Capcom defends charging for Resident Evil 5 'Versus' DLC
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Mar 13th 2009 at 1:29PM } 
Capcom explained the "Versus" pack, which will bring four-player co-op and competitive online modes to the game within "a few weeks," isn't just an unlock patch for content already included on the RE5 disc -- despite the fact that it's composed entirely of assets from the core game. How about it, gang? Have you come down from your blinding, Majini-esque rage?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Turd Ferguson @ Mar 13th 2009 1:33PM
slippery slope
Kizzle @ Mar 13th 2009 1:44PM
Yep. Horse armor was the catalyst. I BEGGED people not to buy it because it would be setting a precedent.
And here we are.
BananaBoat @ Mar 13th 2009 2:02PM
but...but...my horse....he was naked....
Ghen @ Mar 13th 2009 2:50PM
I totally agree. The only dlc I've ever bought is rock band because I can see the value. Everything else has been worthless or tainted in some way. (and I didn't play gta4 so I can't comment on that dlc)
SAKY @ Mar 13th 2009 2:52PM
I'm still waiting for Capcom's explaination of charging for unlocks of costumes that on the disc (SF4).
Bleu @ Mar 13th 2009 3:28PM
still not gonna buy it...Nice try Capcom.
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Mar 13th 2009 6:17PM
DLC is such a rip off in general. especially when it's set to drop this close to the games actual release. "within a few weeks" means to me it should have been included from the gate cause they probably worked on them both at the same time. you can't build an online component from scratch in "a few week".
DiL @ Mar 13th 2009 10:22PM
I hate how goddamn expensive dlc on consoles are and on pc its almost always free or in the form of a gigantic expansion pack. i might have to upgrade and start pc gaming again like the good ol days
Latin_Trident @ Mar 13th 2009 1:34PM
if you buy, you are submitting. DON'T!!!
Temidien @ Mar 13th 2009 2:24PM
and by arbitrarily accepting your commands we're what, submitting?
Levi @ Mar 13th 2009 2:27PM
I'm gonna buy it.
Bought the hero and superhero modes for mm9 too. So you can blame me I guess.
Dr Jeckyl and Mr ESC. @ Mar 13th 2009 2:51PM
A man chooses,a slave obeys.
acefondu @ Mar 13th 2009 3:10PM
RE co-op is silly enough. RE versus mode is even worse! I won't buy it because it sucks. But I am shilling out $60 for the game...so I think Capcom wins anyway.
Miles @ Mar 13th 2009 3:21PM
How could RE5's co-op be considered silly? Have you played it?
F.E.F Red Fury @ Mar 13th 2009 1:37PM
I don't need four-player co-op, all I need is better controls and a bigger inventory.
jrromano @ Mar 13th 2009 1:46PM
It is probably already on the disc and complete, just like the Street Fighter 4 costume packs that we have to pay to "download". Pretty lame.
wicko @ Mar 13th 2009 1:38PM
No excuses Capcom. You could just as easily release it as a patch, just like every other company. Since it won't contain any new assets, it will be small, and if it is not, then you are inflating it. Also, there are plenty of other developers/publishers that have released stuff for free that are beyond the scope of the project, I mean take a look at what Epic is doing with UT3.
pete @ Mar 13th 2009 6:11PM
take a look at criterion and burnout paradise! it unbelievable how much free dlc they gave us.
robotoid @ Mar 16th 2009 1:48PM
It's bullshit Capcom. You were spot on.
mgsrocks1 @ Mar 13th 2009 1:39PM
Typical PR bullshit. Please people don't buy the DLC. Developers will continue to do this if we give them our money. Why should we pay for content that should have been included in the disk? Didn't we just spend $60?! Seriously Capcom, you are slowly becoming the new EA. First it was the Street Fighter 4 ridiculous customer pack and now this? What's next?
iag25 @ Mar 13th 2009 2:24PM
I heard you. That costume pack was retarded as hell for $5 bucks when it was all in the disc already.
I don't see anything "NEW" with the versus mode.. maybe there are new maps and such. and WHAT THE HELL IS BANDWIDTH COST ? game companies have to rent bandwith pricing on ps3/xbox360 ?
Jack Tretton @ Mar 13th 2009 3:55PM
"...above and beyond the initial scope of the game..."
AKA "Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda."
