Do you want fries with that?

Microsoft versus Sony, Battlefield versus Call of Duty and Forza versus Gran Turismo. These are some of the rivalries that can get people talking about console wars. “Game On or Game Over” is your place to get inside the minds of Nicholas and Andy as they seek to find the true meaning of gaming and tackle some of gaming’s most controversial subjects. Both are award winning authors – although the awards haven’t been mailed or created yet — but trust them. Would they lie to you?

Nicholas: As we’ve mentioned multiple times in the past, gamers are a vocal bunch. Now that voice can be used for something as positive as spreading the word about a new game on Kickstarter (seriously folks, back Yooka-Laylee) or as seemingly sour as complaining about an always-online policy for a next-generation console. While we mightn’t necessarily agree with what they have to say or even how they decide to say it, there’s no denying, certainly in recent times, that this voice has the power to force change. Only last week did we cover Valve’s backflip on their decision to allow payments to mod creators on Steam.

This week I wanted to take a look at what are some of the common criticisms or complains from gamers and ask the question – “really?” For example, there’s one image that I always see pop up on Facebook or Twitter every few months. It’s a two panel picture, one on the right with the caption “Then” of a picture of a burger, a side of chips and a drink. The burger is the “original game” and the chips and drink are the “expansion pack”. In the other panel, the burger is completely deconstructed and there is no chips of drink. The rasher of bacon is the “pre-order bonus”, the buns are the “original game”, and then the lettuce, tomato, patty and cheese are all individual pieces of “DLC”. The sauce is labelled as the “Best Buy exclusive”.

To kick things off I wanted to ask what you thought of this picture and also the sentiments shared by a lot of gamers that the package offered to gamers today compared to a few generations ago has changed.

Andy: I can’t say I have seen that picture to be honest, but as you describe it I agree with it 100%. The truth of the matter is, when we buy a normal retail release game right now, we are not getting the complete game that was developed. Whether it be because of pre order bonuses – with of course each retailer having separate bonuses , Day One DLC, disc-locked content that we have to pay for to play down the road or console-exclusive content. Heck, look at Destiny – there is currently a Strike Mission on PlayStation that has been available to them since launch that Xbox gamers won’t be able to play until September 2015. Yet, Xbox gamers paid the same amount for the game with essentially less content. The only people that come out ahead in that deal is Bungie because they got the extra money from Sony to make that piece of content exclusive.

Do I think gamers are getting less on launch day now? Absolutely. Publishers and developers have seemed to try and one up each other on just how many different ways they can segment a game and get gamers to pay more and more for that content. It’s because of this I have vowed never to buy another Capcom game again. No matter how good the game is, how well it’s reviewed, or what my friends say about it. I loathe how Capcom operates. Disc-locked content, releasing multiple editions of the same game what seems like every six months or so; Street Fighter IV, Super Street Fighter IV, Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, Ultra Street Fighter IV.

Pre-order bonuses probably bug me the most though. It’s no longer going to a retailer or a website and going through the pre-order process. Now, before you even get to that step you have to actually do research and see all the different retailer specific bonuses. Once you know what they all are, you basically have to guess at which one is the “best one” (for a game you have never played) and then go through the pre-order process. A pre-order should be a simple thing; I see a game I’ll want to get so I go reserve my copy and come back when it comes out. Now, it’s anything but simple anymore. Of course the publisher is nice enough to offer you all those pre-order bonuses a month after release… if you pay up of course.

As much as I love gaming and for how big a part of my life gaming is, this is one of the issues that when I really sit down and think about it, makes me disenchanted with the entire process. I know you don’t have a crystal ball, and you can’t read minds, but what do you think the reason is behind the retailer specific pre-order bonus stuff? I get the console exclusive stuff, even though I despise it, I get it. It sells systems. But, retailer specific stuff has never made sense to me.

