“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.

If you like a game, and you like the company that makes the game, support them.

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.

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.

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.)

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

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!

@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.

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.