Capcom insists RE5 Versus wasn't on the disc

by Xav de Matos on Apr 10th 2009 5:04PM

Resident Evil 5 controversy -- much like a zombie -- refuses to die but Capcom says claims of charging gamers for on-disc content are false. Already taking shots for charging for content gamers expected in the retail release, Capcom was recently accused by IGN of charging for its Versus DLC, claiming the content was already on the disc. The controversy stems from the DLC's file size, which sits at a slim 1.8MB on Xbox 360 and 351KB for PS3.

According to Capcom's VP of strategic planning and development, Christian Svensson, the file size is because all assets for the DLC are being pulled from the retail disc; however, the download itself is programming code that "does not exist on the disc."

"Keys are 100K or less. It is not a key," Svensson replied to a forum thread regarding IGN's claim. We're not programmers but it sounds feasible for file size to remain slim for content that pulls all assets from the disc, but you're the consumer. Do you believe Capcom?

[Via Siliconera]

Source

Tags: capcom, controversy, dlc, downloadable-content, resident-evil-5, versus

Reader Comments (124)

Even though its pretty annoying. It should just be dropped already. Buy it or dont.

I disagree, fully. If people didn't second-guess all DLC, companies would start to fist us while flicking fecal matter in our face. Look at the battle front on copy-protection in PC games. Publishers are giving second thoughts to the type of protection because of all the annoying bitching.

I'm all for paying for DLC. I just don't enjoy being molested for content that was developed for and already present on the disc (SCIV)

But, I believe Capcom is telling the truth about this specific issue.

SCIV updated whenever something hit the stores remember all those small 16mb updates that were forced on u when u booted the game every now and then thats the content...

and I'm not sure how I feel about the Versus thing I did pay for it cos I could careless not to mention I saved me £10 on the game so whatever but if its all just code to get all that content then y a 30mb update just to add Versus to the mode select screen...

They could've easily pulled themselves outta that by saying the actual DLC was the 30MB file and then you unlock it using the PSN store DLC...

If that's true about the SCIV content updates, then fair enough. But to also be fair, the models were already created for their respective versions. Packing them and shipping them on over to another console is childs play.

One could say they didn't need to do it at all and leave it be like SC2 exclusives, but there was a time when companies would just give some content for free because they appreciated their customers. Said characters could have easily been given for free and would have benefited them more, I imagine. And I think that is what aggravates most people. Companies care less for the gaming community because the community is no longer that, but an industry now.

game code is never the reason why something takes up alot of space its stuff like textures, audio, video. capcom is telling the truth that it wasnt on the disc. plus if you think about it versus mode is just a modification of the mercenaries mode so it really shouldnt really require a huge file.

people probably are asking why "versus" mode DLC came out soon soon after the game release well the thing is when a game goes gold its several months before it hits the shelves during this time that build is final because it needs to be printed. during this time devs are still working so they work on DLC but there is a much shorter incubation period for DLC so it gets released relatively quickly.

The funny thing is if capcom simply just padded their files and released the DLC couple months later, all these people wouldn't be bitching (meaning they were complaining for all the wrong reasons)

Also $5 for versus mode is a hell of alot better than the DLC for other games. Dead space had extra suit armors like not even a week after the game came out but no one complains :/

Whether its on the disc or not, is 1.8MB enough programming to warrant $5?

I'm a little tired of hearing about this whole thing. People just need to let it go and buy it if they want it.

"Do you believe Capcom?"

I won't lose any sleep tonight.

In b4 "THEY JUST MADE IT BIGGER WITH MAGIC TO FOOL EVERYONE"

I do the same thing with a sock sometimes.

It's perfectly possible they bloated the file with who-knows-how-many comments.

It's also perfectly possible that it was only incomplete on the disk, and this was the missing assets. Would explain the different sizes on each system.

Doen't take magic, just extra unseen code, fool

Yes...they bloated the 100k file to a believable 2mb because no one would question that 2mb was too small to be anything other than an unlock code.

@MowDownJoe: Comments are ignored by compliers, regardless of which one you use. Ergo, they are not included into the binary at all. Padded with 0's... Possible, perhaps.

