OXM content headed for the XBLM at a price
If you want to play the Katamari demo that was announced as an exclusive for the Official Xbox Magazine just days ago, there will now be two ways to get the demo. Both of which will cost mind, but now you won’t have to buy the magazine, but just fire up the Marketplace on Xbox Live. Wait, demos cost on the Marketplace now? Hit the jump to see the future.
The Official Xbox Magazine (presumably just the US at this stage) plan to launch a new idea into the Marketplace. Titled OXM: Digital, there will be a wealth of stuff available that may or may not be interesting to you. It’s slightly unfair to focus on just the demos, as there will be trailers, interviews, themes, gamerpics and other content available too. However given that most people can get the trailers elsewhere, it’s likely many will see this as another way to charge for demos, but indirectly.
It also doesn’t spell the end of the disc with the magazine. Each are treated as separate mediums still, and will feature different content, so OXM:D isn’t simply a copy of the disc, despite some things overlapping.
The OXM:D content will cost 200 Points each month, although as mentioned, no word on who this will be made available to; just the US seems the most likely, but you never know. Whether you see this as a cheap way to make money off demos, or whether it’s a good move, you can light up the comments below.
Can I be the first to say: What a fucking rip.
and may i be the 2nd?
Next they will charge you to turn on your Xbox 360, or charge you 200 pts every 4 hours of use.
Morons.
fair enough i guess - i just hope every good demo doesn’t become exclusive for the OXM disc. I personally think all demos that are exclusive for OXM should be timed exclusive, so that the demo would become exclusive on the marketplace bout 3 months afterwards
I can see why OXM would try and get exclusive demos. Future US is a business, and like all businesses need to make money, so they need to find a way to make their content worth paying for. (I, for one, let my OXM subscription lapse, in no small part because demos became free to download over Marketplace.) But for the publishers, it would be in their best interest to get their demos out from behind a “paywall” into as many hands as possible. Timed exclusives seem to be a good way to satisfy both parties.
What they will be fighting, though, is perception. With the name “Official Xbox Magazine” and their content on the Xbox Marketplace, it’s going to look to a lot of people like Microsoft itself is now charging for demos, interviews, trailers, and other similar content that Marketplace already provides for free. Even if they offered, say, a discount to Gold members, it’s still charging for something that has hitherto been available for no extra charge. I think you’ll see a lot of comments like the first poster here.
I think OXM is making a good move in going digital, but I think they still have a tough road ahead.
i wont pay for a demo.
NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO dont start charging for demos
It surely won’t last.
Less people downloading demos = less people tempted to buy the games = everyone loses
If the 200 points gets you a .pdf type file viewable on your 360 so you can read the entire OXM, then this might be acceptable.
The problem isn’t so much that you’re charged money for a demo, because you would be if you bought OXM from the store… the problem is demos being OXM specific in the first place.
You don’t think subscribers paying $40 a year should get better content than the people that don’t?
It’s the same as with Gold exclusive content.
I have a sub. for the magazine anyways so I get it all on a disc. If you don’t want it don’t buy it. People will always complain about stuff like this like they are forced to buy it.
demos should be free, dont bring your preachy bullshit here
Im sure i remeber a time when people from XBOX such as Major Nelson stated that they would NEVER charge for demo’s. Good one! See, the head of EA takes over the reins at MS and we’re getting charged for Demo’s. What a cunt chop!
learn to read.
you were already being charged for demos if you paid for the OXM. now its online, at the same cost.
The problem is that demos are exlusive to OXM to begin with.
How to spot a pretentious self absorbed preachy asshole in a forum or comments section:
They say “Learn to read”.
The head of EA is in charge now? if that is the case the 360 will fail hard.
Well, I guess we could just stop buying so many games. I think there are enough AAA titles releasing this Fall to make it a waste of time to even try anything new for a while. Especially if they are charging ME for trying their games. I wish print media would either find a way to compete or go belly up. Exclusive demos are a new low. OXM has and will always be a demo disc that comes packaged with glossy toilet paper.
Oh my fucking god. Ive no problem with paying for gamer pics and wot-not but Sombody shoot the fuckig wanker(for you yanks thats jurk-off) who thought of that !!! Milky fucking milky. Im so pissed off paying for demo’s
IT’s an OUTRAGE. Isnt the whole point of demo’s being try before you buy.
Word
fo shizzle ma nizzle
I think they should settle on a price for a subscription of xbox live, month, 3month, year etc… Now the thing is have everything on the MarketPlace free, Xbox Live would now cost 129.99 year or whatever. This way we wouldn’t get nailed with all these stupid fees. I mean c’mon price for demos, that’s going to far.
First the red lights (Im on my fourth 360) and now this. Microsoft is fuckin up. I’ll be good and goddamned if I EVER pay for a demo. I’m tellin you, they fuckin up
The more and more time passes by the more I’m convinced that I will got back to Playstation. This mudafukas are so damn rich they still find ways to make a DIME! Fuck that! My 360 is going to reverse back to what I bought an XBox for…HALO. The rest of the worthy games will be PS3 and the 3rd party PS3 are going to blow 360 to the fuckin moon in the next year. Did I mention FREE online? These fuckers need to realize that unless its a demo that its the hit of the year, people aint going to pay for fuckin DEMOS!!!! WTF? It is a demo afterall…a way for us to say…I like, I’m buyin it…or ultematelly…THIS SUCKS DUNKEY ASSHOLE!
It’s magazine content idiots. They aren’t charging for non-OXM content. You are just getting a price break by downloading the OXM content instead of buying the magazine.
Quite a bit of overreaction here folks, and selective focusing on one element of what OXM Digital will be.
Give it time, see it yourself, and it should make more sense. But don’t panic in the meantime, especially on so little information.
Don’t panic? This is an impossibility with the people that post here.
i wont pay for demos! the demos are in the gold month pay. so is the videos and the free stuff.
Estan locos los de la revista.
If the demo cost money to dl fewer people will download it which will only lead to fewer buying the final product. Who get the gain from this none.
hmmm popular subject, very controversial. I dont like paying for anything never mind stuff we get for free anyway, since xbox marketplace came around alot less people bought oxm because the ‘free’ disc became pointless as identical demos were actually free on live. so surely some demos are now gonna cost me when they wouldve been free before.
thats very lame and very microsoft, shoulda seen it comin.
‘You know how you hear people saying “I don’t use the disc any more, I get all my demos on Marketplace” or “Who needs a magazine, I get all my information online”? Well, we heard people saying that too. And we came up with a better idea*.’
(* way to make more money)