Lumines Live’s Ludicrous Pricing Structure Announced

I can’t say that everyone has the same mindset as me, but I’m sure the vast majority of you assume that when you’re buying a product you get all the expected features in one purchase and not to have to shell out more cash for bits and pieces of it. However, this is simply not the case for Lumines Live, an Xbox 360 Arcade-exclusive update of the PSP’s most well-received puzzler, in which there are multiple purchases required to received the entire experience.

So what’s the total cost of this trippy-looking puzzler? You will have to spend a staggering 1900 Microsoft Points to receive the game in it’s entirety. Yup, that’s right – nearly $25 for a title that you can’t bring to your friend’s house, re-sell when you’re bored and weary of the product, or even return to the store if you’re not very found of the game itself.

How does this all break down? Well, to even start playing Lumines Live, you have to pay an initial fee of 1200 Microsoft points (which equates to $14.99), and that is strictly for online multiplayer. Not fair, you say? Want to practice against the computer A.I. before testing out your Lumines skills online against real living, breathing opponents? Well, you can, but once you start digging real deep into the game play of this mode your progress will eventually be blocked by a message that says the ‘CPU Mission Pack is required to progress further’. You’ll then have to shell out another 300 Microsoft Points to receive this feature – which translates to another $3.75 in the hole. Finally, once you start getting into Mission Mode – the mode that many people would consider is the main meat of the game – you will be required to fork over yet even more dough. A transaction of 400 Microsoft points (or $5.00) will be an essential payment to play the Puzzle/Mission mode.

If Lumines Live is successful on Xbox Live Arcade, then we can only expect more of this feature-milking from Microsoft. I wouldn’t be astounded to see this nickel-diming to become more common in future game releases, either. Oblivion’s horse armor prices are ridiculously inflated, the Lord of the Rings: the Battle for Middle Earth II had three multiplayer maps ready for purchase out of the gate (when they should have been included in the actual product itself), and Call of Duty 2 has maps that are only available by purchase yet they are free of charge in the PC version.

How can we put an end to these absurd Xbox Live Arcade purchase set-up before it becomes more rampantly found in Xbox 360 releases? Vote with your wallets – or in this case, Microsoft Points- and don’t mindlessly shell out cash for each new game feature or map that should have already been included in the full product itself.

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