Poll: Did CAPCOM cross a line with RE5 DLC?

[Calobi]

Snip

Would you be OK with it if they called it UC (Unlockable Content) or something else that reflects what it is then? Or is it the whole idea of giving you a nice toy and then locking it away inside of another toy that you don't like?

I'm fine with this because I never planned on buying the game. But I really see no big difference between this and DLC. Maybe the part on the disc wasn't quite done, or maybe they originally planned on having being downloaded but finished sooner, or any one of 100 reasons for doing it.

Edit:
Having just read the article (I should really do that before talking), it appears as if they gave 2 reasons. Bandwidth cost for the PS3 version and because it wasn't going to originally be in the game. So they have reasons, maybe you don't agree with them, but they're there just the same. Remember, they could have just as easily not released the content at all.

 

[Altorin]

Snip

Would you be OK with it if they called it UC (Unlockable Content) or something else that reflects what it is then?

actually, yeah, I probably would.

It wouldn't feel like their breaking some unwritten code of logic.. I just appreciate disclosure.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Would you be OK with it if they called it UC (Unlockable Content) or something else that reflects what it is then? Or is it the whole idea of giving you a nice toy and then locking it away inside of another toy that you don't like?

Essentially yes, that is exactly my problem.
It undermines any arguments about development, bandwidth costs and the rest because it's already been made. I would rather the game was $5 extra to begin with and had the content unlocked. At least then you would know what youwere getting.
Releasing it, then holding features already on the disc hostage for extra money, it's just incredibly cynical.


It also raises a question, what else could be on the disc?
RE5 was pitifully short, what if it already has a bunch of extra levels on the disc and we can't get at them? It's unlikely I know but seeing as Capcom were willing to do it once it wouldn't surprise me if they had planned out at least a couple more of these 'downloadable extras'.

 

[level250geek]

It all depends on whether or not they were developing the DLC at the same time as the game, with the intent to charge for it later on the line.

Given the timing of the announcement and release of the DLC, I say they were.

It's different if you are buying new content for a game that you've already exhausted; a game that is months old but you love and need something new for it. But my God: this game just came out and they are charging for content that's on the disc.

 

[iJosh]

Yes they did. I don't know why they did. The campaign and mercenaries were alright. Then they go and add a fucking online multiplayer. WTF

 

[SmilingKitsune]

They crossed it, ran back over then crossed it again.
Charging to unlock content already on the disc is awful, there should be an almighty out-cry against this so that they learn their lesson.

 

[pantsoffdanceoff]

A) I might be naive but I'm kinda surprised some Hacker didn't discover this as soon as he/she bought the game (a la the hot coffee)
B) Isn't it an outright lie becuase your not really downloading anything?

 

[Ladie Au Pair]

On a side note,
NO ONE SHOULD BE MAD AT CAPCOM, BUT RATHER CAPCOM'S MARKETING.

Being someone who is in the industry and seeing how this whole thing works from the inside, I really think that the developer's probably had nothing to do with it and marketing made the call. The Capcom guys may even resent there marketing team for this....

 

[fix-the-spade]

A slightly different side note.

When this comes out on PC, how are Capcom going to stop us enterprising nerds from just cracking it and playing it anyway?
I suppose they gambling (quite correctly) that the people who can figure out how to do that will have pirated the game anyway, so anyone who's paid for it won't have a clue.

 

[Nova Tendril]

On a side note,
NO ONE SHOULD BE MAD AT CAPCOM, BUT RATHER CAPCOM'S MARKETING.

Being someone who is in the industry and seeing how this whole thing works from the inside, I really think that the developer's probably had nothing to do with it and marketing made the call. The Capcom guys may even resent there marketing team for this....

I would still be mad if they had told us this was content on the disk before we bought it. The point is that it's content that could have been released along with the game but instead they withheld it to shake us down for more money.

 

[Weaver]

I'm going to repost my propaganda here:
As a business they should realize you're going to piss off your customers when you nickle and dime them to death. If this keeps up, if the gamers don't let them KNOW we're pissed and let them KNOW if they keep doing this, we won't buy their stuff in 10 years you're going to have to buy a game then pay another 400 dollars to unlock content that's on the damn disk.

They don't sell cars with CD players in them, but you then have to pay another 100 dollars to "unlock" the CD player.

DLC is one of the worst things to happen to gaming. I remember when games were about fun! When the people making them wanted to create something that was just a blast and you could kill time with. Now, what are games? Money, Business, Reality and Politics. Boring, Boring, Boring and bullshit. The suits got too deep into the gaming scene and now everything is just a figure, it's how they can squeeze the most money out of it from the customers they see as mindless, brain-dead sheep.

It's about how far they can push their authority with things like securom install limits. It's about how they can use DLC to discourage the sale and resale of used games. It's about hiding behind ridiculous excuses and try to make THEM seem like the victims while they rape and pillage our wallets so we can get the "red shirt" for "fighter guy 3" and unlock maps that came on the damn disc of the game. It's about juicing your customers and pushing all limits of what the consumer base sees as acceptable so they can make another couple of billion dollars in revenue.

