Hey Aeris is on there! I’m starting to see viral marketing starting to take place for Final Fantasy’s Aeris! I guess that means a new FFVII is coming out soon!
The thing I hated most about Namco’s DLC… is that they made us wait, and lied to everyone who asked them what the content was, before it came out. I was hoping for a new character, or something that was worth the wait, rather than a chara that had been played out & dissected already.
With SFIV… that only bothers me a bit. In the arcade, those costumes were things you had to earn through hundreads of dollars of play, so it slightly made sense to charge for them on console. But then you break down the price of the content, VS the price of the full game… and it’s like “No, this isn’t congruent!” If you’re going to charge in such a way for something, at least add some bonus functionality (Like the ability to add, remove, or edit certain pieces of the outfit, like with Sakura’s Gi VS Gym uniform mod.) This was a case of treating the console version TOO much like it was an arcade unit. I DO like the fact that most costumes were pretty well developed, and that everyone could see them (which could/should have been done in a free DL, not just by having it on disk… too much “Bad mojo” attached to that method.)
Current DLC for console games really needs to mature. The genres that have it the closest to “Right” are all the ones that were big on PC first…
Random thoughts: Wouldn’t it be possible, with a fighter, to just have 2 list of “search rooms” pop up, when looking for games? Left side “Opponent has DLC” right side “No DLC!”
Also, if I quick search for a fight, and I get to one that doesn’t have a character or 2 that I own, would it be so impossible to just, say, grey them out on screen, so I couldn’t pick them for that match?
Or even just to have the characters playable in games by people who HAVE purchased the content, but NOT actually playable by those who haven’t. Why in the heck should any bonus content ever SPLIT communities?
Having content viewable by non-purchasers is like free advertising, anyway******.
“Man, this character really is cool, guess a few bucks isn’t that bad…”
“I have no interest in this Character… at least I got to see them played, helped me make up my mind!”
******In Marvel Ultimate Alliance, if buyers purchased the DLC, they could play the 8 additional characters. With a free download, friends could still see, but not personally play these characters, unless they purchased the DLC. But this made it so all the online community was at least up-to-date on what was there, and you could see for yourself how worthy the content was.
This is a fine post and this post is also the way I truly feel about fighting games. Gameplay is what is and always will be important, this is what drives the competitive scene, the combo masters, and hardcore fans for more. Story in a fighting game is interesting but has no effect on good gameplay. People loose sight of what’s important, compare with other games that are radically different or target small insignificant things and try to add importance to them. Games like SF4 and SSB, got bogged down with cut scenes, dismal arcade play, and boring goals on console. When this time could have been dedicated to balancing gameplay, listening to the fans, or simply working on other modes ie. online.
I truly think this was the goal SNKP was trying to achieve with KOFXII. Extra win poses, cutscenes, or extensive move sets are not going to make this game better, they just add to an already pleasurable experience.
I mean look at the success of SF2, the game was already good, the newer versions were a bonus IMO.
Hey all. Just offering up my opinion…
I think it’s clear that SF4 and KOFXII are a back to basics approach. Both games are attempting to bring in both new players, and using nostalgia to bring back some old ones. The casts of both games have been cut down to simplify things. Characters appear in their classic grabs. Basic gameplay is easy to pick up, difficult to master.
I really think the lack of certain characters was simply a decision to make things easier. KOF is a gigantic universe. They already have Terry, Andy, Kim, Raiden and Joe. (All from Fatal Fury) The also already had a strong female cast already. I feel it’s as simple as that.
Well if you think that it was a conscious decision to have a small cast for KOF12 and you’re happy with that, more power to you.
I’m not sure it was even a concious decision to have a smaller roster this time around, I think it was more time & money. But I do feel that they were overwhemled with the KOF universe, and the heavy movesets with each character. They have done a tremendous job in the past of maintaining and balancing.
But I feel Phillies is on to something about going back to basics. I’ve been playing KOF for over 12 years, back when I was a kid and used to button mash. I feel lost in some of the more recent games, rosters are huge, gameplay is good, but balance is off, too many flash-in-the-pan characters.
Lots of people are not giving this game a fair chance, and I hope that doesn’t hurt sales. Because personally I think it’s one of the best in the series, next to 2002 and 98, IMO.
Gotta admit he’s right for once. Here’s the problem- how many “bright ones” are out there.
I’ll be shocked if KOFXII gets half the sales of BB to be honest (note: not comparing quality of games, just how much it will sell)
SF4- did going through survival mode and spamming lariat really make you play the game now? It’s the gameplay that does, not the hoops Capcom put you through.
The best way to do DLC characters would be to add them via a patch to the game, so everyone has to download the assets and install them. Then, give an unlock code to those who bought it. This way everyone can play against each other regardless of DLC stuff. Pretty much like Burnout Paradise works. Some people would probably complain about the unlock codes if they don’t know, but yeah.
The free advertising idea is pretty good too. Hope it works this way!
the free advertising will increase sales. Now they need tv commercials and it’ll definately increase sales.