New Beautiful Katamari DLC is a Ripoff
By Chris on Friday, October 19th, 2007 at 4:37 PM PST In Game Companies, Games, Games Industry, Microsoft
Don’t go running to your Xbox 360 to grab the new Beautiful Katamari content; unless you live in Asia, you don’t have access to this stuff. 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.
If you listened through the entirety of last week’s File-N-Forget podcast, you’ll know this is precisely what I ranted about. 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.
Sure, it doesn’t affect those in North America or Europe (for now, at least), but it’s not like this kind of practice hasn’t been pulled in this hemisphere in various games. It’s a practice that really needs to stop, and there’s no chance that’s going to happen until more people realize what’s happening.
I don’t know, I don’t really see it as a rip off. I mean, they could have just not put them on the disc.
It is a rip off imo. I have no problem with DLC if it is actually something extra released and developed at a later date not something that could have just been included from the outset to make the game better. I hate this. They have deliberately released the game to be not as good as it should be just to squeeze out a bit of extra cash.
Yea I realized what it meant about a year ago…truthfully it doesn’t seem like much of a ripoff, because it is the prerogative of the companies to do this kind of thing. Although, I agree in the sense that it’s a really low and greedy thing to do.
It seems like they released it at a lower price point ($39.99) and added optional content to get the other $10 worth of game.
So would we rather have a full game for $50 or 80% of the game for $40 with the option to buy the rest for $10?
if it were a key to unlock a level, it’d be 1 or 2 KB. Remember, Katamari levels work by taking objects and arranging them in an area. There’s no custom map or textures, it’s just all an assortment of objects. Even the ground you’re rolling on is a giant object that’s already in the game. 400 KB is definitely big enough for a map that tells the game where to arrange the objects.
All this tells us is that the new levels don’t expand the collection by much if at all.
I completely agree with Dave. 400 KB is more than enough for a katamari level. The levels may not have any new items, but with Katamari, does that really matter? Sure it’s be fun to pick up some new stuff, I’d love to see something like a secret 360 item, but that doesn’t matter much. The fun point of the game is getting a big Katamri, ne? It really doesn’t matter that much if you don’t have new items.
Also, even if they did already have it on the disc and were making you download the patch that unlocks it, they’d be doing that to encourage use of the online feature. Maybe the new levels are multiplayer only? I’d hate to see specifically multiplayer maps, and not have xbox live. If they had it as unlockable, it means they’re thinking about the non-live players, it’d just be mean to have a full priced Katamari game with multiplayer only maps.
I agree with your first paragraph, but not the second. They aren’t just doing that because they want to encourage use of the feature, they just want more money! Every company rips people off once in a while, don’t they?
I’m wondering if this had also been on the PS3 would they do the same? Personally i was completely disappointed when they cut it for the PS3, but i wonder if it ever gets ported, will they include the extra content. I feel thats what they do with some of these ports to make up for the lost time….
I don’t think it’s so bad, I’m certain if they made a halo 3, with both parts on the disc, but only allowed you to play multiplayer and the story was an extra addon that they made you pay $25 for, as long as you only paid $25 for multiplayer, I think it’s fair. What if I don’t want to play the campaign?
You should remember that around 40% of 360 and PS3 owners have never even plugged them into the Internet so if they are holding back elements of the game to sell via download at a later date a lot of people are going to miss out on the experience they should have got in the packaged game.
As I said I have no problem with DLC being released at a later date as an extra. For instance my favourite map on Battlefield 2 is ‘Road to Jalalabad’ which was released over a year after the game. That kind of thing keeps the game fresh but I suspect an awful lot of the DLC we are seeing and will do more and more is stuff that could have been included in the released game but was held back to make more money.
This is a completely moot point. There is extra content you can pay for. Whether they send someone to deliver it to your door, unlock it from your disc, or offer it for download, you pay more to get more. You didn’t already buy the content when you bought the disc. You bought locked content. You can use it just as it was on the disc you bought to your hearts content (not at all), or you can pay for a key to unlock it. This is like getting pissy that they build shareware into your cellphone that you can pay for. Horrors!
