Downloadable Add-Ons Can Be a Barrier to Entry - News
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 19 October 2011 / 4,450 Views
To gamers, downloadable content in can be quite troublesome. While it's hard to say for sure, the idea that content may be specifically ripped out of a title for resell later is a concern. That's not to mention over-priced content, which becomes extremely evident with downloadable retail releases, even though you're deducting many of the publisher's costs. Stuff like on-disc DLC are heavy topics as well, but recently I found that the amount of DLC available has had an effect on my purchasing decisions.
In terms of actual content, most titles don't feature that many pieces of DLC between releases. Two or three seems to be the magic number, depending on the game and its format. When Castlevania: Harmony of Despair launched on PlayStation Store last month I was thinking about purchasing it, but upon clicking the icon I was taken to a page of DLC. Seeing all this DLC day one was pretty intimidating, especially after adding up the costs. All the content together would cost nearly two times as much as the game itself, which was priced at $14.99. The base title even included some DLC bundled in that the Xbox 360 version had sold separately. But just seeing the added up price was enough to push me from laying my money down for the title.
Why does it matter if it was optional? While $15 sounds great for the experience, I can't say a full $43.99 would be worth it, even with new levels and characters. Simply put, I'm afraid of falling into the jaws of their nickel and diming plan. By the time my experience with the game would be over, I may have paid $28.99 more than I intended for the title. That being said, it's not uncommon to see an abundance of skin packs or some other more novel piece of content flood the store. Those who are interested in that kind of content will buy those, but I don't think they necessarily hold the same air as actual new content, where it feels like you're missing something if you don't pick it up.
Harmony of Despair is sort of in a uncommon case where on XBLA the downloadable content was rolled out over time. But with the PlayStation Store release launching over a year later, it is was all just shoved up on day one. But there are other instances where I have experienced this in the past, even with a retail title. Hyperdimension Neptunia is expensive as is thanks to a limited print run in North America, but check out the title on PSN and you'll find 90 pieces of downloadable content. On the surface level, only the novelty stuff seems to cost money, while the quests remain free. What's not immediately apparent is that players have to buy battle passes to actually use certain party members in battle and the free quests have recommended levels way above the in-game level cap, so players have to purchase download packs that increase the level cap in either 200 or 300 levels intervals. Worthwhile content or not, seeing 90 pieces of downloadable content is intimidating as is. And if you want to go further back the WiiWare version of Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, which amounts to about $37 after all the character stories have been purchased. Thankfully, a PSP release has compiled them into an affordable package.
As we move closer and closer to a future where nearly all third party releases are multiplatform, it's hard to say how many scenarios would be similar to Harmony of Despair. With all these extras fees being tacked on for what may or may not be extra content, whether it's 90 pieces or one piece of DLC, it's definitely is something to consider in your purchase, as paying full price may no longer be what you need to get the full content of a game.
