So, it looks like Nintendo is finally ready to leap into the world of paid downloadable content, and from what Satoru Iwata has said so far I'm hopeful that it'll be handled properly.
Of course, as some of us already know, paid DLC has actually been an option on the Wii for the past few years, with the likes of Samba De Amigo, the Rock Band and Guitar Hero games and some WiiWare titles like Final Fantasy: My Life As A King and Mega Man 9 (pictured below) offering extra tracks, characters and difficulty levels.
It now seems all but certain that Wii U will implement something similar, but it remains to be seen what sort of DLC we're talking about.
As a gamer with wide-ranging tastes, I do confess that I don't just play the Wii and 3DS - I do indeed frequently dabble with Microsoft and Sony's consoles too, and often buy DLC from Xbox Live and PSN. It's clear to me, then, that there are certain types of DLC that Nintendo needs to encourage and other types they need to discourage. Here's my opinion on what's what:
DLC I don't want
While DLC can enhance the life of a game by adding new content, sometimes the content is already on the disc when you buy it. Instead, some publishers "sell" a tiny 50KB file that you can buy to unlock on-disc content.
A lot of big games on PS3 and 360 feature this type of DLC, notably Street Fighter IV (extra costumes), Soul Calibur IV (locked Star Wars characters) and Gears Of War 3 (weapon skins).
This isn't really downloadable content, it's paying the publisher extra money to access content on the disc you already bought.
By having it available for download instead of on the disc, that doesn't mean the people spending full price for the game on launch shouldn't have to pay even more for content already ready.
Of all the DLC available though, the type I'd like to see least of all is the build-your-own-game model that features in the PlayStation Vita version of Ridge Racer. The game itself will cost slightly less than other Vita games (£17.99 instead of £34.99) but you only get three tracks and five cars. You then have to buy each new track and car individually yourself, which means if you're the sort of gamer who wants to see everything the game has to offer (and why wouldn't you be) you're eventually going to pay a lot more than what it would have cost to just buy the full-price game. No thanks!
I would love Nintendo if they made Waluigi a downloadable character for MK7, as well as some new tracks.
Not that I don't already love Nintendo, but you know.
Here's an idea, Nintendo, free of charge. How about instead of DLC for now, release a patch on spotpass that fixes that damn Wuhu Mountain Loop glitch?
I'm sure we can expect Nintendo to be quite fair with their personal DLC, as for third party companies, they've learnt some tricks and ways of squeezing money out of you (I'm looking at you Gears of War 3 Horde Command Pack ¬_¬).
So I think it comes down to using a little common sense as well, if we don't buy these rip-off DLC packs developers will see that we as a community will not tolerate it and have no choice but to put actual real effort into producing solid DLC which there is by the bucket loads, I find the 'scam packs' are actually quite few.
I'm looking forward to the Wii U, from what I've seen and heard it has plenty of power to keep up with games today and (haters gonna hate) tomorrow. And the controller looks like Christmas for any and every gamer, now the addition of a proper network like PSN and XBL? With 3DS functionality? And thats not to mention that Nintendo make at the very least some of the best games available. This system could really, really be something great. I say it every year, but this E3 is the one I'm most looking forward too.
Imagine A Paper Mario DLC, It Would Be A Letter Saying You Got New Areas... lol...
Some good ideas and as long as its not something that could have been put in the game beforehand, then i'm interested.
I'd love some character packs for MK7 or levels/worlds for SM3DL
DLC HA! give us the ability to mod nintendo
id love a few more maps for raid mode and another episode for resident evil revelations that ould be awsome
If you ask me,they should make the DLCs free. I mean,I don't see why anyone who's got the game you need to use the DLC should have to pay to get extra content for it. Once you've paid,you shouldn't have to pay again.
SERIOUSLY what's with all the Waluigi love?!?! He's an awful character!!!!
Awfully awesome, you mean.
And if it meant I could get Funky and ROB back in Mario Kart, I'd be all for it. Maybe they could find a way to add the motorcycles back, too?