Microsoft has a TCR (Technical Certification Requirement) that disallows this practice — you can’t pay to unlock additional content on the disc. And trust me, they intensively test each TCR. This is FUD.
Why do you care so much where it comes from?
Think of it as a new album being released with 12 tracks burned onto the CD, but two of them are locked, and you need to drop some more dough online, to enable them somehow.
In theory, when you buy something imprinted on a standard media format, you are enabled full access to that media on the disk, magazine, newspaper, floppy, or whatever. Either make them free, or suffer some legal battles. Because that method of DLC is BS.
I’m tellin’ ya guys, the only things that are already on the disc that you’re unlocking is any object from the collection that hasn’t already been used in a level. The object arrangement is brand new, and isn’t on the disc already.
Would you be happy if each download was padded to 500 MB? You’re basically up in arms because NBGI is using a wonderful method to store a level, and you don’t think it’s big enough.
@ Dave-
I think the conversation has gone beyond Katamari. I think it’s more along the lines of a general DLC on disc, that you have to pay for.
@Silentshank-
When you buy a DVD you are not allowed full access to the content. You own the disc, but not the content on the disc. Or at least, that’s what American Federal laws have to say on the matter. I still agree with Che, it’s not a rip off.
This is a great anti-piracy technique. Think of it… to crack the DVD not only do I have to figure out what missing content gets downloaded (384k is more than just a key), but I probably also have to crack the pairing between the DVD and my live account.
This is done a lot with XBDLC, it’s really not uncommon.
# weclock says: I don’t know, I don’t really see it as a rip off. I mean, they could have just not put them on the disc.
You are *SO* right.
I’m waiting for the day that automobile manufacturers require that you call in to a special flat tire hotline and pay an extra $50 for an unlock code to access your spare tire. Remember, it’s not a rip off, I mean, they could have just not put it in the trunk!
what is wrong with you guys!!!
pretty soon your gonna buy the game and the only thing your going to be paying for is the plastic its made out of!!
its not so much the game its the fact that there doing this
its really unfair!
clown soup made a good point you guys are idiot and the kind of pepole who are gonna get walked on there whole lives
@Clown Soup-
I don’t really think that analogy applies, considering you down own the rights to the content on the disc.
Wait.. your evidence that the levels aren’t on the game disc is that the download is only 384kb?
I’m lead programmer on a pretty high-profile game at the moment, and can state without reservation that we could create an extra level in our game, using substantially less than 386kb of data, just by reusing art assets we’d already used in other levels.
In fact, even at 384kb, I’m wondering what the hell they’re putting into them to make them so big.. fundamentally all that the download should include is a little list that says “put a can of soup here, put a can of soup there, put a can of soup over there… time limit: 5 minutes.” Shouldn’t be more than about 40-50 kb, tops, unless there are a couple new textures in there (perhaps to integrate into the UI?)
I haven’t played Beautiful Katamari myself (not yet released locally) so can’t really confirm, but merely going by the file size as evidence doesn’t convince me at all.
(But I tend to agree with the rest of the sentiment. Whether or not it’s already on the disc, releasing it on the same week as the main full-price release and charging points for it is a very shady practice, and I’d be strenuously objecting if anyone proposed doing such a thing where I work.)
Does it really make any difference? If they are going to make add-ons to the game that you have to buy separately what is the difference if they come on the disc and are locked or have to be downloaded?
You guys got a 360, you should have been prepared for this. Didn’t you think it was fishy that out of all the new consoles, the 360 was the cheapest?
@Casiotone,
The Wii is the cheapest, are you ignorant?
It’s shady because it is content they created early enough to be in the game but didn’t add for whatever reason. I’m on the wagon that they wanted to have a lower price point to sell a higher volume but still wanted to cash in as much as they could. All the katamari fanatics will download the stuff, and they end up selling a few more due to the price.
