360 games hit Platinum

Four games for Microsoft's next-gen system going on the cheap; Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero, PGR3, Need for Speed Most Wanted all to be $30 each.

With next-generation consoles comes next-generation prices, forcing cash-strapped gamers to choose their purchases wisely. Therefore, any bargain is welcomed with open arms and open wallets.

Microsoft helped out penny-pinchers today by announcing the launch of its Platinum Hits program for the Xbox 360, which offers a handful of older games at discounted prices. Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham Racing 3, Kameo: Elements of Power, and Need for Speed Most Wanted will all be available for $29.99 each as of October 15.

It should be noted that retailers are already cutting costs of first-party Xbox 360 games, with several online stores currently selling PD0, Kameo, and PGR3 for $29.99. Need for Speed Most Wanted, on the other hand, is still being sold for $59.99. Many other games, such as Burnout Revenge, Madden NFL 06, and NHL 2K6, previously had their prices lowered by their publishers.

A similar program, called the Xbox 360 Classic games, was revealed yesterday in the UK. The quartet of games includes Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, Condemned, and Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie, all selling for 24.99GBP.

Microsoft says the next line of Platinum Hits will be unveiled in spring of 2007 but did not give any hints as to what titles would be included.

117 Comments

  • rav44

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 3:34 pm PT

    fear is now platinum.

  • asmodeus_z

    Posted Jan 23, 2007 5:20 pm PT

    Dead Rising Went Platinum in terms of Sales Volume - hope they re-released it as a Budget Priced Platinum Hit. *cross fingers*

  • mariokart64fan

    Posted Jan 7, 2007 10:39 am PT

    ridge racer 6 is 19,99 already and is newer then pgr and that bunch that is 29.99 and theres newer ones already 39.99 or under so this does not suprise me at all

  • ps3wii

    Posted Dec 4, 2006 4:42 pm PT

    Should be $25

  • FearNinja

    Posted Nov 1, 2006 2:42 pm PT

    Thats alot of sales.

  • _Sam_

    Posted Sep 21, 2006 9:24 pm PT

    I'm a penny-pincher

  • hemakm3

    Posted Sep 21, 2006 3:09 pm PT

    Bout time.

  • icemancell

    Posted Sep 21, 2006 10:36 am PT

    booooo they all need to go to 20 bucks!!!

  • vince956

    Posted Sep 21, 2006 6:24 am PT

    OLD NEWS, these games have been selling for that price at circuit city, best buy and other retailers for over 3 months now. Except NFS.

  • nighte

    Posted Sep 21, 2006 5:44 am PT

    This is great for those of us who still haven't made the jump to next gen yet it will give us more game we can buy with the system. Also $30 what's the fuss the current gen. games of the same type is $20. So $10 more for next gen. Seems reasonable to me.

  • toonamil

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 11:30 pm PT

    $29.99 for PDZ? Wow.
    And I paid 20 bucks for my copy a month ago unused.

  • wenbin09

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 10:40 pm PT

    hope they release the list soon~~

  • JLCrogue

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 9:58 pm PT

    Stupid EA can't even be bothered to lower the price of a mediocre game that has been out for a long time now.

  • cybergooch

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 8:37 pm PT

    CoheedIV, are you saying that Microsoft is responsible for the increase in gaming prices? Because, correct me if I'm wrong, first-party titles on the 360 were selling for $49 --while 3rd party titles sold at $60-$70. Yes, EA, Nsoft, Activision...all 3rd party publishers--all selling games at $60. Hmm, want to rephrase that Senator?

  • Bathyj

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 8:32 pm PT

    "Mystikef
    Gamers are the biggest whiners in the world: They knock $20 off the price of a game... Gamers complain. An online service costs $4 a month... Gamers complain. An old arcade game that used to absorb hundreds of dollars in quarters from your pocket cost $5 to own and gamers complain... A game that hasn't come out doesn't look exactly like they wanted it to or is different than expected and gamers complain. What ever hppened to gaming being fun? The gaming community has turned into a bunch of whiney crybabies that posts negativity for everyone to read every chance they get. You all embarrass me. Those of you that actually have fun gaming are excluded."

    Well said. I blame the internet. Now I'm going to complain about this KFC I bought. It only had 8 secret Herbs and Spices. 3 of them I knew.

  • theclaw135

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 8:21 pm PT

    Hasn't PGR3 been $19.99 for a while now?

