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| The Best and Most Creatively Original Movie Ever Conceived |
Let the numerator be the hours of entertainment each form of media provides, while the denominator is the cost:
Lets say a typical movie is 2 hours and costs 10 dollars thus: 2/10. Avatar sticks out in my head, being about 3 hours but costing 13 dollars. While a Summer or Arcade game costs 15 dollars with a varying amount of time.
So let: 2/10 = x/15, following this formula, if I get 3 hours out of one of the games, I would be getting a deal equal to that of seeing a movie, which is a fair deal. Other games and DLC on Xbox are also about 800 points, or $10. Thus meaning that if you got at least 2 hours of enjoyment out of your DLC then you have gotten a fair deal.
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| This picture only shows a fraction of the work I put into the equations for this article |
I believe though that the uproar over the cost of DLC and games doesn’t come from judging the DLC or game as a stand-alone unit, it comes from comparing them to a full retail game.
Comparing an average movie to a video game: 2/10 = x/60, you would need to get about 12 hours out of a video game. If you got 12 hours out of DLC or an Arcade game, tell me what it was and I will go download it. As much as I would like 12 hours of entertainment out of these, I know it’s not going to happen. When people expect to get 12 hours of game out of a $15 DLC, that’s a little absurd.
Now 12 hours may sound like a lot, but really it’s not. I personally have 3 DAYS spent on Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer alone, and I know other VGH crewmembers have 8 days, 20 days…I have a person on my leaderboards who has 41 DAYS!!!! That’s over a month of their life spent playing MW2 online. So would it be farfetched to assume that $15 is a decent price to pay for 5 maps if you truly love a game, I don’t think so. Now DLC is a little different as it varies from person to person, the person who has played for over a month may want it more than me, who has only played for 3 days.
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| You know you want me..You know I want you... |
I’m human, and as so I do wish that everything were free. I would love free maps, games, etc. but sadly for me this isn’t how the world works. I’m not saying that everyone should download everything available because it’s a good price. I’m just trying to get across that when considering downloading something, don’t immediately be turned off by the price, look and see if you will get maybe about 3 hours of enjoyment out of it, because if you can then it’s a good deal and maybe you should seriously consider purchasing it.
I spent $50 getting all of the Fallout 3 DLC’s. I could have almost bought a new game with that money. However I do not regret purchasing all the DLC because Fallout 3 is one my favorite games and extended the life of the game for me, adding way more than 15 hours for me. I was willing to have a better and extended Fallout 3 experience than buying a new game.
Whether it is Wii, Playstation, PC, or Xbox, the same philosophy applies. Games are going to be expensive no matter what. Limbo is $15 for about 5 hours and according to the equation, this is a good deal. Now the only question to answer is do you think you’d have fun playing it, if so get it. With DLC, add-on’s to a game can only make it better and give you more. Read a review and see if it offers enough fun for a few hours. If you like what you see I’d recommend getting it because new game content on an old favorite game is always good fun.
I would spend hard earned money, on things that have actual value in it. But, MW2 DLC's are a total waste of time.
I think my tally up to this point, regarding video game spending is up to $1000.00+ :-| I don't even know where to get that kind of money, but it's scary to think about it.
The world revolves on money, buddy.
Very well written, interesting points and I largely agree.