Of all the horrible and shitty trends plaguing the game industry these days, none make me lose as much sleep as the horrible and shitty idea of having exclusive content based on pre-orders and the location of the game’s purchase.
I mean, what is the deal with exclusive in-game content anyway? (And airline food, of course.) I learned to stomach the idea of “DLC” a while ago, small bits of overpriced content addons usually released to expand a games lifespan, but for some reason, this exclusive shit doesn’t sit right with me.
As a gamer, I realize that developers are regular people like you or I working for a paycheck, and that game studios and publishers need to make a profit on their product. As a consumer of video games, I find it bullshit that this type of marketing practice is becoming so popular. Collectors editions are fine – but don’t make me have to purchase a game at a specific location in order to experience the full game.
Ubisoft seems to be the biggest perpetrator of this fuckery so far – Far Cry 2 had exclusive levels depending on where you bought it (which later were released as DLC, hurray) and both the upcoming Assassin’s Creed 2 and Splinter Cell: Conviction have shitty perks for purchasing the game at GameStop. Honestly, Ubisoft’s marketing team should be castrated for helping make this shit popular. It is bad enough to be accosted by socially awkward, strategy-guide-and-extended-warranty-pushing GameStop employees upon every visit, but to force me to endure this shit just to play a couple more levels is downright retarded.
Ubisoft isn’t alone in doing this, though – the very fantastic Batman: Arkham Asylum offered exclusive gameplay (as the Joker) for PlayStation 3 owners, Infamous had Gamestop exclusive in-game powers, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance had exclusive characters for pre-orders. That’s not even counting the various MMORPG games that offer different in-game shit for preorders and purchases – Aion, Champions Online, Warhammer Online, etc.
I’m fine with purely aesthetic items, or Collector’s Editions that give you cool shit (cloth maps, bobbleheads, lunchboxes, art books, etc.) but really, this exclusive content shit is the worst thing to ever happen to the industry. Marketing people, keep every game the same, no matter what edition or where you preorder it, it’s that simple.
Yeah, this is totally lame. I would love to have those extra 2 maps in Assassins Creed 2, but NO WAY am I paying 2x the cost to get them, or that stupid Eizo babydoll/action figure, whatever it’s called.
the AC2 collector’s edition is not 2x the cost, it’s $20 more . as for the extra maps, you get one of them for pre-ordering the regular version . also, if you don’t want any of the extra goodies the collector’s edition has to offer, then just don’t buy it . there really is no need to call it “stupid” for those that really want it
The one thing that piss me off the most is that people get in game content for getting a game at a certain store. I don’t mind if its just a skin like in Halo 3 Odst, but if its levels or something, than it I think its horse shit.
I never reserve games for this reason – i shouldnt have to give you my money till i get the product. i still dont get the deal with pre-order anyway as if there not going to make enough halo 3odst that i have to put a down payment on it. f u its not a house
I love this, and I totally agree. I hate pre-ordering too.
the pre-order process is to help developers and publishers determine how well their game may sell . and besides, if you want the game the day it comes out and are going to go out and buy it that day (or week even), why not put down some dollars that go towards the purchase price . then low-and-behold, you might get some free goodies that expand your experience
as long as they can get away with it it will continue. Is it bullshit? ya. Can we do anything about it? probably not.
Sure you can. Stop buying the collectors editions. That’s all we have to do.
Not buying that shit would work as well as a L4D2 petition.
This is everything that’s wrong with America these days.
“Well, I can’t make a difference anyways. So why bother”
Go eat some cake, Serf.
They actually flew the two leaders of the L4D2 petition out to Valve to show them why the game was worth $60.
Valve must have been worried enough to do that.
I hate this stuff when it comes to DVD’s as well. Special Edition boxes and crap. HATE IT.
pre ordering is bogus.
enuff said. how do you put an avatar on?
You had to preorder the internet to get that function, sorry.
Don’t buy dvds special this or collector’s that. no need to i dont need to see some shitastic doc. about how some rich actors had to fight the cold to shoot the movie. as far as video games go – soundtrack really really i mean i know chicks will love me when im bumping to halo 3 in my car, but no thanks. but some mouth breathers feel the need to know every last thing about the game right down to what the testers ate for lunch.
Personally, I support it to a certain extent, because it gives the developers more money to play with. GameStop pays the developer to include retailer-exclusive features, and the developer uses a minuscule fraction of the money they get to develop the exclusive content. The rest of their money can go to the game budget in order to help develop a better game, resulting in potentially more overall content or polish outside of the retailer-exclusive features.
Put it into perspective. How much do you think it costed Bungie to put Sergeant Johnson into Firefight for Halo 3 ODST? Not much. In fact, probably nothing. How much do you think they got from GameStop to do that? Probably a TON.
actually, it’s the developers that go to GameStop and offer the in-game exclusives with pre-orders…
I don’t mind preordering stuff, because I’m given an incentive to do so. I’m not losing the $5, since it goes towards the purchase. This is a business, people. If I was selling a game, I’d want to reward people for taking an interest in it by willing to put down a deposit.
