in a jewel case edition for $9.92 at Wal Mart. :cool:

I disagree with the play times stated above for Sam & Max, at least based on my own personal experiences. On average, an episode could be completed in about 2 hours of play. The first episode was slightly longer, but overall, these games are pretty short. I bought the collection for $20 after it was marked down, which was certainly worth it, but I don't think I'd pay $10 an episode for 2 hours of recycled locations and characters normally.

These guys are smoking too much herb.

1600 points for a game that lasts 5-10 hours (according to an interview they did with Major Nelson (http://majornelson.com/archive/2008/05/18/show-279-gabe-and-tycho-from-penny-arcade.aspx)). To get the complete story, you have to get all 4 parts, so they want 6400 points or $80.

Hell no. They're crazy when I can get plenty of quality Xbox 360 game for $60.

Someone should do a comic with a Economics lesson for those clowns.

How is spending $80 in four $20 chunks any different than spending $80 (on a CE of a game, for instance) at once?

Is $80 not $80? Or am I missing something?

And this game is quality.

Maybe before they go back to econ class (which has what to do with anything, btw?) YOU should go back to first grade and re-learn simple addition.

gabe from penny arcade posted a bit about reaction to the game. I can't quote here since I'm at work but he said that MS says that it's the 3rd best XBLA launch since the network started and it's even more impressive since it's twice the price of the top 2 games. He said they knew 1600MSPs would be a sticking point but they consider the price just and that they're considering all opinions on improvements they can make for episode 2. The game reviews have been going up in scores as well. Sounds like their happy being a niche title(which is pretty much how the game was designed) I played for anotehr few hours this past weekend and it was very entertaining. I love that when you upgrade your rake you get well a pretty cool rake but still basically a rake.

How is spending $80 in four $20 chunks any different than spending $80 (on a CE of a game, for instance) at once?

Is $80 not $80? Or am I missing something?

And this game is quality.

Maybe before they go back to econ class (which has what to do with anything, btw?) YOU should go back to first grade and re-learn simple addition.

There are plenty of quality games that sell for $60 or less on the Xbox 360 and $50 or less on the pc. And since I'm expected to pay CE prices, where's all the goodies you get with a CE? :mad:

Plain and simple, the price was jacked up because Penny Arcade has such a strong following. Smart move on their part, but smarter move on my part by not supporting this.

"smarter move on my part by not supporting this."

Depriving yourself of an excellent game on the basis that "Twentee dollurs is tooo much!!!1" doesn't sound like the smarter move to me. Regardless, this is only the first of many $20 Live Arcade games to come, and not only by these guys.

There are plenty of quality games that sell for $60 or less on the Xbox 360 and $50 or less on the pc. And since I'm expected to pay CE prices, where's all the goodies you get with a CE? :mad:

Plain and simple, the price was jacked up because Penny Arcade has such a strong following. Smart move on their part, but smarter move on my part by not supporting this.

Fine, than continue to bitch and moan and take solace in your "victory" as you deprive yourself of an awesome gaming experience. Then, take that $20, spend it on lunch over a couple days at work, or, better yet, take it and spend another $40 on a full-priced game at Best Buy.

Because $60 game at Best Buy >>>>>> $20 XBLA game (in terms of value for the money spent) obviously.

I'm not depriving myself of anything. :rolleyes: I played the pc demo and yes it was fun, but not a "must have". And I'm not bitching about it. Kudos to Penny Arcade for giving their fans a game. But, for me at least, $20 is more than I will spend on a downloadable game. If it was on a disc, I might bite.

Because $60 game at Best Buy >>>>>> $20 XBLA game (in terms of value for the money spent) obviously.

It sure is. I can take that game and play on a friends console without having to bring my profile or bring it up on XBL and have to connect to the net to play it. Or even loan it to a friend. And if I'm tired of it, I can sell it for someone else to enjoy. Thus making that game less than $60. Oh, and those games at Best Buy do go down in price or go on sale. I really doubt, we'll see this happen to this game.

I beat the game on the weekend. I'm not sure how long it took, it maybe felt like about five to seven hours of gametime? I did poke around enough to kill every enemy, and fully upgrade the weapons.

