Codemasters: Half a Game on Disc, Other Half = DLC

[gameoverDude]

Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens has an idea of selling "half a game" in the stores to combat used game dealers. The disc would sell for a much lower price and you'd have to go the DLC route to see the final levels.

Imagine buying a racing game. The hard copy would be only $30, but it would have 6 tracks. Now you need to go on XBL/PSN and get the other 6 tracks for $30 more.

I'm not liking this idea too well. The good side? If you hate the game, you're out only $30 meaning you've taken a smaller net hit after you resell your copy of the first half. OTOH, not having the whole game on the disc would be a bitch. Online you go to download a several GB file. What if the 2nd half of the game is no longer available at some point due to XBLA/PSN for the current gen being shut down later?

Discuss.

[George]

Fuck anyone that would do this. Pick a side. If you are gonna print it on a disc, give me the whole thing. If you want it download only with no hope of reselling, disclose it and I'll buy it at my discretion.

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

Hey Codemasters, remember the Aladdin? How well did that work out for you?

[MechDeus]

Interesting idea, but if it caught on companies would rape consumers even more for content per dollar. Pricing batches of content for a lower cost than just dividing in half and eventually stretching the full game to exceeding $60 could quickly become the norm. There's also other issues that can crop up, like Assassin's Creed 2 where two missions that occurred before the end of the game didn't release until months after the game came out and created this weird disconnect in story progression.

As a company this would be a great way to drive up initial sales and show off to shareholders, on top of helping to get money even from used sales. As a consumer I don't really like it, but it's not really a huge step from how DLC has been evolving, it's more just a new way of presenting it.

Really I'd rather they just sell the whole thing as a direct download and not bother with this half-assed attempt.

[Melf]

Companies that do this will make games I won't buy. Fuck them.

[Rumpy]

Code Masters is still around?

[bVork]

This is moving beyond just an idea. THQ is trying this exact setup with MX vs ATV Alive. The game is going to cost $40, and there's going to be a whole pile of DLC that puts it up to (and past) $60. There's a fantastic interview about it on IGN: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/113/1134078p1.html

I wouldn't be opposed to a good implementation of this system. Often games have modes that simply do not interest me, so a game letting me pick and choose what to pay for could turn out well. The problem is that you just know they'll lock off all the really good modes or tracks in order to make money, so I doubt there will ever be a game that matches my ideal for this model. And obviously this only works with specific genres, like racing or multiplayer-only FPS or skirmish-based RTS. There's no way to do a proper single-player story-driven FPS or RPG with this model without pissing off everyone.

A question for the other PC gamers out there: you guys already buy most games on Steam and other services, so the digital aspect is a moot point. But would you buy a compartmentalized game? Imagine if Borderlands was broken up entirely into expansions, or if Counter-Strike let you pay for each map individually. Would you pick and choose?

[epmode]

Code Masters is still around?

Dirt 3 will be 60% rally so they're still alive for me! Unless someone gets DICE back on a rally game, anyway.

A question for the other PC gamers out there: you guys already buy most games on Steam and other services, so the digital aspect is a moot point. But would you buy a compartmentalized game? Imagine if Borderlands was broken up entirely into expansions, or if Counter-Strike let you pay for each map individually. Would you pick and choose?

I don't like the sound of that at all but I'd at least consider it for a single-player game. There's 0 chance I'd get a multiplayer game with that kind of setup.

[Razor Ramon]

I won't buy these games. If this is the future all games are going towards I won't shed tears as I stop playing video games.

[Diff-chan]

This is moving beyond just an idea. THQ is trying this exact setup with MX vs ATV Alive. The game is going to cost $40, and there's going to be a whole pile of DLC that puts it up to (and past) $60. There's a fantastic interview about it on IGN: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/113/1134078p1.html

Katamari on 360 did this years ago.