And I wouldn’t really put down Karl for his comment, because he has a valid point. The L4D2 petition was as big as it can get, and as far as I know Valve is still releasing it soon.
I don’t understand the anger, especially because you’re not losing any money over a preorder. In the end, my opinion on this is: I’m gonna put down my $5 and get whatever extra content Gamestop gives me…to the people complaining about the full game, well too bad, you should have preordered it.
amen…
I remeber when many game developers were throwing out garbage games and game stop was threatening that no more than the pre ordered games would be made. this turned me off of pre orders. it seems not to be happening now a days but back in the ps2 days you would pre order a game to watch the realese date change again and again(arkham) than when you get your game it would be nothing like the hype. if you can only get dlc with a preorder i wont by the game but will visit blockbuster.
I don’t mind pre-order incentives that are harmless, but when they give you an advantage over someone else its nothing more than a sanctioned cheat. For example: “get this cool Rocket Launcher gun unlock code” so when your just starting out say as a Private in multi-player you have a Rocket Launcher, when maybe you wouldn’t get it until you were a Colonel or something.
I have no problem with games selling there collectors editions which are usualy full of crap stuff which is poorly made and not worth the extra price tag but if people want to pay for it then cool their choice…
the thing i dont like is like the assassin creeds 2 strategy…
because im a gamer who when it comes to a game i realy love i dont want to buy a game that is missing content
but i seriously dont want to have to pay more at a specific store to get tonnes of rndm crap just to access the bonus game content.
Just include the ‘extra’ in game content with the game or as they say its a little something extra theyve done to give to the fans …then let me pay for the bonus game content at release without having to buy all the random crap that i’l just throw out.
i pay full price for their game but if you dont want to pay for all the rndm crap that is usauly in the collectors edition then you cant get the extra game content..
why do i want a game that has bits that are missing which the only reason they werent included in the game was because some marketer thought it would be so much cooler and more profitable to put game content as an add on amongst a by in large overpriced pile of crap.
but just my opinion.
If i had my way I’d wish they would just release an edition of the game that comes with all the bonus content available on release without all the random extra frills.
Like said, I don’t mind preorder bonuses, such as action figures, posters, T-shirts, etc, but exclusive major in-game content, such as the AC2 maps are lame, especially when they never even put them up for offer as buyable DLC or something(cause then Id have no problem). Small things, like special pointless costumes, or, like in GTA CTW, a bunch of free start off money, are fine, but when its major content or missions, it makes me mad.
SCEA are the worst culprits.
with almost every single game they have published had preorder incentives exclusive to game stop.
the early demo for KZ2.
the early demo for infamous, and the gigawatt blades.
the early uncharted 2 MP demo.
the extra map for ratchet and clank a crack in time.
im fine with DLC but exclusive DLC is fucking bullshit.
why should i be punished for purchasing a certain platform of a title.
like the GTAIV DLC or the fallout 3 DLC (yea i kno its on ps3 now but after how long?)
exclusive DLC should be banned its fucking annoying, i paid my 110 AUD for the fucking game i think that is enough, why should i be punished for choosing the wrong platform.
and that is why i say rockstar and bethesda can go fuck themselves.
i buy their game and this is how they thank me?
fine, a big fat royal FUCK YOU!!! is in order.
I’m fine with collector’s editions etc. Like the MW2 prestige addition. I’m tempted to be honest to get it. However, like many others I’m so tired of having to choose which retailer I’ll buy it from to get the extra in game content.
Like the whole soul caliber thing, initially offered Yoda and Vader on one console (yoda on 360 and vader on ps3). However, eventually they gave in and made them both available on both consoles.
Overall, it sucks as a consumer when I acquire points with Best Buy through their rewards program but then a game will have content I want buying it through GameStop (who can be a pain in the ass sometimes). Also I’m irritated at myself for not doing enough reading on the joker content exclusive to the PS3 since I bought the Xbox version.
Overall, I think in game content should be available across the board and make other incentives for people to buy from a specific vendor.
I have to say that it’s getting really messed up when it comes to games DLC and exclusive content. I mean how many games come out new and when you put them in and load you found out that you have to pay for content that was either an exclusive or just some DLC.
I mean we pay $60 for a game, get home just to find out since we didn’t buy the collectors edition or didn’t have it pre-ordered from gamestop we have to dish more money to access the content.
DLC for games is almost just as bad. If I just bought a new game why the hell should I have to pay for content that they should have just put in the game to begin with, it’s turning into a joke. I mean it’s at the point where you’re only buying games in parts. You pay $60 for the core and then whatever it cost for DLC so you can have a complete game.
I know and everyone knows it’s all about making money but damn. It’s getting really sad. I remember when you got bonus content for beating a game on hard or doing a crazy side quest in game. Now that content doesn’t even exist unless we pay extra.
[...] with a slew of pre-order incentives (exclusive content), Bioware announced today that Mass Effect 2 will release on January 26th, 2010 in the US and on [...]