Sign up for a new account or log in here:
also @ TechSpot: Intel says Haswell will improve battery life by 50 percent
Home › News › Gaming
Capcom is proud to charge you extra for game content that's on the disc you already paid for
Earlier this month, Capcom drew controversy when Street Fighter X Tekken, released in the US on March 6 and in other regions later that week, proved to have locked, future "DLC" content on the retail launch disc.
Capcom claimed there were benefits to the disc-based DLC, saying the content on the disc would ensure "compatibility," would prevent consumers from enduring lengthy downloads, and would guarantee the longevity of retail editions of the game for years to come. On the Capcom-Unity blog, they wrote:
By including these 12 characters on the disc, the idea was to ensure easy compatibility between players who do and do not choose to download the characters when they arrive as DLC.
The update also saves on file size - instead of a massive download, there will be a much smaller unlock that brings the new content to the surface.
This move also furthers our desire to avoid a "Super" version of the game down the road. Everything you need to enjoy this game for months (and years) to come will be accessed by the retail disc available this week.
Consumers, faced with the prospect of having to pay twice to access content on the discs they'd already purchased, disagreed with Capcom's positive framing of the issue. Several of those customers took their grievances to the Better Business Bureau, filing complaints against Capcom.
According to CinemaBlend, Capcom's response to one of these BBB claims outlines the company's position on DLC in starkly clear terms. In response to BCC Complaint #57217509, Capcom said:
While Capcom is sorry that some of its fans are not happy about the chosen method of delivery for the DLC, we believe that this method will provide more flexible and efficient gameplay throughout the game's lifecycle. There is effectively no distinction between the DLC being ''locked'' behind the disc and available for unlocking at a later date, or being available through a full download at a later date, other than delivery mechanism.
Many players would argue that, in fact, there is a significant difference between DLC being "locked behind the disc" and being "available through a full download at a later date." The latter is truly DLC, downloadable content. It's an extra that wasn't finished before launch and then taken out for later sale; rather, it's an add-on option that can be purchased at a later date. Metaphorically, it's akin buying a house and then later deciding to expand and finish the basement.
The former is game content that, necessary or not, was planned before launch and been deliberately disabled with the intent of charging more later to enable it. To players, it's as if they had bought a house with a basement that they couldn't unlock the door to unless they went back to the seller six months after moving in and forked over extra cash. To Capcom, that's just the way it is.
According to CinemaBlend, the customers who filed the initial, now-resolved complaints, are attempting to amend their complaints to have them reconsidered. We asked Capcom for a comment but have had no response.
Republished with permission. Kate Cox is a contributing editor at Kotaku.
User Comments: 45
Got something to say? Post a comment-
It was only a matter of time before something like this happened.
-
There's nothing to be on the fence about. DLC is killing the industry, period.
You might think, "but this is giving developers extra revenue, surely they'll make better games!", but you would be wrong. DLC is nothing more than a test to see how far they can drive the knife into your back before your reflex kicks in. It doesn't matter how it is done, whether cosmetic or otherwise, it's something that needs to die off quickly or we'll see our games devolve into lazily done "works of art" where the developer/publisher can chop the game to bits then "claim" it was done after the game was finished.
(See: EA @ [link] )
-
yRaz said:
@davislane1
I had misunderstood your position
-
To MilwaukeeMike:
"it's akin to having a secret wing of your house that you never knew you had that you could pay for later. "
really?
-
And they wonder why Piracy is going way up.
Good example here.
-
Speak with your wallets. Nuff said.
-
Its not nearly the same thing as buying a house without access to the basement.
What Capcom is doing is basically putting an addition on your house but boarding it up.
Why do this? Well if and when you do decide you want to expand your house, all that needs to be done is for the wall to be taken down. Much faster and simpler then building it fresh.
Thats whats going on. It's up to Capcom to decide how much content should be provided for the $59.99
So they went ahead, pre created the additional content and locked it on the disk so that if and when you decided you wanted the extra stuff all you had to do was unlock it via a purchase.
No download time, no storage space on your PS3/360... it's win win. Yet there are people who complain.
Other wise Capcom would have just put the extra stuff off to the side for six months and then sold you the "new" content. Then people would piss and moan that it takes so long to download, takes up their harddrive space and blah blah blah.
