And the gouging begins!

[Malacite]

XBLM in March: Lara Croft deals, MvC3 and Dragon Age 2 DLC, free Gold weekend | Joystiq

Major Nelson has posted highlights from the Xbox Live Marketplace schedule for March. First up, the Dragon Age 2 "Black Emporium" DLC -- free to those who purchase new copies of the game -- will land on March 8 for 800 points ($10). Second, as promised, bonus characters Jill and Shuma Gorath will be available for Marvel vs. Capcom 3 on March 15 for 400 points ($5) each.

In other XBLM happenings, March 7 kicks off a Lara Croft themed "Deal of the Week," which will see Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light knocked down to 600 points ($7.50). Lara Croft DLC will also be discounted by fifty percent. Also, the week of March 14 will see several St. Patrick's Day deals, notably some discounted Green Day DLC (green -- geddit?) and Social Distortion's "Bad Luck" for Rock Band.

Finally, Xbox Live Silver members can enjoy free Xbox Live Gold this weekend, beginning Friday, March 4 at 12PM ET through Monday, March 7 at 12PM ET. Head past the break for a more complete schedule of releases.

Deal of the Week

Week of March 7

• Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light 1200 600 ($7.50)
• Raziel & Kane Character Pack 400 200 ($2.50)
• A Hazardous Reunion Challenge Pack 3 400 200 ($2.50)
• All the Trappings Challenge Pack 1 400 200 ($2.50)
• T-Rex Pet 240 120 ($1.50)

Week of March 14

• Clover: A Curious Tale 400 200 ($2.50)
• Rock Band - "Bad Luck" 160 80 ($1)
• Rock Band - Green Day Pack 01 440 220 ($2.75)
• Lips - "Some Guys Have All The Luck" 160 80 ($1)
• Lips - "Chasing Cars" 160 80 ($1)
• Green Avatar Tux 240 120 ($1.50)
• Leprechaun Avatar Prop 240 120 ($1.50)
• Green Shamrock Avatar Tee 80 40 ($0.50)
• Red Dead Redemption Irish T-Shirt 80 40 ($0.50)
• NBA2K11 Celtics Jersey 240 120 ($1.50)

Avatar Marketplace

• March 3: Robots
• March 10: Halo: Reach collection update

Downloadable content

March 8

• Dragon Age 2 Exiled Prince 560 ($7)
• Dragon Age 2 The Black Emporium 800 ($10)
• Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Porsche Unleashed 560 ($7)
• (March 8-14) Your Shape: Fitness Evolved DLC Sale 50%-60% off

March 15

• Halo: Reach Defiant Map Pack 800 ($10)
• Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Jill Character 400 ($5)
• Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Shuma Character 400 ($5)

Xbox Live Arcade

• March 9th: Torchlight 1200 ($15)
• March 16th: Full House Poker 800 ($10)

Xbox 360 Games on Demand

• March 8: Kane & Lynch 2
• March 15: Halo: Reach

$5 per character?!

... Really? REALLY CACPOM!? That's BS. How about $1 each? $2 tops. Fuck and I thought they had balls to charge $5 for Multiplayer in RE5, this really takes the cake. Fuck you Capcom.

[Armando]

Re: And the gouging begins!

I think it's hilarious that they're charging money to put in characters into a fighting game. Pretty much forces people to buy them - what if someone wants to play Shuma-Gorath in a tournament?

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: And the gouging begins!

What's worse is Jill Valentine is on the disc (uncovered by a PS3 hacker), likely Shuma Gorath as well.

The only catch is that her voice samples are incomplete, so you'll be downloading those. Things like calling out each name on the roster. She can't say "Wolverine" or "Amaterasu" and such.

There's not even a reason to buy Dragon Age 2 at launch - they're just going to do a DLC/expansion roll-up within a years time. Wait it out, its just not worth it now.

[hexx]

Re: And the gouging begins!

Here's a clue, if you think it's gouging, DONT BUY IT! All the whining in the world wont fix it >.>;

[cidbahamut]

Re: And the gouging begins!

Why can't we do both?

[Aksannyi]

Re: And the gouging begins!

For real. After all, this is the internet.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: And the gouging begins!

Here's a clue, if you think it's gouging, DONT BUY IT! All the whining in the world wont fix it >.>;

I have yet to purchase any DLC content for console games, outside of FFXI add-ons to my knowledge. I generally only support games that are released in completed form and don't require patching.

That said, it doesn't change the fact that DLC has been exploited for profitability and done so at the expense of overall game quality and value. In fact, it is now common practice for many developers to cut content so their games make it through the approval process at Sony and MS more quickly, as well as the ESRB/PEGI so long as its not expansion content.

Games cost $59.99. They said it was an initial price point to cover HD costs this generation.

They lied. Not only has that price stayed around, gamers are paying on top of that for an incomplete product. This came back to bite them in the ass, as more consumers started purchasing used games.

So they've started to use DLC to prevent that, too.

[Malacite]

Re: And the gouging begins!

I don't mind paying for DLC when it's worth it. $5 each for a full scenario in Valkyria Chronicles was not bad (wouldn't have paid any more than that.)

