So a few years ago I used to joke about video game developer's purposely hiding content from their consumers to make a quick buck later... funny thing is a few years later it has become a reality!
I used to make that joke about sequels. Where the next game is exactly the same but they make you rebuy the game to continue the storyline or get a few graphical upgrades! This isn't anything new. In fact Nintendo, the family friendly happy-go-lucky lovable company, robs you blind each time you play the next Mario, Zelda, or Pokemon title.
(Fun-Fact: Crazy thing about Nintendo fans, my self included, that we not only allow, not only accept this, but fully expects this to get a nice hit of that nostalgia! Us Nintendo fans are INSANE!)
But this rant isn't on bad sequels that "should've been an expansion pack/DLC) but the DLC itself!
Now the thought of DLC is the true future of gaming! Now games repair and update themselves without you having to buy a new disc! Every gamer's dream! Unfortunately we depend on these big publisher and developer companies to handle this dream. With big companies comes corporate greed. And us Bronies know what greed is like! The companies are more like Discord Rarity. The companies are hoarding their own Tom the Rock (no offense to the user that happens to be named Tom the Rock hehe) and keeping it away from us consumers. Except this is the real world... that diamond they're holding away (content) turns out to be a gold mine! Sad ending for consumers!
Confused with my metaphor? Okay how about this...
"DLC is killing gaming as a whole!"
How? Well let's look at pre-order bonuses. I remember when this fad started. Game Stop would give you like a free key chain for free. Not bad... Now they hand you numbers? Well let me tell you exactly what you bought. You bought a game on a disc, you also received a few numbers... wait that was obvious. But those numbers have a use. So you can fully use that disc, you know the one you paid for! Now getting a little extra content isn't bad, but what about those who didn't pre-order, those who bought it from a local retailer, those who bought it used! Welcome to the Capitalistic Nightmare World!
Gears of War 3 is a nice example. You could pre-order GoW3 from Game Stop and receive the code to unlock the "Commando Dom" character skin.
Best Buy offers Mechanic Baird
Amazon offers Savage Kantus
Walmart offers Savage Grenadier
These are alternative player skins already available on disc that we are denied access! We are only allowed access to these if we pre-ordered and purchased the game from a certain retailer. No matter which retailer you pick you are denied access to content you already purchased on the damn disc!
Oh but it get's worse than petty pre-order skins. There's also the Collector's Edition which comes with an exclusive Adam Fenix skin... which is also already on the Standard Edition's disc! There are also exclusive weapons skins too!
Also if you took part in the Beta they give out yet another skin already on disc! This one's Cole Train!
Tired of being blocked of access... too bad! You can also pay extra out of your pocket to use weapon skins you already own! Not to mention to get to use them all it costs almost as much as the damn game!
Oh it doesn't end now does it! The first DLC pack is the Horde Command pack... this pack is interesting because it is NOT DLC! Through breaking into the game the skins are already on the disc too just waiting to be activated!
Look at all that content... All of which (if you bought Gears of War 3) you already own on disc!
I got Gears of War 3 from Game Stop. I usually buy my games from a local retailer, but they weren't offering Beta access. (was actually worth the $5 I put down for it!) Now I love my local retailer Elite Games, the clerks are fun loving gamer's like me! If they were hiring I'd join in a heartbeat! They also have a large collection of Classic games in-store! AND they let you pay about $5 to sit down in the middle of the store and play it for about an hour!
If it weren't for the Beta I would've bought it from Elite, but I already paid $5 so... why not!
If I did do the right thing and supported my awesome local retailer look at all the content I'd miss out on!!! All of that on disc, but unusable!
"Oh so the motto is don't buy Gears of War 3?" Well no! Aside from this the game is good in my opinion (well lack luster singleplayer, but I don't expect much these days). This psuedo-DLC fad has been around for a while and isn't going away!
Online Passes are the new cancer! Surprisingly GoW3 did not require this... but other games require you to buy the game new in order to play online. If one buys the game used you must pay extra to play it online, or access certain content (the infamous Catwoman is a good example from Arkham City)!
Similar examples some people complain about is Call of Duty Elite which isn't really content it's a service. I pay $15 a month for SWTOR because it's a service! Certainly I wish I could alternatively access the game content offline for free, but it's an MMO they don't work like that! CoD Elite is an online service that people pay for if they like CoD's online and want to get the most of it.
Others may bring up TF2's hats and weapons. Bear in mind that these micro-transactions are a service.
None of this is slowing down! I just heard Mass Effect 3 has a similar plan as Gears of War 3 where the big retailers roll out their exclusive weapons and whatnot!
You know it is hard to be a video game fan these days! The quality of games seem to have dumbed down to make way from needlessly complex graphics and tedious online play! Now the purchasing of games themselves is becoming a chore as well. And DLC that is supposed to extend the life of a game instead only limits it! And poor small awesome retailers like Elite Games will bite the dust because of these terrors!
Well I've already decided to boycott the retailers as a small personal protest, but some people don't have the option or a retailer worth fighting for, but I feel we as the consumers have to fight back somehow!
/rant
