Namco and their ridiculous DLC

[Jimmy Hapa]

I know it's a dead horse, but I feel like beating it anyway. Namco offers a lot of DLC, and pretty much all of it is a huge rip-off in more ways than one.

I think it all started with Katamary Damacy and it's 15 bucks or so for what seem to be disc content unlock keys. I unfortunately bought those because I love the series...Ace Combat has a ton of DLC, but you have to be quite thick in the MS points pocket book if you want to get all of it, much less a few of the items here and there. Now, there's Soul Calibur IV, which has gives gamers the option of downloading all of the stage music from the original SC...for the price of 1200 MS points. Ouch.

Many people complain about the aforementioned games...but they have nothing on one game from Namco--The Idol Master: Live For You. The (as of now) Japan-only music and rhythm game has a plethora of content, all of which is pricey as hell. 1000 points for ONE new costume? 500 for ONE accessory? To me, that's a huge disservice to the (many) fans of the Idol Master series. I wouldn't consider myself a fan, but even I take it as a slap in the face.

It was originally released for over 9,000 yen retail (about 90 US dollars), for the special edition, with the standard one being about 7,600 yen if I remember correctly. There is so much DLC out there for this game, which gets released every month or so. And nothing comes cheap, and with the exception of new songs, the content is kind of a joke.

One of the big selling points of this game was the DLC, granted, but I don't think anyone expected it to be such a rip. Plus, the game hardly came with any content whatsoever...a couple of costumes with a few different textures to make it look like there was more than what was really there.

This is just Namco preying on its "hardcore" community of fans who are either too obsessive over their characters and want everything, or are just OCD in general and want to own it all. This game is also mainly a fan-appreciation game, but I see none of that at all.

It's all based on human choice in the end, but my God, Namco has given gamers some pretty crappy choices regarding DLC.

Sorry for the long post. Just felt like discussing this.

[synister EFFECT]

I guess that's true, but it's not as bad as Team Ninja. You literally pay money to break your game...for now at least.

[Zee]

Yea, I mean considering you can buy SC1 for 800 points.... 1200 for the music is a big rip off. I mean at first they had an excuse seeing as how DLC was a new concept, but this late in. Namco is just ripping off it's fan base. At least it's not as bad a horse armor.

Edit: WOW a 360 gamer from Japan. Armageddon is here!

[Jimmy Hapa]

I heard about that Ninja Gaiden thing...which sucks for anyone who bought it!

Also, there are quite a few 360 gamers in Japan, and at least where I'm at, high profile games always sell out quickly. Could be low stock, but I do see a lot of 360 fans.

Anyway, pretty much any Japanese gamer who likes Western games likes the 360 (obviously, I guess). There are also more games on the 360 than other current gen consoles that suit the traditional Japanese gamer's tastes too.

I unfortunately bought that horse armor.

[Hypnotik Robot]

Wait, Katamari Damacy is available on 360???

Is it a download? Does it have achievements? If it has achievements I'd probably have to buy it because it never gets old anyhow and then I'd have no reason to keep my PS2.

[Jimmy Hapa]

Originally Posted by Hypnotik Robot

Wait, Katamari Damacy is available on 360???

Is it a download? Does it have achievements? If it has achievements I'd probably have to buy it because it never gets old anyhow and then I'd have no reason to keep my PS2.

Ah, sorry for the confusion: I meant Beautiful Katamari Damacy.

[Hypnotik Robot]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Hapa

Ah, sorry for the confusion: I meant Beautiful Katamari Damacy.

Ok, you had my hopes up. You reminded me though that I still hadn't ordered Beautiful katamari. So thanks for that.

[Jimmy Hapa]

Yeah, you should definitely pick up Beautiful--it's more of the same, but with sharper graphics and you can make your katamari ridiculously huge. Multiplayer is nice, but online is very VERY limited.

Did you ever play We Love Katamari? It's kind of full of itself but I feel like that's the best Katamari game in the series. No DLC necessary to play the game to its fullest, either.

