Tuesday, January 28, 2014

DLC - 3³ Gaming NEWSday

Welcome to 3³ Gaming NEWSday, where I  talk about what's happening in the gaming world.  And sometimes I talk about something about gaming in general.  This week I want to write my thoughts on downloadable content, also known as DLC.  So, let's begin.

I am of the mind that if a company is going to make a game, it should be made available to every person at the time they purchase it.  The whole point of DLC is for the companies to get more money, right?  They withhold levels or weapons or characters so people can get the full game experience at an extra price.  I don't think this is fair, and yet I have succumbed to the temptation of DLC several times in my gaming life.

The first time I paid for DLC that was separate from the game itself (the Game of the Year editions of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion or Fallout 3 don't count) was for Ubisoft's Prince of Persia.  I purchased the Epilogue several years after finishing the game.  You see, when I first bought the game, I didn't have PSN; so I had no clue that there was extra content.  The trophy list was full of trophies I could get without any extra content.  When I played the game after getting a PSN account, I noticed that there were more trophies that I hadn't seen or earned before.  That was when I paid for the Epilogue.

Since then, I have spent time and money at the PSN store; either looking at DLC I want for my games, or buying DLC for my games.  Recently, I went and bought all of the DLC for Final Fantasy XIII-2.  Why?  Because I wanted the full game experience, with all of the characters that I can use and all of the outfits and all of the weapons (except the Xbox exclusive one).  Well here, take a look at what I have bought on PSN.

  • Eufloria (it's a really nice game, so no complaints)
  • Final Fantasy XIII-2 DLC
  • Prince of Persia Epilogue
  • Jetpack Joyride (the game was free, the coins were not - because I didn't want to spend any more time playing it)
  • Back to the Future - Episode 1 (I think it was free)
  • BUZZ! Quiz Player (another free one, I think)
  • And all of the free DLC for...
    • Need for Speed Most Wanted
    • The Sims 3
    • Portal 2
    • Grand Theft Auto V
    • Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
  • And one avatar from Mugen Souls
The point is, I have spent money on something I truly feel should have already been given to me for free when I purchased the game.  Games already cost so much as it is, that we now have to pay more to get everything that was made for a game; and if this was 10-15 years ago, would be included in the game.

Don't get me wrong, there are some games whose DLC are so expansive that it seems like a completely new game in terms of content.  I would gladly give more money to Bethesda for DLC for Fallout: New Vegas and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim; and I fully plan on it one day.  But I can't see myself paying for more cars in Need for Speed Most Wanted or more design choices in The Sims 3.  I think that the cars or extra chair types should be included.

As I have probably said before here, I am getting Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.  I am worried that I will be tempted to purchase an outfit on PSN because it will seem really neat or be of a job class I like.  I will have six extra outfits at startup because of

  1. Pre-Ordering
  2. Purchasing the Collector's Edition
  3. Downloading the free demo
  4. Posting battle score to outerworld, and
  5. having save files of both Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2
Now, that should be enough to get me by, but I don't know how many of the 80 outfits will actually be available without purchasing them.  For all I know, the six that were featured in the demo are the only six available for free with the game.  The point of this rant is, if you are going to sell a game, it should have 100% of the game in the data on the disc.  I shouldn't have to pay ninety-nine cents for something that should have been there from the beginning.

Well, that's the end of this week's 3³ Gaming NEWSday.  make sure to check back in on Thursday for the weekly review.  I haven't finished anything recently, so I may have to dig deep for a Review topic.  Oh well.  Until next time, I hope you see no Game Over screens!

Michael, aka me3lingual

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