I agreet that EA is publishing good games this year (Dead Space was hugely praised and I plan on checking it out), which is something I thought I wouldn't see in a while, I totally agree with you guys on that front.
The thing is when I see some DLC on the same week that the game was launched it really makes me think that they didn't include everything they had to offer for the game which I just paid full price, I know EA is not the only one who does this but as far as I've seen it does it quite a lot.
Not to defend EA, as I am still staunchly opposed to their MS style business tactics by dominating a market through marketing, acquisitions, and exclusive licenses - rather than focusing on innovation and development... that said...
I suspect we will se a great deal more games with lots of DLC that was clearly developed the same time as he game, but held out as an optional cost for those that want "more"... but frankly that's not always a bad thing.
For one, let's be fair to the developers. Console games have been $50 for as long as I can remember and only in the last couple years have they gone up $10. I wish everything I buy had that small of an inflationary increase in price!
Not only that, but when you compare the average budget to develop a major release game ten years ago to what the average budget of a major release game is today, and it's easy to understand why in the last published video game industry report showed that less than half of all games released ever turn a profit.
So what's the answer... I suppose they could make major cuts in game development, but that would naturally have an impact on the overall quality of most games. The other option is to start charging a lot more for the major games, rather than this fixed $60 price for most new games. the other option, which I actually support, is to continue to sell games at a relatively reasonable price point, but then offer non essential extras as fee based DLC, so that for those that want a "bigger" game or experience, or "stuff" in their game, then they can... while those that could care less aren't having to spend $100 on a game with a lot of extra features they don't really care about, or at least would prefer not to have spent money on.
The bottom line is that while the complexity, size and scope of many modern games have driven game development costs through the roof, the price point for most games has barely changed... clearly there is no way from a financial point of view that that business model would be able to sustain itself... and why many game developers have been laying off employees, canceling projects, selling out, or simply closing their doors... and not just because of the current economic client... but rather this has been going on for the last few years.
Fee based DLC may in fact be the thing that saves the game industry, allows them to continue to develop costly major game projects, but at the same time still keep the basic price for games at around $60.
The other big advantage to the DLC model for we fellow consumers is that developers will occasionally release free DLC to promote new interest in their older games, as well as release fee based DLC many months after a game has been out that for fans, help extend the gameplay and enjoyment of their favorite games.
I have friends who vilify DLC, and think it's the worst thing ever, but for me, as a consumer and a fan of a lot of games that have DLC, I mostly see a lot of upside to having the option to purchase and even download DLC for free. It's giving me more options as a consumer, and at the end of the day, that's almost always something that favors the consumer. 👍
Now as far as Mirror's Edge goes... I'm in complete agreement with Azuremen. From the footage I have seen so far, this is indeed a style of game that I've been hoping for. I just hope that they pull it off, because I can see both the potential for greatness as well as the potential for disaster.
If the options are very limited, and the story is too linear, I'm going to be quite disappointed.
In the meantime I decided to take a chance and take advanatge of Amazon's pre-order deal where you get a $10 gift card.
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