Beautiful Katamari downloadable content "a rip-off"

There's some dissent over at Evil Avatar on the topic of Beautiful Katamari's downloadable content (DLC) option, currently available in Asia (but coming soon to Xbox Marketplace US and EU?):

There are four new levels available for the game, each running you 200 Microsoft Points. I’ve got no problem with that, but it’s more the fact that, according to Destructoid, the downloads are only 384 kb, i.e. the content is already on the disc, and you’re purchasing a key to unlock it.

[... This is] Downloadable content that amounts to nothing more than a ripoff; this is stuff you have right on the disc that you purchased, only you aren’t able to access it until you fork over even MORE money than you already have.

Interesting model, hey? The idea that there's a fee for a certain variable amount of content, and then a further fee to unlock another variable that's already imprinted on the disk you've paid for, well.. gosh. Yes. Not very nice at all.

Content on disks has always been of variable length of course - a few hours for a bad Tomb Raider game, 40+ hours for a good Grand Theft Auto game, and both at the same price point on launch. But this seems so much more considered. And somehow wrong.

It's also relevant to how we measure the value of games: there was a lot of hoohah recently over the claim that Halo3 made more money than Spider-Man (the movie), which it did. Counter-arguments ran to the tune that Halo3 costs five times the amount of a cinema ticket; counter-counter-arguments pointed out that Halo 3 gets you 20+ hours of entertainment, whereas a cinema ticket buys you a mere 2...

Comments

[Joost Schuur]

I don't see the real problem. You're not being charged for how much bandwidth the download process used, you're being charged for the content. What does it matter how you obtain the content, or how far in advance of the game shipping it was created?

If you're assuming that the fact that it was already on the disk, means the content was ready ahead of time and thus cut from the main release to make extra money, I don't think that's necessarily a correct assumption to make. Could they have just planned for DLC all along and put more work into it than they would have usually done?

You haven't 'already paid for' it at all, just because it's on the disk. It was designed to be unlocked at a later date, with a separate purchasing agreement required.

[Mr Tom]

So, how DO you say "horse armour" in Japanese anyway?

[Pete]

Wahoo! live begins to move from fresh invigorating avenue for new indie games to Microsoft portal for general greed, pain, and destruction.

Well, duh.

[Hanford]

Actually, the publishers need to spin the this unlock process a bit better, but overall I am a big fan of this type of content.

Half life 2? I played only 3 levels before boredom set in. Mario Bros? I own them all but I've never finished a single one. GTA III, Twilight Princess, Oblivion, Bioshock ... I don't think I ever played all the levels in any of these games.

If I could have paid for only the levels I actually played, I'd probably be several thousand dollars richer. :)

Now, this isn't EXACTLY what's going on with BK, but gamers need to get over the "if it's on the disk it should be accessible" mentality. Digital distribution can allow for really innovative consumer-friendly business models, including try-before-you-buy (a rarity in the console world but getting more popular), pay-as-you-go (which BK kind of is ... kinda) and pay-per-use (which WoW and other subscription games would be if they didn't charge for the disk).

Whether it's downloaded or on the disk already is really just the delivery method. Who cares how it gets onto your machine?

This is another case of "ALL DRM IS BAD!" messing with the road to cheaper games.

[Puck]

Im kinda saddened by the fact that people are defending this kind of type of business practice, For instance what Hanford said, did you stop playing those games because you dident feel like exploring, or were bored, or because you were not allowed to go into those areas because you dident want to pay extra money to go there.
Im one of those people who tried to break games to explore every singe inch of a game, in HL2 I would stack boxs to get onto roofs and edges to places I wasent suppose to, replaying games to take alternate paths, or downloading mods to gain access to abandoned areas even if there is nothing in them, I payed for it, I should get to see it/access it.
Microsoft's area of DLC I find to be an awefull way to rip off there customers and if you look at some instances where Microsoft holds release dates on games because they think the DLC cost set by the games programmers is too cheap, I understand the idea to make some content feel special to the users, but why does special just mean you have to spend more then the normal user.
This is the reason why Im not a console gamer anymore, dont get my wrong, I buy my games, and I play MMOs, but I make sure to get my moneys worth on each of them.
my2cents.

[Mojo]

I'm not going to wholly defend this practice, but:

Beautiful Katamari is a complete and well thought out game that costs less than many other games. And the game stands on its own.

Downloadable content like this, which is truly 'bonus' content is great. And it's not the first time this has happened.

Karaoke Revolution for xbox shipped with KR2 songs on the disc, but locked. There were enough songs for a complete game (and then some, when you count the Motown tracks) and for a small fee you could pay to unlock songs from the 'next' game - for FAR less than the cost of KR2.

No one cried foul then. And honestly, BK shipping with 'bonus' levels when BK itself felt like a complete game is fine. That it's a mere 200 points is icing.

I would get up in arms if the 'bonus' levels that were unlocked were levels that added to the plot of a game or were otherwise integral to the game, just cut out for a money grab.

[derFunkenstein]

When does this actually become available? Four extra levels are worth the $10, IMO, on the disk or not. I just want to PLAY THEM because I have 100 points on each level and I've basically hit a wall on the time trials..

[Menno]

Does anyone know when the extra content will be available in Europe?

[Kammesennin]

The extra content is mostly on the disc in the sense that the objects you would be picking up already exist in the game.

After playing through the game surely you've realized you are set on the same planet each time you begin rolling up objects, so of course that's already on the disc. The reason the files are mere kilobytes is because it's text for what the king of cosmos says to you, and for what types of objects are required for the level.

So technically yes the content is already on the disc, but the requests just aren't there already, and that's why the $ and the download are required. It's not quite as foul a practice as it seems.

[Cassandra]

Oh please. You didn't "pay for" the extra content; it's EXTRA CONTENT. Beautiful Katamari is a complete game with a complete set of levels (the WHOLE solar system); the ones that are purchasable from Xbox Live are BONUS content (constellations, I might add, are STARS, which are not part of our solar system and therefore it doesn't make sense to include them in the main plot anyway). You can have it if you want it, if you want to take the gaming experience that much further, and if you don't, then you didn't have to pay for a bunch of extra stuff with the game. If you're not into really cool downloadable extra content, then don't buy it. That's your business. If you want to get the complete Katamari gaming experience and spend a little money for some good, decently-priced fun, then go ahead and spend some dough, and that's your business as well.