Those of you who think 1.8mb is 'small', go ahead and open Notepad or whatever text editor does plain text on your system. Now write nonsense for a couple of paragraphs. What's that? It's only 5kb (or most certainly less)? Well shucks. Imagine how much gibberish you'd have to write to get nearly 2 megs. That's a lot of information. Certainly enough to just add a few rules to a pre-existing engine which on-the-disc has a pre-defined scope to accept additional functionality in this manner.

351kb for code on versus mode. Gimme a break.
It was on the disc and you tried to screw consumer and got caught pants down.

Wrong. Look at any title patch for a 360 game. Those things download in seconds. They're tiny, even though they contain a completely new executable. The game code is tiny. Think what 351,000 characters would write for you? That's a lot of code!

He's right. That and it might be a download to finish what wasn't finished before release. Besides, even though none of the other Resident Evils had multiplayer, that doesn't mean they were scandals. They were great games without it. So you're still getting your money's worth as far as I can see. The same old Resident Evil goodness that we have come to know.

If it's nothing more than a patch, why do they expect us to pay for it?

Where I come from, patches are free.

I can't believe people who are saying what I've been saying all along are getting voted up now. I've explained this half a dozen times, and got flames for it every time. Everyone who said it wasn't an unlock code got down voted. Now people finally understand? Ugh. My life.

Just so you know, i have a project which recently went past the 12k lines of codes and it only weights about 100k. Now, think about how many lines of code 385k can support.

wow the irony. I got voted down again.

Anyone who has any idea what they're talking about should believe Capcom. Tons of games have used content already on the disk unlocks, and the file sizes were always exactly the same for unlock, and much smaller than the RE5 DLC.

It wasn't on the disk.

Well technically the only thing that you would have to add with the Versus "code" is friendly fire, because you're lifting everything else out of Mercenaries mode. So 300 kb for adding the ability to shoot a player is believable. The question is then how reasonable it is to charge 5 bucks for that piece of code that probably doesn't even take one day to put together.

Exactly what I've been saying all along. That's the real issue. Why did that require a "separate budget"?
Are capcom ran by inefficient monkeys, or liars?

*Sigh*
You guys realize that the fee is not just about the code, but also on new servers and server maintenance for the Versus mode, dont you?

With most other games out there, that 'fee' is payed by part of the $60 you use TO GET THE DAMN GAME.

Oh yeah, because the EXTRA bandwidht for an EXTRA mode for a ONLINE HEAVY game is TOTALLY cheap.

I don't have to pay extra to play Halo online, etc, etc.

Whether ot not it was on the disc is besides the point really, there was just no reason for us to pay for this.

Bottom line is, regardless of how much extra work it took, it's worth what people are willing to pay for it. That's how Capcom is going to look at it, and if you don't like that, the best way to respond is to simply not buy the DLC.

@ Jampirow
What servers exist on Xbox Live for RE5? I'm 99.99% positive that Xbox Live is a peer to peer hosting service. So are you going to tell me that we're paying for the PS3 users? Sorry, the code just updates Mercenaries mode to include a few new rules which doesn't really seem like it should justify a "separate budget."

There are other things to buy on XBL or the PSN that I'd rather have. Capcom still hasn't convinced me they've got what gamers want as a high priority. Maybe a lot of people are still burned on the fact they pulled the same crap with SFIV and the costumes that you pay to unlock on the disc.

@FreedomFromConformity

I believe it's the other way around, PS3 multiplayer is hosted on the host's PS3 and Microsoft has servers that host XBL matches. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure I'm correct. This would make sense for Microsoft charging for XBL, among many other reasons.

It was on the disc they made you pay extra for something that was on disc size was key to unlock it

Did you figure that out yourself? Or did you get the idea from 100 posts saying the same thing this week?

Sorry Capcom I don't believe you! You're taking to the likes of EA charging us for things already on a disc and only needing an unlock key to enable it. How about you make it a freebie for a week? That would take some of the sting out.

If it was only a key, then wouldn't the download size for the 360 and PS3 be the same?

http://www.fileden.com/getfile.php?file_path=http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/9/15/218914/test.txt

That's how many characters appear in 350kb of code. That's actually a lot more than it seems, each line has 100 characters and there are several hundred lines. Not to mention that if it were real code it's be more formatted, so the actual file would probably be 2-3 times longer, and with more structure.

