Tecmo Upgrades Ninja Gaiden Via Xbox Live

joinder writes "IGN is reporting at that Tecmo will be releasing an freely downloadable upgrade of Ninja Gaiden via Xbox Live, including 'improved AI' and 'full 360 degree control of the [in-game] camera', as well as new enemies, bosses, and weapons. As far as I know, this is the first time such wholesale gameplay and content changes have been made on a console title - fortunately, the Ninja Gaiden upgrade is free if you have Xbox Live. Could this be a symbol of a positive trend to come, or a negative one that would equate to the bugfix/patch crazy world of the PC gaming world?"

Comments

Isn't this a change in MS' patch policy?

[empaler]

I thought Microsoft would only allow patches that directly influenced online gaming perfomance?

(Of course, I could be wrong)
(Though very unlikely, I rule!) ;)

Camera control

[secolactico]

'full 360 degree control of the [in-game] camera'

Dear god... make it so, make it so!

The funky camera in Ninja Gaiden is perhaps the hardest aspect of the game for me (admitely, I haven't got very far in the game) and I constantly wish for "Super Mario Sunshine"-like camera control. Screw the first person view, it's not that useful anyway.

Re:It is a cool thing

[wibs]

Here's a solution: charge developers a hefty fee for doing any of these patches. A very hefty fee. It'll still be cheaper and easier than a recall, but it won't encourage anyone to release a bajillion patches per game.

Re:Horrible precedent

[rufo]

Actually, the PS2 is starting to have patches also. From what I understand SOCOM 2 has required updates that it will store on your memory card, and of course FFXI requires the hard drive and will download content/updates onto the drive. I'm sure more games will come out that will use the HD, and of course what better use is there for a hard drive then changing, constantly updated content? (Obviously game storage, but as the PS2 usually uses memory cards for that purpose I understand the HD isn't typically used for game saves.)

Also, it's not unheard of to update console games once they've been released. 007: Agent Under Fire and MechAssault both had buffer-overrun problems that let hackers ultimately run unsigned code on the Xbox (something I've recently taken advantage of) that were fixed in later versions. The first version of Ocarina of Time for N64 had red blood when you killed Ganondorf, which was changed to green blood in later versions (along with other minor fixes) due to ratings concerns. The first pressings of Gran Turismo 2 had numerous bugs which caused Sony to offer a recall for any disc exhibiting problems. I'm sure there are many other examples of console games being updated after release. It would not surprise me in the least if Ninja Gaiden's Platinum Hits version (for it will be a Platinum Hits game eventually, I'll bet my life on it) had the patch already incorporated, and perhaps they'll even include the patch starting with the next batch of CDs they press.

Another option would be for Microsoft to release discs avaliable for little or no charge with just content updates on them once they decide to discontinue Xbox Live. That way the content and patches are still available, and they still get to collect additional revenue from Xbox Live while the service is up.