[DJbruce]

How much would the DLC cost if I got them all to get the extra 250G ? The only other Katamari game I have is the psp one er We love katamari.

[Jimmy Hapa]

Originally Posted by DJbruce

How much would the DLC cost if I got them all to get the extra 250G ? The only other Katamari game I have is the psp one er We love katamari.

There are 7 stages to buy, and all together it costs 1500 MSP, so...about $18.75? Out of hand, yeah? It's actually a little more expensive in Japan due to the cost of MS points. Don't bother with the cousin and accessory sets, because they are all (easily) unlockable in the game.

[botafogo007]

Don't forget the possibility that Vader could be available as DLC for Soul Calibur IV in the future too. I'm a little worried what he's going to cost.

I didn't realize the DLC for Beautiful Katamari cost that much. It's a shame too, because I have the game and was planning on picking it up. Also, I read a summary once of all the DLC for Ace Combat and the total, if you bought everything, came to several hundred dollars total cost for the game, which is just insane to me.

It's nice to have all this DLC available, but I think eventually developers who charge more than necessary are going to generate some backlash (like EA did when they were going to charge extra for all the Battlefield: Bad Company stuff).

[Jimmy Hapa]

Originally Posted by botafogo007

Don't forget the possibility that Vader could be available as DLC for Soul Calibur IV in the future too. I'm a little worried what he's going to cost.

I didn't realize the DLC for Beautiful Katamari cost that much. It's a shame too, because I have the game and was planning on picking it up. Also, I read a summary once of all the DLC for Ace Combat and the total, if you bought everything, came to several hundred dollars total cost for the game, which is just insane to me.

It's nice to have all this DLC available, but I think eventually developers who charge more than necessary are going to generate some backlash (like EA did when they were going to charge extra for all the Battlefield: Bad Company stuff).

Yeah, I think Vader is definitely coming out soon, and I heard that he's already been unlocked on the disc. I'm hoping it'll be free, but there's not much of a chance of that.

Speaking of Soul Calibur IV, there is a Japan-only costume pack that costs 200 MSP. It was for some new maid clothing for female characters...and that's it. I bought it thinking there was more (like an idiot), but there were only four or five pieces of new clothing. Sad, sad, sad.

[Female Ninja]

Originally Posted by Zee

.

Edit: WOW a 360 gamer from Japan. Armageddon is here!

I take that as a smack to the face! OMG!

Anyway I agree that all of that is expensive, I have a 360 to play it, not to sink all of my money into it....

[narcolepticshee]

Originally Posted by botafogo007

Don't forget the possibility that Vader could be available as DLC for Soul Calibur IV in the future too. I'm a little worried what he's going to cost.

If they're letting you use him in ranked online (which come on, they HAVE to) then it's got to be free.

Microsoft has a thing going on where if developers release things for online matchmaking (or ranked) then it's got to be free otherwise people who bought the game and didn't get the DLC physically CAN'T play online.

This is why the Halo team release their map-packs for a price so you can play in private online matches and then later on, release the content for free when it's able to be used on the ranked playlists.

Peace

[Zee]

Originally Posted by botafogo007

Don't forget the possibility that Vader could be available as DLC for Soul Calibur IV in the future too. I'm a little worried what he's going to cost.

I'm betting 99% he is already on the disk. So it has to be free.

Originally Posted by narcolepticshee

If they're letting you use him in ranked online (which come on, they HAVE to) then it's got to be free.

Microsoft has a thing going on where if developers release things for online matchmaking (or ranked) then it's got to be free otherwise people who bought the game and didn't get the DLC physically CAN'T play online.

Not quite. The other 1% is he can be uploaded in a patch. So you can fight him but not play as him in till bought. If Vader costs 1 MSP, Namco is not getting my business anymore.

Originally Posted by Female Ninja

I take that as a smack to the face! OMG!

Anyway I agree that all of that is expensive, I have a 360 to play it, not to sink all of my money into it....

I've been quoted .