Playstation Gamer UK

Downloadable content, or DLC for you young folks, is either the beginning of the end or one of the best things to happen to video games since online multiplayer. Most major releases have DLC waiting in the wings to quell the thirst left by the original game. It’s so important now that some companies have started dishing out millions of dollars to secure the exclusive rights to the DLC for multi-platform games so they can give people a reason to buy it on their system. So is DLC a good thing? Or is it another way to squeeze every penny from the already hemorrhaging pockets of the average gamer? Read on and I’ll tell you.

You still there? Good. There is obviously two sides to this argument. In the interest of starting off positive lets start off with the good side. DLC is a cheap way for developers to enhance the experience a player gets from a game. It allows them to go back and add things that were left out of the original game. Prince of Persia is doing this by adding an epilogue to tie up some of the loose ends that were left by the rather open ending. DLC can also add a lot to multiplayer. There are always map packs that add to the playing time for any multiplayer game, most of the time for a price.

Despite what Microsoft would like, not all DLC has a price. The most recent example of this is the upcoming Unreal Tournament III: Titan Pack will be free. This ain’t no small patch either. The new pack will include 11 new multiplayer maps, two new players, multiple new game modes and a new Titan mode. And compared to some free DLC this is still small. Burnout Paradise has set the ideal standard for DLC. Released a few months after the original game was released Burnout’s first round of free DLC completely revamped the game, added trophies and a whole new gameplay dimension, motorcycles.

So that was the good, now for the bad. The bad is stuck to two points, incomplete games and the ability to nickel and dime the gamer to death. The main complaint about a few big name games last year like LittleBigPlanet, Fable II and Tomb Raider Underworld were that they were incomplete when they were shipped. Making shipping dates is a very important goal for video games developer since time is money and every day they’re delayed they’re losing a lot of money. Because of this developers are really pushed to make the street dates, and this worries gamers because they don’t want an incomplete experience with the final product to be patched in later or, god forbid, sold to them later for an additional price. The price really is the biggest problem with the DLC. The pricing is, for the most part, uncontrolled so it’s up to the publishers to decide how much to charge for each piece of content. And while some companies (like Valve and Epic) might prefer to release free content other companies would prefer to lick up every cent coming out of those pockets like a vampire bat sipping blood from a cow’s neck. 

So the question still stands, is DLC good or bad? Well there’s a reason why the answers to this question are all over the place. It comes down to personal preference. How much do you value extra game experience and how much do you value your money? Well, I told you I’d give you my answer so here it is. It’s a good thing. While some companies may prefer to nickel and dime you to death most of them are very reasonable about their DLC. While I don’t agree with releasing DLC for a game the day it launches (or in the most extreme example, the day before it launches) or having to pay extra for things that are just locked on the game disc, I think that the value of things like the Prince of Persia Epilogue, Lost and the damned and the Fallout 3 DLC makes things worth it.

So what do you think? Do you think people overcharge for DLC? or do you think it’s worth the price of admission? Leave comments and we’ll have an intelligent discussion (unless you’re an idiot in which case I’m going to moderate your comment and leave you looking like the idiot you are, so don’t be offensive! or a fanboy!).