Sega Pleases, Enrages Alien Fans With Isolation's Pre-Order DLC [UPDATED]

The effect of this: Piracy.

I honesty just completely disregard Pre-order DLC. I always order from Amazon. I don't care what I do or don't get, because I am ordering for the retail game.

It's still dumb though.

So I guess the inherent differences between doc and expansion packs are still amount of content and pricing? Cause in all honesty they'rd similar, if you consider dlc that adds gameplay content. It's just writ on a smaller scale.

Indeed it has, I think perhaps after the failure of the last Aliens game that people are just jumpy around this one right now. I forget who it was but I heard recently the quote "You are only as good as your last game." The last Alien game was such shit out of something that looked promising that when people see this game they are just crossing their fingers and going "please don't be shit" so when they see something like this it makes them go "Oh no! It's being shit!"
Even if it has been done a hundred times before.

I do not understand why the concept of DLC became an accepted thing. This is a marketing strategy with only money in mind and the companies who do it should feel guilty for preying on impulsive minds and tendencies. I thought DLC would die out years ago, it should have died out with the "horse armor" bullshit. For my own part, Artorias of the Abyss was the first and still the only DLC I have ever purchased. Do not get me started on the bizarre idea of these pre-order dog-and-pony-show trinket items and maps they tack on to lure gamers into an unnecessary, early purchase that only serves to fuel a marketing team's idea of what they can get away with on gamers' dimes. Pisses-Me-Off: is the only message they should read.

How long do you guys think this game is? Long enough to justify a $60 price tag? Have they indicated any kind of price point yet? Just curious.

Well I don't give a shit if no one else will but I will be voting with my wallet and staying well away from this title until there is a GOTY bundle type deal. I'm getting so sick and tired of all this DLC BULLSHIT!

Its a real shame as well because I was legitimately excited for this game until this news broke.

Thanks Obama!

Bought Colonial Marines because of Gearbox's supposed involvement. I'm usually pretty good about sniffing out a turd but I'm a huge fan of the franchise and learned a lesson big time. No way I'm touching this at launch. I'll wait for it to go on sale during a slow time for releases.

I don't keep up with pre release news and glancing at all this Nostromo Edition, Last Survivor, Expendable Crew, retailer exclusives, pre order DLC is all a hassle and major fucken turn off.

See you in 2yrs at the bottom of the bargain bin when it's all sorted.

And, I have no complaints about that...at all.

Like I wrote earlier in this thread - this sort of DLC almost always becomes available later on for purchase - which is now confirmed. I'm not sure why this was even worthy of being a news item. Of course they're going to try to bait people into pre-ordering with timed exclusive content. This has been a standard business practice for quite a few years now.

I pre-ordered anyway, on Amazon. Works better for me because the package is on the door step when I get home from work. I don't do it for the DLC, I'll play the game regardless of whether Ripley is in it or not.

However, I do think the DLC crap is exactly that, crap. AND, like all fads, it will go away in time. Like he said, it's 2014, games are digital now, when more and more realize this, DLC will no longer be pre-order qualifying.

The problem with this statement is that you specifically say that you don't care. Why should someone that does care listen to you?

I know exactly how I feel about this: I don't care! People, you don't like something don't pay for it, it's really just that simple. This incessant internet bitching about everything in the games industry these days has become beyond tedious. Vote with your wallets; it's the strongest power consumers possess. Oh, and ignore most, if not all, games journalist as they seem to have forgotten why they got into this business in the first place.

Again like I said I never saw that horrible trailer. Its not so much falling for the demo as thinking that they have some idea of how to execute an aliens game, no one thought that the demo given would be 100% representative but it gave the impression that gearbox knew what they were doing.

@bishopren: I know about the demo but that stuff looked so much like a canned fake thing that I don't know how anyone could've fell for it. Especially after watching that horrible trailer.

The only reasonable price is free in my opinion. The only thing exclusive about retail pre-order DLC should be timing. Even that is lame though.

That image is awesome and terrifying.

I hate preorder DLC and I want to punish publishers who use it. Which makes me hate myself even more because I preordered. Still... I've done so on Amazon and won't hesitate to cancel it if either previews come up short or the DLC is announced as available at a reasonable price.

@madman356647: It is the internet version of 'The Man on The Street'. I'd be more interested people in the industry's reactions, but they'd probably have to tow the line on this issue. Unless they're a cool studio like CDRP.

@patrickklepek Ash was a cyborg?!? Geez give us a spoiler warning next time.

Kidding, but one of the most horrifying things ever though? Him rolling up that magazine and trying to shove it down Ripley's throat.

@seismicshock: like I said its ok here because its a couple. I just want to avoid more than that.

TESTKOMMENTAR?????????????????????????????????????????

he has 3 twitter pulls, kotaku rolls with dozens, i'd say patrick pulls some representative reactions instead of spamming them.

No but there is an upside for Sega and GameStop. Thats the point and thats the most infuriating part. Its a completely transparent cash grab

why is sega announcing pre-order dlc news today?

@bishopren: Jim is such a sweetie.

And now Sega has announced that the DLC will be available for everyone after release, so crisis adverted?

That said, I know Patrick is experimenting with different article types, but I'd like to say one thing. Please avoid "Twitter reacts to stuffs" articles. This one used it as kind of a cool window into "what it does to players" so it works, but that's one thing I don't like that Kotaku does regularly. Twitter copy pasta just doesn't bring the same punch as a well thought out article, and it feels more like a cop out "Ehhh, I'll just toss this up and get back to playing (insert game here)". But, I like the writeup either way.

