I used to hate "day 1" DLC, but now I'm looking at things slightly differently.
So I was watching "Address the Sess" from Rev3 gaming and Adam Sessler
and he brought up an interesting fact about "day 1" DLC, something I
haven't thought about.
Now if you don't know, I am very critical of
"day 1" DLC, and so you know, "day 1" DLC doesn't necessarily have to be
released on the day the game is released. I consider DLC "day 1" if it
was developed along side the game specifically intended to not be
released as part of the full game. I am very critical of this because
from companies like Capcom, it's used to nickel and dime the consumer
and try to capitalize on used games. My argument, "the game wouldn't end
up on a gamestop shelf if you give the consumer more bang for their
buck and deliver a game that is worth $70 and only charge them $60,
instead of selling $50 worth of content for $60 and then selling the
other $20 worth of content to them for $20 and calling it 'DLC.'" That
right there goes against all marketing logic according to my into to
marketing class, and is a primary reason why Capcom is close to dead.
The other reason is "no love for the blue bomber," but that's not what
this is about.
Anyways, Sessler brought up a good point about DLC and
game prices. In the US, new game prices are fairly fixed at $60. In
other countries and regions, game prices are a lot more varied. However,
if you release a game for more than $60, "well that's crazy, I won't
buy it." His example was Skyrim. I haven't played it yet so I can't
speak from experience, but I plan to eventually. Anyways, Sessler said
that "a game like Skyrim, it's easily worth $100, so I wouldn't mind
paying more for more, but because of game prices, it needs to be $60, so
they cut out $30 worth of content, sell you the $30 worth as DLC, and
you still get an awesome game."
I gotta admit, I haven't really
thought of it that way. Not everyone who does "day 1" DLC is being
Capcom and EA about it, where "oh we need to send updates and patches
and maintain the online servers, and developing the game is just so
expensive, and with used games not giving us money for the sale, we need
to get the money somehow." Sometimes, game developers make a game
that's worth $100 or more, but because of the market price for all new
games is semificially $60, they have to cut out some so they aren't
undervaluing their games. Sure I'd love to get $100 worth of content for
$60, who wouldn't. Well not the developers. I know if I made a game
that I know was worth $100, I wouldn't want to give it to people for $60
right from the start. I'm undervaluing my game by 40%. After a year,
sure, knock 40% off, let me get some of the hold outs, but not from the
start. However, the US game market dictates that "New games are $60, no
exceptions, unless it's under $60." And I'm not saying "I put so much
work and time and effort that I deserve $100 for this game even though
it's only objectively worth $50," I mean actual "this game is so
objectively good, I would be practically giving it away at $60." So yes,
I see where some developers are coming from.
However, this still
troubles me, because even though they are selling you maybe a little
over $60 worth of content after the DLC cuts, I'm still bothered by the
fact that part of the game was cut out and is released as DLC. I'd
rather pay more in the first place and not have to buy it later
primarily because of future gamers who weren't able to get the consoles
when they were initially released.
I 20 years old at the time of
posting. I have an Atari 2600 that I bought at a garage sale. My Atari
is probably older than I am. I can still buy games for it, thanks to
used games, and I can expect to get the full game when I buy the
cartridges. 25 years later, what about the guy that find an XBOX 360 at a
garage sale and want to collect retro XBOX 360 games? Servers for
online PS2 games released 12 years ago are already gone. Servers for
XBOX Live for 360 and PSN for PS3 aren't going to be up forever. In
20-30 years, I expect DLC support for XBOX 360 and PS3 to be gone. How
will future generations enjoy the full game once the servers are no
longer supported? Emulators? *raspberry fart* Emulators are stupid and
only cheaters use emulators. Real gaming is done on the original
console, with the original controller and original game cartridge/disk.
HD remakes/virtual console releases? That might work for some games, but
not every game gets a remake/re-release. Of all the amazing games
released on the NES, SNES, N64, Master System, Genesis, Atari, etc, I'm
going to guess that maybe 15-20% have had re-releases. So the only way
to get those gems is by buying the used cartridges/disks. I pity the
future generations of gamers who won't be able to enjoy the full games because of DLC.
Well that's enough rambling for today. Until next time, game and be happy.
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