Capcom Double Dipping Into Gamers Wallets
It all started way back in the early 90’s with one of
Capcom’s most successful games, Street Fighter II. The game’s following thirsted for more of the 2D fighter, and Capcom was more than happy to oblige. After Street Fighter II, came the Champion Edition, next up was Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting , then followed Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers, and Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Even as recent as last year, Super Street Fighter II received a HD Remix.
Back then DLC was a long-off dream, so the addition of new characters, or scenarios, warranted a new release of the game. Now-a-days with the economy dwindling, and games fetching a premium $60 price tag,
Capcom is committing a cardinal sin.
Capcom has always been in the hearts of many gamers who grew up playing games like Street Fighter II, Mega Man, Resident Evil, and so many more classic titles. So what is Capcom doing that has gamers in a tizzy?
Capcom is certainly no stranger to re-releasing its titles with a new moniker as outlined above with the Street Fighter II example. So why have the recent announcements of Super Street Fighter IV, and Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition left such a bad taste in gamers mouths?
Capcom, I’d like to introduce you to 2009, where DLC is everywhere. Most games offer some form of DLC, whether it’s premium or free content is up to each publisher’s discretion. Super Street Fighter IV at its heart is the same game as Street Fighter IV with a few extra characters, and possibly a new mode or two. Does that really warrant a re-release? Couldn’t have that been added as DLC?
Capcom has stated that “certain aspects of the game code wasn’t laid out to support the features” coming in SSFIV. Capcom… who are you kidding with that statement? It’s not like you’ve never added new modes or characters in a game before, the publishing giant should have known by now to plan ahead. Capcom hopes to make it up to gamers feeling ripped off for buying Street Fighter IV and having to buy Super Street Fighter IV by creating some type of extra (which hasn’t been revealed yet) that is unlocked in SSFIV for owners of both versions.
Next up is Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition. This one offers more content that just a few new characters, along with the ability to be played using the upcoming PS3 motion controller. But Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition has me more upset than Super Street Fighter IV does. Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition offers a 2 hour+ “flashback” mission featuring Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine teaming up to take down Wesker in Ozwell Spencer’s Castle, which is set 3 years prior to the events of Resident Evil 5, and is a major back-story element.
Being such a huge fan of the Resident Evil franchise, and having completed Resident Evil 5 to 100%, I am saddened to see that I cannot play this extra mission without buying the new Alternative Edition. The addition of motion controls could be added via a patch. Instead of going the route of adding DLC, and a patch, Capcom has chosen to re-release the title, in hopes to lure gamers who hadn’t played the original version, as well as gamers who already purchased RE5 but want to still play the new mission or new controller option.
Capcom has, is and always will be one of my favorite developers/publishers, but I certainly hope that this trend doesn’t continue. This might have been acceptable before DLC was the norm, but not anymore. The last thing I want to do is to buy Super Resident Evil 5: Alternative to the Alternative Edition Turbo, just so I can get the full Resident Evil 5 experience.
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October 4th, 2009 at 11:05 AM
yeah, I am with you. Capcom is one of the greats from way back. I dont know what the deal is with them, but lets not forget the multitude of “Capcom hates the PS3″ threads we got to read before they had a store on the PSN.
Personally, I would rather wait and hope that they get their act together with future titles (after kindly explaining my disapproval) because Capcom HAS shown the PS3 love for some time now.
Maybe Capcom is seeing what Activision is doing to Guitar Hero fans… in which case those of us with better taste will avoid their games all together.
BTW… remember when Sega, and Konami were cool? what happened to those guys
October 4th, 2009 at 11:23 AM
Crapcom sucks. C haring for DLC that is already on the disk. charging for DLC before games is even release. I know they are not the only one, but the are doing it more than others.
October 4th, 2009 at 11:30 AM
I am a huge fan of 1-4, but I didn’t buy 5 and I won’t be buying this either.
10/04/2009 at 11:38 AM
That’s too bad. Resident Evil 5 is a great game.
October 4th, 2009 at 12:13 PM
i bought the originals… wont be buying these. they shouldve offered these as high priced dlcs… and then sold them both again as GOTY editions… thats basically what these are but if they would offer the differences as dlcs no one would say anything. so yes, i agree with you Sev, i feel a little ripped off too.
