Hero of the Sun

Hey there everyone in Nasu land, Hero here. Its been a while since I last posted (if anyone cares XD) but here I am again to post another one of my thought on gaming. DLC or Downloadable Content as it were is all the rage nowadays with gaming companies offering DLCs for their title left right and center. It allows developers and publishers to edit games on the fly and opens up a whole new avenue of gaming experiences. But let’s step back here for a bit and look at the big picture, both present and beyond and as ourselves...

How did DLC change the gaming world? Because it is a big change, a very big change and like everything it has its ups and downs. One of the many upsides is like I said earlier, editing and patching games on the fly.

This is very evident in fighting games as the characters are balanced and tweaked from both gamer input and performance allowing a very diverse set of characters to use and abuse in tournaments (reduces some that Cable/Storm/Sentinel saturation from MvC2) Another upside is the addition of new content on console games which back in the PS2 days you had to buy a special edition disc for it like for example DMC3 where you get to play as Vergil. Now you can simply purchase this extra stuff online and play away without hassle or spending that much money. Think of them as expansion packs but cheaper, easier to acquire and on a console to boot!!

There are many pluses and upsides I can enumerate here but I don't think you need me to mention that However on the other hand it has many downsides as well.

Cashcom is rather well known for its DLC abuse for the past few years with hiccups like RE6 costumes, Street Fighter IV and Asura's Wrath and frankly they are not alone. Things that you used to able to get through sheer effort of grinding is now no longer there in your grasp as you need to pay for it in order to get it. Take for example Tales of the Abyss and Tales of Graces F. Cameo costumes and other stuff in general can be achieved in the TotA through effort and bit of luck.

There are literally at least a dozen costumes per character to play with and experience and all it really requires from you is the time you invest in it which you will if you love the game enough. ToGF on the other hand offer only 2 or 3 costumes per character the rest you have to pay for in order to get. For a casual gamer, this isn't much of a big deal but for those who are big fans of the series this is nothing more than milking them for what they should have gotten from the start. Don't get me wrong, ToGF is a great game but this DLC stuff to get something I expected like from other Tales games in the past, through money and ONLY money makes me a tad disappointed and upset by it. Such a great system abused in such a way is really a downer.

But on the upsides, downsides, topsy turvy, the face gaming has been changed by the advent of DLC. I just hope that both the community and the developers see its greater potential in the big picture rather than a way to make a quick buck.

Hopefully before any politician who doesn't even know what he is talking about steps his nose in and try to make some kind of DLC regulation law. This WILL happen if it gets bad enough, you just have to look at Mortal Kombat.