Gears 2 DLC to Ship 'Soon' After Game Release

[TheBigL]

Yep, you read it right. Downloadable content for Gears of War 2 is currently in the works. (http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/08/22/x08-gears-2-dlc-to-ship-soon-after-game-release/)

In a recent X08 interview with Cliff Bleszinski, our Joystiq compadres learned some information regarding Gears of War 2's planned downloadable content. Most importantly, that it's currently in the works and will ship "very soon within' the [Gears of War 2] launch timeframe."

We also saw this happen with Soul Calibur IVs equipment & music packs (http://www.gamefocus.ca/?nav=new&nid=1811).

I think we are looking here at a new trend of developing DLC even before the game is finished. Goodbye Horse Armor and welcome to the new age gaming!

[Spigot]

Yeah. This always irks me. If it's done before the game is ready to ship, include it. Don't force me to pay extra for it.

If you want to charge me for the option of unlocking it without jumping through hoops, that's fine, but don't charge me for stuff that's on the disc, esp. when you're charging me $60 for said disc.

[digitalErich]

Well they can't use the "MS made us charge for it" excuse this time if, in fact, the content is done prior to the game's release.

[TheBigL]

Yeah. This always irks me. If it's done before the game is ready to ship, include it. Don't force me to pay extra for it.

If you want to charge me for the option of unlocking it without jumping through hoops, that's fine, but don't charge me for stuff that's on the disc, esp. when you're charging me $60 for said disc.

Well they can't use the "MS made us charge for it" excuse this time if, in fact, the content is done prior to the game's release.

So, you gonna buy it?

[Gerbs]

I don't know why they talk about working on DLC before the game is done. Surely they know people will get upset.

[digitalErich]

So, you gonna buy it?
Gears? Yes. The DLC? Unless it's a co-op expansion, no and even then I'd have to see it. I'm patient and have enough other games to play that I can wait for any map pack to go free. I'm still undecided if I'm even going to grab Gears on the 360. If there are other console games out at the time, I might wait for the PC version this time around. I have a feeling the PC version will follow the console version more quickly this round.

I'm just hoping they don't release any MP DLC too close to release, so as to not fracture the player base too soon.

[king3567]

I don't know why they talk about working on DLC before the game is done. Surely they know people will get upset.

It seems like people are just now realizing this. Ever since DLC's beginnings on consoles, developers have been touting the fact that they are working on DLC even before the game is out. All I want to know is, are they going to support DLC for the game and I don't want that DLC until, at the shortest, a month after launch and DON'T TELL ME YOU ARE WORKING ON IT BEFORE THE GAME SHIPS. Seriously, this is just fucking retarded and just proves that the gaming industry is one of the worst for consumers.

[Pluvious]

>SNIP< If there are other console games out at the time, I might wait for the PC version this time around. >SNIP<

You mean like Fallout 2 which is within a week of Gears2 release?... yeah.

[H.Bogard]

Yeah. This always irks me. If it's done before the game is ready to ship, include it. Don't force me to pay extra for it.

If you want to charge me for the option of unlocking it without jumping through hoops, that's fine, but don't charge me for stuff that's on the disc, esp. when you're charging me $60 for said disc.

Why give it away when they can omit it from the disc and sell it for $10?

[Pluvious]

.. and make that $60 dollar game $70 or more.. yah.. we fall for it every time.. >sigh<

[Pluvious]

... er I ment Fallout 3 in post #8.

BRING BACK THE EDIT BUTTON! ..the most inconceivable stupid move for a forum I've ever seen...dumbasses.

[Wedge]

BRING BACK THE EDIT BUTTON! ..the most inconceivable stupid move for a forum I've ever seen...dumbasses.

Not even remotely the most stupid move. That reward belongs to when Gamefaqs merged boards with gamespot. Jesus, it was like someone opened a floodgate of putrid steaming shit.

Besides, it was removed for good reason. Jst gt to maek shur y spl crrct whn respndng t nwsthrds.

[Tempest261]

Just another day at the milk farm.

[DaXIthR]

Spigot said it.

I'm going to fire an email off to Epic right now. New age gaming, my ass....

[Spigot]

So, you gonna buy it?I'll probably buy Gears 2 at some point but to be honest, it's not really that high on my radar for the fall. Hell, I still haven't finished the first one despite it being one of the first games I bought with my 360 last year.

The DLC? I highly doubt I'll snag it. I don't like paying for map packs and unless it's a whole new chapter in the story, I can't think of what they'd put out that I'd feel worth parting money for.

To be clear, I don't mind devs announcing that they're working on DLC before a game is out. What I DO mind is when they say that it's done and on the disc and I get to wait for the luxury of paying for the key to unlock that part of the game. It's not like with the GTA IV DLC that they're working on after the game ships. From the way the story read for Gears 2, it'll be done and on the disc... we just can't access it unless we pay an extra $10. THAT irks me.