Premature ejaculation man @ Mar 13th 2009 6:15PM
Don't forget megaman
NoughtSoClever @ Mar 13th 2009 7:55PM
I am not saying that Capcom's actions are justified, but yes, they have to pay for the servers that host the patch on PSN and they have to pay MS to host the patch as well as the match making on Live. But, for most of the part, they wouldn't have to worry about the patch hosting bandwidth had they just included the shit on the disc.
iamnotafish @ Mar 13th 2009 1:39PM
I'd like to try it out, but I don't know how well the RE experience will translate. I could imagine a 5 player Horde-esque mode being a lot of fun, but PvP would suck. You'd just sit there shooting someone else who's standing still as well O_o
Jeff @ Mar 13th 2009 1:59PM
lol thats funny. I never thought of that. u have to stand still to shoot. man that is stupid. holy crap i forgot about that. havent played a re game for a while that would be a sucky multiplayer.
ryan @ Mar 13th 2009 2:56PM
I know it! lol, imagine Gears of War with RE controls...it'd suck ass!
Capcom, stick with the RE heritage, don't try to make it into a multiplayer shooter unless you plan to bring it's controls up to par with today's online shooters...which you wouldn't...even tho you said "The RE5 development team are big fans of Gears of War"...lol.
They should've just offered the horde mode only for 200 MSpoints/ $2.00 on PSN...
Derek H @ Mar 13th 2009 6:20PM
Why should Xbox have to pay more? 200 ms points = $2.50
ryan @ Mar 13th 2009 6:38PM
Or whatever, 150 then.
skyzbig @ Mar 13th 2009 1:39PM
Like it or not, this is the way games are gonna go.
People will still buy it, and it's only a matter of time before those that don't get swept along.
Look at PlayStation Home. It's a rip off......yet still made $1 million in a month on a bare bones service because of people buying stupid things like jeans....
DLC like this is the future unfortunately.
Michelobius @ Mar 13th 2009 1:47PM
Home is completely different. It's true that it doesn't have a ton of functionality or use, but it is still expensive to make and free to use. It's not a ripoff unless you want the extra clothes and crap... and that's only if you use it a lot. It's not like you're paying for extra DLC on top of an initial cost.
And I don't subscribe to the notion that we can't change what's going to happen. I will only ever pay for DLC that is worth the money, like Lost and the Damned and the LBP MGS level pack. We are gamers, and we will not stand for this, especially when our hobby is already expensive enough.
Anam @ Mar 13th 2009 1:51PM
I don't think it's as simple as that. Businesses have been taking advantage of customers for, well, thousands of years in all honesty, but there will always be businesses that treat their customers well in the hopes that those customers will continue to purchase their stuff. For every EA there will be a Valve.
As far as saying that DLC including game features is the future, yeah, that trend will continue, but let's be honest here and admit that what we consider to be standard features has expanded greatly in the last 3-4 years. It wasn't that long ago when it was hard to find a game with multiplayer at all. Now we expect every game to have a full single player campaign, co-op campaign, online versus mode and if it has online and co-op but no online co-op, we bitch about it.
Michelobius @ Mar 13th 2009 1:55PM
Good points Anam. I love the companies which treat their customers well like Valve. I just can't imagine how anyone else makes money any other way. Or for that matter, why they would want to.
MarkHawk @ Mar 13th 2009 1:59PM
Your argument sucks. Listen to this weeks Rebel FM podcast on this topic.
Anyway better example.
I do see some franchises doing this such as Dice's Battlefield series. They can and have split this into 2 games. 1 Single player experience and 1 Multiplayer experience. Marketing is the same but price points and appeal are different.
Sure Dice is one of the few that could get away with a 60 dollar price point for both but just imagine if Killzone 2 sold it's Multiplayer experience for 30 bucks and Single Player for 40? What if Metal Gear Online was 20 dollars! More appealing sometimes to buy a chunk of a game rather then the whole thing.
Im looking at you Far Cry 2. I didn't need a Multiplayer.
Michelobius @ Mar 13th 2009 3:37PM
I wroted an article about it.
http://www.examiner.com/x-3414-Minneapolis-Video-Game-Examiner~y2009m3d13-DLC-addons
HitNRun @ Mar 13th 2009 5:38PM
"People will still buy it, and it's only a matter of time before those that don't get swept along."
I lol'ed.
You aren't being "swept along" by the inexorable tide of human history. You're being bullshitted into buying something you don't need and only think you want.
