I understand the developers for wanting to draw a profit from there games due to the used game market on the rise. As we know it, used game sales do not give the developers any cash in there pocket and now that one game has passed from 1 house to about 4 others. Where 4 games could have been sold, the one game just cost the developers 240. bucks. Due to the increase of sales in the used games market, businesses like GameStop and Hastings have a way to make money on these games in the same way of sales but none of the work went into developing of the game.
So now we have a "DLC saturation market" where customers are forced to pay for DLC that isn't really DLC but the other portion of the game that was supposed to be on the disc at launch. See in order for these developers to make any money on the used game market they need to create the game in sections which thus makes the game even that more expensive to to have a "complete" experience. EA games has already put into place a new business practice to the console world where the user must pay a 10 dollar fee to play any of the online capabilities and then they make a ton of DLC for that said game where it becomes even more money.
As a GameStop customer and a Hastings customer, I am like millions of you, no stranger to how these businesses run, we trade in a game that has a 60 dollar value that was opened just a day prior and they only want to give us 5 or 10 bucks, usually in credit and almost never in cash unless you have the help of a store manager and then they have to contact there district manager and so on, you get the point. The way these places operate where we get only 5 to 10 bucks but then that day it's put back on the shelves for dam near the sealed price, knock about 5 bucks off and thats pretty much how all these businesses run. So now we are being ripped off by paying for someone else's disk at full price but now we need to spend an additional fee for the online experience and then the DLC, so all in all you just paid even more money then if you would have just bought it brand new.
All of the current events that we just covered effects everything and everyone that is involved with the gaming industry, where you are the buyer, share holder, the companies or even the person thats behind some of this generations best looking games. These same developers last generation produced better quality then they have in comparison to this generation. Team ICO found and established themselves and vastly became one of the most respected developers due to there innovation and creative mind that fuel them to move forward. You have companies like Polyphony Digital who is responsible for one of the best selling driving games of all time and one that offers the best bang for your buck. NIS america who started off there libraries with RTS like game mechanics that etched there way to the hearts of Anime fans all around the world including myself.
The above mentioned developers are some of the few that still want to offer a more complete experience in there respective libraries, that offer a type of DLC that doesn't really make or break the game but give you new costumes and a few characters at only about .99 cents per pack. Where other companies like EA offer DLC ranging anywhere from 3.49 to an all time high of 39.99, along with the 10 dollar fee. The point is this, when developers notice that a title isn't selling well and there forums are all but a ghost town, they need to make up that profit somewhere and that is where we get to be gauged for money on any title they produce after that. Killzone3 for instance, was one of the most anticipated games for millions of us this year and look what happened. DLC right out the gate with features that were missing, apposed to what Killzone2 had to offer. Killzone2 is probably one of the best exclusive shooters to date because Killzone3 developers aren't really fixing there game strictly based on the support and attention they didn't receive. Killzone3 was possibly one of the most traded in games in my area of the world and I can only assume the same can be said about other places. I love Killzone3 but the online has a lot going against it, and is indeed holding it back from being one of the best shooters online ever.
As gamers I guess you can ask yourselves this, when does the milking stop? When are the complete experiences that we received last generation are at this generation? Where is gaming gonna be heading from here on out when we approach 3rd or 4th quarter of this year? I see a lot of negative things happening this generation if developers continue down this path, I see 60 dollar demos on shelves and 40 dollar DLC to complete those demos coming in the near future just so they can make money, on top of the fee. When you total up your cable bill, your power bill, and console or PC replacements on top of live fees and plus fees it really starts heading to an astounding amount of money. More money then any of us should have to pay. When do we allow developers there right to publish there own games at cost instead of allowing companies like EA and Activision rip off there devs and force there yearly titles and not give us a complete experience at launch.
Simple answer folks, when we stop supporting publishers and force there devs into there own studios. When we can control ourselves better and allow GameStop to go bankrupt and force them to wake up and stop ripping us gamers off.
At this current rate I don't see this happening.
Thanks for Reading
A. Delong
