Downloadable Content (or DLC for short) is any extra items or information that can be added to a game via the internet. This can be in the form of anything from new maps to armour for your horse.
DLC has been around in one form or another for quite some time, with mods and/or new maps released for many early PC games. Back then everything was free too, because there was far less effort involved in making a new map, just about anyone could make new content for a game and the market was limited to people who owned the game and had an internet connection capable of downloading the content.
Console gamers would have to wait until the release of the Dreamcast to see its first real use of an internet connection on a console and through that, downloadable content. Limitations with the Dreamcast's connection and amount of storage meant, combined with its early demise, it would never implement DLC in a major way. Then came the Xbox... At the time, Sony's Playstation 2 and Nintendo's Gamecube had both already been released but neither featured a built-in network adapter and thus couldn't connect to the internet without requiring the player to purchase one.
Microsoft established the Xbox LIVE network which is still implemented to this day, although in a much different capacity. The Xbox LIVE network provided DLC for many titles, however content for Microsoft owned games would have to be purchased. Soon Sony and Nintendo would join the online gaming and with an ever increasing number of gamers being introduced to the word of online gaming, DLC soon had something it didn't really have before... A market.
These days almost every piece of DLC whether it be some new maps, a new character, a new level or even new items, comes at a price. With every current gen console capable of internet connectivity, DLC is more abundant than ever before but the pricing for content has caused many a debate amongst gamers.
Controversy has been thrown in the direction of Microsoft and Nintendo for using a points system in their online stores rather than an actual currency. Some complaints with the system are that the point systems require customers to purchase a larger amount than is needed and encourage people to spend more because the customer is less likely to see the points as a real currency and consider how much something actually costs.
DLC has been on the receiving end of quite a bit of controversy over the last few years actually. Bethesda Softworks came under fire when it released it's first DLC for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Horse Armour done exactly what it said... Added armour to your horses. Gamers were outraged by what was considered a high price for something that had no in-game effect, couldn't be previewed before purchase and was non-refundable. The price for Horse Armour was set at 200 Microsoft Points (about $2.50 US).
More controversy was thrown at Microsoft when Epic Games (who had promised to deliver their content free) were supposedly forced to charge for Gears of War content by Microsoft (who published the game). The map pack was released for 800 Microsoft Points, then 4 months later was made available at no charge.
The most recent outbreak of anger at a form of DLC has been with Modern Warfare 2. Modern Warfare 2 has now released 2 map packs, each consisting of 3 new maps and 2 re-creations of maps from Call of Duty 4. While this isn't really anything new in the world of DLC, the map pack's were sold for 1200 Microsoft Points each (about $15 US) which many players felt was highly over priced (you can purchase an entire Xbox originals game for the same price). The high price didn't stop 2.5 million people from downloading the first map pack within its first week of sale though.
Other complaints that have been thrown around about DLC include the possibility that developers are intentionally leaving things out of their game in order to sell them as DLC after release, and developers locking off content that was already on the game disc but requires the player purchase the unlock code for a price.
Not all DLC has been used for profit though. With Mass Effect 2, EA Games has released a fairly substantial amount of DLC free to players connected to their network (see /rant v1.0) and many games have been providing the first DLC free to people who purchase the game new before a certain date. Many music games (such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band) also use DLC to keep a steady flow of new music coming out and makes it less necessary for the developers to release an updated form every 6 months.
In my opinion, DLC is a good thing. It allows us to add more to a game we love and lengthens the amount of time we spend playing that game. I do think developers and publishers need to keep an eye on prices though. Sure, this is an opportunity to make an extra million dollars off a game you've already made millions off, but the higher the prices go up, the more players will expect, and if a game fails to deliver, you can bet players will be verbal about their disappointment and this isn't going to help sales or reputations. Likewise, i think gamers need to accept that DLC DOES cost money now, and in most cases it should. People have put in lots of effort to create and distribute the content and they should be reqarded for their work. So if you're un happy about an upcoming piece of DLC or pricing, don't go screaming about it all over the internet, then buy it anyway because you "don't have a choice"... You do, and that's the great thing about DLC. How much you spend and how much content you want is completely up to you.
As always, feel free to use the comments section below to leave any thoughts, comments, opinions, arguments and / or hateful death threats.
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