"Unlockable" Content Has Officially Gone Too Far

[zmeston]

According to http://boomtown.net/en_uk/articles/art.view.php?id=1125, the Xbox version of Return to Castle Wolfenstein has three "downloadable" levels that are already present on the game DVD; using Live simply unlocks those levels, as opposed to physically downloading them onto the Xbox hard drive.

I was skeptical about the content-download feature to begin with. How much content would be made available? For how long would developers continue to produce new content? Would the content be available indefinitely, or would it eventually go offline? Was the content developed after the game's release, or being posted online instead of placed on the game disc? It all reeked of squeezing the gamer for extra cash, much like GameCube/Game Boy Advance connectivity: "Buy two versions of this game to unlock three new levels in each!" And now my suspicions are confirmed.

My lovely and talented editor at GameSpy, Mr. BenT, Ph.D, Esq., has already ranted about the evils of unlockables, and I'd say that with this news, the phenomenon is officially out of control. While the best PC titles give gamers the tools to create their own content, console publishers are now using what could be a similarly wonderful feature to nickel-and-dime their customers. I suppose that's to be expected with the controlled online environment of Xbox Live as opposed to the freewheeling (emphasis on FREE) Internet.

Thoughts? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

-- Z.

[Starcade]

It is the same way with Everquest Online Adventures, nothing is really "new" that is patched on, it is just unlocked, I am sure the entire world of Norrath is on the disk, they are just waiting SLOWLY to unlock it all, to squeeze as much cash out of the consumers as possible. I really don't mind it though, i love the game.

[Lifebringeroftorv]

I thought you quit that starcade

[Bratwurst]

I think it sucks too, and from what I understand it's a tactic that's been around for at least as long as the Dreamcast. Sonic Adventure 2 has certain options that are already on the disc but only accessible if the VMU has keys downloaded onto them.

[BenT]

Yep, first saw this on the DC. The import version of Gunbird 2 had something locked (the hidden character, maybe? Forget.) and you needed to log on and get a download key to unlock it. Uber-lame, especially for Japan where many people lacked the proper type of net access to do this.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was even worse. It had no less than three different types of "unlocking points", all earned in different ways. IIRC, one was through normal home play, another was through versus online play, and the last was by taking your VMU to the arcade and playing the arcade machine. I wonder how many people actually did all this shit legit. It was ridiculous.

Thankfully, the American release was free of that nonsense... mostly. It still required an assload of regular points to purchase all the "secrets" (read: game content you paid for) in the shop.

[Perkar]

yeah, i think i remember reading about an unlockable in gunbird 2 like that..

right now i'm trying to deal with the trillions upon trillions of points needed to unlock everything in mars matrix... ri-goddamn-diculous

[Alex Kidd]

Dynamite Cop on the DC had that too;

You could download the "Detonator Pack" and it gave the bonus of 2 new weapons (tazer and something else), a hidden character, and 3 more difficulty settings/bonus levels

Alex Kidd

[Anonymous]

In response to Z's post, I would say that yes, unlockable content has gotten out of hand. But, like with any other form of entertainment (and pretty much everything else in the world), there are good reasons for it, too. The first, and most important to me, is entertainment. having to take your VMU all over hell and back doesn't exactly earn Sega more money, but it does do a kind of 'taking the experience out of the TV' thing to the game. The best (and worst) example of this was Majestic, a noble attempt at taking the game off the screen. (Startropics had a similar thing, and I loved it)

Two big questions stem from this, then. 1. How much content should be locked away? and 2. Is it done for the gamer or the developer?

The downloadable level of Splinter Cell I think was a good way to handle it. The game itself is complete, there is a story, and it satisfies. The downloadable content allowed the game to be completed and shipped on time, and the developers are given an opportunity to add to the original after it had been finished, while providing added value for the consumer. Everyone wins. Mechassault is a similar example.

A bad example is the aforementioned Wolfenstein. One consideration, though, is are the levels online multiplayer levels only? If so, then LIVE is a prerequisite for playing, therefore not a money grab, therefore creates a perceived added value for the consumer without taking away value. Not just relegated to online content. Project Gotham, IMO, had too much stuff locked at the beginning. For a racing fan like me, it is fun to unlock something after almost *every* race at th beginning, but for joe gamer, he's most likely going to play when his buddies come over, or not get familiar with the game. In his case, joe gamer gets screwed, and the developers are really just hiding their own game from the consumer.

As for the VMU stuff, well, I don't mind it, but they should figure out a standard, and stick with it, then compile everything online once the novelty wears off, or make everything available via a CD that people can order at a minimum cost, for all the games released iwthin a year or two. That's the kind of responsibility I'd like to see 1st parties take, and to some extent, that MS is taking, although whether or not they maintain that promise, or tweak it remains to be seen.

[calthaer]

I'm not sure yet if I like or hate the e-Reader cards that Nintendo's used to do essentially the same thing (viz., unlock content that is already present on the game disc / cartridge). The one that really bugs me is Pokémon Ruby / Sapphire - 100 / 300-some-odd creatures unavailable at all in the game, and they're coming out with cards to let you get them. Animal Crossing has some perks and extra stuff that seems to make the collectible cards almost an extra game in itself but not required to fully enjoy the main game, but 1/3...? That seems like a rip-off to me.

[Anonymous]

All but like 2 pokemon are available in ruby/sapphire, afaik. There were a couple of E3 promo cards that let you get the RS equivalent of mew/celebi, but other than that...

another diff. between the eReader cards is that they actually contain data on them (or at least the NES-e cards do). Animal Crossing is, well, um, a lot of people like it.

[IntvGene]

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was even worse. It had no less than three different types of "unlocking points", all earned in different ways. IIRC, one was through normal home play, another was through versus online play, and the last was by taking your VMU to the arcade and playing the arcade machine. I wonder how many people actually did all this shit legit. It was ridiculous.