We shouldn't put up with this shit any longer! Don't buy stupid DLC! Don't support right's removing DRM! If any company partakes in these actions, or greedy business tactics, don't support them either! Buy none of their products, and make yourselves heard!

 

[NoDamnNames]

Remember the days when special content was unlocked by BEATING THE GAME not paying extra?

I swear to god a little bit more of the (scary words cover your eyes) "feeling of accomplishment" is removed with every new title. Its going to get to the point where all you need to do is download the free demo to get the gist of game play and watch the cut scenes on youtube. wait a minute...WE ARE ALREADY THERE.

 

[CRAVE CASE 55]

wait its alreadyon the disk what are you talking about

 

[I_LIKE_CAKE]

While I have stopped expecting game developers to all be as awesome as Valve, this is low. Charging people extra to access content that is already on the disc they shelled out $60 for?

Douches

 

[Ladie Au Pair]

On a side note,
NO ONE SHOULD BE MAD AT CAPCOM, BUT RATHER CAPCOM'S MARKETING.

Being someone who is in the industry and seeing how this whole thing works from the inside, I really think that the developer's probably had nothing to do with it and marketing made the call. The Capcom guys may even resent there marketing team for this....

I would still be mad if they had told us this was content on the disk before we bought it. The point is that it's content that could have been released along with the game but instead they withheld it to shake us down for more money.

Once again, it was probably the marketing team who made that call and not the studio that made the game. The developers who made the game probably never saw the person would decided to charge extra. And working at a studio I know how annoying it can be to be lumped in one giant group. On a side note, why not just support the company and pay them extra because they did extra? LET THE MAKE SOME MONEY!

I beg, get over this... the companies need money and you need entertained... why does it matter where the content is?

 

[Nova Tendril]

On a side note,
NO ONE SHOULD BE MAD AT CAPCOM, BUT RATHER CAPCOM'S MARKETING.

Being someone who is in the industry and seeing how this whole thing works from the inside, I really think that the developer's probably had nothing to do with it and marketing made the call. The Capcom guys may even resent there marketing team for this....

I would still be mad if they had told us this was content on the disk before we bought it. The point is that it's content that could have been released along with the game but instead they withheld it to shake us down for more money.

Once again, it was probably the marketing team who made that call and not the studio that made the game. The developers who made the game probably never saw the person would decided to charge extra. And working at a studio I know how annoying it can be to be lumped in one giant group. On a side note, why not just support the company and pay them extra because they did extra? LET THE MAKE SOME MONEY!

I beg, get over this... the companies need money and you need entertained... why does it matter where the content is?

Becuase this content was obviously supposed to be part of the original game. But then they thought "No lets release it as DLC instead".

Before the days of DLC you would never do something like this. The idea of DLC was to add more to the game after it has already been made, not pluck existing content from the game and then sell it back to the gamer later on.

 

[Cylinwolf]

I'm going to go ahead and try and cram a little bit of reason into this conversation and not let my rage overtake me like some people.

Everyone is offended because "they paid for the disk, and everything on the disk should be their's." In philosophy this should be true, but you're going to have to let that go for a moment and look at the facts.

If this was all DLC, you'd pay a few dollars to play this new mode. The way it's presented here, you pay a few dollars to play this new mode. It's not any different.

The fact is that it's extra content which you did not pay for: In philosophy, you paid for the disk and it's now yours. But in truth, you paid for the GAME which was placed on some random disk and shipped to you as a medium of transport. The game had a set list of features as detailed (probably quite extensively on a number of sites, I might add. There's no surprises or cool tweaks in games that you pick up from playing them anymore, there's tech videos and all kinds of things that show you each and every little nook and cranny of a game before you ever even touch it) and you payed for all those. Now, more content comes on that disk. You have not payed for it yet. It is not yours. That is why you don't get to play it.

Were you to drop the "I payed for it, it's mine" mindset, you'll realize this really isn't different than DLC. It's extra content you pay for. Be happy and kill zombies.

The only way this could be an affrontery is if they promised this Versus mode on the back of the box- if they put up all these tech and exploratory videos showing how awesome Versus mode was going to be and telling you it would ship with the game. And then they charged you for it after you had already purchased the game. THAT is backstabbing you with prices for something you paid for.

 

[Ladie Au Pair]

Before the days of DLC you would never do something like this. The idea of DLC was to add more to the game after it has already been made, not pluck existing content from the game and then sell it back to the gamer later on.[/quote]

On a side note,
NO ONE SHOULD BE MAD AT CAPCOM, BUT RATHER CAPCOM'S MARKETING.


Becuase this content was obviously supposed to be part of the original game. But then they thought "No lets release it as DLC instead".

Before the days of DLC you would never do something like this. The idea of DLC was to add more to the game after it has already been made, not pluck existing content from the game and then sell it back to the gamer later on.