Anam @ Mar 13th 2009 1:41PM
Considering that I don't care about a versus mode to begin with, it doesn't really make any difference to me if they charge for it or not. However, this is a fundamentally bad idea. Sure, you'll make a quick buck, but if you offered it free more people will experience the (hopefully good) multiplayer and that means a broader fanbase and increased sales for Resident Evil 6.
Anam @ Mar 13th 2009 1:43PM
...unless of course they know it's shitty and are just grabbing for what cash they can get.
Anticrawl @ Mar 13th 2009 5:29PM
The Collectors edition costs 77 with free shipping from newegg. Were I willing to plop down that kind of cash for a crummy limited edition I would have went with them.
Letters2Kay @ Mar 13th 2009 1:43PM
I really don't mind paying $5 for this. There's a standard, single player Mercs mini-game on the disc, and then this will be a multiplayer version. Sounds good to me. I love Capcom, I love Resident Evil. $5 isn't much to spend to support a company that's given me so much wonderful entertainment all these years. Day one purchase, no complaints. Besides, I spent $97 on the Collector's Edition (after tax) and another $35 for the hardcover LE guide (not that I need it now, but when I'm trying to 100%, I'll bust it out), so really, what's a few more bucks?
RE5 is amazing, BTW. Played about 3 hours of co-op with a friend after the launch event last night. So much fun!!! :D
HighFiveJesus @ Mar 13th 2009 1:59PM
dayum, sounds like you just got cash to throw down on what you love.
poking around, i could have saved about 30 dollars on what you bought + 5 dollars to not buy this dlc. And another dollar for going playstation!
Shmil @ Mar 13th 2009 2:09PM
Your opinion is invalid seeing as you are stupid enough to buy a game guide. It being hardcovered doesn't help much either.
Anam @ Mar 13th 2009 2:27PM
They make hardcover game guides?
Duke @ Mar 13th 2009 3:02PM
You don't mind paying $5 more because you already paid that much to play the game as it is - how odd. You see, with all that you paid for the game you really should mind. Your apathy isn't really catchy to me.
If I pay $60 for a game, I think that's enough for it to contain all the game modes.
Letters2Kay @ Mar 13th 2009 3:13PM
LOL- The guide was a last minute impulse buy. I won't use it the first time through, only on my next several to see and unlock everything I possible. I know I can find the same thing online for free, but it's really pretty. I'm a sucker for artwork (being an artist myself) and it has an extensive art section exclusive to the LE guide. I bought it last night more as a collector's piece than a gaming tool.
And "dayum" right I have money to spend on the things I love! :) I work hard and this isn't exactly a neccesary expense, but it's one that I've been eagerly waiting a long time for. I'm prepared...
Plus, I'm loving DLC right now. The awesome experiences in games like LittleBigPlanet and Skate 2 have been extended far beyond the retail package and I love that I'm still actively playing so many titles, in large part thanks to content like this. What's a few bucks matter when you're spending so much on a retail game? Support your deserving developers and publishers and enjoy your games that much more.
Letters2Kay @ Mar 13th 2009 3:20PM
Gawd. End of the day-
It's... FIVE... dollars.
If you don't like the game enough to spend five measly bucks to extend it, then this isn't going to be your thing anyway. It cost more than that for a crappy fast food lunch. Get over it already.
HighFiveJesus @ Mar 13th 2009 3:42PM
5 dollars bought me world of goo. :)
I spend most of my money on groceries, not eating out so i share your sentiment on fast food. But more importantly, i'm just a frugal guy. Not a cheap ass, but i always try to save money where i can.
osirus824 @ Mar 13th 2009 1:43PM
I will buy this if it's worth the money, plain and simple. (And it sounds like it may just be.)
I have no reason to believe, based on all the reviews I have read, that the main game is in any way shallow or short, so I find the accusations of Capcom shortchanging the customer baseless. Please people. pick your battles. Horse armor this is not.
Bmurph @ Mar 13th 2009 1:43PM
Yeah, this is BS. Take an example from Valve and L4D. It's a similar situation where people thought it should have been in the original game, so they are giving the 2 more maps for free and a new game feature. F-U Capcom.
aaronx_x @ Mar 13th 2009 1:44PM
i know the pain of loosing 5$ (noby noby boy):
5 more long hours & re5 is mine! :D