Downloadable Content, the new wave douchebaggery?

[fantasticdan]

And coincidentally, protoman was already in the original Megaman 9 download. Another example of paying to flip a switch...

[bebeci]

In RE5s case, I'd like to call bullshit for the sake they already charge bloody $70 (up in Canada at any rate) for it, which is $10-20 more than the average game I see up in retail here.

I noticed that as well, esp for 360 games at FS and BB.
I haven't bought any games lately, but my purchases will be on amazon.ca (yah... late delivery) or zellers (if they actually carry the game). FS and BB are just marking up the games, to make more money, considering other places are still selling games for 60.

[Okan]

I'm more pissed about things like Orange Box where you buy the game but it's not even the fucking game. People like me on the shittiest connection on the planet have to wait 30+ hours to play a game after I've gone to the store and bought the damn game. Whats the point in that??!

Agreed about this.. I don't mind Steam, but now their games are completely unplayable unless you have an active internet connection. And by unplayable, I mean Steam won't connect to "verify" the game to allow you to play it at all.

And the only DLC that has me really pissed off are map packs. I don't mind a small fee ($1-2), but did anyone see the newest WaW map pack? It's $10 for 4 maps... TEN DOLLARS FOR 4 MAPS!? I remember playing Quake/Q2/HL online and getting 100's of free maps.

And Sonoma sort of touched upon it on the first page... Some times the game companies want to release content for free/cheap, but Microsoft/Sony won't allow it to be a certain price.

Edit: Also, I'd pay $20 to "beat the game" as long as the actual cost of the game was cut $20-30 and was reduced over time. I'm not going to pay $20 to buy the ending of Call of Duty 2 when I bought the game itself for $10 used.

[Norellicus]

did anyone see the newest WaW map pack? It's $10 for 4 maps... TEN DOLLARS FOR 4 MAPS!?

You're getting the zombie nazi mode in there too, that's a whole separate logic system in the game

[Okan]

Nope.
Nazi Zombie mode is already in the game. You just have to beat the game. This is only another nazi zombie map.

And I'd pay a few dollars for the maps, but not $10... Say $5 for it all or something. Then again, I don't really play online so I'm just shouting to be shouting.

[Karshe]

I disagree about the map pack being overpriced and I'm usually VERY anti DLC. For me the DLC has to add something to the game... stuff like paying for costumes is, to me, totally retarded.

$2.50 a map for a game I'm going to be playing like crazy until next November is well worth it to me... it's actually adding something to the game.

The new zombies Asylum map is MUCH more fun than Airfield, by the way.

I have only bought 3 downloadable things in my time owning a 360:

Modern Warfare Map Pack
World at War Map Pack
Braid

[Kaisha]

The only thing I hate about map packs is that it fragments the community, they should really all be released free to the public over time if they have the means to charge for it.

And Sonoma sort of touched upon it on the first page... Some times the game companies want to release content for free/cheap, but Microsoft/Sony won't allow it to be a certain price.

This is more of a problem with Microsoft I believe, or else Epic Games wouldn't have just released a 1gb content update for UnrealTournament3 for free on PSN.

[Okan]

Exactly my point. I can't recall the story offhand, but there was a debate about some DLC where the developer wanted to give things away free, but Microsoft refused to do it under a certain price. I'll see if I can find anything.

[Okan]

Valve hopes to release upcoming TF2 DLC for free
Microsoft forcing fees? Marketplace Phil. 101 with Epic and Microsoft

Basically they're wanting to just give away maps and updates. The articles have more on it.
Edit: These are older articles mind you, but it still sort of stands today.

[guartz]

They are called "Mods" and have been around since Duke Nukem 3d

[kuronosan]

I'm surprised no one realizes that DLC is the wave of capitalist ideas mixed in with a desire to compete.

User-made DLC has dominated in PC games for the longest times and is often better than what the developers can come up with. Long while back you might remember the Battlefield series and the mod Desert Combat. It was an excellent mod and so much more fun than what the programmers made. Suddenly, the mod team was hired on by the developers and then fired before the release of Battlefield 2.

Users have much more free time and creative leeway than developers do. If developers want to compete with users for content they need to charge for the small things they release on consoles (where there are no custom mods available).

[Okan]

Team Fortress. Quake style, not Half Life. Best mod ever.
Counter Strike. User created, bought by Valve. At least they were smarter about it and hired the original team if I remember correctly to keep it up.