DLC, or Downloadable Content for games is something I look at every now and then, occasionally I will buy some, but only if it adds new life to games, new maps or missions yes, I did say new maps.. looking at you Modern Warfare.. not reskinned maps that were in the previous game.
Extra costumes or weapons. No if I can finish the game without a particular weapon then I didn’t need it in the first place and wont be paying for it.
Launch day DLC is the only DLC I totally disagree with. If you have extra items/missions/characters that are available the moment the game is in the shops, those could have been thrown into the retail disc when it went the game went gold, maybe with a note saying "look we made these after the game development finished, stay with us and just imagine how much we can achieve"
A fine example of this is Dragon Age 2, a game I am still on the fence about, as much as I detested the demo I do still want to give the full game a shot.
DA2 was released last Friday, and 2 add-ons appeared on the Xbox marketplace almost instantly.
“The Exiled Prince” adds an extra party member with 3 missions to complete.
“The Black Emporium” while not DLC as such, according to the write up “Purchase the Black Emporium today, or download it for free as part of your Online Pass “ the online pass being Electronic Arts attempt at getting some money from people who buy the game second hand by charging for multiplayer in some titles, or in this case charging to have access to some nice looking items people would get when buying the game new. The Black Emporium is, as far as I can see, a shop that sells extra items. The main item being one that can change your appearance.. which in my mind should be in the game anyway, hell even World of Warcraft has barbershops.
It may seem petty to dislike things like this, but you wouldn’t buy a car and expect the seat covers to be fitted some time after you have paid for it, and charged to get installed. So why should gamers buy a game and then be asked to pay for extras that are blatantly finished at the same time as the game and in all right be on the disc when you buy it.
I'm divided over DLC. I bought the episodes for Liberty City for GTA4 but that's because it's my favourite game and I yearn for more missions and that was well worth £20 for a load more missions and 2 more packs, cars, weapons etc and actually added to the storyline. That's the only one I have ever bought. I resisted the Red Dead pack as I am not really arsed about zombie killing and seemed a bit of a money spinner really. Oh, and to add to the debate about the download or hard-copy, I bought the GTA pack on disc naturally ;-)
ReplyDeleteI did buy the Undead Nightmare add-on for Red Dead on the 360,on disc ;) pretty happy with it, added 8 5-6 hours of zombie driven story to the game, plus included all the DLC game modes released up to that point.
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