Every video game needs some kind of major hook in order to make it more appealing to consumers. Some developers give things away when you preorder the game, which is by far the most appealing and most expensive option. But the most popular option is the downloadable content (DLC), special things--usually costumes, weapons, levels, or entirely new games--that you download to your gaming platform of choice for a small fee or for free with a special code.
But what about people like me who have a slow internet connection, one that isn't hooked up to my P$3? Well, the game industry has come up with an answer: TOO BAD!
I was in a video game store just recently to sell some of my old games and I asked the guy working there about the Back to the Future video game, and when it would be released for the consoles. He told me that there are absolutely no plans for the game to be released on a disc that I can pop in my machine and enjoy. His information was confirmed by the video game's website. So here is a game that I really want to play, one that I've been waiting for since it was first announced some three years ago, and I'm being told I can't play it. Oh, sure, I could spend the money and download it to my computer, only to have the download time itself out after eighteen hours or so.
I'm just sick of all of this DLC that sounds pretty cool, but that I'll never be able to see. And to make matters worse, the companies act like it's my fault--basically by saying that it isn't theirs. But yes, it is their fault. They are the ones who are taking this content out of the game and putting it someplace where only a select number can access it. If they wanted to, it would be easy for them to include the stuff within the game itself and just require a code to be entered to access it. That's how it used to work.
The one company I will give props to is Rockstar Games. They released an expansion pack that was DLC for their successful western Red Dead Redemption called Undead Nightmare, which is a handful of new missions, weapons, and characters centered around a zombie outbreak. Then, they did something sweet. They released it on a disc so that rural slobs like me could have a chance to play it. I don't know why this is so hard for other developers to do.
Sadly, this is only the beginning. We're already seeing entire music albums being released online only. The same goes for the "webisodes" of television shows. Even movies are gaining success with internet releases, so it was only the natural step for video games to follow. Unfortunately, this means that more and more heavily-hyped titles are going to be released online only, because it is much cheaper for the game makers to sell just the data than it is for them to produce thousands of plastic discs and packaging. There is already a device that you can buy which gives you access to games, much in the same way that Netflix lets you watch movies through your internet-connected console. I forget the name of this thing, but I can only imagine a near future where the P$4 won't even have a place to insert a disc because it will be an all DLC machine.
And that's where I'll stop. Because I like pretty cases sitting on the shelf that I can stroll over to and pick up and look at. People have tried to tell me that books will soon be phased out for this Kindell or Nook, or that magazines and newspapers will become extinct and available only on the iPad or some other tablet. But that's horseshit. Books will always be printed. Video games are another story. And with games going straight to DLC and never seeing shelves, it won't be long before video game stores only sell used games and places like Best Buy and Target won't even sell them anymore--more likely they'll sell gift cards you can use to purchase the DLC much in the same way they sell cards for iTunes.
I'm just tired of feeling like I'm being punished because of where I live. When we lived in town we had high-speed internet, but not out here in the boonies. Though we get phone calls and mailers telling us we can get AT&T or Charter cable internet, when we call them about it they say it isn't available, and that there are no plans to make it so anytime soon. It isn't bad enough that I'm already treated like an outsider because I don't go online and run around digital mazes, shooting at other players (or, more likely, being shot again and again and again) for hours on end, but now I'm being denied the chance to even play a game that I really want to. So the best thing to do is just shrug my shoulders.
It may not be fair, but it's the future.
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