October 4th, 2009 at 12:23 PM
I enjoy reading these editorials. While I do agree on peoples complaints over how Capcom handles their DLC. I must speak on SSFIV’s defense. You certaintly needed to look up more info behind the decision of making it a stand alone disc. First off the game will have a confirmed “8ish” extra characters, rumored 10. TEN extra characters!! I don’t care how you can compress this into DLC, there’s no way this will be smaller than 1gig. Aside from extra modes and features which will be plenty. There will be new stages, alternate versions of the old stages and different versions of old moves! And wait there’s MORE. Extended and redone openings and endings for EVERY character in the game. There’s going to be more to the Final boss. They’re going to add character interactions during opening fight! We’re talking gigs in size to this massive overhaul. Companies know DLC isn’t a guarantee purchase and for a fighting game breaking this up in seperate parts of DLC wouldn’t work, because not everyone would get everything and
October 4th, 2009 at 12:39 PM
it would alienate the online community, who got character pack 1? who got Stages pac 3? It wouldn’t work. Also it is comfired that this stand alone disc isn’t going to be full retail price. I’m guessing it would anywhere from $20-$40. And yes it’s a no brainer that Capcom will have a reward incentive to those who will still keep their original SFIV disc. The only reason SF came back was because of the FANS, the only reason SSFIV is being made is because the FANS requested it. They requested every feature that will be on there.Long gone are the days of a full release of a game with minor tweaks for full price. I can’t speak on RE5 because I didn’t look that up. I am a long time SF fan and what they’re doing with SSFIV is by no means a rip off. You would know that too if only you bothered to read up more on what is being done with it. This not an FPS we’re talking about, DLC on this scale wouldn’t work with a fighting game.
October 4th, 2009 at 12:51 PM
Why wouldn’t you just write an article about Guitar hero? This one upgrade so far is nothing compared to the 7 guitar heros this gen. And you can’t just say “come on” when capcom tells you the code wouldn’t work right with it, unless you have personally looked at the code, you’re bullshitting. You say yourself they’ve added game modes, how are you more qualified to know what can go in a game without problems? And then they go ahead and give you something for nothing, and you STILL bitch about it. I usually enjoy these articles, but i find they’re coming less frequently. I hope they haven’t just become an opportunity to complain about spending money on something you enjoy.
October 4th, 2009 at 1:10 PM
that’s odd, Capcom was doing so well of pleasing its fan base but now they just screwed us again
October 4th, 2009 at 2:01 PM
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October 4th, 2009 at 2:53 PM
Stop the whining, if your displeased then don’t buy and they’ll get the point or rent or buy used so you can atleast play but you send a message. I have SF4 and might rent the next one, Might. RE5 was a no go after I played the demo and they didnt use RE4’s controls. I dont know what they were thinking nor why it sold so well after everyone got a taste of those assbackward controls in the demo. But fans are fans and you’ll probably buy both titles day and complain about it but they don’t mind cause money is money and suckers are suckers. Look at Xboxfanboys they’ll get several redrings so no gaming for months on end, then they pay for XBL that has gone down majorly like 3 plus times. And they keep bitting their tongues, PAYING for it and taking it. Free repairs and XBL refunds aside, they’re still getting the shaft and apparently lovin it from what I hear.
October 4th, 2009 at 5:16 PM
@TheHater
Since when has Capcom been doing it more? this Generation they released Lost planet 1, DMC4, RE5, SF4, SSF2THD (which is a visual upgrade of a classic) Bionic commando reloaded on disk and a-ton of retro games on the PSN, that from my understand has no DLC. The only DLC that was considered “bad” was RE5 vs mode that was a key instead of a full MB download and available on the first week or 2 of its release date. SF4 just had costume packs released months after. Super Street fighter 4 doesn’t even count because if you looked into it, you’d see that its not a simple upgrade. The same thing i posted on Dan Massai misinformed SSF4 article were he stated that there are only 4 new characters and didn’t mention everything else or more importantly the price drop, 10 characters along with new stages, ending and opening sequences, tweeks and new moves. Even reading Xael comments, im glad that most aren’t jumping on the Capcom hate bandwagon when, clearly, they haven’t done the full research on what was being included. All these new additions have been in the news since the first day they announced Super Street fighter 4 and the fighting game community is very pleased.
