G.R.A.W. Chapter 2 Content Costs Arm, Leg, First Born
Published June 23, 2006
Now comes along G.R.A.W. with the 1200 Point Chapter 2 pack that contains four new, and eight rehashed maps. It just does not seem to add up.
The rehashed maps may play different because of the time of day, but they are still rehashed. The rest of the download means little to nothing, depending on whom you talk to. The silenced sniper rifle sounds like it will be a lot of fun. But the camouflage and player faces? Come on, those should be separate, free downloads.
The two new game modes, Team Blind Siege and Team Battle are improvements on what ships with the retail version of the game.
When 360 owners find out that the PC version of G.R.A.W. has a comparable download, for free, they are not going to be happy. The PC Multiplayer Pack includes three new maps, three new missions, a map editor, and new server tools.
That's right folks; on the PC you can make your own multiplayer maps. For free. We already know a robust map editor is possible on the Xbox 360 (see Far Cry Instincts Predator) so it would only make sense to make that available to 360 owners too.
Windows owners of G.R.A.W., who paid $10 less for the game to begin with, already have three new maps, and three new missions. For free. Those lucky bastards are set to get another Multiplayer Pack too, for free, of course.
So why is Ubisoft "screwing over" 360 owners? After this Chapter 2 Downloadable Content (DLC) the game has cost us $75. I need to recite the obvious math here, just to make the point — that is $25 more than my PC playing counterpart has paid for nearly the same content.
That really doesn't seem fair. Or does it?
This is the part of this piece where I contradict everything I just said — just to piss you off. I do it because I can.
This is also where personal opinion gets in the way and clouds things up. While it is fact that the Perfect Dark Zero, and Call of Duty 2 map packs cost so much money, and it is fact that the PC Multiplayer Pack for G.R.A.W. was free, it is entirely opinion if any of these map packs are worth anything to you.
But I just bought this whopping 1200 Point G.R.A.W. Chapter 2 map pack-plus-filler. Premium content begets a premium price. A lot of people bitched about the cost of the Oblivion Horse Armor (incidentally, this was cheaper for PC owners) and Bethesda changed its price for other DLC.
Ken Edwards is the Gaming Editor at Blogcritics, and calls Breaking Windows home. Ken works part time for Student Publications at BGSU as the Webmaster and System Administrator. He is also a freelance web developer.
- G.R.A.W. Chapter 2 Content Costs Arm, Leg, First Born
- Published: June 23, 2006
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Gaming
- Filed Under: Gaming: Xbox
- Writer: Ken Edwards
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Comments on this articleComments
I agree about how fun the co-op campaign is. I also agree that it is worth the $15.
But I do not think the free pricing of the PC version content is irrelevant at all. What is irrelevant is what three levels and three maps the PC players got. They got that stuff for free. We paid $15. There should be a happy medium here.
Oh and just a warning. Download the frickin' Title Update before you spend an hour downloading the GRAW Chapter 2 DLC. Because if you don't install the Title Update first, you will have to grab the Chapter 2 DLC again.
And when you say "Download Again" it doesn't just zip right away. It downloads it again.
Minor oversight? Yes. Annoying as hell? You betcha!
Well here's a point for you both to consider. What made Co-Op in GRAW fun? Was it the maps and design themselves? Or was it the people you played with? People who may not, and in the case of at least a few of the people you game with WILL NOT, buy Chapter 2?
Just some food for thought.
Your point works until a point, at which point it becomes pointless. Why? Because there are a lot of people playing right now with this new Chapter 2 content. I will go play GRAW with them. It is your loss in the long run.
Cost of everything is going up in the next generations. And lets not forget that the XBLM is in business to make money.
... so bitch about the cost all you want. I am enjoying a great extension to an already great game. Would I like to see a beefier expansion for $15? Sure I would, but they haven't given us that. They have given us more multilayer goodness though.
I'm sorry Ken but cost of next-gen only matters when there's actual next-gen development costs attached to it. You'll be hard pressed to prove that 4 maps and some trvival bits cost Ubisoft any major amount of money to produce.
If people just bend over and accept this rediculous price, then you're heading down a slippery slope where it's ok to charge $15. If $15 is acceptable then what's to stop then from charging $20? Inflation only happens in the gaming world because we allow it to.
Right now the acceptable level for that ammount of content is around $10 (check the boards, you know it to be true) and the only reason it will ever go higher is if we allow it to.
Maybe GRAW Chapter 2 is worth the money for the entertainment value, but that entertainment comes from the people you play with, not the maps themselves. So why not just put the $15 towards some beer and then replay the original maps with some friends? We hardly got tired of them.
The bottomline is that there's no way you can justify Ubisoft charging that price for maps. Even if the experience is worth it, the content clearly isn't. Getting screwed is still getting screwed, even if you had a good time.
I would wager ($15 just for the comic value alone) that it cost Ubisoft quite a bit to develop this Chapter 2 add-on pack.
Lets be honest, the slope got slippery when Microsoft introduced micro-transactions on XBLM. It has already headed into bad places. I certainly hope that Lumines Live does not charge extra for multiplayer, but that is the latest rumor.
People will always complain about higher prices, as everyone should. No one wants to to pay more for something than they think it is worth. But the market will determine the price.
We complained about the $10 extra per game, the cost of themes and gamer pictures, the cost of Bankshot Billiards 2, the cost of Table Tennis, etc., etc.
The only complaining that has had any resonance is the Horse Armor mod for Oblivion. Everything else has sold well.
It seems to me that a lot of people have bought the Chapter 2 add-on pack. There have not been a shortage of people to play on the four new maps.
The bottom line is that I have justified the cost of the add-on to my self. And that is all that really matters here. It is a shame you feel screwed over by this, but at this point in the, I would much rather spend another $15 on GRAW then on any other 360 game.
Is Ubisoft capitalizing on the summer gaming slump? Sure. That is called a wise decision.
Would it have sold better at $10? Probably. Would $10 recoup the costs involved? Who knows. Has Ubisoft made back the money for the initial development of GRAW? Won't the sale of the Chapter 2 add-on help defray those costs?
True, we don't get tired of the old maps, but having more than four choices sure is nice. And meeting more people on Xbox Live is hardly a bad thing.
Well, unless you are playing Halo 2 :P
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The PC content is completely different and nowhere near as varied. The free pricing of the PC version is irrelevant, aside from the map editor.
This is priced content that's hovering in the slightly overpriced territory. Would I like it cheaper? Well of course. Is it fair where it's at? I see no reason why not. The co-op campaign is by far the most fun I've ever had on Live.