Mizuguchi defends Lumines Live
Q Entertainment founder Tetsuya Mizuguchi spoke with IGN today to defend his choice to split Lumines Live into four pieces (Basic, Advanced, VS CPU, and Mission / Puzzle pack). He gives two reasons for the division: the 50 MB limit on XBLA title (understandable) and the customizable nature of the game (not understandable). Mizuguchi considers it the business model of the future.
When IGN presses him on the cost issue, Mizuguchi pauses. After IGN pushes on, Mizuguchi furthers his belief in the piece-wise business model. Theoretically, we don't mind the model so much as the price, and unfortunately IGN never gets Mizuguchi talking about the release date and pricing for the VS CPU and Mission / Puzzle pack.
So is Lumines holy like a saint or hole-y like swiss cheese? Q Entertainment still hasn't responded to our request on release date and pricing details. The Advanced Pack game is now on Xbox Live for 600 MS points ($7.50 USD).