I hate stuff like this, 30 years later its just pandering at this point to include the characters from the original movie.

Meh to this game anyways it has good graphics and theme but basically the gameplay is just a hide and seek simulator.

I wish more people understood this. We have almost no benefit besides a funny hat or some small inconsequential mission that guarantees the company $40-60 of our money on our gamble.

Yeah that's pretty dodgy. If you're paying full price for a game you would expect to get all the best parts with it otherwise it's an unfair deal.

Here's my problem with this game: This should be included at launch for everybody. There is no reason to cut that content from the main game other than "we want more money". If this trend continues at this pace, no game will ship in a tolerable state anymore. It's either a mountain of bugs or cut content that would have made the game better (Mass Effect 3: From Ashes)

Isolation looks pretty cool, but after the last couple of releases from Sega and Digital Assembly, NOBODY should preorder this.

This demo had a lot to do with it, I never saw that trailer but I did see this demo from E3 and it looked really awesome.

(Sorry I could not find the video without some one talking over it, seems sega has scoured the original from the web. So I thought the dulcet tones of Jim Sterling would be most acceptable.)

It must just be my part of the country, but I do still pre-order on occasion after things certain titles like that last Fire Emblem were impossible to find locally, and even difficult to catch in stock online at places like Amazon. I typically buy through Amazon, and put no money down, so one way or another, it doesn't really bother me either way, but even previously I have one or two stores I go to, they're in a college campus area, and tend to sell out of some things early on, and other obscure titles only get orders filled enough FOR pre-orders so... eh.

That being said, I was and still am skeptical about Isolation regardless of this stunt DLC. The idea of a game of any significant length revolving around no weapons and one monster being able to hold onto the suspense, and make the gameplay feel non-repetitive seems really really really hard to pull off. To the point where they could be holding back the last third of the game as DLC and I still wouldn't pre-order out of sheer skepticism. I hope I love it. I WANT to love it. The initial slice reviewers have gotten to look at has me hopeful, but this game... this game just feels like something that could really fall apart an hour or two in after crawling under the dozenth bed/hiding in the 100th locker. Here's hoping the make it work.

I mean, you can pre-order and either cancel you pre-order (even weeks after pre-ordiering) and put the money towards something else. Or if you pre-order from Amazon, you can just send it back. It's what I do with all my games now. After Sim City and BF4 I'm still feeling burned.

WHAT THEY'RE OFFERING A SECOND, SMALLER PRODUCT AS A VALUE ADD TO AN EXISTING PRODUCT THEY'RE PLANNING AT SELLING AT 60 DOLLARS?!

DON'T THEY KNOW MY 60 DOLLARS GIVES ME THE RIGHT TO PLAY EVERYTHING THEY'VE CREATED FOR THAT GAME EVER AND NOT JUST WHATEVER I BOUGHT?!

DON'T THEY UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANT PART OF A TRANSACTION IS NOT IN WHAT THEY OFFER ME IN EXCHANGE FOR WHAT I PAY, BUT WHAT I WANT TO HAVE FOR WHAT I PAY?

It's interesting thinking back at different exclusive preorder dlc I've gotten and noting has ever been needed even adds something special to the game.

I wounder if anyone has done a post modem on some big releases in the last couple years and seen if any of the Preorder DLC added anything of interest to a game. Most that I can think of is just skins, challenge maps or comedic shit. Haven't gotten around to playing the exclusive missions i received with watchdogs cause it felt pointless

Ripley looks a little like Summer Glau in that render.

My standard procedure now is to avoid any game with pre-order DLC for at least two years. They all release GotY editions, and by the time two years have passed, the price is down to $20 or less. Plus there's a ton of info out there so I can make a much more informed buying decision. Fuck pre-orders, fuck pre-order DLC, and fuck the people perpetuating this bullshit.

God, how could anyone think this game was going to be anything more than another duke nukem forever?

Update Two: Sega charges for the "After Launch" pre-order content because of how badass the episodes are and makes the ballsy decision to charge $59.99 for them. Gamestop sales for pre-orders go through the roof because that's a raw deal and Sega is like "we're onto something".

Update Three: Sega unleashes Alien: Isolation: After Launch for $59.99 a year later and everyone starts jerking each other off.

After that trailer, it's a bit inconceivable that someone would still be in.

This whole thing is a non-issue IMO. If companies want to do this, they can. If consumers want to buy it, they can. For me, the whole pre-order thing has led to me not buying any games at release any more. I have 20+ Xbox360 titles I bought at launch but Dark Souls was the last game I did that for. Now I get the games months/years after launch with all the DLC and I pay much less. If publishers are happy with that, so am I.

Nintendo has the right idea. No DLC and game prices are pretty solid, they go down very slowly. I'm happy to pay the asking price at launch in that case.

Internet wins again

Pssst... Ash is an android, not a cyborg.

If you're pre-ordering from GameStop just do it online and you don't even have to put that $5 down. Win/Win.

Wait... Who is blaming Sega for the complete collapse or failure of Aliens: Colonial Marines? I mean this is the first time ever I have heard anyone blame Sega for that turd. I feel most people think it was VERY VERY clear that 99% of the blame was on Gearbox Software and Randy "Snake Oil" Pitchford for that debacle.

It isn't really any skin off my nose who we blame. But come on!!! Let's give credit where credit is due, Randy Pitchford and Gearbox should take most of the blame because Sega's role in this was AT MOST trusting a con-artist like Randy. A lack of oversight with what was 'supposed to be' a well known developer is what they are guilty of commiting.