  • cybergooch

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 8:15 pm PT

    Mystikef, I couldn't have summed it up better myself. Most of these kids are so absorbed in their gaming platform of choice that they buy into all the hype and spit out negativity. I think they are oppressed in school or work and the only way to vent is to kick the dog and come on these boards and spit out the dumbest things that only THEY can justify. And if you are offended, YES I was talking about YOU!

  • mat2g

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 7:29 pm PT

    "Mystikef
    Gamers are the biggest whiners in the world: They knock $20 off the price of a game... Gamers complain. An online service costs $4 a month... Gamers complain. An old arcade game that used to absorb hundreds of dollars in quarters from your pocket cost $5 to own and gamers complain... A game that hasn't come out doesn't look exactly like they wanted it to or is different than expected and gamers complain. What ever hppened to gaming being fun? The gaming community has turned into a bunch of whiney crybabies that posts negativity for everyone to read every chance they get. You all embarrass me. Those of you that actually have fun gaming are excluded."

    I don't think I agreed with anything more on these message boards in my life dude. Nuff said.

  • VegetaMaelstrom

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 6:54 pm PT

    I've been waiting for this for a while. Good job MS. Now go give Activision a kick in the butt to make COD2 a platinum hit before COD3 ships. It only makes sense.

  • xbox_gamer1

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 6:48 pm PT

    Nice hope to see more games on the platinum list soon.

  • chikahiro94

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 6:20 pm PT

    @CoheedIV
    That argument might've held water during the PS1 era when publishers were (arguably) saving a lot of money on media costs dispite increased development costs, but now? Forget it. Remember - they don't get that full $60. The estimated average budget for a next-gen $10 million dollars, and there's a much smaller installed user base to sell to, so its harder to make your money back.

    If it was that easy to recoup costs, why was Majesco in so much trouble not too long ago? Why did SNK go under? Looking Glass? Was Acclaim and Interplay's financial troubles just a big hoax to keep the conspiracy going? Wasn't Eidos have trouble not that long ago?

    Bringing up the 2k sports games for $20 should introduce you to the concept of a "loss leader." They risked the loss then so they could get you next year and the year after that on the yearly updates (just like console makers eat money at system launch hoping to make money off game royalties).

    Lets not forget marketing costs eat up a fair bit of cash also. Want to compare console games to PC games? How many PC games get shipped out as "boxed betas" and require multiple patches over their lifetime, not to mention straight out of the box? If a console game ships out buggy it's odd and sometimes worth recalling over (GT2, for example). If a console game shipped as buggy as some PC games ship, it'd be returned in a heartbeat. Want to talk about competition? Look at the shelves of games at the store - if a game doesn't "make it" shortly after launch when there's the most hype/awareness of it, it might not ever because it'll be overwhelmed by all the other titles out there.

    This is the first price hike I've seen since everything moved to CD back during the PS1/Saturn generation. Before that I was paying $60-80 for cartridge games on the SNES and $200 for Neo Geo titles. So that's 12 years with no price increase, but a huge increase in graphical and audio quality. I don't see what your problem is or how you base your accusations of the price increase being nothing more than developer and publisher greed.

  • umbaquaw

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 6:10 pm PT

    Perfect Dark was kickass, hopefully we will get more online players now. And BTW, how come there is now Condemned for the USA market under classic? I loved playing that game and can't get enough cash to buy it new or used (its like 49 bucks still!).

  • axgamer

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 6:04 pm PT

    Although Perfect Dark Zero is already $34.99 here, so thats not much of a difference. but still cool for the other games though.

  • axgamer

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 5:56 pm PT

    Thats sweet lower game prices now i can buy games for cheap.

  • YukoAsho

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 5:46 pm PT

    Bat - You from England, I take it? Here in the US, the Sony budget line is refered to as the "Greatest Hits." "Platinum Hits" is what MS calls them. Nintendo calls them "Players' Choice."

  • Da1ShrpSh0trGrl

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 5:24 pm PT

    Now instead of choosing one game I get to pick two, and still get my money worth it.

  • Monstromo

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 5:20 pm PT

    The only reason Kameo made it was because it was a launch title and there was little else to play. That game sucked.

  • Bathyj

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 5:19 pm PT

    WooHoo. Although this move reeks of desparation coming so early, its nothing but good news for us gamers. BTW "Platnium" is the Sony range. The Xbox range are called "Classics." I know platnium in the music industry means 1,000,000 units sold but I thought only CoD2 had sold that many so far.

  • gamerdude27

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 5:07 pm PT

    Awesome. These games are a steal for that price. Also, I like how this is conveniently going into effect one month before the PS3 launches....

  • ElementalFire

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 4:51 pm PT

    What, $10 higher than Xbox's Platinum Hits? Boo.

