With charges for downloadable content being something of a hot topic, after the debacle over Epic wanting to give us Gears of War maps for free, but being forced at gunpoint to accept wads of cash for them, Counter-Strike and Half Life developer Valve have leapt on the opportunity for good PR by saying they don't intend to charge for any DLC they may run.
"You buy the product, you get the content," Valve's Robin Walker informed Eurogamer. Reassuring news I suppose, but one would assume Valve's merely trying to make themselves look really good next to the console market's love of anally abusing its customers. Somewhat like the clever boy in class who swiftly answers a question that his classmate failed, so he appears smart until that same classmate drowns him in the toilet at lunchtime.
"We make more money because more people buy it, not because we try and nickel-and-dime the same customers." But enough about that, how did you get that freakin' valve in the bald dude's head!?
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
9:27 AM on 05.22.2007
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My guess is with tricksy photoshop skills.
That, or a cannon that shoots plumbing supplies?
And from WHERE?
While I do appreciate the massively awesome bundles they sell with their games on Steam, this line they take on content is little fishy. And it is not at all on par with what Epic has provided in the past before GoW. If I remember correctly, there were at least 20-30 official maps released in separate collections for free for both UT2K3 and 2k4.
I will still however be waiting patiently for the Orange and Black boxes come fall.
"how did you get that freakin' valve in the bald dude's head!?"
Double-sided sticky tape? Oh, wait, that takes all the fun and comedic value out of your question. Sorry.
I think the deal is that if you buy a full game, you get any additional content (maps etc.) for free. I don't think Episodes 1-3 qualify as additional content; they're more like an entire game split into three chunks.
Epic could do its free maps for UT because the game is strictly a multiplayer shooter. They can throw content out the door any way they like and people can grab it, play it, and love them for it (my UT2004 folder is well over 10GB). The Half-Life series has a linear narrative, so Valve needs to control its releases more, and when they give you a downloadable 10-15 hour campaign, I think charging 20 bucks is perfectly acceptable.
How did that valve get a freakin' bald dude attached to it's...ass?
It is more than just a bunch of new skins and new multiplayer maps.
I would buy buy 5 extra hours of single play gameplay to my favorite video games in a HEARTBEAT!
Isn't Team Fortress 2 a MULTIPLAYER game? Even a multiplayer only game.
If I buy a PC game and it's broken out of the box, I can screw around with some settings and get that sumbitch chugging along at least until a patch comes out to fix the problem. That's certainly not an ideal situation, but at least I can do something about it. The beauty of a home console - its complete lockdown on background processes - is also its biggest drawback. If my game doesn't work, I'm totally locked out and helpless until the developer releases a patch over Live. The fact that this is now a viable option for some developers makes everyone that much more eager to rush the game, get their scheduling bonus, and fix it after the disc hits shelves. And players who choose not to take their consoles online for one reason or another are totally screwed by the half-assed QA process that results from this business model. That's what gives me so much respect for developers like Insomniac, Team Ninja, and (most of the time) Bungie, who polish the ever-loving crap out of every game well before it goes gold. And online-enabled consoles are going to make that a very rare thing, indeed.
Comparatively, DLC is a minor issue, and it's better to decide on a case-by-case basis whether or not some content pack is worth your money.
SUPPORT POLISHED WORK!
DON'T BUY BUGGY SOFTWARE!
/rant
This just in. Hypocrite of the year award is given to Valve.
This is so kind of Valve.
That announcement does have the stink of bullshit though, considering they did that the same day
No retail BLACK BOX, you mean.
I can kinda see from a company standpoint, since it requires HL2 to play and that COULD potentially be confusing to people to release two separate packs like this, but other companies have released expansion packs before without any issue.
I hope the Orange box on the 360 has a crapload of achievements stuck on it.
MS said that you have to have 1000 achievement points in a retail game and that you cannot charge for extra content until that 1000 point benchmark is reached (such as with the Crackdown DLC). What if a company took Crackdown's approach and released a game with sub 1000 points and then kept putting out large expansions with only minor achievement point upgrades?
They could get around being forced to charge for DLC while still giving a large amount of content away.
I guess until MS realized they were being beaten at their own game and changed the rules.
Do you think gamers would care if the achievement points were lessened but the content was free? I sure as shit wouldn't.
Ok, so ep 1 and 2 are purchase updates on the PC, but come on.. Have you ever played them? I'd pay the 20 bucks just for the first 10 minutes in HL2Ep1, it had my blood running so smooth...
I had a big problem with this. I usually play games till I can get as much life out of them as possible. Achievement points help out tremendously for me, but not having that whole 1000 points on the disc for Crackdown irritated me. Moreso because they waited 3 months after the game shipped before they released the details and the points.
Also, what if you have a situation where hypothetically, someone doesn't have internet access. They're screwed out of that extra 100 poins they're entitled to.
And I think Crackdown was meant to be an exception to the 1000 points on a retail disc rule. There was a Japanese 360 aquarium simulator that actually SOLD achievements in XBLM with downloadable fish. I believe that game was what set that "1000 points rule" in motion.
- I was mostly joking. It's clear they're riding the console market's back on this, but I don't think they're wrong to do so.
I'm only getting the Orange box for the 360 because HL2 is THAT good of a game to warrant purchasing a second time. Portal, TF2, and Episode 1 and 2 are bonus content, IMO.
Either way I want it and I want it now.
Fap fap fap.
Everyone just buy it on Steam as it is cheaper anyway. The only reason to buy the PC version at retail is not having a credit card.