While reading Justin's Captain Obvious front page post about Microsoft probably paying for and having yet again exclusive content for another game, this time it being Fallout 3, I realized how having exclusive downloadable content makes little to no sense for practically all parties involved, with the exception of the game developers who cash in on money from who ever is throwing a hefty check their way. As for you and the powers that be who do the writing of said check, the rewards of DLC exclusivity are minimal at best to non existent at worst. Bear with me as I try explain why.

On paper, the idea of exclusive downloadable content sounds appealing. Hell, it sounds like a brilliant idea, a win-win for all parties involved. The game developers of said game gets a nice guaranteed kick back from the company that wants said content, the company that paid for said content has a golden carrot that the competition doesn't have to entice consumers to purchase their version of the game in question, and we the consumer should have an easier choice which version to get because of more additional content. For as the saying goes: More is better. But does it work like it's intended to in the real world?

Let's use a recent example to determine if it does. Now keep in mind, I'm no financial insider with sources at my disposal, this is merely my theory. Before GTA IV was unleashed on the public at large, after it was determined it would ship to both respective platforms, Microsoft issued a press release stating:

The only place to find additional exclusive episodic content will be on the Xbox 360.

Furthermore in an interview by our own Destructoid, Aaron Greenberg, Director of Product Management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. had this to say when asked this question:

The upcoming 360-exclusive downloadable content for GTA IV is a big selling point for many 360 owners. But many people aren’t concerned about that at this point, choosing instead to focus on the extensive single-player and multiplayer experiences on the disc. Do you feel as if the DLC is something that doesn’t matter as much because what’s already there is so massive, or are you excited for its release later this year?

--"I think GTA IV gives consumers a lot to enjoy right now, from the missions to the massive open world of Liberty City to the multiplayer modes including co-op, you get a lot of game for your money. But remember that our industry is very seasonal and 70% of console sales come in the second half of the year, so I think it is reasonable to expect that GTA IV will likely be a top-selling title even this holiday for new Xbox owners. So when you think about that and the fact that we will be the only place you can get the exclusive episodes, our story in the second half of the year is going to be really strong."

Really Aaron? Maybe you may know a heck of alot more than I do when it comes to figures and trends but GTA IV was like a tsunami. A powerful entity that took the world by storm on it's initial launch and just as quickly as it began it subsided to barely a sprinkle or shower. Everybody and their violent hungry grandmas that wanted the game most likely got the game at or around launch. Microsoft paid fifty million, fifty million!, for that exclusive DLC and it has yet to hit our shores. Do you think they got the returns they wanted from it? Sure it's not out yet and you may think I'm being a bit premature in my proclamation that it wont, but ask yourself this:

When was the last time you played GTA IV? Better yet, after it's initial release and hoopla, How many of you thought the game was meh? Or how many of you already traded your game in already to put credit down on Soul Caliber IV or whatever new game you may want? I'm thinking quite a few of you guys. I'm also inclined to think that if that exclusive DLC doesn't come within a month's time of the game's release it isn't worth it. There are two types of gamers in my mind. The ones that hungrily beat a game and while jonesing for more, move on and the ones that never beat a game, especially ones like GTA IV with it's wealth of content already packed in it. If my classification is correct then the latter wont ever get DLC so it falls on the first ones. Unfortunately there is one trait that both sets of gamers share..impatience.

If the DLC isn't out in a reasonable amount of time, I tend to think it will hurt sales of the DLC. Don't you? But I don't see the game developers doing that so soon for fear of alienating sales of their software on the competing console. After all they're not trying to make it seem that they are giving a gimped version to the other parties involved. So by the time said DLC comes out.. us gamers with our ADD have moved on to something else altogether. So really it boils down to how many customers can they get to bite by the announcement alone of exclusive DLC. Is a fifty million dollar carrot or announcement at the end of the day financially worth it ? I may be dead wrong here but somehow I don't think so.

Now Fallout 3 has additional exclusive DLC content just like GTA IV, and just like GTA IV it's a game that's brimming with content already. Will that announcement of exclusive DLC sway your decision to purchase that game over the one that doesn't? If it does to a slew of gamers than that check with lots of zeros Microsoft is writing may indeed be worth it. But if it doesn't who ultimately has the last laugh?