Stop. Logic has no place here. Look at some of the comments. They're only interested in being ignorant, when they have no idea what it actually takes to put a game like this together, or how to add something like this via code. I don't even have RE5 (my Xbox name is the same as my name here) but I know what they're saying is true because I actually understand what they're saying, unlike the morons that sit here going "durrr, i dun belive dem korporate man is sticking it to da little guyz!!!! internet RAAAAAGEEE!"

Hilarious that the smartest post here has been voted down.

ShadowXOR speakes the truth. May his words be embedded in marble and gilded with gold.
He really is right.

But depending on the programming language, the structure could use up the majority of those characters...

I don't see how blindly defending a company constitutes being smart..

Tthis is still the type of content that should have been in the game to begin with, why was it held back only to be released shortly after? Capcom's own defence can be used against them here.. the whole reason for it being so small is because most of the assests are already in the game, so again.. what are we paying for?

Whether or not it's already on the disc is only part of the arguement. The problem is developers screwing us over and making us pay for content we shouldn't have to. I'm all for extra things being added via DLC, but those should be *new* things that developers have worked hard on adding.

No matter how you look at this, it was clearly a case of "yeah, let's not include this on the disc so we can make the fans pay for it later"

@snowblind Way to miss the point. I already said I don't have the game and I couldn't care less about Capcom. I said the content isn't on the disk (which it isn't). I never stated that it was a great value, or even commented on that aspect at all. You're discussing something completely different than what I commented on. Please learn to read and differentiate discussions.

If you don't feel there is a reason for you to pay for it, don't. The discussion WAS about it being on the disk or not (NOTICE THE TITLE OF THE ARTICLE). Way to fail.

@snowblind, the reason it came out shortly after the game release is completely logical

think about when a game goes gold thats several months before the game comes out, when a game goes "gold" thats the final build and they cant make modifications on it. So what is capcom doing between that time and when the game actually comes out. they're working on dlc, dlc has a much shorter incubation period so it can be released relatively quickly. sadly if they had just released the game later, needlessly padded it, it would shut every stupid little complainer (meaning they were complaining for the wrong reason and are ignorant).

I refuse to believe them as well.

Didn't capcom do the SAME thng with Street Fighter IV?! Those DLC costumes were def already on the disc! And to get em all it would cost an extra $20!

I think Capcom took a class on how to steal peoples money. Between SF4 & RE5, They're starting to become real jerks!

Well you're a moron.

And yes, the DLC costumes WERE already on the disk. The RE5 content is not, that's the difference. Stop talking out of your ass please. You'll confuse people who are looking for facts.

Fact remains they've done it before with SF. Now they're doing the exact same thing just in a different way.
So even if the code isn't on the disc, everything they needed to put it together is. So to me, that's the same shit. It should be free since everything they needed to put it together IS on the disc.

What's your justification for it not being a free patch like Mercinaries was on release day?

ShadowXOR, you just come looking like immature child if you keep calling people names.. Back to the topic: I myself wouldn't believe this if this were the first time I heard this but Capcom has been known to use shady tactics regarding DLC in the past. Two times there has been "unlocked content" based on assets on disc.. haven't these people heard of patches?

If you don't want to pay for it, don't buy it. Personally I think the mode looks retarded, but it still takes work to code such a feature. The company that makes Mercenaries can do what they want, and Capcom can do what they want. If you don't like it, don't support it. Welcome to capitalism.

The fact is it wasn't on the disk, and anyone who says otherwise has no idea what they're talking about. They just reuse content that already exists, but the actual code wasn't in place. And coding a new mode like that isn't exactly a quick snap, particularly when it involves online play.

@petey I'm sorry you value ignorance over facts. If you someone says something idiotic why should they not be called one and treated as such? Do I need to tuck you in at night and read you a bedtime story too? Is that internet a scary place little guy? Grow up.

@ShadowXOR.. There is ways you can correct people that are wrong. Choose the rude one and it only makes you look like twat. But hey. Puberty is probably going to iron those out for you..

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Capcom insists RE5 Versus wasn't on the disc

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