Prior to its release, I was enthusiastic about Pac-Man Kart Rally for a number of reasons: it’s a kart racer (fun genre), it features Pac-Man and other Namco characters, and it’s the first mobile Xbox Live game with wireless multiplayer (local Wi-Fi only). Then it launched to mixed reactions – the poor frame rate and repetitive music seem to be major turn offs for many gamers.
Frankly I find the negative reactions largely hyperbolic, as it’s still a competent and accessible racing game, light years ahead of the only other Xbox Live kart racer, Cro Mag Rally in quality. In any case, it seens someone at Microsoft may have noticed the tepid Marketplace ratings and reacted quickly. For whatever reason, Pac-Man Kart Rally has dropped from $4.99 to $2.99 just two or three days after its release.
Is this a price drop, random sale, or simply a marketplace glitch? We won’t know for sure until next week, when Microsoft will hopefully respond to our queries. It’s mostly good news, as gamers who were turned off at the relatively high five dollar price point now have more incentive to snap the game up right away. It’s probably wisest not to price a game with so many rough edges above three dollars, regardless of brand recognition or a novel multiplayer feature.
On the other hand, many gamers like me bought Pac-Man Kart Rally at the original price only to see it costing less a few days later. We’re rather unlikely to receive refunds – heck, I never managed to get refunds for all the delisted games I’ve bought, a far worse situation (and I did try!). The lightning fast price drop, sale, or whatever will surely leave a bad taste in the mouths of early adopters.
In the long run, the increased sales from a more reasonable price point will probably outweigh a bit of temporary negativity. WPCentral has contacted Microsoft for comment on the price change and will update should we receive clarification.
Get Pac-Man Kart Rally here on the Marketplace.
Update: Microsoft has confirmed this is a permanent price drop.
Thanks to Nima Heravi for the tip!
Reader comments
Pac-Man Kart Rally now costs two dollars less all of a sudden
People seem obsessed with "free" when it comes to games, by I hate micro-transactions and ads, I prefer to pay upfront, it seems fair, since everyone needs to eat.
While realising Live games, generally fall short on quality, many people seem to care more about price than quality, I mean it's like it's ok to be rubbish as long as it doesn't go above the psychological barrier of 0.99.
+1
I'm a Windows Phone fan and loyalist but we are lightyears behind Android and Apple in terms of games. I was my friend play this great looking RPG which was free and looked 10 times better than the $3-6 offerings in my Marketplace. I really hope Apollo is going to change all that.
This game is a clone of Mario Kart for the SNES. Worse controls and really annoying music (it's cute for the retro gamer for about 2-5 min but, you'll shut it off.)
No Xbox live mutliplayer, I guess local Wi-FI is a start but, When will I be able to play a xbox live member on the other side of the country ?
This is a $0.99 title, nothing more, $4.99 is a rip off and $2.99 is too much. The quality to me says it's a cheap title, MAYBE if it goes on sale for 0.99, I might buy it but, otherwise, I would pass on this one.
You think every single mobile game is worth 99 cents. Saying it over and over and over again is less than productive.
Im just a fly on the wall.:)
+1
I found the controls to be so awful that I uninstalled the trial after about 2 minutes.
Not sure why the controls gave you problems. You can tilt or press the edges of the screen to steer, and tilt can even be disabled. The controls work fine on my focus.
It seems this game was a bit rushed and the main focus was the WiFi feature gameplay. Everything seems to be tossed in with no polish. Price drop is a good call but an update with the current issues is what will keep this game alive on the market to be anything near attractive. This game should be a try before buy even with the discounted price.
Its an awful game. Sooooo glitchy and laggy, low frame rate. Very disappointing. As somebody stated earlier, its strange how 15 years ago we had great rally games for the Nintendo 64....now this crap!?
$3.49 in Australia. Won't buy until parity.
"It's probably wisest no to price a game with so many rough edges above three dollars".
I would say it's probably wisest not to release it at all, you're just giving your service a bad name as negative reactions go faster and louder than good ones. Whatever the price, new releases on xbl can't afford to be mediocre when the OS is trying to get steam.
This.
Microsoft needs to stop pursuing big-name publishing houses and established brands, and embrace the smaller start-up developers who are putting out real quality stuff. Take something highly acclaimed like Shadowgun - it's by MADFINGER Games. Not EA, not Gameloft, not SEGA.
Can't they do both?
+1
I dont even like mario kart (except double dash), so I couldn't care less how much it cost...lm lying if it was $1 I'd buy it, but then again i'd buy any live title that was $1 most likely
Even though its a Xbox live game, its not as good as kart racer on iPhone .. =/
That's normal. It's the same with Angry Birds, Doodle Jump, Fruit Ninja, Flight Control and probably some more games. They are all better on iOS.
And we pay up to three times as much, for stupid achievements and points.
Besides Duudle, i do most of my gaming on an ipod touch. Makes no sense...
so does the game lag and glitch? If so I'm not interested in buying it at any price...
It has a try before you buy option.
THIS is why I most of the times never buy a game right away and especially when knowing they can lower the price at any moment (deal of the week).
I don't want to sound negative but I'm starting to (kinda) lose faith on the ... importance Microsoft puts towards the entire catalog of apps in the Marketplace. And by importance I mean a certain "priority", if you will, to make it appealing for the customers - heck, just notice the high prices for Xbox LIVE games.
If they CAN lower the price, why going through all the negative feedback in the first place!?
Games, or pretty much any product will always get discounted at some point in time. Generally the cheaper it is at the start, the easier it is for the price to drop. More so for digitally distributed games with a wide audience (look at the App Store and Steam). Anyway, the fact is that apps are almost always going to be on sale eventually, if you want to buy it on day one you have to keep that in mind, and if you don't want to feel "cheated" when the price drops, just wait for one, simple as that.
Anyway this seems to be a special case, I doubt there have been many/any XBL titles on sale so quickly after they are launched (again, compared to the App Store, there are tons of apps which go on sale just 1-2 days after its release). Plus, this is not even a DotW since The Harvest is on sale this week.
+1
I really have to agree with you astroXP. Windows has the most expensive games and at the same time, graphically less appealing and less functional. Not to mention always being the last ones to join the party aka Words with Friends.etc
It really isn't that good...
It's absolutely awful. I don't see why these kart racers have to be so rubbish when we had good ones back on what? Nintendo 64?
Back even earlier... The original Super Mario Kart for the 16 bit SNES was an amazing game. I must've logged a thousand hours on that game at least...
Same here.... I remember the 15-20 people over my house to determin the Winner on Super Mario Kart for the SNES...I always won tho :)
We did this weekly...
Dam lol and I bought it the day yaw put it up here haha