I'm hoping that, like the digital music market, this will just take a little while to settle. At first (legitimate) downloadable music was ridiculously priced, while now it is generally (though by no means always) cheaper than its retail counterpart. Most sensible people will check both prices and won't touch downloads until the prices compare. Price checking is hardly difficult since consumers are *guaranteed* to have an active internet connective if they're G.O.D. The danger is that the lazy and impatient who are willing to pay extra not to wait/leave the house will skew the demand and keep prices high. That would be shame for everyone since, in principle, downloadable games at the right price are a great idea.

Not sure whom this download service is aimed at but I'm assuming that its to cut stores like Gamestop at the knees. It won't work. I agree the prices on these games are silly at $20-30 bucks but Bioshock is probably the only one worth that amount.

In fairness to MS, some of us gamers have been paying $10 bucks for old school games from previous generations on LIVE and PSN. Plus, I'm sure the convenience of buying a game online without having to go to a store or waiting on the mail will appeal to some. Plus if you buy a game for $20 from gamestop, the trade in value is like $5 buck....not worth it.

Seems to me this download thing would make more sense if they rented the games like they do with the movie download rentals. You know, putting Blockbuster and that other game rental online service.

Ultimately, this seems like MS beginning to answer the questions about DVD not having enough space as Blu-ray. Everyone (except fanboys & loonies) know that the PS3 and the 360 are similar in terms of power. However, we know that the space on Blu-ray is a true thorn for MS....Welcome to the solution ladies and gents..

Does anyone at Microsoft know that those Bemani or Idol games kinda play better with peripherals? You can't download those (yet), but I'd suppose G.O.D. will end up getting some sort of "instant order" addition where if you buy DDR, you can have the dance pad sent to you (at a ridiculous overnight shipping fee).

Watch this bad idea get stolen, mark my words...

And hey - you can buy nasty (eww, nasty) physical copies of Oblivion AND Bioshock in that recently released combo pack for $30, last time I checked. Prey, I've seen for $8 new, Kameo, $10, NFS Carbon, around $10, Sonic for $10 and so forth and so on. It seems as if you're a sucker for downloads, they've got your money. If you want a physical product, you're saving money.

Still, I can see the 360 infomercial now:

Announcer: Videogames. The take up too much space in your entertainment center, the kids scratch and drop them, they have those messy manuals and they cost too much money! Now you can wipe away all these problems with Games on Demand!

G.O.D. is the fastest way to get the games YOU want when YOU want them! All the big hits for everyone are here at the PERFECT price:
(scrolling list, too fast to read, of course)

American Idol Encore
Assassin's Creed
Bioshock
Burnout Paradise
Call of Duty 2
Dance Dance Revolution Universe
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Fight Night Round 3
Karaoke Revolution
Kameo: Elements Of Power
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Mass Effect
Meet The Robinsons (wait... Meet The Robinsons?)
MX vs. ATV Untamed
Need For Speed Carbon
Need For Speed: Most Wanted
Perfect Dark Zero
Prey
Ridge Racer 6
Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis
Sonic the Hedgehog
Viva Piñata
Viva Piñata 2: Trouble in Paradise

Any many more! Now you don't have to go ALL the way to that game store that might not even have that game the kids want, Now, all you have to do is press a button on your Xbox 360 and it's like magic!

(and so forth and so on)...

Every single one of these is $15 new somewhere already. Funny.

What's the point when I can get all of the above, new or pre-owned, for less (usually much less) than the download price and save myself some HDD space. Sort it out M$, as this just makes you look stupid.

Assasins Creed, as an example, is currently available in the UK brand new and sealed for £8.99 including postage. So if I order it now I'll have to wait, say 36 hours, but then I have a new game that I can trade in or sell on "Like New" making back at least 50% (though more likely 75%) of my initial spend.

Not to mention the fact that surely the people this is aimed at have already owned, played and discarded the games in the list. Those who are newer to Xbox, likely do not have the 120gb hard drive and therefore lack storage over and above the economic factors.

I'm thinking that £9.99 would be a much better price point. More than an online copy but by such a slight margin that I wouldn't care.....