Consider me out of the microtransactions business. Okay, I actually do not have an Xbox 360, nor an Xbox Live account, but now I'm really just kind of bummed out by the whole concept. Major Nelson announced on Friday that Sega's Chromehounds was the latest game to get the microtransaction treatment, with new weapons and accessories now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Prices for each item range from 60 to 100 points (0.75 to 1.25 in real monies). This is what we in the biz refer to as a "rip off total". More concerning than bleeding customers for cash? Players will have the option to use these items in multi-player games. Instead of keeping the playing field level, online gaming combined with Marketplace items may become a costly "keeping up with the Joneses" exercise as players will be "forced" to spend an additional $10 on top of the $60 they already paid for the disc.

The Xbox Live community doesn't seem to be reacting too well to the news, as illustrated in the comments section of Major Nelson's blog entry. Worse PR news? They've fueled the ire of cranky 1UP news editor Luke Smith!

Supposedly, the new weapons don't seem to alter game balance. But let's hope this doesn't start a trend of quesitonable assets available for multiplayer games. Michael McWhertor

Chromehounds Gets Its Own Horse Armor [1UP]
Content: Chromehounds [Major Nelson]

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