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Paying $1000 per video game a very real possibility

by Administrator

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Those who own an Xbox 360 pay be aware of an emerging business model which involves you purchasing the game for your standard street price, and then having the option of buying later additions via the console’s online service. However, these aren’t your standard expansion packs that we’ve been familiar with for years. No, we’re talking about paying about $1 for small goodies such as a new hat to decorate your character with, or perhaps $5 for a new level.

This might sound all well and good, but an article by online magazine 1up has revealed that Sony might be taking things a little too literally with their upcoming racing game for the PlayStation 3, Grand Turismo HD. Apparently two different versions of the game will be released: one with quite a lot of content but a steeper retail price, and another which has significantly less but the option of buying extra cars and tracks with what’s becoming known as ‘microtransactions’.

This is not good. Game developers have traditionally included small goodies such as the aforementioned in free patches throughout all gaming history, and Valve are particularly well known for including extra goodies with their games, such as Counter-Strike. If it becomes acceptable to ship games with little content but lots of microtransaction extras, people could well end up paying over $1000 to have every possible element of the game, which is indeed mathematically the case with Grand Turismo HD.

It should not be like this. Earning extra goodies has traditionally been an incentive to progress through a game, with you getting more content as you progress further. The concept of buying a game and then having to purchase the goodies once you’ve grown bored of the relatively miniscule amount of included gameplay is ludicrous.

I sincerely hope that an outcry from gamers will convince Sony and Microsoft that this business model must be treated with care. For all the grisly Grand Turismo HD details, check out the 1up article.

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