[king3567]

Not even remotely the most stupid move. That reward belongs to when Gamefaqs merged boards with gamespot. Jesus, it was like someone opened a floodgate of putrid steaming shit.

Besides, it was removed for good reason. Jst gt to maek shur y spl crrct whn respndng t nwsthrds.

Why was the edit button removed? I just noticed that. Even if you DID spell correctly, what if you have new information to add to your post and no one new has posted anything? Would you dare commit the atrocity that is double posting?

[Spigot]

Why was the edit button removed? I just noticed that. Even if you DID spell correctly, what if you have new information to add to your post and no one new has posted anything? Would you dare commit the atrocity that is double posting?It was something to do with people editing news stories after they were approved. That's why the posts that show up in the News Items thread have the Edit button removed. I don't know the specifics but that's the reason in a nutshell.

It would be nice if the submitted news story was locked and the rest of the thread could have edit functions, but it seems like it's an all or nothing deal.

[Spigot]

It was something to do with people editing news stories after they were approved. That's why the posts that show up in the News Items thread have the Edit button removed. I don't know the specifics but that's the reason in a nutshell.

It would be nice if the submitted news story was locked and the rest of the thread could have edit functions, but it seems like it's an all or nothing deal.(Grr... stupid missing edit button)... AND if you were to submit a news story and needed to add more info, you can always PM Evil or one of the other Reds and they'll usually have access to demonic tools that will rend the world and allow for the corrected information to be instilled in the previous story.

[Wedge]

Why was the edit button removed? I just noticed that. Even if you DID spell correctly, what if you have new information to add to your post and no one new has posted anything? Would you dare commit the atrocity that is double posting?

What Spigot said. If I remember correctly there was this guy who got approved a news item and later edited the post to shill for something? Might remember that wrong. Amazing that nobody took advantage of it earlier.

Someday the forum software might be able to "edit-lock" only the first post. Until that joyful day our typos and Freudian slips will be forever frozen permanently on the intenet, and we will make do with *shivers* double posting. :o

[Wedge]

"forever frozen permanently"?! I miss the edit button...

[Rex Dart]

There are two kinds of DLC that are unappealing to me:

The first is DLC like that this that is available immediately after a game launches. This is unappealing not because of the content of the DLC, but the style in which it is released.

The second kind of DLC that is unappealing is the kind that offers subtle graphical add-ons and feel overpriced.

In my opinion, the ideal DLC is the kind that comes months, maybe even a year after a title is released and offers substantial improvements. Of course, this is all subjective, but I see DLC as something that can offer the benefits of expansion packs, without the drawbacks of constant sequels. In other words, I would prefer it if the game industry, after finishing a title, went to work on an expansion to the title, rather than on the sequel. I personally would rather pay $15 or even $20 for new levels, characters, and equipment, rather than $5 for one of the above. Maybe I'm alone in this, though.

[Spigot]

I still hold Crackdown as the pinnacle of DLC when it comes to action games. They had a variety of additions a while after the game came out and it also had a mix of free AND paid DLC. You felt like you got a nice bit of extra stuff with the free DLC and the costly DLC had enough to warrant the miniscule price.

[menage]

Just slap 5 bucks onto the retail price and be done with it.

Jeez.

[rickmus]

Yeah. This always irks me. If it's done before the game is ready to ship, include it. Don't force me to pay extra for it.

If you want to charge me for the option of unlocking it without jumping through hoops, that's fine, but don't charge me for stuff that's on the disc, esp. when you're charging me $60 for said disc.

Insider Pro Tip:

When a game heads towards going gold, various things become locked down or frozen, such as most content type changes. This allows stability in the production process while the remaining bugs are fixed and the product goes through certification. During this time, some people on the team are freed up. Most of the time they'll stick around to help test and the such, go on vacation, etc.

With the concept of DLC, production teams can start to move some of these people onto other tasks, including working on DLC.

So this initial release of DLC at the time of launch may just be generated by these people and would not have been possible to have been included with the original CD.

Just one possible scenerio.

[H.Bogard]

I'll probably buy Gears 2 at some point but to be honest, it's not really that high on my radar for the fall. Hell, I still haven't finished the first one despite it being one of the first games I bought with my 360 last year.

The DLC? I highly doubt I'll snag it. I don't like paying for map packs and unless it's a whole new chapter in the story, I can't think of what they'd put out that I'd feel worth parting money for.

To be clear, I don't mind devs announcing that they're working on DLC before a game is out. What I DO mind is when they say that it's done and on the disc and I get to wait for the luxury of paying for the key to unlock that part of the game. It's not like with the GTA IV DLC that they're working on after the game ships. From the way the story read for Gears 2, it'll be done and on the disc... we just can't access it unless we pay an extra $10. THAT irks me.

