Comments on: Editorial: The Flip Flop of DLC and Delays

By: Imitanis

Imitanis — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 16:20:10 +0000

@Bek & Lusipurr: Update, I’ve not given in to my son’s demands that I buy the Destiny DLC, but he is now asking that I buy Minecraft on the PS4 despite already owning it on the PC.

I don’t believe these are marketed at children, children just see that something is locked away from them and they want to get at it. My son doesn’t care what is in the Destiny DLC, he just want to buy it so that he’s no longer prevented from accessing buttons that ultimately he will never use.

By: Lusipurr

Lusipurr — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 22:20:40 +0000

@Bek: I am reminded of how Imitanis’ son wanted him to buy him Destiny DLC which only included things he would not or could not use. He just wanted Imitanis to spend the money for the sake of ‘having’ the DLC, although it never would have been used.

If companies really are targetting children to encourage this sort of thing, it is more than nasty business; it is pointedly unethical.

By: Mel

Mel — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 21:25:10 +0000

I think it’s mostly true too, and a result of the widening appeal of games. And there’s always been a greater number of people who don’t know any better (or care) over people who do, there just hasn’t been so much money the be had in targeting to former group as there is today.

Thankfully push back is still felt, when it’s strong enough, and you can still find plenty of worthwhile examples of games that do things like DLC right. You just can’t expect those kinds of games to come to you anymore, as the industry is less about us (the sort that read and write at sites like this) now more than ever before.

By: Bek

Bek — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 21:13:12 +0000

I think a lot of it has to do with an uneducated consumer base pouring money into an industry that they know little about. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen parents buying DLC or preordering games for their kids just to shut them up. The kids obviously don’t know any better, they just want the coolest new thing or whatever their friends are playing. This leads to gaming companies taking advantage in a sense, pushing out premium DLC or preorder bonuses, and cashing in whilst making substandard products. The kids are happy because they get what they want, the parents are happy because the kids are, the gaming companies are happy because they get everyone’s money, and the people left screwed are the few consumers that actually know better.

Obviously this is an oversimplification of a complex issue, but I think it still rings mostly true.

By: Mel

Mel — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 03:33:13 +0000

That’s a good point about DLC origins. I tend to forget the pen and paper origins of gaming much to my embarrassment. I’ve dabbled in that world only a bit but enough to know that you’ve got the right of it.

By: Java

Java — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 02:37:56 +0000

I like to think that DLC really began its life in the early days of D&D with the supplementary materials in the form of packaged adventures and player/DM guidebooks outside the core manuals. One could argue that we have TSR to blame for the concept of “expansion,” and I have seen this done, but I don’t really agree with it, or blame any one entity, really. What was born in those early days of add-on gaming was the option to buy a premixed experience along side the option to create your own. At some point a schism developed between them, resulting in the modern concept of DLC, which is business sense that is abrasive but hard to argue with, and the idea of a modding community surrounding a game.

/tin hat theory

By: Lusipurr

Lusipurr — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 01:48:06 +0000

Imitanis has the right of it. Luckily, Nintendo have shown us that they can shit the bed faster than anyone. They're already charging us per-hat per-system for Mario Kart Mii costumes. We're not far away from blocks in Mario that say 99p instead of ?

By: Mel

Mel — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 23:08:56 +0000

Also, look forward to having to pay for Nintendo Network Platinum Club or some stuff, next gen!

By: Mel

Mel — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 23:07:40 +0000

Nintendo is doing it best right now because they’re doing it like it’s still 2005, when DLC was a lot less scuzzy. Unfortunately, they’re still doing a lot of other things like it’s 2005…

But, ultimately it does mean their offerings are generally pretty good, aside from their absurd game pricing and Mii costume pricing for Smash. They’re slowly easing themselves into the bad habits Sony, MS, and the rest took residence up in a while ago. For now, enjoy it!

By: Imitanis

Imitanis — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 20:20:56 +0000

@Ethos Biggest shock of 2015 – Nintendo finds the internet. My guess is that they are just so far behind the rest of the industry that they’re still in the let’s-release-meaningful-DLC stage and will start charging for individual tracks in a decade.

By: Ethos

Ethos — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 18:53:02 +0000

If during the Wii era you told me that Nintendo would be providing some of the best DLC in 2015, I would not have believed you. But Luigi U and Kart 8’s two-pronged release with secret bonus are the only DLC I’ve bought for any game in quite a while.