Shane Kim on 360 Shadowrun vs. PC Shadowrun price: That’s the way it is

Do the math. - Image 1 


Shadowrun (Xbox 360), FASA/Microsoft Game Studios: US$ 60.00
Shadowrun (PC), FASA/Microsoft Game Studios: US$ 50.00
Shadowrun (Xbox 360 – PC) Difference: US$ 10.00

Okay, what explains the ten dollar difference between the Xbox 360 and PC versions of the same multiplayer-only game? Newsweek’s N’Gai Croal asks the same questions in an email to Shane Kim, Microsoft Game Studios VP, and Shane Kim emailed back the response:

The $59.99 for Xbox 360 and $49.99 for Windows Vista price points are our standard pricing for each platform.

Should people be worked up over this? Maybe, maybe not – but the price difference, even at ten dollars, will still raise some eyebrows when one considers that FASA and MGS is trying to deliver essentially the same game (okay, to be fair, a similar gaming experience) on the Xbox 360 and PC. And it has to, because it’s a cross-platformer, and if there were any significant differences between the gameplay or offerings of the two versions, players on one platform or the other might feel short-changed.

Kim’s answer also indicates that Microsoft will be following this pricing schematic for their first-party titles “like Shadowrun” – which means that the only difference between future 360/PC cross-platformers won’t be the controller-vs.-mouse/keyboard (not if a controller could also be used on the PC and MS adds keyboard and mouse support to the console), or the PC’s open architecture, but…

Ten dollars.

Do the math. - Image 1 


Shadowrun (Xbox 360), FASA/Microsoft Game Studios: US$ 60.00
Shadowrun (PC), FASA/Microsoft Game Studios: US$ 50.00
Shadowrun (Xbox 360 – PC) Difference: US$ 10.00

Okay, what explains the ten dollar difference between the Xbox 360 and PC versions of the same multiplayer-only game? Newsweek’s N’Gai Croal asks the same questions in an email to Shane Kim, Microsoft Game Studios VP, and Shane Kim emailed back the response:

The $59.99 for Xbox 360 and $49.99 for Windows Vista price points are our standard pricing for each platform.

Should people be worked up over this? Maybe, maybe not – but the price difference, even at ten dollars, will still raise some eyebrows when one considers that FASA and MGS is trying to deliver essentially the same game (okay, to be fair, a similar gaming experience) on the Xbox 360 and PC. And it has to, because it’s a cross-platformer, and if there were any significant differences between the gameplay or offerings of the two versions, players on one platform or the other might feel short-changed.

Kim’s answer also indicates that Microsoft will be following this pricing schematic for their first-party titles “like Shadowrun” – which means that the only difference between future 360/PC cross-platformers won’t be the controller-vs.-mouse/keyboard (not if a controller could also be used on the PC and MS adds keyboard and mouse support to the console), or the PC’s open architecture, but…

Ten dollars.

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