-
So how is this in any way different than a DLC that was also finished by the time a game was released and is released 2 months later to fool all those gullible teenagers out there? All these soon-fed kids nowadays can be such whiners...sigh
-
DLC = Disc-Locked Content, these days. DownLoadable Content is no more.
-
Piracy ALLLL the way!!!
-
Cycloid Torus said:
WHY BUY any new games which feature future DLC or promise vast horizons of added goodies? In the end it is vaporware until it actually lands in your machine and works. So what is a guy supposed to do? Wait for the reviews - let somebody else explore - clench your wallet firmly and do not let any $$ out..
-
treetops said:
Yep it comes down to if you don't like it don't buy it.
I don't think its immoral in any way I just refuse to pay over 60$ for a game+dlc. Then you could argue well what about a expansion? Yeah I would pay for a expansion. Whats the difference? Dlc doesn't seem to give the same bang for the buck.
Pertaining to the article topic
The only thing you could argue is hey does my disc cost more because it has dlc already on it? Maybe a few pennies? No not the cost to develop the dlc, the cost of the extra data stored on the disc.
-
Respect. At least they're up front about it.
-
If people did not hacked the disc and found the disc-lock content, Capcom would have still deny it exists today.
Capcom also had asked players of Street Fighter x Tekkan to help them find hackers of the game. After a day Capcom told people to that they will do it themselves.
-
Another thing that really !@#&#! me off is when Delta charges me for a flight to Florida!...I mean, they are going there anyway!
-
DAOWAce said:
As TotalBiscuit would say: If it's on the disc, it should be available to consumers.
Capcom's defense is ridiculous. Any developer putting DLC on the retail disc and wanting to charge later for it are money grubbing bastards.
I think the game 'DLC Quest' fits nicely here.
I'm so sick of DLC. I guess I should be happy I don't buy games until months after release when they're on sale, usually bundled with all DLC released since then. That, or it gets pirated. (I have 285 games on Steam, shush.) Otherwise, I play Indie games, which most of the time are far more enjoyable and provide way better 'bang for the buck' than big publisher titles, namely $60 games. Thanks, Activision, for increasing the price of PC games, it's really what us consumers need with this terrible economy.
So, yeah. The new price of $60 per game with extra costs of DLC available from day 1 = game is completely ignored until it's over half price. You don't increase game sales by charging more and screwing your consumers out of content, you do the opposite.
I really need to continue with my game development..
-
I thought that I was only missing cole...I feel like a sucker right now,darn it!.Instead of "enjoying this game for years" im going to get a lighter and a trash can pretty soon.
-
Wow how low companies go to milk there customers. Not enough innovation going on at capcom to make money anymore. Charge 60 bucks for a game and decide to lock content already on a disk to ask money for it later on. You already paid for it once now they wanna dig deeper. Retards.
-
The morale of the story here is as said above, Speak with your wallets if you don't agree with poor choices publishers or devs make don't buy it then send them an email saying why and that no you won't torrent it.
This way they cannot blame piracy for the lame choices they make and instead have to reflect on giving a better deal or service to the consumer (the ppl who keep them employed.)
-
There's nothing to be on the fence about. DLC is killing the industry, period.
You might think, "but this is giving developers extra revenue, surely they'll make better games!", but you would be wrong. DLC is nothing more than a test to see how far they can drive the knife into your back before your reflex kicks in. It doesn't matter how it is done, whether cosmetic or otherwise, it's something that needs to die off quickly or we'll see our games devolve into lazily done "works of art" where the developer/publisher can chop the game to bits then "claim" it was done after the game was finished.
(See: EA @ [link] )
This reminds me of Saints Row: The Third.
The game wasn't up to standards anyway with its big lack of content on the previous game, so when people discovered the huge sum of "Disc Locked Content" that came with it, you can imagine the anger. I for one wasn't jumping around in joy over it. If anything, It'll really make me question any future games from Volition.
I like to imagine what a game like Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas would have been like had it been made a few years later. Although Rockstar are not seen as a generally "bad" company in that department, you can sort of imagine how stripped down all that content would have been.
Most Popular
| Trending | Featured |
Featured on PC Games
Subscribe to TechSpot
Get free exclusive content, learn about new features and breaking tech news.