Either make amiibo widely available, maybe even selling cards with the NFC chip on them at a discount, or make the in-game unlocks entirely cosmetic.

IanHamlett wrote:

Rare on-disk DLC shouldn't be a thing.

Seconded.

I'd wager Nintendo are making the requisite amiibos as fast as they can. At least I hope they are.

"Game"

Ransomed content.

IanHamlett wrote:

*hides*

You'd best hide. I use ransomed content as an example as to why there's no hope for humanity. Despicable practice.

I like to think Nintendo is making a statement about consumerism where we can all reflect on how stupid we all are. I'm wrong of course, but a man can dream.

I actually agree with Ian.

It is too simplistic to jump to "on disk means cut content".
Fightmans are a good example, firstly because of how the work and secondly they have history.
A character might be "on disk" dlc for example, unlocked via a small update. The problem is we never know what stage of development that character is at on ship date. The character model will be the vast majority of the data space but maybe a third of the work.
Animations, balancing, play testing etc are work heavy but data light. The kind of stuff that can be completed while discs are being printed, probably a couple of months work.

Which leads into budgeting. Games are £50 rrp now regardless of how many man hours go into them. Who can possibly say what is budgeted for disk and what is budgeted for dlc? People don't want prices to go up, games have stayed roughly the same price for 20 years. Eventually something has to give, so now we are getting games that are £50 base but £80 for the whole shebang. If anything this is a better scenario than all games pushing a ton. You get the core experience at what is a cheap price given the content then you pay for the extras if you deem them worth the value. It's like getting sides with your main.

DLC that adds something, awesome, bring it on. Heck, DLC hats if you're stupid enough to buy 'em, fine I guess. Day one DLC does scream of "let's see how much money we can squeeze out of these idiots" - the great thing is that we keep doing it, so publishers/developers (delete as your prejudices warrant) keep cranking up the vice around our collective nuts wallets. But hey, as long as I can play the game and have fun with it without the day one stuff, fine-ish, I guess, maybe. I'll probably buy it later on down the line if the game turns out to be fun.

Ransomed content, the erstwhile on-the-disc "DLC" (remember what the DL bit stands for?!) is just epic douchebaggery. Like opening a book to find chapters 3 to 5 have a padlock around them, and a little note saying "they're not strictly necessary to the plot, but you'll never know unless you read them. Send us £5 by mail and we'll post you the number to open the padlock".

The scariest thing about ransomed content? When consumers defend it. "Please, enormous great business who wouldn't exist without us, please treat us like shit just begging to be mugged. Please?"

WorKid wrote:

I have to pay for the puddings after I've ALREADY bought the main course? BUT THE CHEF HAS ALREADY COOKED THEM!

Oh look, the perfect example. (Seriously, I love you man, but wow.)

What a rubbish analogy. No, the chef wouldn't cook them unless you ask them. Unless he's friggin' psychic or something. Ransomed content would be like paying for your main, having it turn up, and then finding that half the chips are in a locked box. "Ah, yes, but these are extra chips. You didn't define how many chips you wanted. We gave you two, it says you get chips on the menu. Two is plural. Either shut up or pay up, pleb."

Sigh. I remember, when DLC first started being a thing, it sounded great. "You'll buy FIFA once, and then just a couple of quid every year or so for the update pack to change up the rosters and the shirts!" Look what actually happened. We still get a FIFA or whatever every 12 months, but half the game is behind a paywall. DLC comes out for about, ooh, three weeks if we're lucky, then the game is left to languish. We're paying a fuck ton of extra cash for something that before the internet would just be on the fucking disc, because hey, a fun game makes a player a fan, and a fan is more likely to buy the next game. It's almost as if giving your customers a good product at a valuable price engenders loyalty or something. We must warn the village elders.

A large part of the problem is that we're lapping it up. Like punters paying for an hour with Mistress - they treat us like shit, and we come back for more. "You will come back next week, and pay an extra tenner for the same thing as I did to you this week. Because fuck you." "Yes, Mistress!" "Oh, and nipple clamps will be a fiver extra." "But Mistress, you used the clamps this week... ?" "Well, um, yes, but they cost money to like develop and shit and er... shut up slave!" *whiplash sound effect*

I can't imagine any other business that could get away with the practice, never blummin' mind have the customers defend it. Imagine buying the latest album by your favourite band and finding that there's two tracks at the end of the disc that you can't listen to without a code you have to pay for. There'd be fucking riots.

Gamers can be an entitled lot, sure. Just look at the pissing and moaning about the graphics in Fallout 4. But on the other side of the coin, we also put up with a lot of shit that other industries wouldn't even dream of trying. Doesn't matter who makes your CD, it'll play on whatever CD player you have. Now try playing that PS4 game in your Xbox One.

Wow that's a massive rant.

tl;dr - fuck on the disc "DL"C. Fuck it in its stupid arse.

Nobody is forcing me to buy a thing. When I pay my forty pounds I accept what I get is a good deal for me at the time. If there is on disk dlc I don't approve of I don't have to buy the game at all.

A content creator has the right to charge whatever he wants for whatever he wants to supply, My right is to keep my cash in my pocket.

Best thing to do in a lot of cases now is wait a year after a game comes out and buy the inevitable now-actually-working-and-complete edition for normal price.

Of course, Amibos just make that even more complicated.

I would also say in the context of this thread, none of the extra amiibo stuff is that crucial or interesting (not sure if Splatoon is the exception ) which is the opposite problem really.

I went browsing on the PS store - £105 for Battlefield "something or other edition" lol. Other edition ranged from £45, £65, £75 or something.
Being taken for mugs, the lot of us.

I'm willing to pay for amiibos, can't.

Tetris is another weird one, I mean - that game could be worth 100s of pounds in terms of a pounds per hour game but worth less on an assets per pound game and somewhere in between on the amount of investment required for balancing (consider the example of threes vs 2048)

hylian_elf wrote:

WorKid sounds like he will be fine paying £70 or something for a game.

Have you seen the price of WiiU games?

But yeah for the right game I'd pay £70. I've paid £55/60 I think so far for MK8.