Surprise! The $4.99 downloadable content for Resident Evil 5 is already tucked neatly away on your game disc. The actual download of this "extra" content, once purchased, weighs in at just 1.86MB on both the PlayStation Network and the Xbox Live Marketplace. According to IGN, gamers are paying an additional $5 for content they seemingly already paid once for.
This difference of $3 between the regions is "likely indicative of Japanese gamers' reluctance to pay for bonus content." That certainly says a lot about how gullible Western gamers are perceived as being.
The total download size for RE5 Versus Mode is 1.86MB. You are not, in fact, downloading the content from Xbox Live Marketplace or PlayStation Network. Instead, you are downloading a key that unlocks content already on the RE5 retail disc. The same disc you paid $60 for a month ago.
When asked to justify why gamers who already shelled out $60 for a copy of RE5 should have to pay extra to unlock content included on the disc, a Capcom representative said: "Versus mode represents content that was created outside the scope of the original design of Resident Evil 5. This is an all new mode that required additional resources to create, not to mention the additional bandwidth costs."
The bandwidth costs are related to the PS3 version. Sony charges publishers for servers used for online games, which is why PS3 online is free to consumers. Microsoft includes these costs with the $50 Gold subscription paid for by Xbox gamers.
Let us not ignore the fact that those who purchased the collector's edition of the game paid upwards of $90 for the game. Not yet completely outraged? Here's another fact revealed by IGN concerning the pricing. In Japan, the DLC is only 160 Microsoft Points or $2 if purchased on the PlayStation Network. When asked to justify why gamers who already shelled out $60 for a copy of RE5 should have to pay extra to unlock content included on the disc, a Capcom representative said: "Versus mode represents content that was created outside the scope of the original design of Resident Evil 5. This is an all new mode that required additional resources to create, not to mention the additional bandwidth costs."
The bandwidth costs are related to the PS3 version. Sony charges publishers for servers used for online games, which is why PS3 online is free to consumers. Microsoft includes these costs with the $50 Gold subscription paid for by Xbox gamers.
This difference of $3 between the regions is "likely indicative of Japanese gamers' reluctance to pay for bonus content." That certainly says a lot about how gullible Western gamers are perceived as being.