Game Companies are Out to Make Money Pt. 2

Welcome to the flip side. My good friend Lucas and new pal dste made some comments on my previous blog post about game companies being in it for the green. This post was made out of response to all of the comments I'd seen on YouTube (I gotta stop reading comments from that site) about today's games being awful simply because the suits only care about the all mighty dollar. I did that post when I was extremely tired and had not thought about the more shady side of game company tactics for getting money from players. These companies need to make money, sure, but they also have ways of doing it that often irk the consumers.

Updated releases. Nothing new. Gamers got a lot of them in the '90s with Capcom's numerous Street Fighter II updates. Capcom can count. They just have a tendency to do it very slowly. Smart players pretty much expect Capcom to do updated releases since they milked SFII like a cow. When they finally got around to Street Fighter III, that game saw a number of updated versions, the best one being 3rd Strike. So when Street Fighter IV finally rolled around, I was actually a bit surprised that it also received it's first update with Super Street Fighter IV. See, I'd forgotten that Capcom just loves to update SF. When Street Fighter IV 3D Edition was announced, I wasn't really surprised, nor did I react much when Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition was announced. SFIV already has four games to it's name. Moral of all this? Never buy the first new Street Fighter entry. Unless you're a hardcore fighting fan, that is. As it stands, I have no clue which version of SFIV to go with. For all we know, another update could hit next year.

Nintendo's not off the hook either. How many versions of the GBA have there been? Or the original DS? If you honestly think there won't be an updated 3DS, I'd like to get the location of that fantasy world you're living in. Many of Nintendo's handheld updates improve upon the original model considerably. The second GBA model, the SP, had a marvelous flip design, which made storing the system that much easier. The rechargeable battery was a nice touch and so was the brighter screen. Of course, they did screw us out of a headphone jack. I mean, that was just plain bad system design right there. By the time the GBA era had ended, I was wise to Nintendo's system updating scheme and wisely stuck with my bulky, but still full functional original DS model. The DS Lite was surpassed by the DSi, which allowed for downloadable games from the internet. The next 3DS update will probably do something about the original's battery life. I've already decided to hold off on a 3DS for price but an inevitable update is my other reason.

Downloadable content. This one really sticks in gamer's craw. When we buy a game, it would be nice to get everything up front. The characters, the levels, the whole thing. Have you ever heard of paying for a harder difficulty? Capcom had the gull to ask that of players with Mega Man 9. Speaking of Capcom, there also adding more characters to Marvel vs. Capcom 3 via DLC. I didn't buy all of the DLC in MM9 because I didn't feel Proto Man was worth it. As much as I love the character, he really was a hastily added on extra as he has no involvement with story whatsoever. He can't even access the shop! Now in Mega Man 10, I've spent $8 on DLC. That includes bass, Endless Attack mode and all three special stages. I enjoyed all of MM10's DLC very much but that bumps the total number of dollars I've spent on MM10 up to $18. Capcom really seems to love pushing DLC as do other companies so I guess it's up to us gamers to decided if these extras are truly worth forking over more money for.

Game companies looking to make an extra profit have also set their sights on used retail chains. Not satisfied with the truckloads of cash they make from their initial sales release of new games, they want a piece of the used profits as well. I'm sure you've heard the rumors of Warner Brothers charging gamers $10 for a pass to get online with Mortal Kombat 9 when buying it used. Well that rumor turned out to be true. America is still in a recession and not everyone makes the money that they used to. Even if the country weren't in a bad financial  crisis, many people shop on budgets. When I bought my Wii last year, I bought Super Smash Bros. Brawl and a 2000 Wii points card with it. That was $270 I gave Nintendo in one day. A few days later, I picked up Super Mario Galaxy used and complete for $38. Nintendo is one of my favorite companies and I've given them much of my money and support of the years, but I didn't feel like paying $50 for Mario's galaxy hoping adventure when by that time, the game was two years old. Which reminds me, whatever happened to Nintendo's Player's Choice line?

Ultimately, it's up to us gamers to decided if game companies get to keep taking us for more money with DLC, updated sequels and the like. We have to vote with our wallets. Unfortunately many of us are like lemmings when it comes to this stuff. We jump at the chance for more content in a game we've already paid for, the hardcore fighting fanatic will get the latest SFIV and Nintendo has basically proven that the DS does in fact print money.

The TLDR version? (Too long don't read.) The end of greedy methods for gaming companies getting money is no where in sight.