PS Vita Ridge Racer to get 'weekly' DLC

[garyopa]

DLC plans for tiny Ridge Racer Vita revealed

http://www.maxconsole.com/maxconsole/contents/RKSID00000000000000000323/icon_xl.jpg

Many of you were upset to find out that Ridge Racer at launch will only have 3 courses and 5 cars, but no worry if you got the bucks to spend tons of DLC will slowly turn it into a full-game for you!

When it was revealed that the PS Vita version of Ridge Racer include only 3 tracks and 5 cars (and only 2 music tracks I forgot to mention) many wondered if it was just going to be a really tiny game or if as I suspected it was going to become a DLC fest, well now we have our answer, this could easily be the most expensive Ridge Racer title in history!

To get you into the habit of grabbing DLC, some Free Music Packs will start straight after launch on 22 Dec. (Japan) and continue weekly until Mid-Feb. then on the 23rd Feb its PAY, PAY, PAY with weekly updates of Tracks (£3.30 each) or Cars (£2 each) or a "season pass" (£13) will allow you to download all DLC for free but only until May then its back to buying each 'weekly pack' or maybe a new 'season pass' if they make one.

It has to make you wonder if this is going to become Namco's answer to the sheer anti-consumer greed of companies like EA, UBI, THQ, Sony and Warners with their 'online passes' and 'Day 1 DLC' or if its just a one off attempt to to bait people into buying what will be the cheapest launch title then make up for it later, either way its time to save up for some of those also very costly PS Vita Memory Cards to store all this DLC on.

NEWS SOURCE: Vita DLC plans (via) CVG (http://www.computerandvideogames.com/327737/dlc-plans-for-tiny-ridge-racer-vita-revealed/)

Our thanks to 'billysastard' for writing up this hot Vita news item!

[billysastard]

forgot to add (not in the original news) the later music tracks will weigh in at around £1 each as well.

[JonathanD]

forgot to add (not in the original news) the later music tracks will weigh in at around £1 each as well.

Awesome I wonder how much it will cost to own the entire game?

My bet is somewhere between 400 and 500 dollars if you buy everything....

[Ichijoe]

So if they plain to make their Cash back on DLC, does One get the Base Game for free?
Or are they planing to gouge their Punters with a Game that's gonna set them back nearly 60€ (or more)?
And anal **** us for the rest?

One would have thought S0NY might have learnt a few things with the PSP, and One of those being that, Mobile Games shouldn't cost as much as full on Console Games.

Well I for One can look forward (i.e. if ever!), to un-boxing S0NYs next POS!
Perhaps Once it gets hacked to Hell and back like the PSP might I show an interest in this.
Then again it's a matter of 3'erd Party support, something that the PSP has also lacked.

So no Ride Racer (vita) is not only Fail, but FLIPPN' EPIC FAIL!

[billysastard]

So if they plain to make their Cash back on DLC, does One get the Base Game for free?
Or are they planing to gouge their Punters with a Game that's gonna set them back nearly 60€ (or more)?
And anal **** us for the rest?

One would have thought S0NY might have learnt a few things with the PSP, and One of those being that, Mobile Games shouldn't cost as much as full on Console Games.

Well I for One can look forward (i.e. if ever!), to un-boxing S0NYs next POS!
Perhaps Once it gets hacked to Hell and back like the PSP might I show an interest in this.
Then again it's a matter of 3'erd Party support, something that the PSP has also lacked.

So no Ride Racer (vita) is not only Fail, but FLIPPN' EPIC FAIL!

its a few dollars cheaper than other launch titles but not really by that much.

[Battlefield]

Well.. This is the same **** that happened on Android for a long time.

Many of the games is FREE, but the problem is.. You are forced to pay 100$ +++ for unlocks to be able to complete a game, or only get far in the game.

Pocket Legends, and many others does this. If you want better a weapon, you need to pay way more on android than you often would on a PS3 or 360 game.
Gaming on cell phones is insane when you can see the real price for a game.

Real 99$ for like "2000 gold coins" which you can use in only 10 mins to unlock some weapons, etc..?

Sometimes they run discounts.. A whopping 10%...Hurry up and buy now! This means 90$ instead of 100$..It would be expensive at even 10$. lol
Also remember that GFX in these games is far from as good as the worst PS3/360 games.

I would never buy this Ridge Racer anyway, as someone else says.. It will probably cost 500 bucks, and thats not even unrealistic. Some games on Xbox 360/PS3 already costs shitloads with expensive DLC.

[Nicotine]

wow...just.....wow...

i wanna say im not surprised, but i am..... i understand adding new cars/tracks down the road. but to severely cripple a game, to the point that for a full experience you need to spend extra?

not good.

I hope it falls flat on it's face, the DLC doesn't sell and they learn a lesson.

[DEDDOA]

Sounds like the original motorstorm with half a game released and but loads of DLC released to give you the full game.

If they can't get the game finnished for launch then hold it back a bit and release it n full, don't piss consumers off from the get go.

[MadonnaProject]

they DO know this is ridge racer right? its always been a garbage series.

[mattias800]

First of all, dont blame Sony. This is Namcos doing.

