Final Research Links & My Essay
As I did most of my research and back up work at the
beginning of the contextual studio project all I needed to find were a few more
academic sources to further back up my project essay. I will post links to
these reference here and then post up my essay.
A Study of the Evolution of Digital Downloadable Content (DLC) and how it's Effecting the Games Industry via Platform and Distribution
In 1997 Atari introduced the Atari 2600 which offered players a service called "GameLine". Use of this service
allowed the player to download full Atari games via their telephone line. Sega
also offered a similar service titled "Sega
Channel" which also allowed for the downloading of games via a
telephone line. Despite only being able to offer full pre-existing games, Atari
and Sega's services were the first in their kind to offer digital distribution
of content via downloads thus beginning the phenomenon that would soon be
downloadable content for video games.
As the personal computer (PC) became a common attribute
to people's homes it offered a new method for players to experience games. Notorious
PC title "The Sims" (Maxis, EA,
2000) offered 7 on disc expansion packs; Livin' Large, House Party, Hot Date, Vacation, Unleashed, Superstar and
Makin' Magic, all for a reasonable
price. These expansion packs contained new fresh content for the players to
purchase in addition to the original game. Despite not being downloadable
content, they're extra content none the less providing an early origin within
the evolution of DLC.
With rising internet speeds players saw their gaming
platforms becoming increasingly more associated with online connection, opening
up a new area to explore regarding the distribution of digital content. The
first console to offer what gamers today would consider "proper DLC"
was the Dreamcast. Released in 1988 by Sega, the Dreamcast was the first
console built and shipped with online support as standard. The gamers who could
connect their console to the internet were ready for the distribution of
digital content via the internet straight to their system.
Examples of Dreamcast DLC are the "events"
released for "Sonic Adventure"
(Sonic Team, Sega, 1998). These were small digital content packs that
players could download and see in game. "Scratch"
forum poster agscratcher states
that they " create
a special event to happen in your game" and also lists the various event packs available
for Sonic Adventure. Examples include Twinkle
Park Halloween Party, Station Square Christmas and Sonics' Game of Hide and Seek which "spreads five pictures of real life hedgehogs hidden throughout Station
Square in various locations" (agscratcher, 2011).
However, due to narrow bandwidth connection and limited
sized memory cards, DLC on the Dreamcast wasn't as readily available as many
hoped. Although the ability to connect to the internet made an easy pathway for
digital distribution and was still considered a breakthrough in video games.
The next breakthrough in the evolution of DLC was in 2001
when Microsoft released their first Xbox console. Rival company Sony missed the
DLC bandwagon by releasing their PlayStation 2 console with no built in network
adapter meaning players couldn't use their system to purchase digitally
distributed content online.
Microsoft offered full titles and new content ready for
players to download via their online store called "Xbox Live Market Place". This was a virtual shop and
media hub for players to access and browse downloadable content ready for
digital distribution straight to their Xbox's' hard drive.
The evolution of DLC thrives among the current generation
of gaming, which began back in 2005, where internet enabled consoles and PC's
became popular hardware within the gaming industry. Sony's Playstation 3,
Microsoft's Xbox360 and high end PC's relish from being constantly connected to
the internet so that players can have access to the latest DLC.
Obtaining digitally distributed content is made
incredibly easy with the implementation of digital stores. Players no longer
have to visit brick and mortar shops in order to purchase game related content.
Instead they simply access the digital shop associated with their gaming
platform to buy additional content for their games.
Business, Technological, and Social Dimensions of
Computer Games refers to the digital distribution of downloadable content as a
form of "episodic gaming" and
states that the breakthrough was "Triggered
by the mass adoption of the internet, a new way to develop and play games[...]"
which "relies on the internet as
a distribution channel and less as a gaming platform and affects the business
side of video games as well" (Cruz-Cunha, Carvalho & Tavares, 2011).
Sony offers its users the Playstation Network Store (PSN)
which is incredibly similar to Microsoft's marketplace. Both get updated
regularly with the latest digital content to download. Finally there's Steam. Founded
in 1996 Steam is a PC/MAC social entertainment platform, it's a "direct
pipeline to customers...the world's largest online gaming platform...[it]
guarantees instant access to more than 1,800 game titles" (Valve, 2013) Most
of which have additional DLC to offer.
Provided players have internet access they can browse
PSN, Steam and Xbox Live Marketplace to view the wide selection of DLC's
available. Examples of the varying types of DLC available to players include paid,
free, subscription, day1, expansions, levels, campaigns, quests, new game
modes, songs, equipment, weaponry, costumes, characters, vehicles, map packs
and more. There's a fair amount of division between those who appreciate DLC
and consider it to be a good and positive addition to gaming and those who
state that it's having a negative impact on the games industry.
Story based DLC has positive connotations when compared to
older previous generation games such as Spyro
The Dragon (Insomniac Games, 1998), Metal Gear Solid 1 (Konami Computer
Entertainment Japan, 1998) and Crash
Bandicoot (Naughty Dog, 1996) simply because story based DLC didn't exist
on the PlayStation 1 therefore, unfortunately, these games couldn't have their
campaigns prolonged. Games today can have story DLC added so that the gamer can
continue to enjoy their favourite game even after its release/been completed.
