BA5 Contextual Studies #02

A Brief History of DLC

The first place I decided to go for research was the history of DLC. My main objective was to find out what the first DLC actually was and for what game and system etc. What I learnt was something entirely different and was not something I had considered before.

In  1977 Atari introduced the Atari 2600. It was the first console to introduce downloadable content. Using Atari’s GameLine service players could download full games via a telephone line. 

 

However these were still full games, they weren’t extensions or add on’s to pre existing games, just the ability to be lazy ;) and download full games straight to the Atari’s system cartridge as opposed to going out and buying them. This was just the beginning of DLC.

Moving forwards in the DLC timeline and we arrive at the personal computer, PC for short. Expansions packs are still common today but are more commonly classed under DLC. An expansion pack back then would require the user to have the main original game installed for the expansion pack to work, this is still true of DLC today. 

With the internet advancing in leaps and bounds and with computers becoming frequently more common in many households it seemed obvious that those who used their pc’s to play games would also be able to use their internet enabled system to download games to play. This is similar to the Atari 2600 although is still referring to full games.

The first console to offer proper DLC was the Dreamcast as it had online support as standard making DLC available to those who had an internet connection. There were, sadly, some restrictions though. Due to narrow band width connection and size limitations of the memory cards available to use with the Dreamcast DLC wasn’t really THAT successful although this was still considered a breakthrough in video games. 

  

An example of some DLC for the Dreamcast was seen in Sonic Adventures where the developers put out a piece of downloadable content to the players which made an area of the game Christmassy adding in a Christmas tree and special message to those playing. 

  

My next finding shocked me because I actually had no idea this was true. The PS2 was the Dreamcast’s competitor console system, however when it shipped it didn’t contain a built network adapter which meant players couldn’t use the system in the same way as the Dreamcast to download games via the internet. Although players could buy network adapters for their systems, there was no DLC released for Playstation2 games. 

 In 2001 Microsoft entered the console gaming world and introduced their system, the Xbox. They were technically the second company to implement downloadable content into their systems. Players were able to download full titles such as Splinter Cell, Halo 2 and Ninja Gaiden.

All of these extra options were made available to players using Microsoft's Xbox Live Market Place which was a simple and easy to use media hub that all players could access to chose, buy and download their downloadable content for their games so long as they had an internet connection. 

This generally brings us into the current generation of gaming where DLC is the norm and anyone who’s anyone can buy and download it. Sony bought out the PS3 which was internet enabled and created the Playstation Network which worked similarly to Xbox Live Marketplace so both the consoles could offer access to the latest DLC and games. Nintendo even jumped in and offered the Eshop for players of the Nintendo Wii and the WiiU ensuring no gamer would be left in the dark concerning any possible DLC made for games. 

So, Just How do we Obtain DLC? 

As I briefly just mentioned, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo offer online “shops” specific to their consoles where players can browse content available to them to buy. 

  

I mentioned earlier in the brief history about how the PC one of the first ways players could obtain digital content. Well, nothing has changed there. The PC is arguably the best platform for price and quality of games (so long as you can afford a rig decent enough to play them). 

  

Valve are a game development company who are just so lovely ;) They offer players who chose to use PC’s as their gaming system of choice Steam...Oh, Steam, how I love you :D 

Steam is a digital distribution, management and multiplayer communications platform developed by Valve. When using Steam players can add their friends to talk and play, browse the store to buy and download games, DLC and extras.

 Examples of DLC! 

Once I had gotten all up to date with DLC and into the present with distribution I could move onto examples of DLC. There are many different types of DLC available to gamers these days, they are: 

Paid

Free

Subscription

Day One DLC

Expansions

Levels

Campaigns/Quests

Game Modes 

Songs

Equipment

Weaponry

Costumes

Characters

Vehicles

Map Packs

Fallout 3 is one of my top 3 favourite games of all time so you can imagine how excited I was to hear about all the juicy DLC it was getting. It is a prime example of how the campaign was stretched and continued through the use of DLC with the addition of extra missions and content. 

 

Fallout 3 actually got 5 main DLC packages, Operation Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta. Broken Steel had the largest impact on the story behind Fallout 3 as it actually altered the ending for players who chose to buy and play it. 

Other games which are heavily involved with DLC are:

How Has DLC Evolved Gaming & Positively Affected the Industry? 

We all remember the days where you would buy a game, complete it and that was it. No “extra maps coming next month”, no “new quests”, no “play the game with this DLC chicken on your head for extra points” etc. No, games used to be play, complete and that was it, you would have to wait for a sequel and hope that it was just as fun to play if you wanted more. 

I would have given my right leg to have more awesome Spyro the Dragon from back then, or more Crash Bandicoot!! 

YES MORE CRASH BANDICOOT

 

  

Nowadays there is DLC. Played your favourite game and gotten 100%? Not for long I’m sure. No doubt 90% of games these days get DLC. Sometimes its only minor cosmetic changes to characters but there is also the chance that your favourite game is about to become extended, sounds great right? 

 

DLC has evolved the games industry leaps and bounds. Consider a patch for a game as DLC too, you do download it after all. In the “old days” if you hit a crucial bug in your game it was tough luck! You’d restart your game and hope it didn’t do it again. Now though, if a game has a large error developers can roll out mandatory update patches which will “fix” your game. 

Another way to consider how DLC has evolved the games industry is to consider the games themselves. Like I previously said, back in the ps1 days your game and its story was all you got. Now developers can continue working on games for future content. They can add on extra stories and continue work even after the game has been released. Fantastic :D 

How Has DLC Evolved Gaming & Negatively Affected the Industry?

 I found this really clever image metaphor for how DLC has negatively impacted the games industry. Back in 1999 games would be released and expansion packs would follow . These expansion packs would cost a lot but the content would be just as much as a new game. This is shown by the fact that there are 2 new paintings next to the Mona Lisa “main game” painting. The player gets the Mona Lisa AND 2 extra paintings which is well worth the extra money!

Moving onto 2005 and companies realised gamers would spend their money on extra content if they REALLY needed it. So, the price went up and the content went down, only its signified here as being a smaller piece of what you already have; and not a very interesting piece at that.  

 

Coming into the present and as you can see, there are parts missing from the Mona Lisa's head! This signifies that companies started selling their games with content missing purely to be able to see it to the player at a later date and in multiple smaller packages making the player spend more money! 

 

Biowares Mass Effect 3 came under fire recently when hackers found on disc evidence of future DLC which Bioware had stated was in development after the games release date. So, how did that character get on there? Surely if you pay for a game, then it is yours. The disc and all its content should be available to you on the day you buy it, you shouldn’t have to fork out more money to unlock features on it right? This was the argument many had over Biowares “future” DLC. 

This is an example of how DLC has had a negative impact on the industry with companies trying to get you to pay more for content you already have or by releasing DLC on the release day which could, or should have, been included on the disc.