Finally played Bioshock and rated it 9/10. Pretty lenient because the gameplay got a bit shit in the second half of the game.

Review here:
http://www.etherealhell.com/etherealhell/reviews/2012/bioshock.php

Looks like Crysis is my game of the year for 2007 now that I've played everything. 

So apparently the first three "DLC" for Risen 2 are already included in the game --> and can be unlocked by a simple cheat code! While the pirate clothes are usable just like that, Steelbeard's treasure isle and the Stormisle expansion will lack the corresponding dialogue voiceovers, but they're still fully playable with subtitles. The only actual downloadable part is the dialogue files.

On the one hand, this is a case worthy of outrage similiar to the ME3 controversy, but on the other hand it's also quite a lol. I'd like to think PB did it on purpose as a sort of retort to this dick move by Deep Silver. :D 

Most DLC's are already inside the game and unlocked when you buy them. It's how games are made. Downloadable Content typically isn't, because games are built in a modular form and the publishers only want to pay once.

Also, making genuine DLC incurs greater costs from Microsoft / Sony. 

DLC = Downloadable Content. 

Forget the acronym and the orginal meaning of it, Bal. Bonus content (or the majority of it, anyway) for add-on packs and extra 'DLC' is often included with the assets for the original version of the game, as ijed says.

The nerd rage that ensues when gamers get wind of it is always at least vaguely amusing, but it's getting a little tired nowadays due to sheer repetition. I'm always completely astonished that the indignant spankers getting up in arms about it completely ignore the business aspects of it and can only repeat ITS ON THE DISK SO I ALREAdY PAID FOR IT again and again, like a toddler having a tantrum. 

I remember rumours, playing the Quake 1 demo, that the other 3 episodes were unlockable if you just had a certain "hack." Lol, as if the other episodes and extra monsters etc were included in the quake demo - why bloat the demo DL size especially in those days.

That said there is absolutely a psychological difference between "I'll sell you this cookie jar," and "well technically you already have the cookie jar, but I'll sell you a key to get into it." The latter pisses people off, I don't understand how you don't understand that Frib. People's calculation of winning, losing, and especially "having a right" or "getting screwed" are not necessarily rational. Seriously, don't give them data they can't unlock and then offer to sell them the key, it's douchey - sorry for thinking like a caveman about it heh. 

I know from my experience on Gears that this is not entirely true. Generally, we're working on DLC content after the game ships. Are there recent examples of companies having shipped DLC content on the original game disc? 

I do understand, and you're right from an absolute perspective about the psychology behind it... but seriously, after the initial outrage, why can't people just take a step back and actually think about it?

- Buying the physical disc doesn't mean you 'own' what's on it. You're paying for the advertised content and set of features, and gaining the right to use them only in the ways set out in the EULA. I'm not saying I necessarily approve of these practices, but that's the terms and conditions that we're agreeing to when we purchase the games.

- Further to the above, just because it's on the disc (or in the initial download) doesn't mean you paid for it. The extra content cost extra money to develop, and the developer/publisher wears that cost under the assumption that they can recoup (and hopefully profit) via the 'DLC' fees.

- It costs a lot of money to deploy a patch or update on services such as Xbox Live. Not a trivial amount, either.. it's enough that even the big boys hesitate because the cost could cut heavily into profits or even cause them to lose money. This is why the Xbox version of TF2 didn't get all the free incremental updates that the PC version did, if you recall. For this reason, bundling the extra content on the dics makes a lot of sense.

- Sometimes having the extra content is done in part for the convenience of the users. A recent example was one of the Street Fighter games, where all of the extra characters (which were to be sold as 'DLC' later on) were on the disc in part to allow players to join servers and play against those characters (rather than being locked out of the game entirely, or having to download the content just to get in the game).

- Not everyone has fast/cheap/always on internet.

You don't have to be a developer to understand these things, the average gamer that follows the news could connect the dots (and to their credit, they often do). 

I think Mass Effect 3 and Street Fighter X Tekken were the big ones causing a kerfuffle recently.

http://au.gamespot.com/news/on-disc-dlc-an-ugly-truth-says-gears-of-war-designer-6370601 

That was my point, and why I used both DLC and the phrase downloadable content in the same post.

The reality has little to do with the name.

Willem, I work almost exclusively on full DLC games - only done a single disc game and hopefully won't be doing more.

But we usually develop the content paralell to the game, and include it in the same package.

With the advent of freemium and live teams (as in, big publishers are realising they're losing a serious amount of market share), this'll be set to change soon as well. 

I bought the latest Indie Royale bundle:

http://www.indieroyale.com/

It's better than the last one, Data Jammers, Weird Worlds and Containment are quite nice. I wasn't so happy with Dungeon Defenders, felt like they were immediately trying to milk me for more cash and I didn't find it too fun either.

Anyway, I'm not just plugging the thing. It seems that Weird Worlds was mainly made by none other than Iikka Ker�nen.

It's pretty good as well.

If you don't know who that is then first punch yourself in the nose, then check Quaddicted. 

Just bought the game on steam ($9.99), and now I can't stop playing it. Also purchased Jamestown and Legend of Grimlock. Played those for a short while too. 

yeah it looks cute aye. i might go back and play it one day.

legend of grimrock looks a bit shit. 

Is an excellent game.

The amount of variety and humour in there WITHOUT including BS driving sections or even parts that just feel broken or like a cop out, is amazing. 

nice game. much better than brutal legend 

A fantastic little survival horror-ish game by Jasper Byrne. Looks gorgeous and has some of the best audio work I've heard in a video game. Qba'g gnxr vg ng snpr inyhr.

http://www.lonesurvivor.co.uk/ 

http://gamersushi.com/2012/05/10/emergent-gameplay-and-persistent-worlds-the-day-z-interview/

I love the idea of this! It's a real shame I don't own Arma2 or I would probably end up playing this mod all night :) 

skyrim is 20$ off this weekend on steam... picked it up finally, but i'm not sure when i'll get to play it. o.o 

 

I just got Alan Wake from GOG.com. I considered buying it in Steam's midweek madness sale but didn't make up my mind in time, then two days later GoG does an even better price with bonus content and absolutely no DRM! Bargain.

I'm underwhelmed by the gameplay, but it's a beautifully crafted world to "explore". I use the term explore loosely as there doesn't seem to be a lot of freedom. So far I'd give it 6/10, but I've only played for forty minutes or so. 

wasn't for me 

fucking steam exposing my cowardice to the world. 

http://www.callofduty.com/uk/en/blackops2/videos/reveal

Why did no-one tell me this? Looks typical COD garbage from the trailer and I suspect the atmosphere and gameplay will be mostly the utter puerile drivel that COD has become famous for, but the....war machines do look well cool in it....that might even tempt me.