As you may remember, we kind of were successful in organizing a boycott against Battlefield: Bad Company and Electronic Arts because of a pretty stupid and downright greedy DLC tactic. However, has it become a case of too little too late?
Since the launch of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft and other companies have gotten quite used to charging you for not only game content, but for simple stuff like gamerpics and themes. As I’ve stated before, most of the free content you can find on the Marketplace are advertisements.
I’m all for getting a free picture of Jack Black in a lucha-libre outfit and I’m happy that the community gamerpics are free, though I’m sure Microsoft would have loved to charge for them. The question is: With all of the awesome content that’s up there ranging from maps for crappy games to gamerpics featuring Master Chief, have we as gamers let this nickel and dime DLC go too far?
I believe that paid content for games is fine, as long as it’s not “pay-to-unlock.” While sometimes I think it’s over-priced, some developers like Infinity Ward come by and show you that a map pack can be worth $10. The content I really have a beef with is the many cheap themes, gamerpics, and the vastly overpriced Xbox Originals.
$15 for the original Halo? Sold?
On the topic of gamerpics and themes, it’s something really new to the DLC market, as PC owners have never had a need for them. Microsoft tested the waters with them and found a gold mine in them ‘dar hills, and I really can’t blame them for trying to exploit our desire to individualize our internet avatars.
My real problem with the themes is that it completely shuts down any chance of us being able to fully customize the dashboard the way we want. Sure, we can put a picture up there, but we can’t choose one for each blade - that would defeat the purpose of spending $2 on that latest Halo theme. The PS3 owners have one up on the 360 owners in this regard. Although I’ve never had hands-on time with it, I’ve heard that the PS3 is completely customizable with your own themes.
My other bone to pick is the “Xbox Originals.” At first, I thought it was a great idea. Original Xbox games downloadable from the Marketplace costing just a little bit more than their used counterparts, sitting in the EB bargain bin. I was ready to pay $8 to $10 to have Psychonauts or Burnout 3 on my hard drive whenever I felt the urge to play it, but I think Microsoft had a good look at the Virtual Console and decided that 3x the price you can find in stores was the way to go.
Let me tell you, the original Halo was, and still is, a good game, but in 2008 with two sequels on store shelves, it’s nowhere near worth $15. I think even $10, with achievements, would be stretching it. The $15 price tag for some of these games may seem a bit more worth it if Microsoft had added things like achievements, or online play, instead they’re straight ports with all their bugs and glitches intact.
What to do? Well, it looks like the best course of action, we can do as gamers, is to speak with our wallets and not only refuse to buy the crappy themes and gamerpics, but outright support any decision Microsoft makes to release non-advertisement stuff like the community gamerpic packs. Maybe if we’re lucky we can get a Sarcastic Gamer theme.
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11 responses so far ↓
1 AndyG // Apr 15, 2008 at 10:31 am
You know what i love most… Right after this article is a big ad for “Mouse Blowout - 2 for $15″
lmao… well i thought it was funny…
2 1Colin1 // Apr 15, 2008 at 10:54 am
Lol ^^, People are willing to buy these things, that’s why it’s up there. You don’t have to buy it so I don’t see a probelm to much with it long as it’s not like the BS EA where trying to do with Bad Company. I think they are a bad company, they picked a very good name for the game.
3 OkayOctane // Apr 15, 2008 at 11:00 am
“”You know what i love most… Right after this article is a big ad for “Mouse Blowout - 2 for $15? “”
Lmao, funny it is indeed.
But yeah, I’ve always found it a bit annoying that there is a lack of free themes and gamerpics on the marketplace, BUT because those things do not directly effect my game playing abilities or the fun I have on my xbox, i can let it slide. They gots to make their monies somehow.
4 the 6th degree // Apr 15, 2008 at 11:29 am
You have a point about the themes and game DLC - but I dont think the Originals are too badly priced - sure I can walk into Game and pick up Halo for £5 - but it would take take a serious search to come across Psychonouts, even games like Black and Burnout 3 you may have to go online to find (the game stores in my town are small).
So I dont mind spending a bit over the odds on a classic title, if I can download it whilst I’m sat here typing this.
5 Void Munashii // Apr 15, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I do not have too many problems with DLC that is game content of some worth (extra tracks for Rock Band, new content for Mass Effect, etc), but I do find the idea of paying for gamer pics and themes to be a bit offensive. I do not see why i should have to pay to turn my 360 into an ad for a game/product. I’ll DL it if it is free, but I am not wasting my valuable points on pics.
all that said, I did buy OXM once just because it have Katamari gamerpics on it *shame*
6 Wayne // Apr 15, 2008 at 4:06 pm
I’m glad you guys posted something like this. Us gamers need to take a step back and realize what is going on here. I cannot help but think about how Square/Nintendo is pricing the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles WiiWare game.
7 King_Bebop // Apr 15, 2008 at 4:10 pm
What really pisses me off is that the ads slow down your xbox, and one time while my xbox was loading the ads, it made me accidently purchase an item I did not want(240points for a theme of Lost). I called fu*ksoft(microsoft) and they said that i should not have bought a first gen xbox .
8 LJ // Apr 15, 2008 at 5:27 pm
You know If Microsoft didnt charge for stuff that you really didn’t need then they would have no reason to even have that section of items. I mean if the gamerpics and themes that Developers puts out there came free then their wouldn’t be much to choose from.
And Also I think your have to put some blame on the developer for not trying to at least have a say on some type of pricing. If Bungie said they were going to give out a “two map- Map pack” out for free no matter what. Microsoft would consider it, Its not only gamers who have to keep this in check, but the whole industry,
9 refinedsugar // Apr 15, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Next time there’s a grab for publicity - can I be the one to play the violin?
10 Foxx // Apr 15, 2008 at 11:07 pm
I have a couple of comments (owner of 360 and ps3 here) 1) Why, if I’m paying for Xbox live do I have to look at advertisements on most of the blades? Something I never quite understood, usually you pay to get rid of ads like on websites… but you get ads if you sign up for xbox live. That’s a little off topic though.
2) I never bought and will never buy a theme or a gamerpic pack, I think it’s ridiculous to charge for this material. The PS3 does have a much smaller amount of themes available but they’re growing and they are all free, plus you can download tools and make your own and throw it on the ps3 or download the hundreds of premade ones available online (some great/a lot bad). I also found it funny that right after xbox originals launched, I was at BestBuy and in the check out lanes was Halo 1 starring at me for 4.99 (brand new in a case and even featuring an instruction booklet). Just another way for MSFT to nickel and dime the gaming community, I won’t buy into it, but that’s just me and my opinion.
11 Sarge // Apr 16, 2008 at 8:57 am
I do think there are some DLC issues that need to be addressed.
When I here that DLC is coming for a game I like. Then I find out its gamerpics and developer videos. Whoopee. When I hear DLC, I want in game stuff. Maps, weapons, outfits..something playable. The rest is crap. So they should just say “new crap coming” I’ll watch a trailer or developer video blog, but I dont need it advertised like its a big deal.
And some of the stuff is just priced crazy. 4 bucks to watch Roadhouse???? That needs to be a bargain price. And some of these older movies look like garbage. 4 bucks for Bull Durham and it looked like 80’s VHS quality.
For the most part I like the XBL marketplace, but it could use some content adjustment.
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