  • CommanderKill90

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 4:40 pm PT

    Well I have 3 out of those 4 and hate the other one(NFS:MW) . I wish the USA would've got King Kong for $30...I've always wanted to play that one

  • thewax

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 4:27 pm PT

    great, now i afford some of the games when i get it.

  • mojahid_1st

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 3:40 pm PT

    what! more money in my pocket!!! good on ya Microsoft!!!

  • Jordan Bisasky

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 3:20 pm PT

    To clarify, I don't think they need to sell 1 million. Xbox Platinum Hits games had to sell 400,000 within 9 months (good ole Wikipedia). I like how this is all conveniently appearing right around the PS3 launch. Hmm... $100-$200 cheaper, over half a dozen $30 games......

  • nickyb628

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 3:16 pm PT

    sounds good to me

  • messin18

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 3:09 pm PT

    Early for platinum hits? Platinum means 1 mil sold... these games have sold 1 mil.. Works for me.

    These are all very good games at a steal at $30.

  • westsider101

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 3:03 pm PT

    IT's about time some games became cheaper

  • vipr255

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 2:59 pm PT

    You know Kameo's only $20 at Compusa

  • franwex

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 2:56 pm PT

    It should be $25...

  • moocow21

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 2:53 pm PT

    What? PDZ has been $30 for quite some time now...

  • jazztrumpet5

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 2:40 pm PT

    First of all... I just don't understand the console wars thing. How old are we? OOOH MS sux PS3 rulez blah blah blah. Shut up. Second, I think looking at the rise in game and console prices can be compared to gas prices. Gas around 3 bucks a gallon - did people stop buying gas? No. We cried and complained about it, and filled up our tanks like usual. Game prices 10 dollars higher? We'll still go out and buy them. You cannot blame the game industry for trying to capitalize on a hungry marketplace.

  • neohakusho

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 2:40 pm PT

    Project Gotham yay!!

  • LexLas

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 2:38 pm PT

    It seems early for Platinum hits but you have to face the facts,, they must do whatever it takes to keep up the competition since PS3 is just about to be released. Now I'm not a fan boy, but you can't tell me you don't see it, first Nintendo is competing by coming out at the same time and that failed as things changed and of course you will see more little deals like this to come out to put out competition and who can blame them.. when dealing with a giant like Sony ! I think these Platinum hits should be 25....

  • CoheedIV

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 2:29 pm PT

    Yuck_Foo
    "Anyone here played Return to Castle Wolfenstien for PC?
    I paid $80 when that first came out and did not complain for a single second. It was a great game on PC.
    Did MS set that price too?...Developers want more money for their games...if you don't like it don't buy it.
    The nerve of these production houses trying to make a buck of us." The difference is the majority of PC games are not $80 and will not be in the near future. The fact is that the vast majority of 360 games are $60. When PS2, PSONE, and many previous systems came out, did the majority of games raise $10? There are always a couple games for all consoles or the PC that are way higher or lower then the standard price.

  • Sydwynder

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 2:24 pm PT

    PDZ was a huge letdown. Kameo does nothing for me. The only racing game I can sit through is Burnout. So in other words, Meh......................

  • Yuck_Too

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 2:07 pm PT

    LOL...

    Anyone here played Return to Castle Wolfenstien for PC?

    I paid $80 when that first came out and did not complain for a single second. It was a great game on PC.

    Did MS set that price too?...Developers want more money for their games...if you don't like it don't buy it.

    The nerve of these production houses trying to make a buck of us.

  • CoheedIV

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 2:03 pm PT

    Has everyone forgot the fact that Microsoft set/allowed the $60 standard for games? Now they are going to do it for there Platinum Hits titles at $30. For what? The same games on the same medium doesn't give good reason for a consumer to pay $10 more . Please don't give me the "increased development cost" excuse. This excuse has been used since the beginning of time to cover up the fact that companies just want to make more profit.

    Here's one thing to think about. Why have many games on PS2 retailed for $40 and 2k sports games for $20? The answer is competition, not lower development costs. Companies will cut into there own PROFITS to make sure there games are sold. Do we all really believe that in order for game developers to make a profit they need to sell games for $60? I think not.

    I want to thank Microsoft in advance for giving Sony/3rd parties another reason to sell there games for $60 or $70 for the PS3 and raise the price of there greatest hits to $30 also...

  • ciryorel

    Posted Sep 20, 2006 1:58 pm PT

    $30 after a year? THat's expensive.

    Plus a system that costs $600 with the HD Dvd drive. Ps3 is a bargain. Pwnt.

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