It doesn’t matter if it is on the disc or not…the question is why didn’t they just include it?
@Casiotone: So you’re saying that since PS3 costs more, publishers wouldn’t try and milk customers for money? The console maker is the one setting the price for the hardware, while the publishers are the ones dealing with DLC. Not the same thing.
Trevor says:
“(But I tend to agree with the rest of the sentiment. Whether or not it’s already on the disc, releasing it on the same week as the main full-price release and charging points for it is a very shady practice, and I’d be strenuously objecting if anyone proposed doing such a thing where I work.)”
I’m glad they’re doing it this soon. We knew to expect downloadable content, why not right away?
And of course, there’s always the publishing time. DLC has much less publishing time than stamping discs and shipping to stores. I’ll bet these levels weren’t complete when publishing started.
It’s a free market folks… Vote with your dollars if you don’t like it.
Well, I don’t mind it, but I wasn’t going to buy it anyway, I’m not interested in Katamari Damancy, and I don’t have a 360, so…
@mike
“you guys are idiot and the kind of pepole who are gonna get walked on there whole lives”
If we were geting walked on, why would we be here to debate over this?
I can understand how people can see it as a rip-off, but lets get back to the point of this. It’s not about DLC in general, it’s about Katamari. Bringing it to XB360 will bring in some new players who havn’t played the other 3 sony exclusive games. That being said, Katamari is not one of those BIG games. It’s a very arcade-style game, and because of that, new buyers may not be willing to buy it at full price. Dropping the price was a good idea, but perhaps the producers wanted to see just how much the new market enjoyed it? So bring it out at a cheaper price, then have the option of buying more.
Another scenario, is that they may be willing to be bringing out new levels at a later date, but wanted to see whether people would buy them. I think if this gets any bigger and reaches the creators, they’ll probably make a statement that’ll clear it all up. I’d love to hear their reasoning on this. I am quite sure that they’re not doing it to squeeze out money though.
Shut up for christ’s sake. It isn’t LOCKED onto the disc. Its basically items that ALREADY exist in the game reconfigured into new levels, cousins, and challenges. Jesus fricken crime-a-netly. If I do remember correctly Halo queers pumped out 12$ just to get stupid ass game modes that weren’t worth anything.
If you like a game, and you like the company that makes the game, support them.
I agree that its more than enough, and that the extra eoom is for textures for the extra cousins.
sorry that last post I was typing in haste on an SK, but I was obvious referring to the size of the DLC. The levels aren’t adding any extra objects, so the levels won’t contain anything new other than a handful of new cousins, and possibly a couple presents, which considering the minimalistic style of the game, definitely would not require much resources. With 200 pts per level, and 4 levels, 800 pts total, it comes out to an extra 10 bucks on a 40 dollar game because every 100 microsoft pts costs $1.25, and when the industry standard is now set to $60 at launch for just about every new release, you all ought to be thanking them for not giving you a $70 bill for a great game…
Pete says:
October 20th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
“Microsoft has a TCR (Technical Certification Requirement) that disallows this practice — you can’t pay to unlock additional content on the disc. And trust me, they intensively test each TCR. This is FUD.”
Not only is this twisting the law (they did actually use extra content - the presents’ textures and maybe the cousins’ - but releasing it on the Internet on day one instead of just putting it on the disk is nothing less than skipping around the TCR), then… it’s also stupid. Many gamers don’t have Internet at all, and there are also those (like me) who have Internet access but can’t get VG consoles to connect to it. If they were going to add extra content on launch day, then where is the sense in limiting it to those who actually have video game Internet?
And I noticed something else: On the ice platform in the Princedom, there are two circles of melted snow that normally indicate locked levels, even after completing the game. As in, this was their plan from the very beginning; to squeeze cash out of Net-surfers and leave everyone else with half a game.