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Paying for Demos

JRock3x8

Shared on Thu, 07/26/2007 - 13:08

The Halo 3 Beta was one thing.  This is something completely different, and uncalled for.  Ok, on the one hand I buy the argument that if you don't want it then don't buy it.  But isn't the whole purpose of a demo to sell a game?  So if you have to buy something in order to see if you want to pay EVEN MORE for it, well that's where I draw the line.

From Xbox360 Fanboy :

OXM disc content coming to XBLM, for a price
Richard Mitchell Jul 26, 2007 6:45 AM  -  Show original item

Filed under: News, Xbox Live Marketplace


So, let's say you want to play the Beautiful Katamari demo. Perhaps you've heard that, like other demos, said demo is only available in the latest issue of Official Xbox Magazine. "But print is dead!" you say, "I get all of my infoz from ze intarwebz!" In such an assertion, we would agree there are valid points. There are some people who just don't buy gaming magazines anymore. With the advent of Xbox Live Marketplace and ever vigilant news blogs like this one, many just don't see the value in magazines. Now, every once in a while, OXM scores an exclusive demo, which leaves internet-only types out in the dust. It looks like the folks from OXM have come to a similar realization, as they have announced the creation of OXM Digital, which will be available each month on Marketplace.

OXM Digital will contain the exclusive demos found on the OXM disc as well as exclusive content like interviews and videos. The monthly package will set you back 200 MS Points, which adds up to $30 a year, about $5 more than the print subscription. Dan Amrich of OXM points out that both the magazine and its digital counterpart will contain content exclusive to each medium, so OXM Digital is not meant as a replacement.

It doesn't seem like a bad idea on the surface, as we're sure many people occasionally plunk down the cash for OXM just for a demo. It doesn't hurt that 200 MS Points is also cheaper than the newsstand price of the print mag, either. Of course, we're also sure that there will be users that cringe at the thought of paying for demos, regardless of the extra content that comes with them. Let your voice be heard in the comments below.

Comments

doorgunnerjgs's picture
Submitted by doorgunnerjgs on Thu, 07/26/2007 - 13:31
Personally I don't have a problem with that. The exclusive contents in OXM WAS paid for by me through the magazine cost, either subscription or newstand. If I want the demo, I have to pay for it. Without revenue, they can't keep providing the service (sorta like 2o2p!!). Just different ways to pay for each.
JRock3x8's picture
Submitted by JRock3x8 on Fri, 07/27/2007 - 13:27
i heard that the best remedy for their unbelievably bad discs is to heat the disc in water at a temperature JUST short of boiling for like EXACTLY 30 sec. too hot or too long and you melt the disc too cool or too short and you don't get the desired effect. WTF?!? seriously?!?!
TANK's picture
Submitted by TANK on Thu, 07/26/2007 - 15:09
OXM needs to find new revenue streams. Marketplace has really hurt OXM sales because before marketplace, OXM was the only place to get demos. So now to get revenue back, they've taken on a number of different strategies. First is their new episodic game with a new 'episode' on the disc each issue. Second is they're locking up exclusive demo distribution rights like Katamari being the most recent example. Now third it sounds like they're trying to get onto marketplace somehow and take advantage of the free flow of money going on there. I"m a subscriber so i don't care either way, the magazine is passable but i like their episodic game, the exclusive themes and gamerpics as well as the demo's. The disc has really amped things up and has always been the selling point for me on the subscription. If OXM manages to lock down an exclusive demo of a AAA title, they should try and get some revenue from it. Especially if they've had to spend some amount of money to lock down that demo as exclusive. Don't forget though, if they do get exclusive demo's, the demo's usually come out free in other regions. Just use a different region account and grab it free. Though microsoft is trying to lock that down now too so you can't do that.
JRock3x8's picture
Submitted by JRock3x8 on Fri, 07/27/2007 - 08:59
to me, OXM's existence has been subsidized to this point by the lack of an alternative method of distribution for demo software. that's gone now. the internet and XBLM are more than capable of delivering anything you could put on that disc. so the fact that they can't survive on the strength of their magazine alone - i say too bad. Print media gaming magazines don't make a whole hell of a lot of sense to me in today's blog world anyways. to me this is just another example of an entrenched business trying desparately to hold on to a business model that should be completely extinct. Physical media (CD's/DVD's) is another example. just my $0.02
Dawnfades's picture
Submitted by Dawnfades on Fri, 07/27/2007 - 09:56
I recently let my subscription lapse sue to the fact that I was having about about a 50% failure rate of the included disk. I'm rather interested in this digital format because the downloads in theory should work everytime.

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