4/22/2012

Making the case for day one dlc...






This is an image that Rocksteady has been teasing tied to supposedly new dlc for Arkham City. In addition to pretty obviously being Harley Quinn, it's also been heavily rumored that Robin will feature in some solo DLC as well. Sounds great, the problem? Arkham City came out in October of last year. That's virtually a lifetime for a videogame. I loved it, but I beat it and it's done. I have virtually no interest in it now. I probably would have if it had come out within a couple months of release, but I've moved on, and my bet is most other gamers have too.

That being said, since Arkham City has been confirmed for the Wii U, it would be at least a nice bonus for anybody who waited for that release. Those combined with something  showing why the Wii U version would be superior through unique features could make a strong case for buying ports on the Wii U versus the other systems. I'm not saying games should always have day one dlc, but if they want gamers to stay invested they probably need something to trickle out every couple of months.

We know Skyrim is getting DLC and it'll be a massive expansion. But really, unless I've got nothing else on plate, it seems unlikely I'll be interested because again it's been too long. Though I haven't bought any myself, I think one game that's a good example of properly doling out dlc is Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. They've already come out with 2 fairly meaty DLC expansions and the game has only been out two months. That's a great enticement for people who really enjoyed the game and want more of it to keep playing at a pretty reasonable pace. I'm actually mild surprised there hasn't been any Mass Effect 3 single-player dlc as of yet but my guess is the negative reaction to the ending and admittedly ridiculously corporate message of "buy dlc!" at the end may have pushed initial plans back until they release that extended ending dlc and the heat has died down a bit.

Bottom line, DLC is a tricky beast, and it's important to do it right. And it may not fair to developers hoping to get a little extra cash, but there's a window and I think it's pretty much closed for Arkham City (and possibly Skyrim for that matter at the rate they are going). Sure it will sell, but probably not nearly as much as if it had been released already instead of up to several months from now.

That's all for today, I should be back on Monday with a new post. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Struck By Lightning


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