Nicholas: Like the console exclusives, it’s all about business and making money. When a massive tile like Destiny releases, where the developers and publishers are hyping it up to be one of the greatest games this generation, with countless things to do and a potential life-cycle of 10 years, retailers as well as console manufacturers want to get in on the deal. I’m not sure what the industry is like in America, although I suspect it is slightly more varied in Australia, but over here there are really only a handful of brick-and-mortar retailers you can purchase a new game from. You’ve got your department stores like Big W and David Jones (where gaming is just one section in a sea of many other different sections), but the major players are really only EB Games and JB Hi-Fi now. So for these companies, they’re going to want to ensure they get the most sales from the market of buyers as possible. These pre-order exclusives (as ultimately insignificant as they are) are the best way to attract a potential gamer.

Now that I think about it, combined with what you said above, it’s amazing how much pull pre-order bonuses can attract when they aren’t anything special to begin with. Think of your typical pre-order bonus – a pack of cars, a pack of weapons or perhaps one mission extra than what’s in the base game. That sounds pretty cool, but how often do you end up using those cars or weapons amongst the rest in the game? How long does that mission take to complete, and how instrumental is it to the overall story. More often than not, any pre-order bonus I get is used less than the ‘main’ content, so it might as well be ignored. Yet, it’s enough to make gamers buy a more expensive copy of the game from one retailer than the other. Unbelievable.

If we stick with the whole getting less on launch than before analogy, do you really think it’s fair to compare gaming offerings now with what they used to be? What I mean is, I’ve been playing Project CARS for the past two weeks and well over 10 hours in, I’m still nowhere near finishing the game (hell, it’s only a dent). Yet, compared to games 20 years ago, I could have completed Donkey Kong Country 1 & 2 in that same amount of time. We talk about being duped on launch with pre-order and console exclusives, but surely that’s irrelevant when the games we receive on launch are substantially larger and more detailed than what they used to be, no?

Andy:  Here’s the thing though. The developer/publisher make it a big deal. They pound it into our heads in as many ways as they can that these bonuses are needed. It’s content you can’t get anywhere else… unless you wait a month and buy it for $5… but that’s not the point. They need those pre-orders. Otherwise they won’t be able to eat, their kids will starve and they’ll be living out of cardboard boxes. Of course, if you want a complete game at launch with all that content, here in the US you’ll have to pre-order at a minimum 5 or 6 different copies. From Target, GameStop, Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Amazon. So, that’s $300 of buying the same game (no not like the annual Call of Duty) just to get all that content that isn’t included in every copy because heaven forbid a gamer not be sure if they’ll want the game or not.

That’s not even the worst of it though, no there’s a more insidious thing going on. You pay for a game, you get the game and all the content and no more worries right? Nope, big fat nope! We have freemium games, mostly on mobile and PC but there are a few on consoles like Neverwinter and Warframe. When I get a game for free like that I expect there to be avenues for the developer to make money but now, more and more AAA big budget games are also including micro-transactions. It’s only going to get worse too. Developers are going to keep reaching into our pockets until there’s nothing more to take. I mean, think about it a future Need for Speed game you’ll get to buy fuel in a micro-transaction. You’ll get your daily allotment, but if you want to do more than 3 races you need to buy fuel. In a future Call of Duty game you’ll get the “opportunity” to buy more ammo.

Before you laugh it off as me being overly sarcastic, think about it. What’s stopping them from doing it? Nothing. Gamers are slowly being accustomed to spending more and more on digital add-ons to our games. Remember when Call of Duty map packs went from $10 to $15 a piece? I do. I remember the sh*t storm that appeared on forums, message boards, Twitter etc. Now, that $15 is widely accepted as the standard price for DLC. I haven’t even mentioned Season Passes yet either. You know the opportunity to buy content for a game even though you have no idea what that content is. Oh, and you can save a certain percentage by getting the season pass with the game together, versus buying them individually. Maybe I’m in the minority, but when I pay $60+ for a new release retail game, I (shockingly enough) expect to get the entire game. Not a bunch of segmented pieces that could possibly add up to a full game if I pay for all the extras, bonuses, and assorted pieces of DLC that are available on Day One. Is this just the old school gamer in me?

