So, we liked Crackdown, like, alot. Both Chuf and I enjoyed it on different levels, and playing much different characters, but we both felt that it was a largely satisfying departure from previous “sandbox” games. However, one bone of contention has been the total 900 gamerscore points that are available in the title; when Microsoft makes the thousand point marker mandatory, releasing a first party game without that number makes it feel like it’s not quite complete (which is one reason why we still haven’t put up a review). On the last podcast, I mentioned that I thought that Realtime Worlds and Microsoft would release the long promised Crackdown downloadable content (including the promised free update that would bring the game up to its mandated thousand gamerscore points) after the Halo 3 beta was over in June. My reasoning in this was that Crackdown has a very high retention rate among people that bought it, at least anecdotally, because the disc is required for the Halo 3 beta. It also stood to reason that once the Halo 3 beta was over, the game would be much less visible. So releasing DLC after the Halo 3 beta ended, giving people a reason to keep the game and continue playing and picking it up.

Of course, I’ll be more than happy to take all of that DLC now instead I guess.

(more…)

The Gears of War maps we’ve been hearing about for months are up for a surprise release this week, and the news on price is what’s been hinted at for a while now: immediately upon release, the Hidden Fronts map pack will release for 800 points, which is 10 dollars in non-MS money (and which works out to about 2.50 a map), and 5 months later, in September, the maps will be made free. I will probably buy these; I don’t think 10 bucks for half an expansion pack is unreasonable, and while yes, I understand that Epic “wanted them to be free”, Microsoft published the game and funneled an enormous amount of money into the project. Combined with their role as publisher, and as platform holder, and as retailer for the content essentially, their desire to sell the content is just as valid as Epic’s desire to give it away free, even if you wish Epic had won out. What’s more, Microsoft has committed to the content releasing for free in the Fall.

And yet, the bitching has already started. There continues to be a sense of entitlement amongst certain areas of the internet that claim everything should be free, although I never heard any complaints that fLow, a title which existed as a flash game for free, cost money. I can understand that mentality, but in this case I don’t agree with it. Not only in this case can you apply the “don’t like it, don’t buy it mentality” here, you can later apply the “don’t want to pay, so get it free in a few months” mentality. So why are people upset? I want opinions, people.

-Aegies

Downloadable content, or DLC, has become something that permeates almost the entire gaming community.  With the exception of the hand held market, and even then you can download demos, DLC has become something that all gaming platforms are trying to push.  But what exactly makes DLC good and what makes it bad?

Bad downloadable content comes across when players feel like they are being gouged (aka Guitar Hero II for 360) or when it just doesn’t provide anything that makes the game compelling (horse armor in Oblivion).   This type of DLC only ends up alienating players or becoming something they just pass on because it does not reinvigorate our desire to keep playing a game we’ve already completed or gotten bored with.

What then makes DLC content good then, you ask?  Well first off it has to reinvigorate a person’s passion to play a game.  It should also be priced in such a way that it does not make players feel like they are overpaying.  Granted in the case of Guitar Hero it is understandable from a market perspective to charge 2$ a song but people think that it is too much.  And if the consumer thinks the price is too high then it is too high.

But let me reemphasize that good DLC reinvigorates a person’s passion about a game.   It should encourage a person to dust off a title or keep playing a title that they already own.  It doesn’t have to reinvent the game by introducing a new game type but if it does that isn’t terrible either.  Hopefully the new Crackdown DLC, which you can see a picture of here, will encourage players not to just trade in their copies of the game after the Halo 3 beta ends.

Good DLC benefits not just the gamer but also the industry.  By giving players a reason to hold onto their games they help curb the rate of trade-ins.  This in turn will help to sell more units since players will not be able to find the games used.  Publishers are happy and you are happy because you have reasons to keep playing games.  More importantly, you are not helping support the main way EB games and GameStop make their profits.

Hopefully players will police the world of DLC with their wallets to the point where we can weed out the shit that bombards us daily on live (aka picture packs).  For now it’s an economic experiment; be a smart guinea pig, dammit.

Chufmoney