Xbox Live Arcade Sales Triple After New Xbox Experience

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XBLAnnoyance
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21478

December 11, 2008


Xbox Live Arcade Sales Triple After New Xbox Experience Sales of downloadable titles from Xbox Live Arcade nearly tripled in the first week after the New Xbox Experience's launch, according to new data revealed by Xbox Live programming director Larry Hryb.

Speaking on his Major Nelson blog, Hryb said that Avatar-focused title A Kingdom for Keflings registered the second-best debut performance ever on the service. The update of UNO to include the use of Avatars bumped the game's sales 650 percent in one day.

Movie downloads increased by 49 percent and downloads of television episodes increased by 30 percent, following the launch of the new dashboard update. In the U.S. the Xbox Live Marketplace now offers more than 30,000 movies, TV episodes and music videos via Netflix and deals with 45 global network and studio partners.

The number of new friends added per Xbox Live member also rose by 33 percent as a result of the new interface, with Hryb indicating that the average number of unique visitors to Xbox Live each day has risen by 66 percent over the past year.
Click to expand...
 
The update of UNO to include the use of Avatars bumped the game's sales 650 percent in one day.
Click to expand...

Indeed. I'm sure that it's nothing to do with the fact that it went from the arse-end of the catalogue to receiving pride of place as one of the new avatar-supporting games. 650%? That probably means an extra thirteen copies sold...
 
Are these really linked? Or did the release of the NXE just happen to correspond with the $200 Arcade pack?

I'm not trolling the NXE, it's cool, but I don't see how NXE would attract people to Arcade units specifically.
 
I don't know how widely applicable that is, but I turned on my 360 for the first time in quite a while to install the NXE, and then browsed the new XBLA titles that were released in the meantime, buying one of them. I think that may be a (probably quite short lived) contributing effect.

theBishop said:
Are these really linked? Or did the release of the NXE just happen to correspond with the $200 Arcade pack?

I'm not trolling the NXE, it's cool, but I don't see how NXE would attract people to Arcade units specifically.
Click to expand...
It's not about hardware sales, it's about XBLA games.
 
I love the NXE interface but they really need to beef up the servers hosting the download listings for XBLA and Community games.

When I click on them in the marketplace the text, preview pictures, etc. all load up really fast but then I am sitting there waiting for 10-20 seconds sometimes just for the "All Downloads" and "Get Trial" sections to populate so I can click to start downloading. I expected slowdowns for a week or two after NXE but the initial rush surely has died down. Something's obviously still overloaded.
 
I can't even begin to imagine how much I'd spend on XBLA games if they'd just let me pay with money instead of space bucks. Seriously. I buy probably 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 of the PSN games and outside of arcade disk based compilations I've only bought Braid on XBLA.
 
Let's ignore the fact that they discounted a few games for Black Friday... or that a relevant XBLA game called SSF2 HD Remix came out.
 
I know I bought a premium theme. Thought about Kingdom For Keflings, but decided to wait until after Christmas. So here is one fish who took some of the bait.
 
marwan said:
am i the only person that hates NXE? the classic dashboard was far more easier to navigate!
Click to expand...

I like it. I find myself paying more attention to Events now and even watching more Inside Xbox stuff. Some stuff is lamer, like I can't figure out how to Auto Download Arcade trials now. But overall, it's a nice improvement.
 
Avatar-focused title A Kingdom for Keflings registered the second-best debut performance ever on the service.​
Avatar integration aside, Kindom for Kelflings is also a really great game.

Really.
 
BenjaminBirdie said:
What does the price drop have to do with XBLA sales? Especially of UNO?
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Oh, I don't know, maybe people who got the price drop Xbox recently bought games for their first time? duh
 
drakesfortune said:
I can't even begin to imagine how much I'd spend on XBLA games if they'd just let me pay with money instead of space bucks. Seriously. I buy probably 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 of the PSN games and outside of arcade disk based compilations I've only bought Braid on XBLA.
Click to expand...

I've never payed full price for an XBLA game and I own around 30 of them.

Protip: Buy MS Point cards at discount prices. This is why spacebucks will always be better than regular cash.
 
Nah, the NXE is a jumbled mess. I just hit the guide button the moment my 360 boots up. The friends list is worse, the menus go left/right with big ugly panels instead of up/down in a clear, concise list and some of the really neat features (like installing games to HD and the Party system) are tucked away behind sub menus. I actually prefer the old one where it would boot directly to the Play Game button instead of a page of advertisements for things not even related to gaming. I can see why people like it because it looks focus tested to all hell... like SpikeTV mated with the Wii.
 
Farnack said:
I'm sure it's not the price drop... really...
Click to expand...
XBLA XBLA XBLA XBLA XBLA

Fucking hell people at least try to read the title..PROPERLY.

Anywho, the NXE probably brought quite a few...."dormant" Xbox 360 users chuck on ther 360 to see what the NXE is all about, probably helped that the new interface is a LOT more user friendly.
 
soldat7 said:
I've never payed full price for an XBLA game and I own around 30 of them.

Protip: Buy MS Point cards at discount prices. This is why spacebucks will always be better than regular cash.
Click to expand...
QFT, if you're paying full price then you're not doing it right.
There are always regular promotions for the cards, as well as freebies, etc.
 
i thought not reading the OP is bannable now? 50% of the people above me obviosuly didnt read the OP :lol

UNO has never left the top 10 xbla chart has it?
MOTHER FUCKING UNO! YEAH!!!
 
The new display method definitely helps a lot. It's a matter of course that big boxarts are going to pique interest a lot more than the tiny thumbnails they had before.
 
Here's another tip to sell more arcade games. Stop fucking selling 1500 ms

point cards when there's plenty of 800 point games. Seriously, what a

shitty thing to do.
 
acm2000 said:
UNO has never left the top 10 xbla chart has it?
MOTHER FUCKING UNO! YEAH!!!
Click to expand...

I don't think so. Which kind of spoils the percentages argument, if so. I'm pretty sure it's been a top 10 seller for almost ever.
 
Monsterland said:
Here's another tip to sell more arcade games. Stop fucking selling 1500 ms

point cards when there's plenty of 800 point games. Seriously, what a

shitty thing to do.
Click to expand...
Uh, they don't

sell 1500 pt cards. They're always

in increments of 400.
 
Stop It said:
XBLA XBLA XBLA XBLA XBLA

Fucking hell people at least try to read the title..PROPERLY.
Click to expand...

That's not what he's saying. He's saying that more people buying Xbox 360's will lead to more XBLA software sales. That makes sense. Folks take their unit home, go online, and download a couple of games onto their memory unit.
 
Stop It said:
XBLA XBLA XBLA XBLA XBLA

Fucking hell people at least try to read the title..PROPERLY.
Click to expand...

You dont think new lower price arcade systems being sold had anything to do with it? Only the coming of the NXE?
 
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