James Pungello, a writer for VGU.TV, strengthens this opinion stating that
"Sometimes the DLC that is released
adds a whole new story arc that takes multiple DLC pieces to complete or some
are self-contained missions. Some are even outside of the story of the main
game or act as a “deleted scene” type feature." all of which enhance
the story element of the game for the player. In addition, he suggests that
"The idea of DLC is to continue to
support the game and the fan base after the launch. This extends the time that
the game is relevant to gamers..." (Pungello, 2012).
As with everything there are also negative repercussions
surrounding story based DLC and its impact on the games industry. Previously, in
1999, a full game would be released and post release developers would be
working on disc based DLC which would be an expansion pack. These expansion
packs would be costly but the price was fair as the player would be investing
in an almost entirely new game in addition too, and expanding on, their
original title. Come 2005 and publishers realised that players would pay large
sums of money for new content. However, it seemed that a percentage of
expansion packs released would, instead, contain more or less the same content
already released and for more money. Nowadays it seems developers and
publishers will release tiny DLC packs for more money than they are worth for
content the players already have. Of course this is a generalisation but most
who consider story based DLC to be a bad thing would agree this is true.
Rachel Kaplan, a blogger on Hub Pages, reinforces this
notion and states "Years ago, a
gamer who completed difficult tasks was rewarded in-game for them. The switch
from allowing players new content as unlock able in the original game to
posting new content as downloadable with a fee isn’t a good sign for anyone.
Having full access to games a player buys is something that should not be
overlooked or ignored because of any reason. Gamers have unintentionally given the
industry a pass to force jumping through hoops to get content which used to
come in one complete package." (Kaplan, 2012).
Clearly there is an apparent divide between positive and
negative views on DLC. Whilst adding new fresh story driven content into a game
adds replay ability and may be a good thing for some, other's can see the
pitfalls and bad deals in disguise.
Fallout
3 (Bethesda, 2008) is an example of fantastic story based DLC.
Bethesda released five additional campaign add on's to Fallout 3 and one even gave an alternate ending to those who chose
to play it. Operation: Anchorage, The
Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout and Mothership
Zeta all roughly cost £10 and each offered a slew of extra hours worth of
gameplay. "The idea of DLC is to
continue to support the game and the fan base after the launch. This extends
the time that the game is relevant to gamers..." (pungello, 2012)
which is exactly what Bethesda did right with their Fallout 3 DLC.
There have been reports recently detailing companies who
are supposedly acting greedy by locking off content that is actually on the
disc when players purchase the game. Supposedly Bioware did this with Mass
Effect 3 where by an integral character to the plot was intended to be made playable
with campaign DLC. However, disc hackers found the code to this character
already on the disc when the game was released. Jason Schreier reports for
Kotaku saying that "some Mass Effect
Devotees have expressed disgust" (Schreier, 2012). This is known as on
disc DLC (sometimes day one DLC) and, understandably, retains bad press from
gamers.
Laying somewhere on common ground is DLC that is sold in
the form of micro-transactions. Micro-transactions are small pieces of DLC,
usually "Purely cosmetic and utterly
uninspiring" (Anderson, 2010), which cost a small amount of money but
when substantially large numbers of gamers purchase them there's a possibility
of making extra money from the already
released game. Items such as hats, costumes and weaponry are popular examples
of micro-transactions. These have become increasingly popular due to the "video
game industry [becoming] a multi-billion dollar-a-year business, due in large
part to the explosion of downloadable content" (Lizardi, 2012). Developers
and publishers understand the amount of money that can be made from micro-transactions
and want to ensure they reap the benefits.
Recently Naughty Dog's critically acclaimed Uncharted 3 integrated
micro-transactions into its multiplayer modes in the form of hats, taunts,
costumes and weaponry which are "either
unlock-able in-game by levelling up and completing certain actions, or
purchased directly through the game with micro-transactions" (Hinkle, 2012).
Uncharted 3's micro-transaction model works but is fairly
young in terms of DLC, the industry and how it affects games. Players can
actually unlock the items in game by finding treasures meaning they may not
need to spend money at all. Another game which supports the micro-transaction
model is Team Fortress 2 (Valve, 2007). The
game went free to play in 2011 and has since released weaponry and hats
available to purchase by players who can't find what they want in game,
similarly to Uncharted 3. This means
that Valve are able to continue to make money from a game they released free.
Again, there are negative views on this form of DLC too.
Anderson states that "as a culture
of micro-transactions [begins] permeating the world of videogames, dissatisfaction
[begins] to brew as the quality of DLC [becomes] varied wildly."
(Anderson, 2010). This is a common opinion held by gamers who see the extra
content as something they should own outright. Items such as costumes and
weapons shouldn't need to be paid for in order to unlock and use in game. This
argument is fair but consideration needs to be taken when realising the revenue
made from micro-transaction based DLC and how it can, in some cases, encourage further
development of popular game titles.
Ultimately there is a great divide in opinions among
gamers as to whether the evolution of DLC in video games has been a good
concept and whether the repercussions of DLC are harming the industry itself.
Many "internet users have come to
expect that much or even most content [distributed via/on] the web should be free, or of minimal
cost..." (Rabowsky, 2010) which suggests that perhaps many gamers feel
digitally distributed content to their gaming platforms should be free or
perhaps with fairer prices and content. Whilst this is an extreme opinion it
is hard to ignore the positives that DLC
can offer. Extra campaign content prolonging the narrative experience gamers
love, new characters and quests to enrich the story and much more becomes
easily accessible for players. Thanks to the internet, platform and electronic
stores, developers can now continue working on games and, so long as the
content is fresh, new and exciting, make more money from their digitally
distributed downloadable content.
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