Hyper fighting, Turbo edition, The new warriors etc was way back when DLC didn’t exist and were completely different games with each new version. Im normally the first to see bad DLC and cant comment on RE5 because i never bought it and do agree that the VS add on was bad DLC. No one seams to complain when LBP upgraded to GOTYE with the same price and offers very little to justify a repurchase.. there DLC run at $2 a costume or 7$ for 3 thats not even including the add-on “stickers packs” running 4$ and they keep making new “sticker packs” with every holiday. No only that but Media molecule decided to pull all the versions off the shelf when, it wouldn’t have any problems with compatibility online because its just added DLC and a few new stages.
I do see a reason to buy LBP stage add ons because they offer more to the game itself but those rarely come out. Guitar Hero would be a better example of how nothing changes not even there art direction just new “singers” and charge you for songs on a disk that can be downloaded.
October 4th, 2009 at 5:50 PM
I agree with this article. Capcom by far one of the greediest publishers. They charge you to unlock those alternate costumes (which is supposedly be free) in SFIV. Now with SSFIV, don’t tell me that you’ll need to unlock it also. I’ve read that there would be 8 characters and 2 of them are new comers. I wouldn’t understand why not just release a game with all the characters from the SF universe. I would really want to play Rolento, Dark, Skull, and Garuda.
I was a fan of the RE series but RE 5 just lost it. It shouldn’t have been called Resident Evil because it’s not a horror survival game. With Deadspace now in the industry, Resident Evil is not a worthy competition.
October 4th, 2009 at 5:56 PM
@shadowjin
Do you have a time machine. I want you to go back a week before SFIV release and check what was available to download on the PSN store and Xbox marketplace.
October 4th, 2009 at 6:19 PM
@TheHater
I think you’re missing the point. You do realize you aren’t paying for the download, you’re paying for the work that has been done making it. If you started building and selling furniture, you wouldn’t charge the exact cost of the materials put in would you? Figure out how much Capcom spends to make a game/pay workers, figure out their profits, then maybe you can complain about how much they charge for what.
October 4th, 2009 at 7:03 PM
I just have to say 1 thing.
Capcom should really go to EA and ask them “How did you guys compensate for the changes made to the underlying code to support features that were not only absent from the game, but reimagined the game doing everything from changing the visual styles, adding day and night time effects, new game modes, and even new areas to explore, without sacrificing the ability to play with others who haven’t bought your data?
/rant
October 4th, 2009 at 7:08 PM
I just have one question for you.
EA and Capcom are obviously two different companies, what makes you think their code is the exact same?
October 4th, 2009 at 7:49 PM
@theHater
you have hands feel free to tell me.. Capcom hasn’t done any wrong its miss leading articles on the net. and kirobz feel free to read what Xael wrote or use google.. if you can honestly say that its just adding 10 new characters then your reading thing wrong.
October 4th, 2009 at 8:26 PM
@Shadowjin
Capcom release the character alternate skins for DLC a week before the game was release. The DLC was about 100Kb or so. That means, you were paying for a key to unlock contents that was already on the disk. That is what I was talking about.
@JohnnyTruant5
Where the fuck do you get I was talking about paying for anything and the cost of it? I was talking about them putting DLC for a game a week before the game was release on the PSN store and Xbox Live Marketplace. The DLC was only about 100kb, which means that the content was already on the disk and you was just pay for a code to unlock it.
October 4th, 2009 at 8:40 PM
@TheHater
Yes I understand that, and that is why I told you you pay for the work. If they choose to have you pay for it then that’s their business because they put their time into it. Again, when you understand the full financial situation at Capcom, then you can have a valid opinion on what they charge for their work.
October 4th, 2009 at 8:48 PM
Street Fighter II, came the Champion Edition, next up was Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting , then followed Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers, and Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
why would any of these even be mentioned when they came out on SNES? its like painting a picture to the readers and sway them into thinking they have been doing this for years when my SNES doesn’t have and INTERNET connection.
