We now live in this crazy world of ‘micro-transactions’, where money spent doesn’t seem like so much. Keep a track record of how much you spend, and you’ll be surprised how fast it can add up. It’s becoming the preffered model for MMORPGs. You can play for free but if you want the +1000 virgin slaying bastard sword, it’s going to cost you $15. It’s easy to get suckered into buying things we don’t need. How about the always classic: Armor for your horse that’s useless, but costs you $1.99 (Elder Scrolls: Oblivion). Hey, it’s just two bucks though…right?

Atleast the horse armor can say something that the recent Resident Evil 5 DLC can’t. It’s actual content that is ‘downloaded’, and not unlocked. Oh, Capcom is the mighty value dollar worth that much? That you would risk losing trust from your fanbase.

Ok, I should probably elaborate on the situation a bit.

A few days ago, Capcom released the first DLC for Resident Evil 5. It included two competitive multiplayer modes aptly named, Slayer’s Rule and Survivor’s Rule. The prior being a challenge to see which character can kill the most Majinis (zombie like folk), and the latter pitting you against each other. These two modes set you back $3.99, which isn’t too bad right?

It wouldn’t be bad if the content wasn’t already on your disk. That’s right, when you pay that extra $3.99 you’re actually just downloading a small piece of code to complete the VS. mode code. So, that you can play it. *Sigh*

Capcom has responded to the criticisms of their decision, stating that the VS. mode was an element added in towards the end of developent. Meaning, that it wasn’t originally part of the game. Yet, they worked on it enough to put most of the code on the disk. It seems like someone in the company would have been smart enough to suggest just leaving the entire code off the disk. Foresight is something to look for in employees.

There’s a ton of gamers out there boycotting the pseudo-DLC, and raising pitchforks against Capcom. I’m not going to go that far, and I say if you want the content then just get it. It’s only $3.99 right……doh!