Microsoft to offer free Xbox Live Arcade game to Live member

[Rubius-sama]

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) (MSFT.O) said on Thursday it will offer a free downloadable video game to users of its Xbox online gaming service after the network was plagued with connection troubles over the holidays.
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Xbox Live General Manager Mark Whitten said the problems stemmed from a "massive increase" in new users of the service over the holiday season, when sales of video game hardware and software surge.

"While the service was not completely offline at any given time, we are disappointed in our performance," Whitten said in a statement.

Whitten said all Xbox Live members around the world would be able to freely download one game over the service. Games sold on Xbox Live typically cost from $5 to $20, and Whitten said Microsoft would give details of the offer in the coming weeks.

Before the holiday sales surge, Xbox Live had more than eight million members, many of whom were paying $50 a year for the premium service that lets them play online against others.

Whitten did not give details of the cause of the problems, but gaming Web sites and forums have been filled in recent days with complaints from users frustrated with the inability to sign on to the service or play online.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080104/bs_nm/microsoft_xboxlive_dc

How awesome is that?



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Rubius-sama on 2008-01-04 03:47 ]</font>

[Scrub]

See, this is the kind of shit that needs to happen. I was pretty pissed this weekend when the game was down, what with just getting Call of Duty 4 and it being damn near impossible to play online. This shit actually makes me feel like they care about the service, and aren't just writing it off as 'tough shit.'

It is VERY awesome.

[amtalx]

I guess MS has a softer side. It's nice to see some customer appreciation. Nintendo has always been the leader, but this is a start. Now if we can just get Sony to hop on board and stop being such assholes, we might be getting somewhere.

[ABDUR101]

Hurray, odds are we get a shitty LIVE game. Why don't they just give everyone a batch of MS points that they can spend on what they want? 800MS points is worth a week and a half or more of LIVE acting up and barely letting me play.

[Saner]

they should let us download Metal Slug 3 for free. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif(and MS can generously pay SNK Playmore for each MS3 downloaded) http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif

(cause I dun have MS pts. at the moment. >.> )

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

I hope they handle it how Abdur suggested as well, some free points to choose what you want.

Or choose whatever you want as the free DL, then it goes back to pay to play, or however its going to work. Basically giving users the choice of what to choose. Instead of say, everybody gets another marble rolling game.

I'd get that Lumines Live myself.

[Getintothegame]

1 week of XBL =~$2.
800 MS Points = $10.

I consider this a VERY generous offer.

[ABDUR101]

On 2008-01-04 12:00, Getintothegame wrote:
1 week of XBL =~$2.
800 MS Points = $10.

I consider this a VERY generous offer.


All things considered, its no real loss to MS. I don't think its a stretch for them to go out on a limb for the shit that happens with LIVE and the console issues, considering they've been lieing through their damn teeth about it.

We're the customer, they're supposed to be making us happy; a good company will do that even at their own expense.

[Sinue_v2]

I have two LIVE accounts. Hope this means I can download TWO free games instead of just one. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif

[kizu]

i wonder if we can download the orginal gmaes like Halo of Fable which cost 1200. save me tons of points http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

[Saner]

ya 800 pts would be generous.

[eXo]

Source: A string of reports tracing back to predictions pieces on UK-based gadget site Stuff.tv and in The Seattle Times.

What we heard: When Microsoft decided to back HD-DVD in September 2005, many assumed the soon-to-be-launched Xbox 360 would eventually support the next-gen video format. Sure enough, at the 2006 Consumer Electronic Show (CES), then-Xbox marketing chief Peter Moore unveiled the console's external HD-DVD drive. While Microsoft touted the peripheral as its way of offering consumers more choice, many wondered if it meant Microsoft didn't have enough faith in the format to make it standard in its multi-million-unit-selling console.

In September 2006--two months before the 360's external HD-DVD player launched--Taiwanese electronics-industry news site Digitimes reported that Microsoft had designed a 360 with an internal HD-DVD drive to rival the PlayStation 3's built-in Blu-ray Disc player. However, the predicted early 2007 launch period came and went without an HD-DVD-equipped hitting the market. The rumor then faded--until October, when reports surfaced of a joint effort between HD-DVD creator Toshiba to create a 360 which would support the high-definition format.

