Day-zero DLC and the like have been a thorn in the industry's side for years. From severe cases like EAs Dungeon Keeper remake to smaller blights like Alien Isolation's filmic add-on (which brings the original cast back to the ship and initially required a pre-order for access) games are clipped in order to market central material as DLC. Its irritating, underhanded, more often than not glaringly obvious, and has no place in any game. The same can be said for the increasingly raucous bickering between Sony and Microsoft, charitably described as timed- and console-exclusive content. Watch Dogs, for example, was absolutely loaded with throw-ins unique to specific retailers and platforms, the most damaging being a batch of missions unique to PS4. Multiplatform releases have no business favoring one platform or the other; leave that to the exclusives. Even the most insignificant of cosmetic add-ons are better off in everyones copy of the game. Superfluous pre-order incentives and console-exclusive content can only enflame the already sore wound that is the console wars, detract from the game they claim to embellish by ripping its content away, and lengthen lists such as these. Which steps do you think game developers need to heed to make sure the new generation of games improves on the last?
A freelance games writer, you say? Typically battling his current RPG addiction and ceaseless perfectionism? A fan of horror but too big a sissy to play for more than a couple of hours? Spends far too much time on JRPGs and gets way too angry with card games?
Well that doesn't sound anything like me.