But $5 for a character? Really?

There's 26 by default, and it's a $60 game. So that makes each character just over $2 each if you want to look at it that way, though in reality it's probably like 50 cents or something. Capcom just loves to gouge people over stupid shit, like $5 just to unlock multiplayer that was already on the RE5 disc.

It's when companies pull stupid shit like this that I protest. What's worse is you know a bunch of people are stupidly going to pay it.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: And the gouging begins!

What's hilarious to me is all the stuff Capcom tried to sell in Street Fighter IV and Super Street Fighter IV is just standard alternate costumes in Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition.

Sometimes I do have to wonder if Nintendo keeps part of their network philosophy the way they do just to keep folks like Capcom on a leash. I mean, really, how many people are really want to deal with their store interface to buy extra characters in Megaman 9 and 10?

If that hassle was there to prevent developers from just keeping on doing this sort of crap, bravo. Hell, I'm sure it was a factor in SE not taking a chance releasing FFIV: The After Years on PSN like they did WiiWare. Now they're doing a full PSP game.

I'm extremely glad that for the most part this "episodic" game bullshit is dying just like it deserves to. It keeps happening in different ways, too.

[Tickmeoff]

Re: And the gouging begins!

Capcom has been pretty evil since they discovered they can finish a game, lock 15% of the content on the disc and then sell it to you later.

Good thing you can log into the PSN of someone who bought the DLC and download it for free.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: And the gouging begins!

Capcom has been pretty evil since they discovered they can finish a game, lock 15% of the content on the disc and then sell it to you later.

Most developers have realized they can pull shit like this because gamers are stupid, like to waste money and have no backbone whatsoever.

As I pointed out with Jill in MVC3, its likely Capcom leaves content incomplete on the disc - just as a company like Bioware will - because it buys them time in two ways.

It cuts deadline pressure on the corporate end - big third parties more or less force intense deadlines - and it speeds up the approval process with Sony and MS namely because they're being given less content to approve and greenlight for release. This also means it gets through the ESRB rating system faster.

The downside is not putting this content through an approval process and not letting it be tested with the whole of a game from the start can result in some serious bugs. Much like when SE changes something FFXI and soemthing else magically comes undone, there can be unforseen results in adding new content without proper testing.

I recall Dragon Age having a pretty nasty stat-crushing bug in Return To Ostagar when it was initially released. It was immediately taken down and reworked for two weeks. Had this just been part of the game from the start this issue might have been identified back then, but they cut it out for the sake of their convenience and to fleece their fans instead.

Most fans thought the paid DLC sucked too.

[Kailea]

Re: And the gouging begins!

Yeah when DLC comes out a week or even a month after the game does, then it should have been there to begin with. I hate all this nickel and dime crap companies are pulling lately, and is why I don't buy new most of the time.

[LeonstrifeLEV]

Re: And the gouging begins!

Where the hell is section 8? I don't know how much more first quarter it can be!

[Malacite]

Re: And the gouging begins!

I'm extremely glad that for the most part this "episodic" game bullshit is dying just like it deserves to. It keeps happening in different ways, too.

Couldn't agree more. Maybe we'll see a full (discounted) release of Sonic 4. Then and only then will I even consider purchasing it, though I didn't like the demo. I've always preferred Sonic Adventure. I just don't like charging forward full-speed and not being able to see what's up ahead. It's more stressful than fun to me.

---------- Post added at 03:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:25 PM ----------

Good thing you can log into the PSN of someone who bought the DLC and download it for free.

O_o this is news to me.

---------- Post added at 03:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:26 PM ----------

Most developers have realized they can pull shit like this because gamers are stupid, like to waste money and have no backbone whatsoever.

See: Activision-Blizzard.


Oddly enough, E.A. seems to be one of the only decent business models with regards to extra shit, at least as far as Bad Company 2 went. They released a tonne of new maps for people who bought the game brand-new (IIRC it's $5 for used buyers?) and then they went and put out the vietnam expansion that's almost an entirely new game. Some people even go so far as to say it's better, and it's only around $40 I think, not even the full price of the original game despite it's size.


Then you have Rockstar and the two amazing DLC packs for GTA4. So not all DLC is bad, it's just that too many developers either half ass it or over-charge for the content (I'm looking at YOU Activision & Bungie)

---------- Post added at 03:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:26 PM ----------

Where the hell is section 8? I don't know how much more first quarter it can be!

People still play that piece of crap ? I'll admit the spawning system is kinda cool and the demo was neat... for about the first 5 minutes.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: And the gouging begins!

Then you have Rockstar and the two amazing DLC packs for GTA4. So not all DLC is bad, it's just that too many developers either half ass it or over-charge for the content (I'm looking at YOU Activision & Bungie)

Not just that, Rockstar gave the consumer the option of getting on a disc, standalone and playable without needing the main game for it.

I'm angling to get a PS3 this summer, but knowing they'll likely give something like LA Noire this exact same treatment they've given GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption on DLC makes me more confident in those games.

Though Rockstar needs to cut out that pre-order bonus bullshit they do.