Slashdot Mirror
Are Game Consoles Ruining DLC?
A round-table discussion at Gametopius looks into the state of downloadable content for games as it has evolved over the past several years, going from an occasional, welcome supplement to being a common marketing strategy for most of the industry, frequently causing irritation over pricing and availability.
"All of the map packs so far released for the Call of Duty games have been $10 each to download on consoles through closed networks, while PC gamers could download those same packs for free off of FileShack or somewhere else. Valve's own Team Fortress 2 has received a significant amount of DLC that's been completely free on the PC. Xbox owners of the same game, however, have only received perhaps half of that content, and they have had to pay for it in $5 packs. Why is this? The idea of this kind of content delivery was scarcely heard of on consoles, so console gamers see no reason not to pay for it. But on the PC, these amounts of content are usually just considered parts of patches. Furthermore, why pay for a few extra maps and costumes when modders are making and offering new ones for free all the time?"
For someone who isn't used to mouse/keyboard, gaming on it is very difficult. Watching my neighbor try to play WOW was a painful experience, WASD, camera via the mouse and all your attack buttons on 1-9, space to jump, tab to target,m for map, b for inventory, hold down mouse button to strafe. For someone who can't touch type this is not an easy configuration to learn. And noobs like this will usually gravitate towards using the arrow keys for movement and mouse to select attacks which makes keyboard/mouse a horrible method of control.
On the other hand someone who only games on PC will have a hard time adjusting to a gamepad, which IMHO is why PC elitest claim the mouse/keyboard is so much better. Because that's what you're accustomed to.
Benefits to a console/gamepad: Wireless controller, yeah you can get a wireless keyboard/mouse but it's not very convenient and mouse precision on the arm of a recliner is less than ideal. You really need to sit at a desk to use a mouse/keyboard well.
Games just work. I'm sick of DRM, games that don't run well on your specific hardware, having to upgrade parts to play a new game.
Resale. Yeah, PC games may be cheaper initially, but you can't sell them. A $60 console game usually cost me about $30 after trading it back in. A $50 PC game cost $50 even if I only play it for a day
Number of games. PC's are pretty limited compared to the amount/type of games you can get on a console. FPS, RTS, MMO and RPG's are available on PC. For MMO's and RTS's PC reign supreme. Stuff like God of War, Ninja Gaiden, Assassins Creed are all better on consoles. Stuff like Call of Duty is up to preference. I prefer the gamepad, some will prefer mouse/keyboard. I have equal control on both so it strictly comes down to convenience.