Article by Cory Satermo
(UCC Host)
OPINION—Apple recently revealed the new 3.0 software update for the iPhone, and with it comes a whole slew of new tools for developer to use with their games and apps, one of those tools being the option to charge for in-app content.
Now don’t get me wrong. I do think that developers/publishers should get paid for the content provided, but some of the demonstrations shown at the iPhone 3.0 press conference suggest the same gouging and ‘testing-grounds’ that gamers experienced with the launch of the Xbox Live for the 360 (then again with Wii and PS3).
Take for example Sims 3 coming soon to the iPhone. Electronic Arts demonstrated the option to purchase in-game furniture for a nominal fee. EA showed purchasing a stereo set for your sims to enjoy that can play music from your iPhone’s library. Wow! Is this reason enough to charge your consumer? Should be free EA! This instantly struck a chord with me. This is the same kind of crap were seeing in Sony’s social service, Home. In Home, everything is a’la carte shopping. Want a T-Shirt? gonna cost yea. Want to buy some new furniture for your virtual home? Yup! Prepare to dish out the dough. Electronic Arts please don’t follow Home’s lead. Everything in Sims 3 should be free, and then four weeks down the road release an update pack (DONT charge for individual items). The game is not even out yet and EA is already dividing up an unfinished project to be ‘nickeled and dimed’ to death. This is absurd. I hate it when gaming companies take advantage of the consumer and no longer release a complete package.
Tomb Raider Legends and Prince and Persia are two recent games that come to mind that intentionally had content lined-up, more so with Tomb Raider because you’re forced to purchase the DLC to get a fulfilling ending. I can understand partially in this example that levels were cut to make the release date, and it’s still better than buying a lame costume or *cough* horse armor.
Now the news is not entirely troubling. NgMoco, iPhone developer behind such games as Ronlando, has the right idea of charging for additional levels to their already released games in order extend the life of them. Then again, NgMoco is also considering charging for costumes in their Nintendo Dogs clone game for the iPhone.
Basically what I’m trying to say is I hope DLC for the iPhone doesn’t turn out to be a return to the same stupid decisions developers/publishers made when the DLC started on the current home platforms.