On a side note,
NO ONE SHOULD BE MAD AT CAPCOM, BUT RATHER CAPCOM'S MARKETING.

Being someone who is in the industry and seeing how this whole thing works from the inside, I really think that the developer's probably had nothing to do with it and marketing made the call. The Capcom guys may even resent there marketing team for this....

I would still be mad if they had told us this was content on the disk before we bought it. The point is that it's content that could have been released along with the game but instead they withheld it to shake us down for more money.

Once again, it was probably the marketing team who made that call and not the studio that made the game. The developers who made the game probably never saw the person would decided to charge extra. And working at a studio I know how annoying it can be to be lumped in one giant group. On a side note, why not just support the company and pay them extra because they did extra? LET THE MAKE SOME MONEY!

I beg, get over this... the companies need money and you need entertained... why does it matter where the content is?

Becuase this content was obviously supposed to be part of the original game. But then they thought "No lets release it as DLC instead".

Before the days of DLC you would never do something like this. The idea of DLC was to add more to the game after it has already been made, not pluck existing content from the game and then sell it back to the gamer later on.

The DLC was developed separately, it even had a separate budget... that's why you have to pay for it. Other wise it's development cost isn't covered.

They talk about it in this Kotaku article...
http://kotaku.com/5170633/capcom-calls-bs-on-resident-evil-5-dlc-complaints

 

[Ladie Au Pair]

I'm going to go ahead and try and cram a little bit of reason into this conversation and not let my rage overtake me like some people.

Everyone is offended because "they paid for the disk, and everything on the disk should be their's." In philosophy this should be true, but you're going to have to let that go for a moment and look at the facts.

If this was all DLC, you'd pay a few dollars to play this new mode. The way it's presented here, you pay a few dollars to play this new mode. It's not any different.

The fact is that it's extra content which you did not pay for: In philosophy, you paid for the disk and it's now yours. But in truth, you paid for the GAME which was placed on some random disk and shipped to you as a medium of transport. The game had a set list of features as detailed (probably quite extensively on a number of sites, I might add. There's no surprises or cool tweaks in games that you pick up from playing them anymore, there's tech videos and all kinds of things that show you each and every little nook and cranny of a game before you ever even touch it) and you payed for all those. Now, more content comes on that disk. You have not payed for it yet. It is not yours. That is why you don't get to play it.

Were you to drop the "I payed for it, it's mine" mindset, you'll realize this really isn't different than DLC. It's extra content you pay for. Be happy and kill zombies.

The only way this could be an affrontery is if they promised this Versus mode on the back of the box- if they put up all these tech and exploratory videos showing how awesome Versus mode was going to be and telling you it would ship with the game. And then they charged you for it after you had already purchased the game. THAT is backstabbing you with prices for something you paid for.

Yes. I love you.

 

[Nova Tendril]

Before the days of DLC you would never do something like this. The idea of DLC was to add more to the game after it has already been made, not pluck existing content from the game and then sell it back to the gamer later on.

On a side note,
NO ONE SHOULD BE MAD AT CAPCOM, BUT RATHER CAPCOM'S MARKETING.


Becuase this content was obviously supposed to be part of the original game. But then they thought "No lets release it as DLC instead".

Before the days of DLC you would never do something like this. The idea of DLC was to add more to the game after it has already been made, not pluck existing content from the game and then sell it back to the gamer later on.

On a side note,
NO ONE SHOULD BE MAD AT CAPCOM, BUT RATHER CAPCOM'S MARKETING.

Being someone who is in the industry and seeing how this whole thing works from the inside, I really think that the developer's probably had nothing to do with it and marketing made the call. The Capcom guys may even resent there marketing team for this....

I would still be mad if they had told us this was content on the disk before we bought it. The point is that it's content that could have been released along with the game but instead they withheld it to shake us down for more money.

Once again, it was probably the marketing team who made that call and not the studio that made the game. The developers who made the game probably never saw the person would decided to charge extra. And working at a studio I know how annoying it can be to be lumped in one giant group. On a side note, why not just support the company and pay them extra because they did extra? LET THE MAKE SOME MONEY!

I beg, get over this... the companies need money and you need entertained... why does it matter where the content is?

Becuase this content was obviously supposed to be part of the original game. But then they thought "No lets release it as DLC instead".

Before the days of DLC you would never do something like this. The idea of DLC was to add more to the game after it has already been made, not pluck existing content from the game and then sell it back to the gamer later on.

The DLC was developed separately, it even had a separate budget... that's why you have to pay for it. Other wise it's development cost isn't covered.

They talk about it in this Kotaku article...
http://kotaku.com/5170633/capcom-calls-bs-on-resident-evil-5-dlc-complaints

Doesn't matter. The point is that this was most likely going to be part of the original game. I say this because the original game feels lacking in content and the fact that this content was developed before the game was released.

You can't justify this blatant exploitation of the people who bought the game.