I think future game releases should automatically come with at least one premium theme on the disc. As a little publisher-reward for shelling out EUR 60–70. Someone please forward this to Microsoft :)

I personally have to admit that I like them premium themes - I bought Halo 3, Halo Wars and the Destroyed Beauty Theme. And I intend on buying Forza as well ...

Nice idea, and I agree.. But do you really think they will do that and miss all the extra income they get from selling that same theme as a premium? I don't think so.. I'm very pessimistic about the gameindustry atm.. It's run to much by financial managers.. They don't really care about gamers and communities, they only care about how much money they can make.. The same reason why we will probably never see really usefull mod-tools and mapeditors etc on the consoles because that's a threat to their own premium DLC buisinessmodel.. I hope the industry proves me wrong, but I very much doubt it atm..

I just read that DLC for Far Cry 2 has been announced aswell.. A few weapons and 4 MP maps, for 'just' 800MS points or 9,99 on PSN (and offcourse no announcement for PC).. The worst of all premium DLC is MP stuff that splits a community into people that did pay extra and the ones that didn't.. Charging for a few weapons and MP maps, it's a sad joke, I'm telling you..

And as a result piracy will only increase.. The gamesindustry is as dumb as the musicindustry in that respect.. Piracy might be legally wrong, but the industry makes it more easy to morally justify it by overcharging and/or nickle&diming themselfs..

In the end I would be more happy if they just increased the prices of videogames by 10 euro/dollar or something and stop charging for the DLC.. That would give me a more satisfied feeling after I've bought a game.. Then they also won't split up online communities anymore, everyone that bought the game can keep playing together and be kept happy with free extra content to keep the game and community alive..

I agree good idea. Would be fun to be able to unlock some themes from playing the game. Like get new theme/avatar stuff after completing the game on hardest difficulty or by getting 200 achievements from the game. Now games doesn't seem to have much extra stuff after you complete the game. Now you need to pay for those bonus modes / characters later... like a week later :/

Yeah and it is a joke to make MP levels to paying customers only. I am ok with good content. I think expansion packs are great for games. Diablo 2 has good example of great expansion pack I think. It made the old game 10x better. Still that too splits the community but is more fair than 800 points for 4 maps.

Valve's strategy is great too, lots of free content and free weekend play time for TF2. I heard that they calculated that it boosts the game sales a lot. I think in the end they make more money on that way and community stays happy playing the new stuff together and knowing that future games are going to be great too in this regard.

Valve (on PC) is a great example of how it can and should be done.. I hope they don't get sucked into the console-DLC-greed to much though now that they've started to make consoleversions of their games aswell..

They can shuv'em for all I care. Good god, 250 points for that ??!?!?!?LOLz indeed. :D

Indeed LOLz indeed. It must take an artist a few minutes to come up with that.

The similar NeoGaf Thread, with some of the newer Premium Themes... Banjo, Aquateen and others.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34262...

Check these out - not premium themes but high quality screenshots of Disruptive Publishers "legacy" themes in the NXE. These are all 50 MS Points now.

http://www.disruptivepublishers.com/xbox/

Is this some sort of joke?

Joke - no - why? Granted, these aren't "premium" themes, but they are 1/5th the cost and some look hot - check out "Fracture" for example:

http://disruptivepublishers.com/xbox/theme_detail....

The joke is in paying (even if it's only 50 MS points) for something you can find on the internet everywhere for free..

It's almost as stupid as this http://www.lunarregistry.com

I hear your point - and full disclosure, I work for DP. With that said, I think it's unfair to compare customization content with the Lunar Registry. Of course, you can take any existing art from the internet and create a theme, but our artists actually spend significant time and effort creating high quality material for those that want it. To me the parallel is Starbucks coffee - if you want (nearly) free coffee at home, go for it - or if you want to pay a few bucks for "premium" coffee that's made for you, that's an option too.

Not trying to be "salesy" here - I totally understand and respect that most people will never, ever pay anything for static background content. I just think the business model is an interesting debate.

Anyone else have any thoughts on the matter?

Hahaha

Just get out of here man, your "artists" spend time on this crap? I'm even doubting you are the creators of those pictures.

Take for example this crap: http://www.disruptivepublishers.com/xbox/theme_det...

Wow that is well thought it, you can ALMOST see a woman there. The only one that is REMOTELY appealing is the one called fracture, and I wouldn't pay a penny for such crap either, because I can get it for free.

EDIT: The lunar registry is better, at least you get a certificate of stupidity, do you provide that as well when we buy a "theme/picture"

Agreed that Timea is tough to see in that one - all of our current themes were designed for the old Xbox 360 UI - not the NXE which adds the gray "sphere" overlay. We'll be replacing those with optimized designs in the near future. Fortunately the models are much more visible in the other sections of the UI.

Sorry you don't see any value in some of those designs. Do you believe musicians/artists should be compensated for music, since it is available for free on the internet as well? Anyway, we'll agree to disagree here - and we do realize that most users will never be interested in purchasing this. For those who want the convenience of instant gratification, I can think of worse things to spend 63 cents on. :)

With copywrite protected content it's different.. First it's illigal to offer copywrite content for free, and to get copywrite you have to create something unique, which I just don't see in your wallpapers, I'm sorry.. I think anyone can make those with a little bit of photoshop skills..

Compare it to multiplayer maps with PC games.. I'm sure it takes a lot of skill and time to create very nice maps.. But since there are plenty of people willing to do create maps of good quality for free it's no use charging money for yours, no matter how professional you are.. Sure you can try, but you won't sell much.. ;)

That's also why MS will most likely never release NXE themecreator software so people can make their own.. It's would blow up their own 'premium' theme business model.. Their trick has always been to create a monopoly without competition so they can make money of stuff that could well be free (or at least a lot cheaper)..

It's copyright instead of copywrite, yeah that was stupid of me.. I wish I could write in my native Dutch here, as it would make explaning some things a lot easier.. But then 99% here would not be able to read it.. Bummer!

Um no Copyright is much the same as patent in that you have to register a copyright for it to be legal.

Yes you may get copyright in theroy when you create something but that doesn't mean that it will be legal as there will be no proof when you created that copyright.

I know, and I was thinking more in the way Jollipop is aswell.. Imho you have to earn a copywrite by creating something unique.. Creating something anyone with a little bit of effort could make doesn't qualify (for me at least)..

I said this months ago, when we were shown the new interface at E3.