So I’m downloading The Ballad of Gay Tony right now and it made me realise something, I bloody love Downloadable Content.
Grand Theft Auto IV and Fallout 3 were two of my favourite games of last year as both titles absolutely blew me away with their attention to detail and overwhelming sense of immersion and the extra content released for both provided a welcome opportunity to dive back into both of those worlds and discover new things.
The astounding scope and level of quality of both of these games’ DLC truly sets new standards, with enough content and value for money to form stand alone releases.
What really interests me, however, is how natural a feeling it is becoming to download my entertainment.
I very rarely buy music on physical media now, with my first thought being to buy through iTunes. Accessed anywhere and at any time via my iPhone, it is quick, easy, relatively cheap and I instantly have my new “chewns”.
I still buy my movies on a mixture of Blu-Ray and DVD but I can’t help but think that it is because there is not an idiot proof option for that at the moment, ala iTunes.
Perhaps it is easier for me not to bemoan the lack of physical media with music and to be open to the same with film because they are cheaper than videogames.
If I was paying £30-£40 a pop for a download only piece of entertainment would I be so eager? I never thought so, but I’m starting to come around.
Purchasing the aforementioned full game sized expansions already feels like second nature, as does buying smaller games through Xbox Live and PSN, with what’s on offer on those services increasing in quality and scope all the time (Shadow Complex anyone?).
Microsoft are already running a games on demand service where you can download full retail games and although the idea of abandoning physical media is hugely controversial, once a reliable system is in place that makes it second nature and pricing is set fairly and follows a traditional physical retail curve (ie. goes down after a while) then to be honest, I’m all for it.
Tags: Digital Distribution, DLC, Downloadable Content, Fallout 3, Grand Theft Auto IV, GTA IV, Playstation Network, PSN, The Ballad of Gay Tony, Xbox live
