"Additional Mode Adds A New, Deadly Twist To RE5 Multiplayer Gameplay
Tired of working together with other players in Resident Evil™ 5? Ready to show your co-op partner exactly what you think of their gaming abilities? Capcom is pleased to announce that a new multiplayer mode for the soon-to-be blockbuster, Resident Evil 5, will be released post-launch as paid digital content via Xbox LIVE and PlayStation Network. The new mode, called ‘Versus,’ adds a deadly twist to Resident Evil 5’s multiplayer, pitting players against each other in a contest of survival, a marked departure from the central co-operative nature of the game."Capcom...
How much is this going to cost? About $3.99 so far. Well, what I want to know is that why are we paying for this content? The game costs $59.99! It's not like it's $40 or even $50. Since publishers have decided that their console titles NEED to be $60 does the customer REALLY need to be paying for content that is locked off with a digital key on the disc. Then being charged extra for the right to unlock that content. Capcom LOVES to do this kind of thing. But this is a WHOLE MULTIPLAYER MODE. Not just costumes, extra maps, or characters. This is an ACTUAL MODE of play that won't be available unless one purchases it. What if Gears of War launched this way. OK, it's $60 for the single player and then another $10 for the multiplayer. I guess these publishers can no longer hide their profits in things like crummy collector's editions so they figure that the end user should just pay for things that are all ready on the disc.
Will I be purchasing this extra mode? I don't know, I will have to wait to see the final pricing. I would recommend that as a customer anyone who buys the game consider this before purchasing this content. If publishers continue to get our money for things like this, the situation concerning this type of thing will get worse instead of better. The only thing publishers will listen to is money. So consider how and why you spend it.
-Devilsalias
Update(3/13/09) OK in an effort to be fair. Capcom has responded to the criticism of the DLC by saying that this mode was not originally in the game and therefore needed extra development and therefore money to make. So I guess they are implying that the mode isn't on the disc. Which DOES mean that additional development was needed and I suppose it might just be unfortunate coincidence that they are promoting the mode so closely to the launch of the game itself. So that's great. I will happily pay the $4 for the mode.
However, the media reaction to the original announcement was underwhelming at best. The reaction to the fan reaction was even worse. Before this announcement by Capcom there were many journalists saying that this was "no big deal." And that fans were EXTREMELY overreacting. I wasn't privy to all the OVER REACTION and I DO know that many people on message boards DO overreact to things. However, the seriousness of the idea that a publisher would charge for multiplayer when it was all ready on the disc seems like something that journalists should be writing about and not dismissing.
Many journalist reactions on blogs or websites consisted of disappointment that Capcom hadn't offered a release date for their package. That was about as far as it went. At the time I thought that to these journalists the announcement wasn't important to their particular sites so the announcement didn't get equal time. Or perhaps they were just copying press releases and that the reactions would be coming later when video game journalists were actually in their chairs.
However, when these same sites waste time and posts on the latest Japanese Otaku toy it seems that they could AT THE VERY LEAST. Bring up the fact that, "Hey, why is Capcom charging for Multiplayer?" So were the fans of Resident Evil 5 overreacting? If they were it was more Capcom's fault than anyones. By writing such a short and vague press release they were inviting such criticism. But then perhaps they figure that any publicity is good publicity. After all, I'm talking about it again.
So what have we learned from all this? Well, probably that Capcom PR needs some help. Which everyone all ready knew because these were the same folks that for how many months had everyone thinking that Resident Evil 5 would have "Gears of War style controls." Which it doesn't.... Unfortunately.
In closing, I would like to ask everyone who reports on video games to really take a SERIOUS LOOK at what you are reporting on and why. Because all too often it seems that things come out of no where and are taken as gospel(i.e. Bioshock 2) and that when your audience simply takes what the press releases say as real and you have no comment. You then critize said fans. If the "professional gaming press" KNEW that this mode was an off disc download it might have been nice to mention that SOMEWHERE. And if the press didn't know, why didn't they ask?
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