After cruising the front page this morning, I got pretty annoyed with the news that was being reported. More and more cases of developers and publishers saying,
“cool ad hominem bro” to gamer complaints and common sense are popping up with shocking frequency. A lot of these slaps-in-the-face come from to ever popular DLC.
Before I go on I'd like to admit that, while I'm not necessarily
against DLC, I'll probably never buy any of it.
One of the headlines
reported this morning by the lovable-dick-of-a-man, Jim Sterling, detailed a rather bullshit ridiculous proposition by Michael Capps (Epic Games). In an attempt to fight the second-hand market, he suggested that we actually have to download the final boss of a game. I couldn't believe I had actually read this—what was he thinking?
The idea of potentially having to halt gameplay just to download a boss is one of the most unappealing ideas I've ever heard. What happens after that, though? Is the unlock code only good once, to prevent it being sold second-hand? Does the new information sit on my hard drive, making it impossible to bring the game to a friend's place to enjoy the action without dragging my console along with it?
If not, what's stopping me from selling the code, along with the game, second-hand?
I wonder if these publishers realize that, if you destroy the second-hand market, gamers on the scene who want to experience an older game that's not being manufactured, lose that opportunity? Do they realize that without the second-hand market, half the new gamers out there wouldn't be introduced to these games, and as such never break into the new market to buy games from them?
If something like this ever came to fruition, an impatient bastard such as myself would never play games again (ok, maybe that's a little extreme). That goes double if, like Capp suggests, people who did buy second-hand should pay a fee to download the end boss.
I'd be pretty pissed, what about you?
I'm 100% certain the unlock code will only be good once.
I agree with you on pretty much all points. I don't think anything like this would actually happen though, like the Spore fiasco, if a good game came out that supported this idea, the gamer community would throw a shitstorm tantrum and pirating levels would sky rocket. If these bad trends continue I think the pirating would be so bad that it cannibalizes the industry to the point where nobody makes games anymore, and all were left with is second hand games, ironically... haha... okay, maybe not... but still, gamers would freak, and the devs will eventually learn their lesson... I hope...
It's just some rich guy pissed off because he ain't richer, and he's whining about it
I've always thought that once consoles went online (this generation) we'd start to see some pretty shady things. So far its been pretty positive, minus a few bad apples. This stuff about radical change to fight piracy and second hand sales is mostly all talk at this point, but give it time.
One of the things that stands out most to me is that we are starting to see online availability change release quality. Before, games were made and released, thats it. Before, you couldn't go back and fix bugs. Games had to be tested and play tested to hell and back before release.
Now though games are being released, bugs reported, fixes made, updates available online. Just like PC games. This "release now, patch later" approach to game releases is just the first of many things that online consoles has changed.
While it can be good to give developers a chance to correct errors, on the flip side one could also see this as a bad thing. It provides a scapegoat for developers who don't want to spend money to test their games. Couple that with pushy publishers who want their money for a big game ASAP regardless of quality, and you've got a recipe for shitty games.
Time will tell overall how good/bad DLC has been for gaming. I'd say right now, its a bit too early to decide.
"I’ve talked to some developers who are saying 'If you want to fight the final boss you go online and pay USD 20, but if you bought the retail version you got it for free'. "
This is what was actually said. At no point did he say that EPIC was going to try this. He said he's talked to some developers who were looking into it. The amount of stupid people who cannot read commenting on that article is insane. Talking to developers =/= We're looking into trying this in our next game here at EPIC. To whichever developer tries to do this, have fun failing.
@USEDTAPE
And it appears you've missed the point of my post, stupid you. Looking back, I must have misread that quote, but the bulk of my post still stands and poses some legit questions. If not Epic, then who? If someone out there has this idea, then someone out there will probably try and make it real.
No, I understood the point of your post. I even concurred when I said "to whichever developer tries this, have fun failing". I'm in full agreement with what you said, just pointing out the mis-directed anger. And, I called the commentors on the actual article stupid, I said nothing about you or the commentors here.
@USEDTAPE
Then I humbly retract my statements; although since I didn't read the commenting on that article properly you were technically referring to me.
Glad we agree.
I agree with this. Do you have a newsletter I could subscribe to?
too true
especially about the pc-style patching going on
i've been playing Fifa 09 a lot since release, but already there's been a few updates, an official patch which has been fixing a hell of a lot of problems.
nothing major, but annoying little bugs, that just frustrate you more than anything
some DLC is briliant, some horrible. but i'm hoping it turns out to be a good thing for gaming overall