I prefer fully turn based combat, but I did end up enjoying the combat system in the game. Trying to choose my attack options while blocking opponent's attacks at the same time was challenging, but satisfying.

My only complaint was the lack of an invert Y-axis option. Sure, it only came into play during one mini-game but it's still a terrible oversight for a game made for gamers!

I played the demo and didn't like it. I like Penny Arcade as a comic but the translation to game was poor.

"I played the demo and didn't like it. I like Penny Arcade as a comic but the translation to game was poor."

Now this is a very reasonable reason to not like it. "I played it and didn't dig it" is far more reasonable than "OMG ITS $20 DOLLARS!!", or "OMG ITS NOT ON A DISCS!!1"

http://majornelson.com/archive/2009/04/06/this-weeks-deal-penny-arcade-episode-1.aspx

This week's Gold deal. Penny Arcade Episode 1 for 800 points.

Damn. My initial reaction was, well at half price, I'll definitely get this. But then as my 360 was booting up, I was reminded of the 7 or 8 disc games for the 360 I own that I haven't beaten, plus 15-20 Wii/Wiiware games as well (and the never-ending Rock Band), and I think I might have to pass. I'll make a more definite decision at the end of the week, but as of now I don't think I have enough free time for the games I have as it is.:p

http://majornelson.com/archive/2009/04/06/this-weeks-deal-penny-arcade-episode-1.aspx

This week's Gold deal. Penny Arcade Episode 1 for 800 points.

Not really a deal IMO, it's just selling at the price point it should have been released at. :rolleyes:

And patience is a virtue. I did break down and buy it last night. ;)

Yeah, it's nice when games are discounted to a level which seems more reasonable. In fact, I imagine it spurs a bunch of sales which otherwise would not have taken place at all, so in that regard, everyone wins.

It's actually too bad that most retail games don't get re-released at lower prices. A game that's a stinker at $60 may be a worthwhile purchase at $20, after all. This effect is seen on the PC gaming side where digital downloads of older titles at a significantly reduced price move quite briskly. Even though lower prices don't generate quite as much cash for publishers on a per-sale basis, they generate more than the alternative, which is that once the production run is sold out, the game basically is "out of print" forever.

[QUOTE=Slordak;16223011]
It's actually too bad that most retail games don't get re-released at lower prices. A game that's a stinker at $60 may be a worthwhile purchase at $20, after all. QUOTE]


This is where buying used games comes in. My collection of games for a particular system grows much larger when the replacement system comes out.

Used games don't support the original publisher/developer, though, unfortunately. I mean I understand the cost motivation for the consumer, but I object in principle to supporting pawn shops like Gamestop. I'd rather the publisher/developer said "We know it's old, but if you still want it, we have some for $20". The problem, of course, is that they have to do a large print run to avoid having any profit completely eclipsed by overhead, and then they run the risk of having a bunch unsold.

These problems aren't encountered in digital distribution, but by the same token, there's no motivation to substantially decrease the price of a game because it's listed forever and takes up no physical space.

I inherently dislike digital distribution as it is an arbitrary form of game distribution economics. For a game on disc, you can actually get it on ebay for a price based on supply demand interaction and then resell it once you're done with it, and pay a rather minimal cost. Compared to paying $20 for something that has no resale value I can't say I'm interested. I only buy AAA dig distribution titles, and penny arcade is not one of those by any stretch of the imagination. Braid was the last xbl arcade game I bought, and it was well worth it. Can't wait to replay it once I get the panny 42-g10. Steam is pretty reasonable in terms of sales, but I get this Harry Potter dark-mark feeling of bait and switch; in that those sales might stop once enough people convert--much prefer disc based media.

Slordak, while there is much hate for Gamestop, it does fill an important niche. Otherwise it wouldn't be as successful as it is. It's too bad publishers refuse to fill the niche of reasonable priced games themselves. Instead they come up with schemes to try to eliminate the used game market. And you don't have to buy from Gamestop. There's always craigslist, ebay, mom & pop shops, garage sales, etc.