Get ready to pay for more content that you already bought.
Pay for me again, you will!In a move that surprises no one, Namco Bandai announced this morning that Darth Vader and Yoda would be available as downloadable characters in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, respectively, of Soulcalibur IV for $5 a pop. I'm a pretty big proponent for the positive powers of downloadable content, but it's hard to defend against accusations that publishers are using DLC as a way to charge extra for content that should've been a part of the core package when they pull some very plainly orchestrated shit like this. It has long since been figured out that the actual data for both Vader and Yoda is already on the disc, yet Namco Bandai insists on maintaining the charade that this is a reaction to "overwhelming fan response" and not a cynically calculated plan to squeeze an extra $5 out of you.
I probably shouldn't be quite so devisive, but I find such practices fairly unethical, and the only way you're going to stop publishers like Namco Bandai from playing dirty pool like this is to not help make it profitable, no matter how much you love Star Wars.
It is a shame but I must admit if I had bought Soul Calibur 4 I would most likely download this. Sure it sucks that they are playing like this but in reality Darth Vader is probably worth it.
It seems unanimous... total bullshit. I'll admit that I bought the Horse Armor for Oblivion, but learned a valuable lesson. Does my horse really need armor? Does it make it a better game? A thin line seems to be developing between DLC and content that should be in the finished product. At what point do you distinguish the two? Part of me supports this structure and part of me doesn't. I'm all for throwing money at developers I like in order to help fund further development. The game industry is becoming more and more elitest where if you are not a huge corporate conglomerate you can't compete.So, in that regard, I would pay a hundred dollars for a game I love that no one is buying just so I can boost the possibility of more games of that type. I'm curious to see how strongly fans of Too Human are going to support its DLC. The verdict for that game is extremely polarized and it will be interesting to see how fervent its fans really are. My point, if you want to fill Namco Bandai's coffers to encourage more of whatever it is they do, go for it. If not, don't. I think DLC is a great way for "True" fans of a game to show more support for a company's product. I bought all the DLC for Halo 3 and have yet to play any of it, but that's okay. I like the Halo games and I want more, bigger, better Halo. Just because I'm addicted to other games doesn't mean I'm not going to support a great developer that is adding quality to this medium we love.
Edit: I need to say more, damnit, so I'm back. There are far too many games coming out of late that would be so much better if they were just given a little more polish. This happens, I can only imagine, because the budgets and time-frames run out. Okay. Not much we can do about that. That's business, as they say. I, personally, would have no gripe if a company needs to release a game because it's reached its maximum budget ( no control, it either has or hasn't) and AFTER its release decides to continue to work on it to make it better, ABOVE and BEYOND its projected budget. Okay. The company is spending ABOVE and BEYOND its price, I would be willing to pay ABOVE and BEYOND my price for a better version of a game I already like. Call it blasphemy, I think this structure would help support niche titles. Just because a piece of DLC happens to be fundamental to a game doesn't necessarily mean it is not worth paying extra for. Hell, the more fundamental to the game, the more it IS worth paying extra for, IMO. I understand that the precedent it sets could be wildly abused, but like Ryan says, it all comes down to whether or not we buy it. So, ultimately, it's only giving us MORE power to choose what products we support. And more choice is always a good thing. There's no such thing as a Free Lunch. Consumers always want more for nothing, but at what point can creators begin to provide product for nothing. At no point.
This has to be the biggest rip off of DLC that I've seen in a long time. I mean Vader is cool and all but not worth 5 bucks. Yoda definitely isn't worth that much unless you wanna be a complete cheap ass that no one can throw.
Such a good game, such a complete waste of DLC, including the previous versions.
The things they've been releasing as download content are ridiculous. But five dollars for one character? They'd be nicer to just put a gun into your face.
Bullshit. Namco can go fuck themselves; I'm not paying for pixelated titties and Jedi.
You know what? Fuck them even more. Not only have I bought SC2 and 3 for the PS2, I've also bought every Tekken game. I love Tekken. And now I'm not going to buy Tekken 6 because of this. Namco can suck it.
Yah in the case of ignoring this, it will be damn near impossible because there are too many people out there that want a Vader V. Yoda match. Good thing i took the next step and completely ignored the urge to buy this.
As much as you want to, please DON'T buy this DLC. That is, unless you want to pay an extra $5-10 for your games from now on for content that's already on the disc and ready upon release.
I guess I can understand that they're charging $5 for the extra character+their story. But it's straight up bullshit that they finished them before the games went gold and decided to hold them back for an extra charge. Total BULLSHIT.
It would be fine if this was a free thing. I can understand having the two characters be timed exclusives for each respective system but making you pay $5 for something that's already on both discs is retarded. These characters should be free.
I blame Bandai. They are the kings of sucking every last penny out of fans. Check the retail price on the Blu-Ray Wings of Honneamise anime. Yes , that's right Bandai wants $79.00 for 2 hours of anime. Well, I am not paying now, and I won't pay to unlock Ben10 or a Power Ranger in Tekken 6!
I made a page on this a while back called "exclusive excluded content" and it was deleted for no reason. I guess because, until now, it was "unsubstantiated". Now we know they're selling you shit already on the disc.
I'm not sure what's worse, the blatant gouging on Namco Bandai's part or the adsurd amounts of money they're going to make. If I'm not mistaken they sold something like 2 million copies in the first two weeks?
The fighting system in this game is broken, who really cares for this series after the original Soul Calibur? Having spawn, link, and heitachi as a playable character for one game and one for each of the last gen systems really spoke to me about how shitty the fighting system would turn out to be.
Why not just charge more for the damn game and give us Vader/Yoda day one? I would have bought it still. I love Soul Caliber but no way are these guys getting $5 from me this way.
Not surprised that a Japanese game company does this, seems like they enjoy doing this but I think that by now (and with the cool games coming out in the next few months), hardly anyone will buy into this as they will be too busy playing games that don't have the obvious words written on it while everyone else sees right through it and the company just keeps on lying. Maybe if they were trying to trick 4th grade students it might have worked for a few days.
This is why I'm skipping the achievement points and only getting SCIV for the PS3... once I finally buy a PS3. Darth and the Apprentice will be enough crossover absurdity for my tastes, thank you.
Whether it's to Bamco's credit or not, the current DLC of extra custom weapons and such for the character builder, tells you quite clearly that all of them can be obtained in game. Coming from a heritage of memory editors, Game Genies and Action Replays, I'm not able to easily stomach buying an unlockable. Imagine if the Konami Code cost you 200 points? The whole point is that you DON'T need to add 30 quarters, even if you could.
It really is the difference between rewarding the player, and playing the player.
I'm curious about the negotiations required between N-B and Lucasarts for who gets the biggest share of the profit from a Yoda "cookie" DLC.
That is some pretty underhanded shit to be quite honest. $5 to play characters which SHOULD no, WERE in the game already after you pay retail price for it and they want more money? What ever happened to the days of unlocking characters in story modes for fighting games? I guess now thats a thing of the past when all they want is more moola.
Hm..what about false advertisement? They marketed the games heavily as character specific console exclusives, but now all the special guest characters are selectable regardless of which platform for a price..
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