DLC: Hurting or Helping Gaming?
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Category: News ArchiveHits: 953
Some noteworthy offenders of the DLC system are fairly well-known, such as the infamous Horse Armor download for Oblivion back when the Xbox 360 was first gaining traction with the DLC model. Everyone can agree that paying a few bucks for completely worthless skins for something that most people don't even use (who rode horses in Oblivion when you had every location unlocked anyways?) is a complete waste of money, and such downloads are picketed by gamers' wallets. Accordingly, many developers have been wary of the DLC model, worried that if they offer new content for their games, their reputation will be tarnished by the gaming press and forum-dwellers who pick apart any new content that hits the virtual marketplace. Not only that, but sometimes DLC goes too far, offering unfair benefits to players who plunk down the extra cash. While it hasn't been done yet (the recent Prince of Persia DLC isn't quite that extreme), some speculate that eventually DLC will become such a nickel and diming process that we'll be forced to purchase and download the final level in our favorite games. It's extreme, but a possibility nonetheless.
