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GamrFeed has a strong opinion about Online passes


By Blackwalt - Posted on 17 October 2011

Batman: Arkham City's online pass is the only way to play Catwoman

Over the past few weeks Coxxorz and I have had several conversations about the fact the you need to pre-order games in order to get all the features. Saints Row the Third being one of the prime examples – no man-a-pault unless you pre-order and it will not be seen in DLC. This tied in to previous conversations about the recent requirement to buy new – too many companies are including codes in only the new version of a game. Coxxorz' direct experience with Dirt 3 being a prime example. A good deal at Rogers clearance for a used game caught him having to spend 800 MS points on an online pass just to be able to play online. At all.

SeanMCR bought Rage new but played the whole campaign without punching in his code for extra areas. Apparently the Rage codes did not effect the game play.

But what if your code is the only way to get access to a playable campaign character? One that has been a significant part of all the previews and advertisments?

Gamrfeed has posted their opinion: Arkham City's Online Pass: Our Worst Fears Realized

    Well, it looks like this is happening sooner that expected. Batman: Arkham City's online pass locks out Catwoman as a playable character for used purchasers, meaning they must pay extra if they wish to play as her. Not only is this locking her out of the challenge maps, but her sections of the single-player campaign as well. Normally, I wouldn't be too against this idea, if Catwoman hadn't already been advertised as a huge part of the single-player campaign for over a year now.

Via N4G.

Swag's picture

When you trade or buy used, that only benefits companies like EBGames.

And honestly, who likes EBGames?

Coxxorz's picture

Does Ford or GM get a cut if I sell my car?

No. Because it's none of their goddamn business.

If the gaming industry took over the auto industry, they would design cars so that your keys would stop working as soon as you signed over the ownership papers.

MauriceRevek's picture

If you want your car to be able to go faster than 40 km /h, please enter your activation code now.

Coxxorz's picture

Trunk only accessible if car bought from dealership.

Swag's picture

Ultra-capitalism here we come!

MauriceRevek's picture

What would happen to the whole auto industry or housing industry if they adopted that same kind of mentality. I am quite sure that their price point is high, and that the used stores can take advantage of it by offering a slight discount to entice those that find $60, $70 or $80 too high. One thing that everyone seems to overlook is that the software industry has, for all intents and purposes, and unlimited resource once it is produced, if they choose to distribute it through an electronic means. If they were to do an electronic distribution of the game and charge say $20 for a premium title, I think they would not have to worry as much about the tradding indiustry then.

Also, for a game like MW-X. How much of an effect does trade in really have on it? In order to play the game online for months, you have to have a copy of the CD in yoru drive. So you are not trading it in. Games like Elder Scrolls where it is single player you would have more people trading it in. But they compensate by making the game HUGE which means it takes you months to properly play all of it.

This whole CAP (Code At Purchase) conept is a cash cow for them similar to luggage charges for the airline industry. Now that they got a taste for it, they are going to keep on doing it because we are sheep.

SeanmcR6's picture

Are there achievements that you NEED the catwoman character to get? If so then you should cry foul to xbox. In their rules for achievements, that is not allowed.

Otherwise, it's just shitty that they dangle that carrot and then take it back.

I've been thinking about this more and more. The fact is...times are tough, for everyone....but definitely for Americans. Pre-orders let the manufacturer know what the sales volume is gonna be. That lets them set the dev budget....plan/buget for DLC, etc. It's not just game makers.

More and more video/film productions are going through projects like Kickstarter...where you pitch your project to raise funding. Fan funding for your TV show.

The more consumers agree to "advance purchase" their goods or services, the less risk and better profit forecasting companies can do. It makes sense that game companies will want to increase the incentives for gamers to pre-order.

I think advanced purchasing is going to be the business model of the future. It's clear that the CREDIT model is no longer functioning. Not even on an international scale. (Greece for example) So our children will grow up in this world with that as being their reality. We are used to credit. Buy now, pay later. Our grand parents didn't do this. They saved, the bought. Credit was a strange concept. A fact proven by the sheer numbers of seniors that are losing their homes due to defaulting on credit...or sliding into the reverse mortgage trap.

The times, they are a changing...

Coxxorz's picture

They used to be pre-orders, but what we're seeing time and time again is the industry just treating them as "reservations", as EB games correctly calls them. The production run is already well under way or even done, otherwise they wouldn't sell out all the time.

I agree that the game publishers need go back to actual pre-orders, where they know how much of a given title or premium to produce ahead of time. Otherwise all we're doing is pre-paying.

Akuf's picture

Just wait for the GOTY edition or Collection that will come out in a few months once sales decline. They will probably include it in that.

I never buy games at launch, unless it is something I really want to play and the price of it won't drop for several months and has a decent multiplayer ie GOW3. But as you all know I have a pretty active lifestyle and social life and video games are at the bottom of my "todo" list. Though some games do peak my interest early on like ME3. Though I would have waited for it to become a bargain binner because I know that 3-4 months after release it will be $20-$40.

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