Based on the article from Monday when it was mentioned on the PSL was not researched and basically stated “SSF4 adds new characters” and when reading it mentions T-hawk and Juri and nothing else. if you translate the Japanese article that was used as a source, tells you everything added except no pictures to take educated guesses. Than every single reader/comment was lead to believe that there was nothing else besides characters. I can see why people would get upset if it was just characters. Xael made a good point, why alienate users or force a download when they added alot to the Super version. SF2 and every other version was like night and day.
October 4th, 2009 at 9:07 PM
@TheHater
so because of this is why Capcom sucks and is scamming the gaming industry? I think there RE5 vs add on packs is the real issue.
when i use the PSL time machine on this site, i keep running into those old weekly updates some including new alternate skins for the characters in packs on different Thursdays. I remember SF4 had them different days and not before it was released, i also remember my friend bitching at the fact that the femin fatal pack came out before the shoto’s where and waiting on the PSN to get updated. I dont remember any controversy except people upset that the new skins weren’t free. i had SF4 since day 1 before my friend damaged the disk and i remember them being on the PSN in different Thursdays and not before. The 100kb issue was from RE5 Vs mode.. no one says anything when they run into LBP kb downloads , RFOM1-2 skins that have the same size file.
October 4th, 2009 at 9:14 PM
@ JohnnyTruant5
my problem with SF4 was that they didn’t give you 1 free alternate costume after a 10 year hiatus. I never bought the new add on skin pack but they should have given them away for free and make you pay for a 3rd costume.
@kirobuz
you are aware that RE5 was not meant to be scary.. the producer said that.. they wanted to try a different direction. Id like a game that would also have every character included but all that takes time especially when your managing moves, balancing etc. I love games but i do research before buying them in different places unless i know 100% im not gonna nitpick.
October 4th, 2009 at 9:18 PM
@shadowjin
I think my problem with it is that 99% of 2D fighters bore me after 20 minutes haha
October 4th, 2009 at 10:57 PM
meh
October 5th, 2009 at 12:14 AM
@JohnnyTruant5
You are a fucking idiot. So you are saying it OK to spend $65+ on a game only to have to pay another $6-7+ dollars more in order to get access to everything on the disk you payed for. I am sorry dude, but YOU ARE A FUCKING IDIOT AND I GUESS YOU PROBABLE ARE ONE OF THE IDIOTS THAT SUPPORT THIS BULLSHIT BY DEVELOPERS AND PUBLISHERS.
@shadowjin
The RE5 add-on is major issues, but it is not the real issues because the release the keys a month later I believe for you to pay to unlock the other mode that is already on the disk. The real problem is them release DLC before the game is even out and charging for it. Why couldn’t the put that content on the disk? The game hasn’t been release and you are already paying for contents that is already on the disk, but just getting a key to unlock it. I know they are not the only one, because Namco and EA has been doing the same thing. But this article is about Capcom and not those other companies.
Capcom excuse for the DLC was, RE never had multiplayer before, so that why you where paying. That is the lamest fucking bullshit I ever heard out of a publisher/developer. Maybe Naught Doy and Sony should charge extra if you want to play co-op and multiplayer in Uncharted 2 because Uncharted 1 didn’t have those features.
October 5th, 2009 at 1:47 AM
@ Dumbass
You are fucking crazy end of story. This: “so you are saying….insert totally fucking absurd idea here.” bullshit is NOT an argument AT ALL. All you’re proving is that you can throw a stupid implication on just about anything. In the case of RE:5 They added multiplayer, meaning people had to do the work to add it, meaning theres a chance you’ll have to pay for it. Anything that’s free was either never owned to begin with, or its a fucking bonus, you don’t get it because you deserve it, you get it because someone was nice enough to little pieces of shit like you.
To recap: People sometimes expect money in exchange for their hard work and time, thats kinda how the world works. Don’t be an asshole and complain when that happens, especially when you are forced into nothing.
October 5th, 2009 at 1:49 AM
@Thehater
theres NO excuse for Capcom on RE5… thats 1 strike.. i know that shit was shady as hell. i even agreed on every post.