Nicholas: I don’t think you’ll find many people who would disagree with you, but I’m just not sure I have the same passion towards the topic. We saw micro-transactions creep into AAA console titles last generation with games like Need For Speed ProStreet and Dead Space 3 but it seems to have died off with the launch of the current generation. Even when they were in games, nothing that could be bought wasn’t already available in the game and obtainable via natural progression. In that respect, it was never that big a deal.

Micro-transactions were major for games like Need For Speed World but it’s PC-only. That was a  number of years ago and I’ve not seen anything similar implemented in any console-game I’ve played since it was launched. Is there a chance micro-transactions could return to AAA games in a bigger way? Perhaps, but I don’t think gamers are going to let it slide to be honest. If gamers couldn’t tolerate being given the chance to donate to mod creators they sure as hell won’t tolerate micro-transactions changing the AAA model.

You’ve mentioned the price of DLC getting more expensive, and the case of the season pass for Batman Arkham Knight is a perfect example. Typically season passes have always retailed for $20, but this one for Batman is raising the bar at $39.99USD on Steam. That’s 50% of the price of the base game! Reading the description it promises to offer a month of new content for the first six months, with new story missions, more villains, vehicles, challenge maps and character skins. Now for me, as nice as that seems, the price is just far too significant. Season passes have typically never been worth the price however for that cost, it seems especially so. I wanted to put it forward to you again – these pre-order bonuses and console exclusives, are they such a bad thing if the size of games these days are getting significantly larger? Are we holding games to an unnecessary standard by comparing them to the simple platformers of 20 years ago? With the case of season passes, do you think the one for Batman is too expensive despite what it offers? What would they need to offer to warrant a $40USD price tag?

Andy: Here’s the thing about the question of “Are we holding games to an unnecessary standard by comparing them to titles from 20 years ago.” How many times do we hear from developers about how much gaming has changed? How big of an improvement there is with quality? Much like they do with getting us to believe those pre-order bonuses are essential to enjoying the game, they tell us how much better games are. So, if that’s the case (and I do think games are better now), I think it’s perfectly reasonable to hold them to a higher standard. They can’t have the best of both worlds. If they want to tout all the advances, the new engines, the new tech and what goes with that. Then they will also be held to a higher standard.

Look at the latest release of Mortal Kombat and how many different things you can purchase. Hell you can even buy Easy Fatality tokens. If you didn’t pre-order it you can spend another $7 to be able to play as Goro. Don’t want to put the time into the game? Hey you can pay to unlock everything too. The last couple Battlefield games are the same way with shortcut packs or extra battlepacks. I haven’t even mentioned sports games and their “Ultimate Team” modes. Those are just slot machines for the developers. They just sit back and watch the money flow in.

I would agree that most season passes are not worth the price partly because of content, but also because I have seen a majority of season passes go on sale even before all the content is released. The reality of a season pass is that you are gambling a) on the fact you’ll like the game, b) you’ll still have the game when that last piece of content is released and c) the content that is released is something you’ll want to play. What would I have to see to justify a $40? That’s tough to say. In the case of Batman, even though I am interested in the game it’s not a season pass I’d be interested in because part of it will be Challenge Maps and that’s something I’ve never been interested in with those games. Even though DLC has become a staple of games, I think the cost to content ratio is still out of balance for some titles.

I get the idea that developers want that extra revenue from those pre-order bonuses. I understand they want that extra revenue from DLC/season passes. What gets under my skin though is when I am playing a game and feel like I am being nickel and dimed even after I paid $60 for it. If a developer wants that day one sale, or even that first month sale, then don’t make the gamer feel like they are being taken advantage of. Sadly, that’s a feeling I have gotten with more and more games.

