Strict pricing structure put in place by Microsoft forced him to price the title lower than he wanted.

Weapon of Choice screenshot

Xbox 360 Community Games promise much, giving developers the opportunity to put their creations into the shop window for millions of Xbox LIVE members to see, but the service isn't without problems, as ex-Insomniac Games employee Nathan Fouts explained to MTV Multiplayer.

Fouts' Contra-like side-scrolling action title Weapon of Choice is one of the stand out titles on the Community Games store at launch and at 400 MS Points compares favourably to titles released on Xbox LIVE Arcade. However, Fouts believes he could have charged more for the title, if only Microsoft would have allowed a less rigid pricing structure.

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"'Weapon of Choice' is for sale at 400 points," said Fouts. "We feel this is a bargain, but the right approach for a new platform with an unknown developer. Even though I worked on games like 'Resistance: Fall of Man' and 'POSTAL 2,' people who see 'Weapon of Choice' may not know this. In a sense, I'm starting over."

It wasn't an easy decision to come to, with Fouts explaining that he was in long discussions with his family and friends over the matter.

"... an 800 point game 'must' be a great game ... Is our game long enough to warrant a 800 point price tag? ... Will gamers compare Community Games to XBLA and not pay as much because there are no leaderboards or Achievements available?... At what price is it an impulse-buy versus a thought-out purchase?.. Do we price our game for our target market or focus on building a larger fan-base?... And on and on," explained Fouts.

While Fouts settled on 400 MS Points, he explained that had it been allowed he would have set the price at 600 MS Points.

"I think the most frustrating part in pricing has been the quantized price points," he said. "Microsoft does not allow for user-defined price points like 799 points or even 100 point increments like 500, 600, 700, etc. For a bigger game like 'Weapon of Choice,' only having two options, one of which is double the first option, makes the decision difficult. I felt like we could have priced the game at 600 points and received no backlash from consumers as they compare our game to other downloadables."

The MTV report also states that should Weapon of Choice not sell well at 400 MS Points, Fouts has no way to reduce the price to a more wallet friendly price point; Microsoft insists that any Community Game with a file size over 50MB must be priced 400 MS Points or higher.