Microtransactions are the DEVIL!

[Dark Jaguar]

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3151779

Why are they DOING this to us?! Please don't make this game Nintendo! Just give us the WHOLE thing! I don't buy books and then buy extra pages to insert into different chapters to have "added monologue", so don't throw stuff like this at us! Evil, EVIL! On the other hand extra chapters entirely, in other words sequel type stuff, sure sell me that.

So what, they predict they will have the storage space to store this sort of data?

[Great Rumbler]

Most of the Xbox360's microtransactions have been only a few megabytes, so you could fit quite a few on the Wii's built in SD card. Plus, it's supposed to have an SD slot as well.

Don't be surprised if Nintendo does this as well. It has proved to be quite popular [i.e. profitable] on the Xbox360.

[A Black Falcon]

Expansion packs are fine. Single items paid for individually aren't. Microtransactions are a horrible idea... things that for any game released before this year would have either been in a free patch (horse armor? PAY? What are you THINKING???) or would have been saved for the expansion are now being released as pay additions... with Oblivion as one of the worst offenders... it's absolutely ridiculous, and I really hope that Nintendo doesn't end up following along with them (though yes, the rumors are not good).

[Dark Jaguar]

Expansion packs are fine indeed, but the way things are going...

Well just look at the math. To get the same sort of content one might normally get, at this point you end up paying more at the end of it than for the standard "expansion pack" sell price (roughly $20 or so).

[A Black Falcon]

Well, some expansion packs are more worthwhile than others (Starcraft: Brood War vs. Heroes of Might & Magic 2: The Price of Loyalty? Yeah.), but they usually do add enough content to be worth the money... I can't say that about these things.

[Weltall]

This is one reason why I'm perfectly content to never nerd it up on online gaming. :)

[A Black Falcon]

... huh? Microtransactions have nothing to do with online gaming... yeah you have to be online to get them, but that's not online gaming. It's just an online service. And with a console like the Xbox or X360, having one and not having it online is pretty pointless...

[Weltall]

If you don't think the microtransaction idea won't find its way into MMO games, you're sorely mistaken.

[Dark Jaguar]

He didn't say that they won't be on online games, he just pointed out the obvious, they aren't limited to online games!

From what I've read, it'll affect ZELDA!

As it stands, MMO type games are constantly updated to the point where a few years after launch, the code on your disk has almost nothing in common with the code on your hard drive (hence why they require hard disks). They have expansion packs as it stands.

As for online gaming, they can only do so much without irreperably fracturing the user base and making it hard for anyone to find a match using whatever content they have.

[A Black Falcon]

MMOs don't need microtransactions, they have monthly fees and expansion packs every six months. :)

... or I could say "they already do exist, just look at the number of items bought and sold on ebay!"

or "a few games do have official in-game buying and selling of ingame objects for real money, or a system where you can buy game cash for real money...". All would be true. But not all online games require you to pay to play, in fact quite the opposite is true, so it's kind of pointless facts.

[Dark Jaguar]

Of course World of Colbertcraft will use nothing BUT real money because it will boost the American economy, and if any of you nerds disagree, you hate America.

[Great Rumbler]

... with Oblivion as one of the worst offenders...

Looks like GRAW is trying to take its place. $15 for a map-pack.

[lazyfatbum]

With Nintendo, I expect small updates and expansions for free, like new items or goofey stuff (like around christmas time, link wears a santa suit, Samus Aran has jingle bells on her gun, etc) as well as model upgrades for free, like new textures or effects such as environment mapping added to an older game, and if Nintendo says that for 5 bucks I can have a new dungeon in Zelda and for 10 bucks I can explore a new planet in Metroid Prime 3, i'm totally sold.

[A Black Falcon]

Looks like GRAW is trying to take its place. $15 for a map-pack.

Good point, that's absolutely insane.

"... but they're CO-OP maps!" ... still not worth $15 for four FPS levels. Not even close.

With Nintendo, I expect small updates and expansions for free, like new items or goofey stuff (like around christmas time, link wears a santa suit, Samus Aran has jingle bells on her gun, etc) as well as model upgrades for free, like new textures or effects such as environment mapping added to an older game, and if Nintendo says that for 5 bucks I can have a new dungeon in Zelda and for 10 bucks I can explore a new planet in Metroid Prime 3, i'm totally sold.

Console games finally discover the idea of "game add-ons"... and make them more expensive and less content-rich than PC expansion packs ever were (and I thought that Star Trek Voyager Elite Force: Expansion Pack (yeah, that was its inventive name!) was lacking... three medium-length holo-missions, a 'virtual Voyager' to explore, and a bunch of multiplayer maps (for $20 new)... but compared to this stuff, that looks positively brimming with content...)