What about something they worked on, and could even include in the game when they shipped, but didn't to make an extra ten bucks? Do you like the idea of developers cutting off content from your game just so they could sell it to you seperately on top of the full price?

[Gerbs]

So this initial release of DLC at the time of launch may just be generated by these people and would not have been possible to have been included with the original CD.

Just one possible scenerio.

A good point, but I think a highly more likely scenario is planning and developing DLC alongside the retail game.

[Druxk]

I have no problem with post-release content, as long as it's free (a la Battlefield: BC). However given that Gears multiplayer is one of my guilty pleasures in life, I will pay whatever price.

[Kelegacy]

Hopefully we'll all look back on this era of videogaming and laugh at the foolishness of it all. Meaning, it died on the vine.

Then again, it may become so commonplace, future gamers (who are just wee lads now or unborn) will laugh at us old timers telling stories about when games were complete when you paid the retail price.

Me? I'm not going to buy this crap. People support microtransactions, so that's why they do this to us. People stopped supporting it, we'd maybe get somewhere. But no, we throw our cash at any old thing and to hell with the detriment of the hobby.

[Spigot]

What about something they worked on, and could even include in the game when they shipped, but didn't to make an extra ten bucks? Do you like the idea of developers cutting off content from your game just so they could sell it to you seperately on top of the full price?I don't mind if it's something extra and taking the time to include it would shift the release date back further. I do mind if it's something that should be in the game proper and they intentionally cut it in order to sell it to us later.

I understand that things get locked down close to a game going gold. And again, I don't mind it if they take time to actually work with the game assets and give us something to download at a later date that is an enhancement to the core game that is on the retail disc.

It is when they are selling us what amount to keys in order to unlock the already finished product that is on the disc that I start to get angry.

For the sake of horribly stretched metaphors, it's like selling us a book but gluing a few of the pages together. The only way to unglue the pages in the book and experience the full product is to give them x dollars for their patented 'no-rip' solvent.

DLC isn't inherently bad. It's the type of DLC being offered and the fact that games are hitting retail with the DLC on the disc and we're being forced to pay an additional fee on top of the already higher $60/game that churns my butter.

[Norse]

What's the big deal? They are a about 2 months from release and they have probably been feature complete for a while. They can't add stuff to the game all the way up to the release day. The game is being optimized and bugs are being fixed. It makes sense to have the creative team working on DLC now.

[DarkDaY]

all good with me, give communities something to complain about and they will, post after post.
Im buying the game for the single player, anything else is gravy and I do appreciate the idea that i get to choose weather of not i want to spend money on it.

Quit blaming everyone else, choose where your dollars go and leave it that. Are we all not old enough to understand that our money is our responsibility?

[Earth Djinn]

The worst crime pertaining to DLC is charging for content already on the disc.

Its one thing when EA offers DLC to unlock stuff you are able to legitimately earn in-game, cause you don't have to pay for it to get it. But when the only way to access something you already own is to pay more money for it? Fuck that.

[Heretic Machine]

This kind of shit would not fly if we were still in the era of retail-only. Could you imagine a PC game launching with an expansion pack on the shelf beside it on day-one?

[DarkDaY]

I get the idea of fighting the good fight, but posting is not going to change anything, like we all know voting with your dollars is the only way. Is it a rip off? probably, its relative, is it something we will probably have to learn to deal with? We already are.

[bapenguin]

... er I ment Fallout 3 in post #8.

BRING BACK THE EDIT BUTTON! ..the most inconceivable stupid move for a forum I've ever seen...dumbasses.

This is ONLY on the news forum. Why? Because people submit news then decide to go back and edit it when it's on the front page.

That's the stupid move.

[bapenguin]

I'm sorry, I don't see a problem with this. When you create a project, any project, there is a scope and a set of requirements. As long as Gears of War 2 meets that in this case then it's all good.

Perhaps they had to hire an entire separate team to design and create whatever this DLC is going to be.

Everyone immediately assumes they are "holding back content" just because it's going to come out near release.

[rein]

I'm sorry, I don't see a problem with this. When you create a project, any project, there is a scope and a set of requirements. As long as Gears of War 2 meets that in this case then it's all good.

Perhaps they had to hire an entire separate team to design and create whatever this DLC is going to be.

Everyone immediately assumes they are "holding back content" just because it's going to come out near release.

If the content is already on the disk when the game ships it makes it look like companies are holding back. It could be like you said, they have a separate team working on the DLC as a seperate project, but it smells fishy. I think someone mentioned it above but releasing "multiplayer map focused" content "very soon within' the [Gears of War 2] launch timeframe" splits the community too quickly after release. It almost forces the consumer that plays online to purchase it right away. Something I am sure Epic Games is aware of.

