Nintendo Of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has explained the company's reluctance to sell paid DLC for its games.
Speaking to AOL's games blog, Fils-Aime explained that Nintendo developers were wary of selling additional content because they want to give consumers the "complete experience" on day one.
"We're interested in [DLC] to the extent that it makes sense to the consumer," he said. "And it's interesting: I've had this conversation with a number of our key developers, and their mentality is: 'Reggie, when we sell a game, we want the consumer to feel that they've had a complete experience".
"Now, in addition, if we want to make other things available, great, and we'll look at that. But what we're unwilling to [do is] sell a piece of game upfront and, if you will, force a consumer to buy more later. That's what they don't want to do, and I completely agree.
"I think the consumer wants to get, for their money, a complete experience, and then we have opportunities to provide more on top of that."
Fils-Aime's comments are enlightening, and do much to explain why 3DS did not have DLC mechanisms in place on the day it launched. A system update, due this month in Japan and in the UK in December, will set that right, but it appears Nintendo's belated action has been motivated by thirdparties.
Developers and publishers think of DLC in a markedly different way. Earlier this week Gears Of War 3 developer Rod Fergusson emphasised DLC's importance in combating the second-hand trade, telling Game Informer magazine: "It's not about, 'Oh, we had this map left over'...it's keeping the disc in the tray. In a used game culture that you have to actively fight against, I think DLC is one of the ways that you do that."
Source: AOL
Comments
3You can give the player the complete experience, and then look at ways you can add more. Perhaps it's a prologue, fleshing out a character that was unexpectedly popular. Maybe it's an extra mission that included in game would break the narrative flow, but as an added extra is fun to play. Maybe it's a map pack.
Who knows, but one things for sure, DLC doesn't have to be a byword for withholding content. For the most part, the DLC I've bought (some of which has been free actually) I've not felt I've been forced to buy, nor has it made the game feel incomplete.
I think what's actually the case is that Nintendo's developers don't really understand how to do DLC properly, and so don't see how a game can be complete if you have it.
I personally like having the complete package when I purchase the game. Some companies take DLC to the extreme by deliberately withholding content and then charging people for it ; Capcom I am looking at you especially. We should not be having to pay for multiplayer modes which are already on disc. We should not be having to pay for extra costumes that should have been included at the start.
I do however like some DLC such as the themed level packs from LBP and I do not grudge paying for their licenced content as it makes sense as to why these are not included in the disc.
DLC is fantastic IF developers don't abuse it, which they do. They hold back content and then charge us for it later and that is completely unacceptable in my opinion.