Yep. This was the scam from Capcom and it was brutal. I think about half of the characters required points from either the online or arcade play and 10 of them required points from both! I remember playing a couple of games in the arcade, for a buck a shot and not even getting enough points to unlock one single character! It was a huge ripoff. I think in this case, the idea stemmed from Capcom worried about releasing the DC version so quickly after the arcade release, and this was their way to ensure arcade play.

Being a collector and gamer, I hate any content that I can't get after servers go down, or downloads disappear. But, they don't give a damn about the collecting community in the grand scale of things.

[maxlords]

right now i'm trying to deal with the trillions upon trillions of points needed to unlock everything in mars matrix... ri-goddamn-diculous

One of the only games with unlockable content that I've ever played that I can't stop coming back to! I LOVE Mars Matrix! And the points....well...having that many points just makes me feel all manly

[davidbrit2]

I'm pretty sure Samba De Amigo for Dreamcast has some songs you can only get by going online and downloading a small key file. In other words, it's got songs I'm never going to play. Konami's Bemani arcade games have the right idea. Usually, songs and other things just unlock after playing the game enough, in order to keep people coming back. DDR Extreme was the first to actually require the special codes from Konami to be entered in order to open up additional songs and nonstop courses. I think the best way of doing unlocking items is to have them all open up gradually from enough gameplay, and perhaps include some special ways of opening things early for those skilled enough to accomplish such tasks. Ask anyone with DDR Max US for PS2, and they're sure to curse the 21 song challenge course. :-)

[Ed Oscuro]

Yep, first saw this on the DC. The import version of Gunbird 2 had something locked (the hidden character, maybe? Forget.) and you needed to log on and get a download key to unlock it. Uber-lame, especially for Japan where many people lacked the proper type of net access to do this.

No kidding. I'm glad you mentioned that, actually; there seems to be a myth making the rounds that the Japanese have everything...no. I don't mean that in a disparaging way...an acquaintance of mine who's living in Japan calls it the "god(darned ;) IT slump of the world." It's one thing to have all sorts of cool games and crazy hardware...if you're talking about systems that are a few years old, though, it's starting to become obvious why they aren't terribly well connected there (though at one time there was a Famicom banking system and other things for which you could use a modem, it didn't exactly keep up).

This news about unlockables of this type, though...bad. BAD. Awful in fact. Hmm, how do they give the impression that you're actually downloading a level? Do they pretend that it loads in the background? Or do they just do without the pretense and load it up without a status bar?

[ubersaurus]

All but like 2 pokemon are available in ruby/sapphire, afaik. There were a couple of E3 promo cards that let you get the RS equivalent of mew/celebi, but other than that...

another diff. between the eReader cards is that they actually contain data on them (or at least the NES-e cards do). Animal Crossing is, well, um, a lot of people like it.

No he's referring to the old RBY and GSC pokemon...only a handful of that 251 made it into RuSa normally. The rest are programmed in, but can only be gotten via gameshark right now...its assumed nintendo will use the e reader to get the rest. It's pretty weak, really. I'd prefer to just trade in my guys from the older games. It kills me to know I won't be able to bring along my mew and charizard

[calthaer]

another diff. between the eReader cards is that they actually contain data on them (or at least the NES-e cards do). Animal Crossing is, well, um, a lot of people like it.

Yes, I was talking about the original RBY / GSC ones - thanks for clearing that up ubersaurus.

As for the data - the real issue with that is that a) Nintendo memory cards aren't that big and b) those cards only seem to hold about 5kb data on them per card. In order to get any substantial add-ons to the game you'd have to scan a LOT of cards - probably in the 50-100 range and the real question is what do you do with that data once it's on the GCN / GBA? Save it to the memory card for the GCN, maybe, but the GBA probably doesn't have that much space on it. And who can afford 50-100 cards at the cost Nintendo's selling them?

No, what you're really doing with those cards is "unlocking" content that more than likely is already on the cartridge and / or CD. You're just paying $0.50 US per card to do it.

[Captain Wrong]

I HATE unlockables. Seems to me like 99% of them fall into one of two categories:

1) adding replay value to games that lack it
2) forcing the comsumer to buy something else.

I paid my money, give me everything I paid for damnit!

[E Nice]

Anyone remember Unreal Tournament for DC? It had to SegaNet exclusive levels. You had to sign up with SegaNet and the levels would be unlocked for play. Though it was later found out how to unlock the levels by simply making the DC think you're signed on with SegaNet by typing typing some stuff in the ISP area.

[ianoid]

Does anyone know if we can get the unlock file for this somehow? Can it be downloaded to a VMU or copied from one to the next?

I'd like to unlock all the Samba songs. So. That. I. Can. Play. Them.

The problem with these online only unlockables- lost unlock codes, memory card- content lost forever once the system goes 'classic' and offline.

Is someone saving all the Xbox unlockable content?

I'm pretty sure Samba De Amigo for Dreamcast has some songs you can only get by going online and downloading a small key file. In other words, it's got songs I'm never going to play. Konami's Bemani arcade games have the right idea. Usually, songs and other things just unlock after playing the game enough, in order to keep people coming back. DDR Extreme was the first to actually require the special codes from Konami to be entered in order to open up additional songs and nonstop courses. I think the best way of doing unlocking items is to have them all open up gradually from enough gameplay, and perhaps include some special ways of opening things early for those skilled enough to accomplish such tasks. Ask anyone with DDR Max US for PS2, and they're sure to curse the 21 song challenge course. :-)

[Ed Oscuro]

The problem with these online only unlockables- lost unlock codes, memory card- content lost forever once the system goes 'classic' and offline.

I often worry about that...it'll be a long time before I get Live o_O