Keep It or Trade It?: Prototype 2 (360)
Keep It or Trade It?: Tekken 3D: Prime Edition (3DS)
Keep It or Delete It? : Mass Effect Infiltrator (iPad)
Keep It or Delete It?: The Walking Dead Episode 1: A New Day (XBLA)
Keep It or Trade It?: Syndicate (PS3)
In the upcoming Mass Effect 2 the buying and downloading of DLC will be done through the “Cerberus Network”. (BitMob has some nice Screen Shots of the Cerberus Network Here.) Essentially its a direct server link to EA to buy your DLC that is wrapped in in-game terminology and appearance. Access to the Cerberus Network is free for those that buy New copies. A one time use code is included with the game. Those who buy used will have to pay $15 to access the Cerberus Network.
I see this a double edged sword. While it will make some money for EA on used game sales I don’t think it will bring in as much as they believe. Since the game will have plenty to keep you busy with those who have the leaked copies reporting 40 hours of game play, I don’t see a reason to pay a $15 tax.
EA probably sees this as a way to make a new game cheaper than a used game since Gamestop typically only discounts used games by $5-10. But the people who buy the used games do so because they do not have a large budget for entertainment. And if your budget is low your not going to be buying DLC.
Ea should also realize that since ME2 has been on the torrent sites since Thursday their precious DLC will end up there too. It would be better if they simply made DLC access free and try to convert more people to new buys in other ways. Take a hint from Atlus games that consistently adds the soundtrack cd to all their new games. Use the Carrot not the Stick. You’ll get more positive responses from that.
Keep It or Trade It? Mass Effect 2 (XBOX 360) | G.A.M.E.S. on 21 Mar 2010 at 5:12 pm #
[...] $10 is EA’s attempt to discourage used game sales. In ME2 it takes the form of a Cerberus Network card with a unique access code is included with all copies of Mass Effect 2. Since this code works only [...]