Imagine that you gave the average person your Windows Phone and offered them two choices for games: the Xbox Live-enabled de Blob for $ 0.99 or Hexage Game’s Radiant Defense for $ 2.99. Then you ask them to pick one. Would they even hesitate before making a decision? A game like de Blob already has brand recognition and production values in its favor, but when you throw in the Xbox Live name and a cheaper price on top of that it makes the decision a complete landslide.
It's a promising theory, and one that certainly demands careful consideration. There is already an issue between the two levels of 'games' in the Marketplace with the disparity in promotion and perception, and the price difference is one area that starts to level the playing field. If that starts to change, then it's going to have an effect on the ecosystem.
What would you do? Can the Windows Marketplace cope with a race to 99 cents in the Xbox Live department and not push away the indie developers? Let us know.