Yeah, ok, the headline is pretty strong and probably not the case, but this week saw a precident in this beloved hobby that you and I love.
Rocksteady Studios have made the decision to include an online pass with their highly-anticipated single-player game Batman: Arkham city. The pass, included with every new copy of the game, will unlock the certain sections of the game that include Catwoman. Apparently, this equates to around 10% of the actual campaign. What happens if you decide that money is a bit tight, and you choose to hold out for a pre-owned copy of the game? Well, for starters, that 10% of the game is locked out, unless you decide to stump up and pay for the online pass through XBL or the Playstation network.
Now online passes have been around for a while. In theory, I don’t really have too much of a problem with them. What with piracy being as rampant as it is, developers need to claw back as much cash as they possibly can for, at times, their years of work getting that game out to market. Developers see absolutely nothing from the sale of a used game. Not a penny. So in trying to get some hard-earned back for their efforts the online pass was developed. Basically, every new game would come with a code that allowed you to play online. Enter the code and bingo, off you go. Decide to purchase that game pre-owned, and you have to get your pass by a purchase from the MS or Sony marketplace. The devs then get a slice of that pie. What else can the developers of said game do to get paid from all of their efforts?
Obviously, the answer is to incentivise the customer to purchase the game brand new. Make the content appealing, make the new package so drool-worthy that your average gamer will cut off his thumbs to get a hold of that game. In theory, it sounds pretty simple. In practice, however, it’s just not working.
Go into your local game store the next time you’re out and about, be that Game, Gamestation, your local independent….whatever. Go in and have a look at the new games that are due to come out soon. The amount of pre-order bonuses, deals, collectors editions and boxed sets you can get is absolutely off the fucking scale. Vanilla edition, hardened edition, steel edition, jelly edition, titan edition, erection edition….it’s getting beyond the point of hilarity. Whenever I see a new game due out i’m getting to the point of literally not knowing what one to get. “Pre-order now to get an exclusive character skin”, “Pre-order now for 2 exclusive weapons and maps”, “pre-order to get the pointless fucking replica clothing patch”. What happened to just walking into a shop and picking up a game, knowing you were getting the same content as every other fucker? When faced with buying a game now, i’m getting the choice if this version, that version, the bigger boxed version….it’s fucking killing me. And we’re not just faced with different versions of the game, oh no….now we get different content dependent on what shop we buy the c**ting game from! Gamestation and Game have an exclusive Robin pack that you only get if you purchase the game from them. The piss is being taken, and we’re just lapping it up like there is no tomorrow. Especially if you’re a Playstation 3 owner. Remember all those guarantees about online gaming will ALWAYS be free on the PS3? Well, with the whole online pass deal you can forget that can’t you?
In no other form of media do we put up with this. Be that the DVD market, the used book market, CD’s, whatever. Imagine the scenario. You go to your local second hand book store and buy a book. Just as you’re getting to that gripping finale, there is an insert which states “to enjoy the rest of this book, go to www.you’rebeingfuckingblagged.com and pay just £4.99 to have the final chapter emailed to you instantly. You don’t get deleted scenes and making of documentarys locked out if you buy a second hand DVD. And imagine the uproar if you bought a pre-owned CD and you had to pay another few quid to have the vocal track added to the songs. Only in gaming do we get this. I know you may very well say “well, there are no chains of shops that sell those items second hand like games shops do”. That means fuck all as far as i’m concerned.
Example of a piss take....
What does the online pass mean for the tens of thousands of gamers that DON’T play online? What about multiple accounts on a single console, such as what you may find in a student household? Another scenario. Both me and my brother live at home. We both own an Xbox 360, and because money is tight we club together and buy the games we want together. We buy each game brand new, as we love gaming and want to see developers get every single penny they deserve. I play Batman: Arkham city for a couple of hours and activate the online pass. My brother then takes the game, plays it for a while and bingo. He can’t get the Catwoman content as i’ve already used the pass code. Instantly he’s locked out of that content, but why? He bought the same new copy as I did.
What need to happen is this. Game developers need to open a dialogue with retail. It sounds simple, and it is. Rather than take the online pass approach, they just need to make it clear that without them the gaming shops would be shut. It’s as simple as. Of course it will be difficult to impliment, but it’s not impossible. With retailers such as Game selling pre-owned games for just a fraction under the price that the new game is anyway, surely they can take off a sizable slice for the actual devs of that particular game? The dev gets their cut, and the retailer still makes more on the sale of that game that they would do on a copy of that new title anyway….everybody’s happy.