With CES 2008 just around the corner, speculation is growing that Microsoft will use the gadget-centric event to unveil a new HD-DVD equipped Xbox 360. This week, a series of reports sparked by the two aforementioned pieces raised the possibility that Bill Gates will use his final CES address as Microsoft's chairman to announce a new console which Stuff.tv calls the "Xbox 360 Ultimate." According to stuff's "guesstimate," the new console will have many of the same features as the PS3, including 1080p HDMI video output and built-in Wi-Fi. It will also feature the 65nm CPU and GPU, which will enable it to be cooled by a "near-silent" fan, and will sport a massive 320GB hard drive--or so Stuff.tv editors speculate.

[PSOLaguna]

On 2008-01-04 13:34, kizu wrote:
i wonder if we can download the orginal gmaes like Halo of Fable which cost 1200. save me tons of points http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif



Id actually consider replaying those games if they had
any achievements

[McLaughlin]

They won't switch to HD-DVD eXo, because each and every 360 owner as of now won't be able to play the games they'd release.

That's over 10 million customers who would be very pissed off.

[Nidarrock]

With regards to the free game. It's great that they admit to a problem, although not technically fixing it. What I heard is they are waiting until most of the 1 month trials are done to see how many stay online before doing any real fixing. Anyways, they needed to do something and they did. While points would be the best solution, a free XBLA game is by far not the worst. Unless you own it already.

[amtalx]

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/846/846420p1.html

Looks like we are getting Undertow. It supposed to be good (I didn't play it long enough to form a real opinion) but letting us choose would have been much nicer. What if you already bought Undertow? Then you get a handshake and a kick in the junk I guess.

[Jaspaller]

Good god MS, just give us points instead!

[ABDUR101]

I'd of rather had the points, makes a helluva lot more sense than tossing a game out considering it'd give everyone the option to buy what they want.

Oh well, appearently the life-less nerds at MS don't socialise enough to know what common sense is.

[Darkly]

im pleased, the game would cost 800 points, so its a lot better than getting root beer tapper or something.

yet confused, so i'm assuming the developer isn't owned by microsoft - how are they working the finances out? surely Ms cant pay for every copy of the game downloaded, so anyone know how that works?


EDIT: 'I thought they would be giving out a new game. On xbox360achievements.org, it says that you can call 1-800-4MY-XBOX if you already have it, and they will "take care of you"...'

- from a poster named orfin




<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Darkly on 2008-01-18 12:16 ]</font>

[ABDUR101]

*BOOMHEADSHOT*

..easier than giving out 800ms points though right? Anyway, atleast its a decent game from what I've heard. It would have been more appropriate(and make more sense) to just divy out the points.

[Rubius-sama]

Yeah but giving out the points would mean more of a loss for MS as they would actually lose that amount of money which they give out in points. 10 million live members multiplied by $10 (800 pts) = $100 million. That's a shitload of money, even if 30% of that went back to MS (for their cut of the sales).

Giving out a game means they could work out a deal with the developer. Paying the developer $500k-1m and making the game a free download to anyone would make more sense. That's probably more than the game would make on its own, too.

[Sinue_v2]

I played Undertow. Didn't like it. This is not an incentive for me.

[Zelutos]

Due to the issues with live over the winter holidays and new years, Microsoft will be offering free downloads of the arcade game Undertow till this Sunday.

Neat!



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Zelutos on 2008-01-24 13:26 ]</font>

[Boxblaster]

I think that if they gave out points, they would have to give it out to every account on X-box Live, equaling a lot of money. Since there is an option to download the game, and they didn't spam the banners with it, they are banking on people NOT downloading it. Since everyone won't download it, they have the clean conscious for offering the download. I downloaded the game myself, and told everyone to get it. It's a lot better then most other Live Arcade games, in my opinion. Plus, a lot services don't offer anything like this, I appreciate what MS has done. I can't tell you how many times my ISP fails on me, and they don't offer anything in return.

[CherryLunar]

LANCASTER!