The Sum of All Thrills, one of the projects that I've been working on at Schell Games, just opened last week! It's a great feeling to see a project that the team has been working on for such a long time see the light of day, and to also see guests having such a great time with it.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
All You Need Is DLC
Beatles Rock Band came out a solid month ago, and I've played it quite a bit. I've managed to get a fair majority of the achievements, unlocked all of the photos, and played it numerous times with my friends. The quality of the Story Mode has clearly set the bar for all subsequent rhythm games devoted to specific musicians and bands. The three-part harmonies, as difficult as they may be, are satisfying the few times that I've actually been able to eek out something close to resembling a harmony. All of the animations and cinematics that occur during the songs are top-notch and, for the first time ever in any rhythm game that wasn't GitarooMan, I actually watched them.
All of these laudatory comments, and yet there's one thing that leaves a sour note: the songs. The songs in the game aren't bad; there are quite a few classics, quite a few hits, and just a handful of filler. What's really lacking is the quantity. Rock Band 1 had 58 songs when it shipped and Rock Band 2 had 80-ish. Beatles Rock Band had 45 songs at ship.
Right when the game was released, "All You Need Is Love" was already available as downloadable content. Starting next week, they'll be putting more and more albums online to fill out the collection. From a fiscal perspective, I've already gotten my "money's worth," but I suppose the issue I'm having is the continued expectation that players who want a "full experience" have to purchase the DLC.
Of course Harmonix isn't alone. I just caught wind earlier this week that Dragon Age: Origins is going to have DLC available the same day that the game ships. Is that entirely fair to the general public? Objectively, I know that development is complicated, content needs to be locked months earlier in order to pass through certification. But my gut says no. Maybe it's a perception issue-- if Bioware simply holds onto that DLC and releases it 2 months from its release, the general public would have little to no issues at all. And hey, doesn't everyone always want more time to iterate anyway?
All of these laudatory comments, and yet there's one thing that leaves a sour note: the songs. The songs in the game aren't bad; there are quite a few classics, quite a few hits, and just a handful of filler. What's really lacking is the quantity. Rock Band 1 had 58 songs when it shipped and Rock Band 2 had 80-ish. Beatles Rock Band had 45 songs at ship.Right when the game was released, "All You Need Is Love" was already available as downloadable content. Starting next week, they'll be putting more and more albums online to fill out the collection. From a fiscal perspective, I've already gotten my "money's worth," but I suppose the issue I'm having is the continued expectation that players who want a "full experience" have to purchase the DLC.
Of course Harmonix isn't alone. I just caught wind earlier this week that Dragon Age: Origins is going to have DLC available the same day that the game ships. Is that entirely fair to the general public? Objectively, I know that development is complicated, content needs to be locked months earlier in order to pass through certification. But my gut says no. Maybe it's a perception issue-- if Bioware simply holds onto that DLC and releases it 2 months from its release, the general public would have little to no issues at all. And hey, doesn't everyone always want more time to iterate anyway?
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