There HAS to be a solution that will benefit developers, retail and more importantly, the people that actually fork out for those games, that’s you and me. I for one would call for all of the major players, be that Activision, EA, Ubisoft and Game, Gamestation and HMV to start to actually make contact and see what can be done about the situation. If the current situation keeps on as it is, i’m going to get fed up very quickly with the current gaming climate. With the economy being as fucking shite as it is, most gamers, like myself, have to be very cautious about what purchases we make, hence the huge pre-owned gaming industry. What I would do is simple. Make one, no…maybe TWO versions of a game. A standard edition and a bells and whistles huge collectors boxed set, just for the fans that are into models, art books and all that other bollocks. Every new copy of the game, if it has an online mode, comes with 2-3 maps and weapons that are EXCLUSIVE to a new copy. They will never be available for download, or as an in store bonus. People who purchase the game second hand are as free as anyone else to play online, to download new maps, guns, characters….whatever. But they will never get to play those exclusive maps. I can already hear people whining about it, but if you want the maps, just save that extra £10 or whatever and get the game new. If you want to save that amount, just do without the exclusive maps. You’ll probably just veto the fucking things when they come up in the playlist anyway, so quit whining! Don’t make any of the DLC game changing, such as what gamers were moaning about when the Battlefield 3 DLC was announced. Just give us a few extra skins, differing weapons and maybe some exclusive avatar items.
I know I may be making a simplistic arguement, in in parts ok, it’s a bit naive. But something has to be done. Just look at some of the games that currently need an online pass, or have done in the past;
Batman: Arkham City
Battlefield 3
Battlefield Bad Company 2
Bulletstorm
Dead Space 2
DiRT3
Driver: San Francisco
EA Sports MMA
F1 2011
FEAR 3
Fifa 11
Fight Night Champion
Homefront
Madden NFL 11, 12
Mortal Kombat
NCAA Football 11, 12
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit
Need For Speed Shift 2
NHL 11
Resistance 3
Skate 3
Socom Fireteam Bravo 3
Socom 4
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, 12
UFC 2010 Undisputed
WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011
It’s starting to become the norm. So. I’ve decided to cut my cock off to spite my sex life. I for one am not going to purchase Batman: Arkham city when it’s released here next week. This isn’t a call to arms, i’m not asking you to do the same, i’m not going to start making pointless fucking petitions and send them off to Rocksteady studios….i’m simply not getting it. I WILL buy the game eventually, and it will be a new purchase. I’m going to wait until next year when the obvious “Game of the year” edition will come out, when all the DLC and bollocking content will be in the same package. I know i’m going to miss out on a game that by all accounts is probably the best game anyone will play all year, but when it come to single player content being locked out it’s a decision that I cannot support, and I truly hope that other like minded souls will do the same and make a very, tiny, miniscule dent in the total sales figures of BAC.
Even if you totally disagree with what I have to say, i’d like to hear your thoughts. But please, keep the comments on track. If you just post something stupid I won’t even approve it for comment. I want to really hear your thoughts on this matter.
Until then, i’ll leave you in the hands of the dynamic due themselves….
Batman: Arkham city is due for release on 21st October, 2011. On Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC.
I know exactly what u mean,it makes special editions just seem that less special,I bought deus ex augmented edition it came with a tongs mission code,I thought wicked,but upon dl I noticed it was a 108kb dl what a cheek,this code isnt that special its already on the disc,gears3 season pass have noticed the maps already on disc so the first dlc will just open it up,cod black ops there where like 5zombie maps u couldn’t access 4 dlc packs later the resurrection pack comes along”hello plz pay £10 to unlock content that’s been there for a year”,I love gaming but this is starting to grate,and have been a lot choosier with my purchase’s,if I like your game ill buy your game but con me and hold content ransom “sorry pal u just lost a sale”
Thanks for your comment. The whole “DLC already on the disc thing is a right pain in the arse. In my opinion, DLC should be something really special, a way to extend the game beyond completion. Rockstar have the whole DLC thing nailed….just look at the DLC packs for GTA, or the undead nightmare for RDR. Valve also did some good DLC chapters with Left4dead, the way they tied the two games to gether. Like you, i’m starting to be a bit more choosy. As I say in the article, I just cannot stand by as a gamer who has been there from the Atari 2600 days and take what they are doing with B:AC lying down, so i’m voting with my wallet.
A strongly opinionated argument sir, and one I think many people would agree with you on. But if it were really that easy – to simply take a cut of used sales revenue from stores – wouldn’t the devs and pubs already have done it?
There are 2 sides to every coins, and as disgruntled gamers complain of not being able to access 10% of a game they have paid for, what is to stop the dev from claiming that 10% was an added extra, a treat to those who paid full price – if you don’t pay RRP you’ll have to fork out extra for the extra content, on paper it seems fair.
Please don’t think for a moment I’m happy to pay to access, as I already pay Bill Gates £50 a year for the privilege, and what about those terms and conditions for all Xbox games that states no achievement should require you to purchase additional content. And don’t get me started on the risk of paying an extra 10er just to find the online community is dead due to the latest COD being release 2 weeks later. As you say, this is bullshit.
BUT, I have to admit I do disagree with your ‘exclusive to the new game and no-one else can get it idea’, at one point you stated this content should consist of 2-3 maps, and then later on you said it should not be game changing extras. Meeting that line of offering an incentive that is good enough for people to want to buy the game new, but NOT good enough to give that player an advantage is difficult. What if 1 of those 3 maps was one of the better on the game? Or what if all 3 of those maps were shit, and had no time spent on them? The uproar would be brutal.
