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U.S.gamers angry over OXM's exclusive deal

by Steven Williamson on 23 October 2006, 18:06

Tags: Shoot 'em up

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The single player demo for Ubisoft's highly anticipated shooter, Rainbow 6 Las Vegas, is currently available for download to EU consumers. Meanwhile, gamers in the United States are furious that they'll have to wait until November before they can download the demo for free. Why? Because the U.S official Xbox magazine has signed an exclusive deal meaning that gamers will have to purchase the next issue, due on October 24th, in order to play the demo.

It may not seen such a big deal to us Europeans as we're forever being put in second place to the US when it comes to getting our hands on the latest games or consoles, but the Rainbow 6 series has a huge following in the US and gamers are seriously unhappy that they'll have to fork out cash if they want to play the demo at the same time as Europe.

You only need to browse around some of the forums to see gamers venting their anger towards OXM and their exclusive deal. A quick visit to Major Nelson.com is a clear indication of the some of the feelings from US gamers with one poster, going by the name of Intagible 360, posting "I am strongly oppposed to this sort of shameless marketing. I will not be buying an OXM just for this demo, because I'm smart enough to realize that's exactly what they would have me do. Why doesn't OXm try to compete by making a quality magazine, instead of getting exclusivity of certain demos?"

Another poster claims it's a ploy by Microsoft to boost their Xbox live subscriber figures. There are approximately 4 million Xbox live users, but how many of those have created silver accounts to access exclusive content or demos that have been released early in other countries. As we speak there are plenty of US gamers setting up silver accounts in order to download the demo and, if this guy is right, then this exclusive deal will benefit both OXM in terms of cash and Microsoft in terms of figures.

Other posters say that they will be voting with their wallets and cancelling their subscription to the US OXM.


HEXUS Forums :: 9 Comments

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They should get over it. When things are the other way around, they seem happy enough then.
Robert
They should get over it. When things are the other way around, they seem happy enough then.
I like the taste of sweet sweet victory :D
Odc
I like the taste of sweet sweet victory :D

:D yeah, definately. I'd be well annoyed if the UK OXM done this though,but it's great to be first for once, especially when the demo is so damn good!
OXM? Is that Official XBOx Magazine? I don't see what the problem is. Can't they just buy it? Loads of PC mags have exclusive demos and that doesn't seem to be bother anyone. Am I missing something here?
Bluecube
OXM? Is that Official XBOx Magazine? I don't see what the problem is. Can't they just buy it? Loads of PC mags have exclusive demos and that doesn't seem to be bother anyone. Am I missing something here?


The demos on Xbox live have always been free , but because this is such a big title I think people are a bit miffed at the fact that it appears that OXM are trying to cash in.

Of course all people have to do is wait a few weeks and download it for free, but I get the impression some american gamers don't like being last to the party and resent having to pay for something if they want to play the demo the same time as Europe.

If it was a worldwide exclusive with OXM I don't think there would be much of an issue.