Obviously, this is one of those topics that I am pretty passionate about. As much as I love gaming and the friends I have made from it, it still leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth from time to time. Am I over-reacting to all of this?

Nicholas: I don’t like the term ‘over-reacting’ because it is synonymous with complaining, but I’ll admit, I don’t see it the same as you do. With the examples you provided above with Mortal Kombat and Battlefield the power and choice lies with the gamer. Yes there’s a lot you can purchase with MK, but no-one is ever being forced to buy it. Similarly, you can get away without purchasing any of it. I’ve always felt that those items that let you skip playing games to unlock characters or perks are absolutely fine because they let those who aren’t bothered to unlock gear to obtain it. In the same way that I don’t mind what games people play, I don’t mind how they decide to play it. It doesn’t bother me and as long as I can still play the game I like, I’m breezy.

As we see the end of this week’s article, the question I’d like to know is, how come so many gamers seem to find fault with the things you’ve mentioned above when they can be so easily ignored? You don’t need the Ultimate Team pack to play and enjoy FIFA so who cares if others like to spend money on it. Clearly if EA continue to keep it as a feature gamers are making it worthwhile. Are publishers to ‘blame’ or does it lie with the gamers themselves? If you can still enjoy your game, is it a case of making an issue when there isn’t one? If we look past the marketing hype and aren’t suckered in to think those pre-order bonuses aren’t important (because they really aren’t), is gaming really that bad and are we really being nickeled-and-dimed?

Andy: I think there’s a couple things to consider here. First, you’re right. A lot of the stuff doesn’t matter. Weapon skins, pieces of armour, cosmetic things they are what they are. A nice to have, but no big deal. When you start getting into actual content though, extra maps, missions and characters then I start to get a little worked up about it because that is content that was essentially removed from the game to give out piecemeal to those who want to pay for it. When I spend $60 on a game I don’t think it’s too much to ask to have the entire game playable that was created at launch.

The other thing is more specific to sports games and the ‘Ultimate Team’ modes. If that is a mode you like and want to play, if you don’t spend real money on those packs then, the vast majority of the time you will not enjoy it. Those ‘Ultimate Team’ modes are a true pay-to-win type of mode. The more packs you buy the better players you get. The better players you have, the better you will do. For those who say, well just play the game and earn the in-game currency needed to buy those packs, taking NHL 15 for example, a “Gold” pack are the packs with NHL players and cost about 20K+ of in-game currency. A decent return for playing a game is about 1K in-game currency. So, I’d need to play about 20 games (and do well in those games) to buy one Gold pack. Keep in mind that each player has a contract, so I’ll burn through those contracts playing those 20 games and be forced to buy more contracts just to get to 20 games. So to really enjoy the mode, I’d have to spend a decent amount of real money. It’s just not something I want to do.

As to who’s at fault… that’s a tough questions as it implies blame. I think I’d be more comfortable saying that both gamers and developers contribute to it. Developers because they have implemented systems and practice that do nickel-and-dime gamers. Charging us for those things that were included in games past all under the guise of adding more content to the game. Gamers contribute to it by buying said content and supporting those practices. Because we all know, if we don’t like something and don’t support it to the level that the developer/publisher feels is worth it, that practice will stop. If 10 gamers out of 100 don’t buy-into a practice that’s still a 90% success rate for the developer. Those are good numbers. That’s why no matter how many times we talk about it, and no matter how many times other games complain about it – these things won’t change. Because there is still a certain segment of the gaming population that throws money at these developers. Developers and publishers are trying to see how far they can push this slot machine until the arm breaks and our wallets are dry. For change to happen, we have to make it painful for the developers to include things like this. Until then, we are just chasing our tails.

Tune in next time for the next instalment of Game On or Game Over. If you have any ideas for our next article, feel free to contact Andy or Nicholas on Twitter.