In summary, I don’t know. Gaming is the most innovative medium of our generation, but the solution to simply ‘How do we get money for our games?’ is far from being solved. Unfortunately, I think the online pass is here to stay.
Thanks for your comment my friend. You make some convincing points. I’m no game developer, and i’m not in retail, although I did once run an import gaming/retro website. I see that some of my ideas are a bit naive, and that some of my proposals probably wouldn’t work. I’m just throwing suggestions out there. There has to be some answer to the situation. I just read that Gamestop in the States are going to issue codes for the Catwoman content with every used copy of the game. How the hell have they wangled that then? There is obviously some dialogue going on somewhere. Retail and the devs, or maybe even Warner Bros have to have sorted something with that deal. I take your point, but Rocksteady studios NEVER said Catwomen would be a bonus…they told it as she was going to be in the game. And now hearing that she is, but only if you purchase the game new/buy the pass well….it’s got up mine and a whole load of other peoples noses. I pretty much agree with all of your points, my post was just basically my initial thoughts put into print. As you say, gaming is the most innovative medium of our generation. But what with DLC, online passes, pre-order bonuses and deals depending on where you buy the actual game from, gaming is starting to turn into something more like buying a house, rather than it being just simple fun, enjoyment and escapism.
Personally ive been getting annoyed with it all recently,games tacking on multiplayer just to pack in an online pass,other titles having chapters/missions ripped out the middle and released at an extra cost at a later date.I can sort if understand the online pass,I don’t agree with it but I can see why publishers do it,now as for the Batman AC codes i feel very strongly about it,not because of the second hand market,that doesn’t bother me that used purchases won’t recurve the code.
What bothers me is some people (a small minority granted) won’t have Internet access at home and so because Warner came up with this fabulous idea of locking away the catwoman content so second hand purchases might be combated sone of there loyal day 1 customers wont be able to play 100% of the game that they quite rightly expected,it’s slightly ironic that there actually going to be punishing the people there trying to reward but hey this is the gaming industry and the giverneny just doesn’t want to know anything about it so it’s left to the little guys (us) to take the hit and miss out by trying to make a stance.
It won’t make much of a difference and that’s a given when they total up the sales but I’ll feel alittle better knowing that in my opinion I did the right thing and can feel good about that.I’ll buy it at some point but there’s a mad rush of great games on the way so I’m hardly starved if games especially at this time of year.
I hope everyone who gets it enjoys it buy a small part of me hopes Warmer are disappointed with there sales.
Disclaimer…I am not for these codes especially as someone who have fed his game addiction with the funds generated from trading games quite a bit and of they reduce the second hand value of games I will buy less games new in the long run.
The Catwoman stuff is a separate campaign that runs aside the main campaign and as such is not required so it could easily be considered an extra but as you say the issue is she was featured far too heavily in the promo stuff, if they hadn’t mentioned that she was playable and released it as DLC a few months down the line there would be no one saying 10% of the campaign was locked out, frankly the whole thing has been handled poorly tbh.
I don’t understand why it is ok for someone who likes to play online to get penalised if they decide to buy second hand but as soon as it affects single player content (although this is the first code for single player content) it is unacceptable. The only issue was mentioned earlier are the minority of people who are unable to access the internet from their console as multi-player gamers obviously do have access but other than that it is no worse imo and frankly with the amount of games featuring game breaking bugs etc not being able to patch games is already screwing them over. I would certainly prefer this than they spend dev time adding multiplayer at the expense of the single player.
I’m 100% NOT for locking out multiplayer access either. I think that the whole only pass cripples gamers, rather than address the problem which is the mark up that retailers make on second hand games, and the fact that the devs make nothing. Locking out multiplayer parts of games is just as bad in my eyes. Just look at Uncharted 3….that will have an online pass as the devs have said “well, we need to make money, and we need to upkeep the servers for multiplayer”. That’s strange, you didn’t need to do that for Uncharted 2!
I think the whole situation has been handled badly, as you say. If they would have said from the start that as a BONUS we will include a code that enables you to play as Catwoman, that’s one thing. Announcing 2 weeks beofre the game hits the shelves that she will be locked out for the pre-owned market unless they stump up £5 or whatever just stinks to high heaven.
I played the first game on the PS3 and i liked it. Minutes after finishing story mode I found out there’s gonna be Batman Arkham Asylum 2. I got pretty excited but then I watched another game trailer of Batman Arkham City !!! What’s the difference between those two games ?
I think Arkhan Asylum 2 turned into Arkham city….there’s just the one sequel. And it’s released this Friday, 21st October.
What is the release date for batman arkham city?
*SIGH* …and there it is on the new released DLC Channel. Thats the problem with renting a game. Yes I’m highly likely going to buy the game. Also I get “ONLINE” Passes for ONLINE MULTIPLAYER..but releasing a pass for the campaign??? C’mon Rocksteady Studios!