GAME now selling Xbox Live Arcade games nation-wide

I think this is a great idea, will be good for those who do not have xbox live or have xbox live but with terrible broadband speeds!.

It's also good for buying gifts

I take my message back as i read the thread way to quick lol, sorry to everyone.

I think this is a great idea, will be good for those who do not have xbox live or have xbox live but with terrible broadband speeds!.

Wouldn't solve that problem- it's a code which you then use the redeem code facility. Just lets you pay for it in a different way.

EDIT- Whoops, also didn't read your second comment! I'll the comment there just incase anyone needs the information.

I dont get it

You buy codes in store that allow you to download certain games from the marketplace.

BEFOREHAND you used to have to go in store to buy a card with a code on it that allowed you to buy whatever games you like from the marketplace.

How is this popular? It makes no sense as a gift (why get what they specifically ask for or what you think they would like when you can get the points to let them decide/browse whatever they like?)

It makes no sense for people who wouldnt have been able to access the download service previously as they still need to go online to actually download the thing...

I just dont get it

Must say that I 'aint diggin' this idea at all. Seems utterly pointless to me.

It's just redundant. Why buy a code and only be able to download one thing, and be unable to change your mind, when you can just buy the points instead? A better option would be to have a kiosk in the store that you could use to download games to a USB drive and pay with card or cash. That would actually help people who can't buy XBLA games any other way. It would never happen, of course, because of Microsoft's ultra restrictive DRM, which broke a similar idea for Dead Rising.

If you regularly browse the Arcade section it makes no real difference, but if you're a non-user buying a gift for somebody, or a casual who rarely spends much time on the dashboard, picking up an individual game rather than Microsoft points makes far more sense. And it's obviously great for developers, because Arcade games get barely any publicity offline.

During the beta session of this, you took the 'card' with say 'Trials HD' on the front to the tills and walked away with the card (obviously with the code on) but felt you were buying something - now it just appears on a receipt which makes it feel less like your buying a game - bit cheap.

The 2100MP are still going, and in terms of Xmas sales, it would be nicer to give someone a game to download rather than points because points you can spend on anything so it shows you are not really giving any thought into the product, whereas buying a game does - and you are effectively buying a game here.

Although I do agree - it should be at least put on a disc or USB pen for not-very-good-internet connection users - it is effectively a well thought out marketing tool - and some people dont want to buy directly from store - just another way of increasing store revenue.

During the beta session of this, you took the 'card' with say 'Trials HD' on the front to the tills and walked away with the card (obviously with the code on) but felt you were buying something - now it just appears on a receipt which makes it feel less like your buying a game - bit cheap.

Well that just destroys the one reason I thought this would work - birthdays. I had assumed you'd get a nice glossy greetings card or postcard, with artwork and the game name eg "Plants vs Zombies".

Stick it in an envelope and it's a perfect present.

If all you're getting is a receipt then I genuinely can't see a single reason for this to exist.

I bought 2100MSP from Game earlier and got the code on a receipt. I was quite happy since I feel a lot better throwing away a piece of paper than the boxed versions I used to buy. I don't think I'd ever buy the XBLA games, though.

Good idea, plus they can send it to your mobile phone too, also saves having to enter a credit card online and getting your live subscription autorenewed automatically if you don't want it. Because UK/Europe don't have the option to turn auto renew off like they do in USA!!.

I guess it'll be alright when actually in store and having a selection of games on the wall infront of you which i would prefer to searching through XBLA menu and then having to read the info on each one, plus its quick and easy and i reckon it'll benefit the casual gamers alot more as buying points and searching the marketplace can be pretty daunting for some people e.g my girlfriend, i can see this being alot more effective for her to access the games

Just bring out an XBLA compilation disc, goddammit.

Didn't they release a Trials HD/Limbo/Splosion Man disc in the states a while ago. Do that. Release a variety of compilation discs for those of us who aren't on Xbox Live and who don't want to be on Xbox Live, but still want to play these great games.

I'd pay good money for something like that.

I bought 2100MSP from Game earlier and got the code on a receipt. I was quite happy since I feel a lot better throwing away a piece of paper than the boxed versions I used to buy. I don't think I'd ever buy the XBLA games, though.

There £14.99 on play.com,, far cheaper than anywhere else i have seen them.