Perhaps for those of us who love Mario Kart but aren't very good at it, they could have a way to purchase locked characters, too. Keep them as unlockables, but give others a chance to use their favorites.
New maps for PilotWings. Hyrule Field/Skyloft on my loftwing please
what about a spotpass update for 3D land where you get a letter that bowser has taken over the eshop,imprisoning freakyforms creatures and whatever the things from pullblox are.you then have to play through through a level/world to take back the eshop.....or something.also an office jerk type game where you can through poison mushrooms,spinies or even toy pokemon at nintendo characters.
option a) dont have dlc, just give us everything in the game itself
option b) make the dlc free.
because i feel hard done by games having dlc planned before their release - its wrong, and i hate it, just a chance to grab more of our money when they could easily implement it into the game itself. if you had dlc 10 years ago you would be thrown out for being annoying. its an absolute joke to have paid dlc, so just put more in the actual game, nintendo, rather than plan for dlc. if you dont plan for dlc, and make it free, like that for portal 2, great, and i will hug you, but i think dlc is scarring the gaming industry these days...
planned dlc is entirely different to dlc that's made to tide people over. stuff like having pre-order exclusive DLC is nothing more than greed, having DLC coming out some months after its release can expand upon a game by adding content that might not have been able to be added to the initial release due to time/budget constraints. DLC is a positive thing, but publishers are really exploiting it. i think paid DLC is fair game, surely companies that put time and resources into developing it should get money for it?
more levels for mario sounds good to me
DLC sounds cool! New levels on Super Mario 3D Land would be great, and new tracks on Mario Kart 7 would be great too (I'm not too fussed about characters).
Absolutely agree with all of this. DLC is awesome provided it's good quality, good value extras that add to the original game. Your example of Borderlands is a great one - I have all four packs and together with the disc they make up one of my favourite games of all time. Nintendo should have gotten on the bandwagon sooner.
Very good article, one I agree with. A lot of people are slating DLC and I can understand why. It gives the developers and publishers an honest way of being dishonest towards their customers. If done right, however, it will benefit everyone and we're all be happy.
Nintendo have never been great with anything online really, but they look like they're improving it a lot with the Wii U's release coming up. I like to see longish side quests for Zelda games, or a new secret world in a mario game with completely new or retro levels.
One idea I had was changing sides for Star Fox, so you go through the missions as Star Wolf and cause destruction, or going through as one of the supporting characters like Falco or Peppy, taking new and alternative routes
At the moment I want Resident Evil Revelations DLC for more levels/raid mode characters or whatever (like Rachel, who some people thought was going to be playable). Though I don't actually have the game yet, so we'll see if I change my mind when I've played through it.
Free DLC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I wouldn't mind paying £15 more for the game when I buy it, with included DLC. Obviously it shouldn't be available upon release, but you should pay for it once at the beginning, then after 3 months they start releasing packs with like 2 tracks, a character, and a battle course every 3 weeks. I wouldn't want any more than that because the new tracks every week would not be up to the same standard as normal tracks. I would like as few glitches as possible. They did quite well in MK7 (only 3 glitched tracks and 10 technical, non-race-affecting glitches). Also I would hate it if all the tracks they released were flat (GBA/SNES style). But my Mario Kart 7 copy is still the best thing. Haven't played Zelda OOT3D, Sonic Gens or 3D Land in ages. But I stll play Pilotwings, there's something I just love about flying. Back to my original point, there's something about having to pay for each extra DLC pack that I don't like. I like to save up, not just keep around some spare cash in case I want to buy a DLC package. I don't think DLC will be available in MK7 or other 3DS titles, but for the Wii U to be a true gamer eighth generation console, DLC is a must (i'm glad they sorted out the HD). But I will get it anyway, regardless of if it is in 480p and has no touchscreen because i'm a nintendo fanboy.
Sorry you had to read this, I do tend to waffle a bit (a lot)
I'd love to see some sort of Zelda DLC, I have no idea how they'd do it but it would be great to add some extra content. Also, new missions in Mercenaries or new stages in Street Fighter.