Why thank you Bioware, don't mind if I do.

FYI people complaining about the "New = free, used = $$$" DLC, just remember that you didn't have to buy the game used, as new copies are plentiful.

If we were having this conversation five years from now, I'd still feel the same because I'd know damn well you got that game out of the bargain bin.

That explains the "Vehicle Controls" in the control options menu.

Very nice stream of free DLC going on here. I'm still wondering what the big "paid" expansion is going to be like.

EA's finally gotten non-obtrusive, customer friendly DRM right.
Anyways, don't mind if I do, BioWare. Unlike 90% of people, though, I liked the Mako, at least when you weren't going up the seven-billionth fucking MOUNTAIN again trying to get to that 'anomaly' or 'resource deposit'. Otherwise, it was really fun bouncing around and generally feeling awesome, so I'll miss the bounciness of the Mako.
But it looks like the Hammerhead will make up for it in acceleration and speed.

Free? Again?

<3

This is how you do DLC.

This shit makes me love Mass Effect 2 even more.

AWESOME!

It would be neat to get an "Epilouge" pack to ease the crew into "You're now rolling with Shepard casual-like" from "Look, we could all die from this mission. Handle your affairs". But, you know, suspension of disbelief, etc.

anyone who complains about this only has themselves to blame. gamestop rips you off by buying low and selling for *5 dollars less* than a new copy. i mean come on, 5 dollars.

hopefully this initiative will force Gamestop to offer fairer prices for used games while rewarding customers who buy the game new. let's just hope this stuff stays on the side of optional add ons and not stuff that will detract from the playability of a game a few years down the road when servers inevitably go dark.

Keep this flow of DLC into the fall and ME2 will definitely not be forgotten come GOTY time.

Thank you Bioware.

So if Gamestop indeed begins to offer "fair" price, will the ball be returned to EA?

BioWare: Great game developer, or *the greatest* game developer?

I'm more surprised that people would sell ME2 back.

@ Trebz

I don't know what you're smoking man, I just checked; no vehicle controls in the options

See, this is how DRM should work. Yes, people will still probably pirate it (and pirate the DLC, eventually), but there will be far fewer pirates, and a lot more paying customers. And if you don't believe me, look how many copies it's sold, compared to the first one.

Also, I'm unenthused, considering the Mako controlled like a bag of cookies.

If console games weren't a ridiculously overpriced racket, I wouldn't buy used.

But again, it's better than DRM.

I find it odd everyone is so quick to jump on the publisher bandwagon and condemn used sales.. By lowering the investment(resale) value on the product(which is a part of it's percieved value) and not lowering the price to counter, offering free dlc is the least they can do as they're essentially raising the price of games. (really i'm speaking of the general trend not ME2 specifically)

http://origin.arstechnica.com/news.media/mariousedgames.jpg

Our ability to sell our own property is being undermined and we say 'awesome'?

..That's cool i guess, i just find it odd.

I'm all for supporting developers but i'm curious why this would never happen in the car/book/dvd/prettymuchanythingelse industry?.......
Do we not care about or support those industries? Why is it ok when it's games in question?

Is the student down the street who saves his earnings and buys his half price games 6 months after release on ebay so he can afford to play atleast 5 big games per year that insidious to the publisher?

What about the environmental impact?(seriously.. just think about it) in any industry, we use a tonne of processing to create a shittonne of product, consumerism is a problem already. Does anyone still argue it isn't? Why would we push for more consumerism?
Without used markets we consume WAAAAY more and it's a simple fact we'd create more waste that serves no purpose. There are so many people out there who can use all our used junk, why waste it? Many people choose to buy used things when they can as an ethical choice.

I'm not american but i think you guys have some problem with your gamestop store selling used games too high? Is this the main problem? Are there not other ways to solve this without bringing the whole worlds used game markets down too? Most other used game markets operate fairly.

it's all Odd.

@ Jazzpanda.

Actually it has started to happen with DVDs, some new DVDs these days come with a voucher for a digital download of the film.

Is this not a similar concept?

Personally I support this idea because it's not as thought the game is unplayable without the DLC or that the DLC is substantial - it's all just little extra bits if you're willing to support the developer. It doesn't stop you buying used and you're not losing a lot if you do, all it does is make people stop to consider whether it's worth the £5 discount of buying the game used.

To see what I mean read smoger's post. Often these days buying used doesn't save you a great deal anyway.

That having been said I do see where you're coming from, but I suppose it's a case of where you personally draw the line. At the moment I feel this is a welcome alternative to other forms of DRM, though it does have the potential to be abused in the future if not kept in check by consumers.

When Americans have a problem they indeed bring the whole world down, that's the American Way<TM> ;)

dude people who say all this DLC or game companies charging more money is bad. Well tons of companies are going out of business b/c its so expensive to make games that meet our standards now. If game companies end up making less money from game sales then they will cut out quality and production costs.

Let me get this straight: You get a flying car, and one of its selling points is that it can travel at speeds up to 75 miles an hour?

Man the future sucks.

@shadydentist ...

ROFL

You totally just made my night. Thanks for the freaking hilarious perspective.

@Thulsa Dooom

If anything, I agree with you. Devs should be making every penny they get.

My "racket" that I refer to is the publishing and retail side of the industry which are the main cause of high prices.

The real questions are: A) Do publishers deserve the amount they make off of releases? B) How can a developer take publishers out of the equation? C) How much profit does a retailer make off of a release? D) How much do retailers cause price inflation?

I'm tired and cranky today so my apologies. Thumbs up Jas86 on the clarification and those are all great questions to have. To be honest, I have no idea. It's usually the publisher taking the risk so they definitely deserve compensation but as you said, how much? They have the power and resources so it's always going to be a sizable chunk. There was a recent post on Kotaku, and maybe here, with a pie chart dividing up the $60 price tag and how much the publisher, the studio, the retailer, etc. get.

Found it: http://kotaku.com/5479698/what-your-60-really-buys

I think another worrying aspect is huge publishers gobbling up studios but that's been happening for a long time.

@Thulsa Dooom

We've all been there, bro. No worries.

I think the dream would be to have publishers completely out of the picture, but unless the next console generation has a primary focus on digital distribution (i.e. fairly inexpensive terabyte sized hot-swappable hard drives and an Xbox Live Marketplace that doesn't use pseudo money) I don't think it'll happen.

But knocking 27ish dollars off the price of games would make me buy more games. ;)

I'll download it, but unless it comes before the 16/18th (I forget which) I won't be playing it much...
Mmmm, Awakening <3