LBP GOTYE needs to be a prime example but people wont say anything because well “they look cute”. Gag me with a knife and shoot me in the head. My issue is when people dont research the news correctly and post crap misinforming gamers and building false information. does that mean that the PS3 has no games? i read it on a site so it must be TRUE… when we know its FALSE. People don’t research nowadays and THATS the problem.. they see it on there favorite site and figure it MUST be true. They figure RE5 must be scary because the others were and dont bother to look around and find out the developers said its NOT a horror flick. they take there game home and feel that they have been lied to for there own inability to research or use google. reflecting back at everything RE5 vs scandal was 1 bad thing going against Capcom do they deserver to be called greedy?
October 5th, 2009 at 3:53 AM
@Jeneric
lol
A Modern-day servant with cookie cutter repeating responses on every post.
October 5th, 2009 at 4:32 AM
shadowjin you own these niggas! lol these fools aighnt worth educating.. they avoid your bullets doooog let em go. keep that shit REAL fuck dem haterz!
October 5th, 2009 at 10:35 AM
@Steelfox & Shadowjin
Thanks for reffering my post to the rest of them that don’t know better. I thought with posting it though people wouldn’t have a reason to complain if they actually read it. But it’s obvious they didn’t . Either way like I said before SSFIV is beign made for the FANS. No SF fan or fighting game fan alike in the right mind will find this as a rip off. Anyone that does CAPCOM doesn’t care about. Sure CAPCOM wants to appeal the franchise to new and casual gamers alike, but lets face it, if the casual gamer had any brains, then the Wii wouldn’t be in 1st place.
Though there is something I must agree with The Hater about. The alternate costumes were ready before the game released, but they didn’t release them all at once, they spread them out. I remember they had videos showcasing all the alternate costumes before the game was even out. I bought the collectors edition of SFIV and I got the voucher for 5 free costumes and I was access it before the DLC was even on the PSN store.
October 5th, 2009 at 11:48 AM
@JohnnyTruant5
And I stand by saying you are a fucking idiot. So you like paying for content that is already on the disk YOU own, even though you already payed full price for the game? Sorry dude, but there is not fucking logic is that. So tell me, would you pay $10 extra to unlock the special online co-op in CODWF2 that is on the retail disk you purchased? You are the stupidest fucking idiot I ever seen post. Your argument is fucking week and you are a fucking idiot. Do you know the file size for the RE5 DLC? Do you know anything about file size and what you can learn from it? The RE5 file size was about 1000Kb, if I am not mistaken. Do you know what that means? If fucking means that they content was already on the disk, and you was just paying for a fucking key to unlock it. You have no fucking common sense and you like paying out the ass because you don’t know shit about how these developers and their bullshit DLC.
@shadowjin
I am not making excuse for the RE5 DLC. I am just saying that its not the major issues here. The major issues is release DLC, that you have to pay for, a week before the game is release. Why is there DLC before a game is out, when we know that it is already on the disk and you are just paying for a key to unlock it. Or why can’t these DLC be free because they were probably cut from the main game to make extra cash off idiots that actually but it.
As for the LBP GoTY edition, I didn’t buy the game as yet. I realize that it was not worth the full $60 price point because I already own the MGS add-on. I am going to wait until its on sales below $40.
I think you might be confuse on thinking I am disagreeing with you. I agree with you, but I think that release DLC before a game is even out is the major issue. That is what I disagree with you on.
@Killer6
Can you get your racist shit off this site? We don’t need people like you commenting. Call us idiot or any other profanity, but keep the racist shit off this site.
October 5th, 2009 at 12:25 PM
@Killer6
thanks for your great contributions to the site…
October 5th, 2009 at 2:23 PM
@TheHater
I never said I pay out the ass for anything, quit making things up. I don’t understand why you just think up some example of what I MIGHT support, even though its fucking crazy, and pass it off for an argument. My argument is not weak when my argument is: POINTING OUT HOW THE MODERN WORLD WORKS, not an idea of mine, how things actually fucking happen. Seriously, all i’m saying is that you shouldn’t be shocked when you are charged for something someone put time and effort into. I’m just trying to get you to understand why complaining about voluntarily spending money makes you look like a fucking douchebag. THATS IT.
