From the Brow of Zeus

Waffle Squadron Omega's Cap'n Jack has responded to my 5 Reasons I Bought Mount & Blade article and brought up an interesting point.

What struck him was Mount & Blade's lifetime license -- a one-time fee gives you unlimited upgrades for free.

This is a concept that other games - especially digitally distributed games (Xbox Live, PSN, WiiWare, etc.) - can benefit from. The pay up front + free upgrades for life works with most of the software that we use on our computers today. So why not use this with video games?

For example, the Penny Arcade Adventure: RSPOD, which is currently on Xbox Live for $20, could possibly benefit from having a $50 price tag if it meant we’d get continuous, free updates to the game over the next few years. It’s a gamble, because consumers can’t really be certain how often they’re going to get these free updates. But, if a precedent is set, then the market will be there.

Like Jack says, it's a gamble. The problem with paying more for episodic content up front is that like any "season" of entertainment, it might get canceled. Shenmue, SIN Episodes, Shining Force III for Saturn (the sequels were released in Japan only). The list goes on.

The one episodic game I can think of with real lasting power is Sam & Max. (Full seasons are available at a sizable discount.)

Given the shaky history of episodic games, the only way I'd be comfortable paying for a full season in advance is if we arranged what I call the Miami Vice Villain Agreement: Half now, the other half when you deliver the goods.


I'd be fine with paying $25 for the first episode, getting another nine free and then automatically being billed $25 when they fulfill their end of the bargain and finish the series. Plus, it'd give me a chance to wear pastel shirts under my sportcoat.

I like the idea of multiple payment options. For instance, UnReal World (another medieval RPG with a lifetime license deal) lets you buy the full game for $3. That's right, just three bucks and you own the whole thing. The catch? No more updates. Ever.

What if there's a game crashing bug? Nope. Sorry about your damn luck.

$10 gets you a Single Major Version license, good for a few bugfixes, at least until there's a major revision. Finally, Mr. Moneypockets can buy a lifetime registration for $55. Sure, it sounds like a lot, but you'll be entitled to years of future content. (Compare that to professionally developed PC games, where anything more than a bugfix is labeled an "expansion pack.")

As for free content just-for-the-heck-of-it, Unreal Tournament got a famous Bonus Pack some years ago, which did a lot to convince people that Cliffy B. beat John C. in the Unreal Tournament/Quake 3 wars. And Cryptic Comet recently released a free booster pack for its turn-based post-apocalyptic card card game, Armageddon Empires.

Even as the developer begins work on his next game, Solium Infernum -- in which players assume their roles as warring Barons of Hell -- he's announced another A.E. bonus pack -- again, for free.

Out of the kindness of his cold, black, demonic lord lovin' heart.

Labels: videogames