Did Consoles Ruin DLC?


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Daniel Sims - News Editor, Kombo.com / 1up blogger

For some reason, one of the most disdained new features of this console generation has been downloadable content. We don't like paying a few dollars for horse armor updates or some new cars and being nickled and dimed for costumes that are already on the game disc. We look at patches as little more than an excuse for developers to ship a half-finished game and have us beta test it.

It shouldn't have been this way.

The idea of downloading additional things into your game after release was supposed to be something that extended the lives of games and made them better over time. Instead, little has changed and some games are only just now starting to come around. In most cases we've received a similar amount and quality of content, but just payed more for it over a longer period of time. The worst part is that in many ways, this has put the PC platform at a distinct economical advantage.

Some are finally starting to notice the disparity with Valve recently announcing a new campaign as DLC for Left 4 Dead. The thing is, that DLC is going to be free for owners of the PC version of the game but Xbox owners will have to pay $7 for the same content. This kind of thing has been going on for a few years now and it shows a clear separation between how essentially the same system is seen on different platforms of gaming.

All of the map packs so far released for the Call of Duty games have been $10 each to download on consoles through closed networks while PC gamers could download those same packs for free off of fileshack or somewhere. Valve's own Team Fortress 2 has received a significant amount of DLC that's been completely free on the PC. Xbox owners of the same game however have only received maybe half of that content and have had to pay for it in $5 packs.

Why is this? The idea of this kind of content delivery was scarcely heard of on consoles, so console gamers see no reason not to pay for it, but on the PC these amounts of content are usually just considered parts of patches. Furthermore, why pay for a few extra maps and costumes when modders are making and offering new ones for free all the time?

A look at places like l4dmods.com reveals whole communities of people putting out content that much of the time is equivalent to what's included in DLC, only it's free. This goes from fan-made maps in the Call of Duty games to new campaigns in Left 4 Dead or Half-Life 2 to the choice to unlock new costumes in Street Fighter IV instead of paying to unlock the ones already on the disc.

So far only Epic has attempted to open consoles up to this massive world of content, but only Sony let them allow mod support on the PS3 version of Unreal Tournament III. Conversely, Microsoft is the reason Valve has had to charge for their DLC on Xbox instead of following their "DLC should be free" mantra. If Sony is indeed a little more open with publishers and online content, who's to say they wouldn't have let Valve follow that mantra had the PS3 version of The Orange Box been successful enough to warrant continuing support, or if there were a PS3 version of Left 4 Dead? This kind of disparity between PSN and XBLA has influenced Microsoft before.

Instead, console manufacturers have now enforced this system for DLC because they have been proven to that console gamers will pay for this content while PC gamers know better. Does this mean that they think of console gamers as a less sophisticated market? Dare I say they took advantage of an ignorant consumer base? The platform shouldn't matter, some gamers are paying for content while others are getting the same content and then some for free.

The thing that I find the most disappointing is that a working model for how and why to deliver DLC was already in place for the Xbox and PS3 to follow.

When DLC is released for a PC title, it's usually a $20 or $30 expansion pack that offers hours of new content - usually at least a whole new campaign to go along with maps, characters, and other stuff. Examples include all the expansions for The Sims games, Crysis Warhead, or the Kane's Wrath expansion for Command & Conquer 3.

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A look at places like l4dmods.com reveals whole communities of people putting out content that much of the time is equivalent to what's included in DLC, only it's free.

official l4d dlc is free too....

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All of the map packs so far released for the Call of Duty games have been $10 each to download on consoles through closed networks while PC gamers could download those same packs for free off of fileshack or somewhere.

Yea if we were all PC gamers we would be able to pirate the DLC, great point. :rolleyes:

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Consoles just made DLC the new easy money source for publishers / developers because they are such closed platforms. No modding community to provide additional contents for free. ( Except those 'community' games but they aren't exactly in an abundance ). So they can push the lemon a bit regarding price and content because they userbase can either buy it or not, they can't really look for an alternative source of content.

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Yea if we were all PC gamers we would be able to pirate the DLC, great point. :rolleyes:

It is a great point. Who's the idiot, the one who pays for the full game then is slowly fleeced by a never ending stream of DLC, or the guy who gets it all for free and spends his monies on beer and women? Fact is, getting stuff for free beats paying for it any day of the week.

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I don't think its DLC that has ruined anything, but more of the companies trying to squeeze every last penny out of us that has. Recently, most DLC is stuff that is already made and packaged, but then you have to pay to unlock it.... thats robbery in my opinion.

PCers have been treated like trash threw out the years in terms of what gaming companies think of us. We have received no ports, crappy ports, or unsupported crappy ports of games for far too long. We have been flooded by the market with useless and broken products over and over again. So the reason a lot of PCers get stuff for "free" is because we are tired of being ripped off with crap going for $50+, and why would we want to pay $10 for something someone else could easily make and distribute for free on a pc. Modding is a wonderful thing :p

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It is a great point. Who's the idiot, the one who pays for the full game then is slowly fleeced by a never ending stream of DLC, or the guy who gets it all for free and spends his monies on beer and women? Fact is, getting stuff for free beats paying for it any day of the week.

But the fact is you getting it illegally. Yea nobody wants to pay for it, but does that really warrant getting it illegally? Playing the DLC that you just downloaded shows that regardless you will support the DLC model because in the end you are still playing it.

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But the fact is you getting it illegally. Yea nobody wants to pay for it, but does that really warrant getting it illegally? Playing the DLC that you just downloaded shows that regardless you will support the DLC model because in the end you are still playing it.

