Xbox Live’s Major Nelson is reporting that pets will be added to the Xbox Live Avatar Marketplace.
The first installment of pets will be arriving tomorrow (12/03) and each pet will cost 240 points each. There will be several to choose from: large dog, pug dog, dog in a bag, cat, siamese cat, long haired cat, goldfish, guinea pig, monkey, bird, snake, and a pony.
To me, it seems a tad pricey for something that really doesn’t do anything. Maybe if I could interact with my pet, like teach the dogs a trick or have the bird learn how to speak some words I would consider purchasing one. But this is always a sore spot with me and Xbox Live. If I’m already paying a monthly fee just to USE Xbox Live, then I think they should give more free stuff away. Make one of these pets free, or have more cool clothing for free. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of Xbox Live and even the Zune Marketplace. But, they should show the gamers/users a little thanks and throw a cool freebie our way once in awhile. And what I’m noticing with other things, such as my Droid, the more freebies are available, the more I get interested in ‘upgrading’ the free version into something paid.
Or, even better would be discounts based on your gamerscore. Have a discounting system that gives discounts on certain items based on your gamerscore. Say you have a gamerscore of 30,000. The system could give people with that number or higher a 5% discount on the Avatar Marketplace. Doesn’t have to be every item, just one showcased item/game that changes every month. I’ve been dying for Microsoft to implement something that would help make the gamerscore more than just something to brag about.
But that’s just my two cents. What do you think?
