Welcome to “The Generation of Greed”

Take a moment to think about these terms: Unlock Key, Downloadable Content, Bonus Content, Map Packs, New Characters, Skins, Collector’s Editions, Arcade Edtions, Ultimate Editions. The list goes on and on. For the past few years we’ve been subjected to these terms that have now become second nature. This console generation sure has seen quite a few changes compared to the past. Remember when you bought a game and everything was on it that was supposed to be there? Well that’s not true these days. The full price of a game you purchase off the store shelf is no longer enough. Welcome to “The Generation of Greed.”

Greed. According to Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street, “Greed is good.” Sure, maybe that line that is important when it applies to the stock trade industry, but what about the video games industry? Greed has been good to some. Companies like Activision, EA, and Capcom sure know about it. Why do I say that? Well that’s because they’ve been milking us for our hard earned money for years. Yes, even I’m guilty. Games like Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, Street Fighter, and every one of EA’s sports games fall under this catagory. Every year we head to the stores for the latest game only to find out it’s more like the same game we had before except with a slight enhancement. Doesn’t it make you feel just a little jaded?

Currently the greed train made another stop just last week when Capcom made the announcement of Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3. It’s only been five months since the release of the original game, and Capcom has made the announcement of an updated edition. Now you can’t tell me that your just a little outraged over this. Back in February I spent $60 to buy the game which I enjoy playing a lot. I also bought both character packs at $5 a piece to add to the fun. Now all of a sudden you want me to spend $40 on the Ultimate Edition for more content? Are you kidding me?

Capcom stated last week that their original plan was to release DLC, however the recent events in Japan (earthquakes and tsunamis) has forced them to change their minds about that process. They stated that the content would be too large to do as DLC alone. So they decided that a release on disc was better. C’mon Capcom, please don’t tell me that your using mother nature as the reason for not doing DLC. That’s just taking things a little too far. In my honest opinion, that’s just a lame ass excuse. Remember Street Fighter II? All of those suposedly “new” editions that you released were basically the same game with just a longer name.

For all you gamers out there take a moment to think about this. How many times have you traded in a game to buy a new version? Almost every time right? Every Call of Duty players knows this since Call of Duty 4. The game that they play for multiplayer purposes has been the same except for a graphical facelift. EA’s sports games are the same every year except for a current roster update and graphics. Don’t let me get into Guitar Hero and all the other “Hero” games that came after it. At least Harmonix did things right with Rock Band.

Now what about the whole DLC issue. I’m not here to say that DLC is bad because it’s not. we all love map packs, new quests, and other cool stuff to extend the life of our current games. However, what about supposed DLC that’s already on the disc to begin with. This is known as an “unlock key.” Xbox 360 gamers can easily find this when content only registers at 108 KB. That’s an unlock key folks. Publishers and developers are using this strategy to get more bang for the buck because maybe they feel that $60 for a game is just not enough. When will the madness end?

With all of this in mind what will the future console generations bring. Will publishers and developers only release half finished games making you purchase the rest? Could game prices be going up in the next generation? Here’s a thought. Remember last generation with the Xbox and Playstation 2 having collector’s editions for specific games costing only $10 more than the usual $49.99 price. We all bought into it which helped ease the price of games to where it is today. Not just technology. We could be setting ourselves up for $69.99 games next time around. Just thought I’d warn you because this could happen.

With all this said, I don’t want you to say “I’m not buying any DLC ever again” or “I’m not getting Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3.” In November, I plan on getting the game. I will say to Capcom that this better be the “Final” version to this game. No Extra Special Editions or Arcade Editions with Turbo or even Hyper Fighting, because all this shit in this “Generation of Greed” is getting out of hand. Make it easy on gamers by releasing only one game. It’s not that hard. As for all the DLC, we’ll let our wallets and purses do the talking.