Right and Wrong are all personal opinions. In a world where no one can be right, as long as no one is actually hurt, whats the fuss about? lol

Companies should not count on DLC as a revenue. It is extra.... extra that is normally already made and in game, just requiring more money to unlock.... like buying a cup of water and being charged for ice... :p

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Illegal yes, so what? Playing it without paying for it only shows that the content was worth playing, not worth paying for. I would be happy to pay slightly more for the original game, provided any additional content based on that game is free (on the assumption their will be additional content). If the producer wants to release a standalone, fine, it survives on its own merits, rather that than persistently ripping off people who have already paid for their product (ala Sims3).

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Consoles didn't ruin it. Publishers did.

Look at EAs latest release. Buy madden 2nd hand and you have to cough up another $10 for the online content. Now don't get me started on pre order bonuses. People are now starting to get genuinely better weapons & cars than those who don't.

Best bit is... The more morons who buy it, the more they will do it! :D :|

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Hasn't ruined DLC, just made it a viable profit making scheme by being closed platform. Microsoft really put it into gear but if they weren't going to do it someone else would eventually. Just got to live with it and vote with your wallet. PC games were rarely DLC outside of competitive multi player games, more patches than anything else. Expansion packs were more common and you had to pay for them. Publishers are just fleecing on every little thing now. I wish more publishers would see the good side in creating a community by not splitting it from the start or soon after. I also don't blame publishers for wanting more revenue, the second hand market must be killer to long time sales which needs to be sorted and I think that ball is in the publishers court, lower the entry fee. Stop relying on bonuses which will get even worse I imagine because they rely solely on early sales.

Edited by WooHoo!!!
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But the fact is you getting it illegally. Yea nobody wants to pay for it, but does that really warrant getting it illegally? Playing the DLC that you just downloaded shows that regardless you will support the DLC model because in the end you are still playing it.

DLC on the PC is free. You can blame pirates for the publishers being hesitant to charge for it but you cannot argue that people are getting it illegally when the publishers release it for free on the PC.

The reasons why the PC get it for free is listed in the article, there's a huge modding community for the PC Platform and its easier to pirate on the PC so they cant charge for it. Its nothing to do with the users on the consoles being ignorant, as even if they know the PC Platform is getting it for free, it doesnt change anything.. They will still have to pay for the content if they want it on a console.

Its nothing bad about the consoles, its actually a worse thing for the PC.. as they dont make any money from the PC DLC, it means that PC games get a lower profit margin than those on the console (It was probably already the case; however, its made it worse as the console has an additional revenue stream). I'd go as far as to say, that alot of publishers would like to stop making PC DLC if they could.. The only reason they cant is that there would be a huge outcry.

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they dont make any money from the PC DLC, it means that PC games get a lower profit margin than those on the console

Not to mention new games are often cheaper on the PC.

Look at Ghostbusters i twas 29.99 at launch for pc and 59.99 for 360/ps3.

But even DLC can be had for little or no cost too. Look at the Fallout 3 expansion disc on 360. No validation or checks,

pop in install and give back to your friend. (not that i Condone this as i've bought all the fallout content. Great game).

Same could be said of the rock band track packs : /

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I think mods have little to do with it, over emphasised as a reason for free content There is no viable platform to force users to pay, my way or the high way doesn't apply. PC games have always been about community. Charging for small chunks of DLC destroys that.

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Not to mention new games are often cheaper on the PC.

Look at Ghostbusters i twas 29.99 at launch for pc and 59.99 for 360/ps3.

But even DLC can be had for little or no cost too. Look at the Fallout 3 expansion disc on 360. No validation or checks,

pop in install and give back to your friend. (not that i Condone this as i've bought all the fallout content. Great game).

Same could be said of the rock band track packs : /

Cheaper because PC normally doesn't get everything that the consoles get... that and they probably wont ever patch the game for the PC for the bugs that are in it...

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Not to mention new games are often cheaper on the PC.

Look at Ghostbusters i twas 29.99 at launch for pc and 59.99 for 360/ps3.

But even DLC can be had for little or no cost too. Look at the Fallout 3 expansion disc on 360. No validation or checks,

pop in install and give back to your friend. (not that i Condone this as i've bought all the fallout content. Great game).

Same could be said of the rock band track packs : /

It was cheaper on the PC because it did not have muliti-player.

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Cheaper because PC normally doesn't get everything that the consoles get... that and they probably wont ever patch the game for the PC for the bugs that are in it...

They don't pay 10 quid or whatever to the console manufacturer for the privilege of putting that game on the platform.

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If I were a developer, and was making games to make money to feed my family...and i could make some DLC for PC, but it wouldn't make me ANY money at all, or i could make some DLC for 360/PS3 and make money off it..i wonder which one is the better choice?

It's PC gamers own fault for driving developers away from them by pirating games since the games first come out on PC 20 odd years ago. I don't blame consoles AT ALL.

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If I were a developer, and was making games to make money to feed my family...and i could make some DLC for PC, but it wouldn't make me ANY money at all, or i could make some DLC for 360/PS3 and make money off it..i wonder which one is the better choice?

It's PC gamers own fault for driving developers away from them by pirating games since the games first come out on PC 20 odd years ago. I don't blame consoles AT ALL.

That argument can be thrown in both directions.

A lot of PCers started pirating games because of the lack of effort put into them, and the lack of support we were getting from the companies when they wouldn't work on our pc. Then we can't take the game back for a refund, we are stuck with the box, but not a working version to play with.....

Offer a good product, it will be bought and it will make you a profit. People normally like to support something they have faith or believe in. I have purchased plenty of games that I liked, even after pirating them. But on the same hand, A lot of games I purchased were total crap and not worth a fraction of what I spent. Lesson learned....

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