Second, I think this is great and the obvious evolution of gaming business modeling.
But then I am assuming that the game will be cheap. Like .. $10.
If thats the case, they have finally reached a mobile price model that I would be happy with.
Super Mario 3D Land is €45 here in Sweden. I can get a LOT of gaming hours for that on iOS or Android and the difference in quality is getting smaller each day. I just bought Shadowgun for $1 for example. Chrono Trigger is like $5? Sure, thats an old game, but still.

Now, I realize not all games can cost $1, but very few games should cost $60, even on Xbox360 and PS3.
I think this pricing model is the largest reason that only AAA games sell really good.

Mobile games should be both smaller and cheaper. That will reduce the risks when making new games, since the game is cheaper to make, and it will make people buy lesser known games since it is a smaller economic risk for them as well.
DLC is the way to go to make more than those $10 which some games requires. You guys just have to deal with it.

[billysastard]

Second, I think this is great and the obvious evolution of gaming business modeling.
But then I am assuming that the game will be cheap. Like .. $10.



well, its $10 cheaper than uncharted, but not $10

[Battlefield]

The problem with games being more like Phone business, is that the devs cant sell a 50 million $ at 10$ each, because most wont buy the add-ons if the game suck. The devs will lose bigtime on it.
Its a good thing to sell games this way, but then the main game still have to be cheaper than 40-50$. Nearly full price for a DLC only based game is insane.
I refuse to pay 100-200$ for a complete game.

PinballFX 2 is free, and you pay for each table you want at decent price.

BTW: I got first RROD, and then YLOD on my PS3 2 days ago. I had to buy a new PS3 today, so its not only 360 who gets these "colorful" errors. ;)

[billysastard]

BTW: I got first RROD, and then YLOD on my PS3 2 days ago. I had to buy a new PS3 today, so its not only 360 who gets these "colorful" errors. ;)

the inevitability of owning a phat 360 or ps3 i'm afraid, love em or hate 'em 100% of them are going to fail no matter what some fanboys may claim.

[Battlefield]

the inevitability of owning a phat 360 or ps3 i'm afraid, love em or hate 'em 100% of them are going to fail no matter what some fanboys may claim.

That true, but Nintendo consoles seem to live way longer. I dont think i ever heard much about broken Wii's either, but Gamecube, NES, SNES was made to last decades. So was Commodore 64 and others.

The consoles should atleast live 1 console cycle.

Its way worse to get a broken PS3 than 360, because i have to dowload every damn item from PSN Store again because of copy protection.
On Xbox 360 you can use a PC instead to activate the stuff already on HD. on PS3, it have to format the HD if the console have different ID. :(

[JonathanD]

That true, but Nintendo consoles seem to live way longer. I dont think i ever heard much about broken Wii's either, but Gamecube, NES, SNES was made to last decades. So was Commodore 64 and others.

The consoles should atleast live 1 console cycle.

Its way worse to get a broken PS3 than 360, because i have to dowload every damn item from PSN Store again because of copy protection.
On Xbox 360 you can use a PC instead to activate the stuff already on HD. on PS3, it have to format the HD if the console have different ID. :(

The Wii is far more reliable then the PS3 or the 360, that being said I still have a very old PS3 *knock on wood*.

Here is a a link backing up what I am saying and a small quote from it.

"Wii 9 times more reliable than Xbox 360, 4 times more than PS3"

http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/SquareTrade_Xbox360_PS3_Wii_Reliability_0809.pdf

Warning its a PDF file, but its very interesting and even breaks down some of the causes of failures per system and the rate at which they occur.

I do have to say it does look like MS has mostly fixed the RROD thing, but in the same breath one has to wonder why it took so long to fix it?

[Battlefield]

The Wii is far more reliable then the PS3 or the 360, that being said I still have a very old PS3 *knock on wood*.

Here is a a link backing up what I am saying and a small quote from it.

"Wii 9 times more reliable than Xbox 360, 4 times more than PS3"

http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/SquareTrade_Xbox360_PS3_Wii_Reliability_0809.pdf

Warning its a PDF file, but its very interesting and even breaks down some of the causes of failures per system and the rate at which they occur.

I do have to say it does look like MS has mostly fixed the RROD thing, but in the same breath one has to wonder why it took so long to fix it?

Interresting read. My PS3 became nearly 4 years old before it died btw.
My Xbox died after 2-3 years..
My Wii never died, but i dont use it very much anymore thou.

Microsoft still have the best way of handling warranties thou.
They send UPS at the door with a empty box, and ship it to destination payed by MS. UPS returns it to YOU on the door at no cost at all.

[billysastard]

Interresting read. My PS3 became nearly 4 years old before it died btw.
My Xbox died after 2-3 years..
My Wii never died, but i dont use it very much anymore thou.

Microsoft still have the best way of handling warranties thou.
They send UPS at the door with a empty box, and ship it to destination payed by MS. UPS returns it to YOU on the door at no cost at all.

if your wii died in warranty or it EVER has the dual layer disc read issue, one call to nintendo and they collect your machine, fix it and return it. (at least thats what they do in the uk)