[bapenguin]

If the content is already on the disk when the game ships it makes it look like companies are holding back. It could be like you said, they have a separate team working on the DLC as a seperate project, but it smells fishy. I think someone mentioned it above but releasing "multiplayer map focused" content "very soon within' the [Gears of War 2] launch timeframe" splits the community too quickly after release. It almost forces the consumer that plays online to purchase it right away. Something I am sure Epic Games is aware of.

Oh I agree. Splitting the community is never good. From a business perspective though, releasing DLC as close to the release of a game as possible is a very smart move. You have a ton of hype and exposure in your product, and you have the core gamer group buying it - the group most likely to purchase DLC. Therefore an investment in another small team to create it could yield higher returns.

[rein]

Oh I agree. Splitting the community is never good. From a business perspective though, releasing DLC as close to the release of a game as possible is a very smart move. You have a ton of hype and exposure in your product, and you have the core gamer group buying it - the group most likely to purchase DLC. Therefore an investment in another small team to create it could yield higher returns.
It is an excellent business move. I'm looking at it from my poor consumer perspective. :p

[Majster Wichajster]

If they do release DLC, they could at least make it sponsored so that we don't have to pay for it and the devs can earn the extra buck.

[Spigot]

Hmm... After taking a deep breath and not posting late at night, I reread the OP and see that it's not necessarily talking about unlocking DLC that is on the disc.

I still probably won't bother getting the DLC unless it's some kind of extra chapter to the story. And if it's DLC that clocks in at 108KB, you know it's just a key to unlock stuff on the disc, so you can't use the excuse that it had to be feature tested.

But if it's good content and it's an actual downloadable thingamajig that isn't just part of the retail disc, I might concider it. I don't care when it's made available as long as it's not part of the disc that I already paid for.

Grump grump grump....

[Emabulator]

I don't know why they talk about working on DLC before the game is done. Surely they know people will get upset.Agreed, not a good move. Bad PR does tend to stick out like a sore thumb. ;)

I'm waiting for "Congratulations! You have finished level 11. To play level 12 and see the ending please select the BUY NOW button. Thank you, from your friends at Bend Over Games."

[dotbomb]

Weeee... I just finished Gears of War last night (finally, yes I know).

Oh and to reply on topic. Paying for DLC is something I don't do. Just say no.

[Pluvious]

This is ONLY on the news forum. Why? Because people submit news then decide to go back and edit it when it's on the front page.

That's the stupid move.


There must be some way to have the 1st post be locked and allow the following posts to continue to have the edit feature. :confused:

[Micasa]

If the content is already on the disk when the game ships it makes it look like companies are holding back. It could be like you said, they have a separate team working on the DLC as a seperate project, but it smells fishy. I think someone mentioned it above but releasing "multiplayer map focused" content "very soon within' the [Gears of War 2] launch timeframe" splits the community too quickly after release. It almost forces the consumer that plays online to purchase it right away. Something I am sure Epic Games is aware of.

I agree - but only IF the content is on the disc and all you're "buying" is a 108kb unlock keycode.

There are content cutoff points to a project's timeline, a point past which they don't create new content for the game - just refine the existing content by patching bugs and general refinement tweaks to boost framerate.

That doesn't mean they have to just stop working on new content though. After all, the guys that are doing the bulk of the last-stage work don't make up the entire team, so instead of having people just sitting around or *god forbid* taking time off - why not put them to work on DLC ideas?

[bapenguin]

There must be some way to have the 1st post be locked and allow the following posts to continue to have the edit feature. :confused:

Nope, there's not....short of writing a mod for the software.

[digitalErich]

At the risk of losing it, (sha-zam) why is it that I still have an edit button in this forum then?

[digitalErich]

At the risk of losing it, why is it that I still have an edit button in this forum then?
Here's proof....

edit: test

[Pluvious]

And that's what rubs me wrong.. some people do have the feature and others do not. Why punish everyone for what I assume was a one time offense of the system by editing those 'news' posts? Ban/block those people who demonstrate that behavior, instead of pissing off the rest of us.

Whatever.. it's not like my bitching is going to fix it.

[Spigot]

At the risk of losing it, (sha-zam) why is it that I still have an edit button in this forum then?You're cursed. In 7 days you will die.

Surrender your edit button if you want to live.

[Spigot]

Erich, weren't you red at some point? I think the reds can modify the news posts so maybe this is a holdover form your redification days.

[digitalErich]

Nope, I was never red. Maybe one of the mods has a man-crush on me.

[Spigot]

Nope, I was never red. Maybe one of the mods has a man-crush on me.Well, that would explain a lot...