Why do some people forget that things are actually worth spending money on sometimes? How much money do you think 65$+10 for DLC really is? The US spends billions of imaginary money, I think you can manage the extra 10 to play a game you like you cheap bastard.
I guess I have to spell out that I don’t even really disagree with you… am I still a fucking idiot?. Charging for something already on the disc is pretty stupid, but MAYBE..MAYBE all the work they did to implement it called for some extra cash. Neither of us know enough about how things work in capcom to know whether things were truly justified, but you weren’t forced into anything so you really shouldn’t be complaining.
October 5th, 2009 at 3:25 PM
@TheHater
Ive never once said what they were doing was correct but i hate when people get misinformed by sites that ARENT doing any research at all and post for posting.
Than you get these comments from people completely agreeing with the incorrect information because the site they go to everyday posted it incorrectly or they don’t follow fighting games. When i see comments like these ….proves that:
but they are doing it more than others. which adds to the miss-information.. that came from you. You have not been able to show me any proof of how Capcom is doing it more than others.
by my examples shows its 1-2 times and the REAL slap to the face was RE5. How does that prove that the 2 mistakes they did the company automatically sucks and has done it more than others? add misinformed articles, 10 year OLD examples from an era that Nintendo ruled and no one had access to a system with a net connection .. what do you get? a bunch of people hating on a company or confused..
if you read a few comments a few have said even that Capcom was doing so good but there just screwing us again or that they are Greedy yet nothing to follow up on besides what they read.
Out of all the games i listed there are 2 bad DLC’s and the costume pack isn’t even an issue. Its simple for someone to just agree with what they read because A) they dont know any better B) the site said so. What also adds to your argument being less valid is the fact you have said in comments you own LBP GOTYE.. now you see why i refrenced LBP ? why would someone hate on capcom and run out buy LBP GOTYE when it has nothing besides a few stages included at 60$. i think i know why… they didnt get bashed by the media like Capcom did with that whole RE5 scandal.
October 5th, 2009 at 4:01 PM
@thehater
Let me break it down… A euphemistic way of saying my ni**a or my friend. that aighn racist.. dont make things up dawg. You been callin people stupid in almost every post. i think your momma needs to put some soap in that mouth.
@ Jeneric
The figgas wit you boo, now shoo…
October 5th, 2009 at 4:24 PM
@Killer6
child please
October 5th, 2009 at 7:35 PM
@Killer6
Dude, can you please type so I can understand. I am horrible at understanding slang.
also, I am not offend by it, but others might be.
@shadowjin
oooppss. EA is actually doing it worst. Capcom just did with two of the most high profile games this year that why I said they were worst. EA is doing it with shitty games such as Tiger Woods, all their sports games, and a few low key games by them.
But if you pay attention to my post Shadow, I never once agree with this article. I just stated that capcom suck.
October 5th, 2009 at 8:01 PM
@TheHater
Crapcom sucks. C haring for DLC that is already on the disk. charging for DLC before games is even release. I know they are not the only one, but the are doing it more than others.
wonder who said that? i payed perfect attention. the highlighted part is what i was asking for you to tell me .. if you read back everything i said i never accused you of agreeing with the article but your misinforming people as well. So you agree they have only done it 2 times. point made
October 5th, 2009 at 8:20 PM
EA isn’t doing the same thing, at least not with sports, which you specifically mentioned. They’re charging you if you want to save time. They are forcing nothing on you, and you aren’t missing out if you don’t spend money. Please show me specifically where EA is releasing extra DLC at or before release.
How many times are you going to change your tune because you’re wrong?
October 6th, 2009 at 1:40 AM
http://www.destructoid.com/guide-how-to-stfu-about-super-street-fighter-iv-150353.phtml
I’ll just leave this here, seems an apropriate place.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:18 AM
@johnnyTruant5
lol i thought the same thing.. except i didnt wanna link out to another site.
October 18th, 2009 at 7:06 AM
nice shot, i like it!
Sincerly,
Sodagod @ Modern Warfare 2 Forums
November 10th, 2009 at 11:56 AM
[...] Edition, many games felt slighted by the Japanese developer/publisher. Gamers complained that Capcom was double-dipping into their wallets by re-releasing a somewhat recently released (March of 2009) game with an additional 2-hour long [...]