The purpose of this series of articles is to attempt to shed some light on emerging trends likely to influence game design philosophy, and therefore, our industry at large in the next few years.

Rather than an essay in futurology, which is by definition very hypothetical, the trends described in these articles are already in motion — so the question we should ask ourselves is not whether these trends will appear, but rather what their impact will be on video game design.

It's a quick read and worth checking out; I'm curious to see how Luben will tackle the 'megatrends' in his next article, as they don't necessarily have the immediate relevancy of the set in the first article.

The Megatrends of Game Design, Part 1 [Gamasutra]

These are real economies. In fact, they get much closer to the raw creation of economic growth than many national economies as these "virtual" economies prove quite convincingly that wealth isn't capital or labor but instead knowledge and creativity. Building a working infrastructure to support capital inflows and outflows in a trustworthy manner is very much a core problem we want to address.

In many ways we're facing the merging of intellectual property and "cash" into one entangled entity. When someone steals a virtual thing they've stolen real value. Cash was created in many ways because barter was hard, and cash creates prices. However if prices are now known in some exchange rate, the virtual good that was stolen is a bill denominated in the exchange value of that good in the first place.

With credit card fraud, stolen card numbers, chargebacks, and other security breeches an increasing problem, we'll no doubt see more and more focus on what can be done to prevent fraud in its many forms (though Steve at PlayNoEvil seems to harbor doubts that companies really pay enough attention to security and fraud issues, especially when it comes to implementing successful and cost-effective solutions that don't cripple usability for the consumer).

Vindicia's Hoffman On The Science Of MMO Fraud [Gamasutra]

In fact, Blizzard sees an upside to being hitched to the Activision star. "They have a lot of expertise in the console area, where we're very-headed in addition to PC and online," Kaplan said.

"Activision's point of view is, there's a lot of trust in Blizzard and what we do. Activision's just trying to figure out how we work and try to learn from us."

But Activision's an ambitious company. CEO Bobby Kotick has talked in the past about monetizing massively multiplayer environments, competing with iTunes, even evolving pricing models for consoles. Does Activision have the power to change the way Blizzard monetizes WoW, if it wants to?

"Theoretically they could, if they wanted to," Kaplan said.

Blizzard has always staunchly bucked the trend in online games that seems to be considering microtransactions, ad-supported freebies, and other alternate revenue streams as opposed to the subscription model, which many people theorize is going the way of the dinosaur. Blizzard has always said it favors balanced gameplay as opposed to alternate biz models, and according to Kaplan, this is still the case.

"We would always do whatever's coolest for the game," he said. "A great example of this is our paid character transfer service, which in its own way is sort of a microtransaction within WoW. The reason we introduced that service was because we thought it was a benefit that wow players needed, and the pricing model was put there as a barrier to entry, not a source of revenue."

Free transfers for everybody, Kaplan said, would do bad things to the community and realm populations, but Blizzard still wanted to provide the service as an option for legitimate cases where players do need to transfer realms.

"We would look towards other microtransactions, or services we would charge for, but not with the intention of 'oh, here's this great source of revenue,'" he said.

Jay Wilson, lead designer on Diablo III, summed up the developer's policy on the microtransactions issue: "I think we always look to make the game we want to make, and then figure out the kind of financial model that works with that game."

But business-savvy Activision, aiming for top-tier publisher, does have the power to change that financial model. So is Blizzard worried?

"I'm not concerned at this point at all," said Kaplan. "What's important to note about Blizzard is that we've had many owners over the years. Our executive staff, sort of the first thing they do whenever we get bought by somebody else, is to go through this big training process of, 'this is what makes us successful. If you mess with this, you're going to mess with your own revenue at this point.'

Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime and COO Paul Sams are "extremely talented," Kaplan said, at working with publishers to communicate Blizzard's philosophy.

"Our track record has been pretty golden over the years," said Kaplan. "With Burning Crusade, we could have put it out in the Fall and gotten all of the Christmas revenue — who wouldn't have wanted that? But everyone agreed that if we worked on it for two more months... it was a better long term decision."

"And short term decision," added Blizzard associate PR manager Bob Colayco, pointing out that the expansion helped keep WoW at the top of the charts since it launched.

Kaplan said, as someone who's "very much a gamer, and into games first and foremost," he was excited by the Activision news. "I'm excited because of the games they're making right now," he said. "I thought Call of Duty 4 kicked ass. I had that in my top five games of last year. I thought it was brilliant — the way Infinity Ward executed on CoD4 reminded me of what Blizzard values."

"It wasn't about innovation... it was all about execution, and how well they executed on every single idea, and the level of polish was just awesome. Knowing we're partnered with people who have some of the same values... that's really exciting."

Out of some 2000 online gamers surveyed, Parks said, 14 percent would be interested in playing more MMORPGs if they were free. According to Worlds in Motion, Parks Associates' Michael Cai said that the excess of 10 million players WoW's scored is a major exception that most publishers shouldn't expect to emulate using a subscription business model.

"Social, dormant, and leisure gamers all show significant interest in a free-to-play, microtransaction-based model," said the study.

Most "hardcore" MMO players are actually opposed to the microtransaction-driven model because of concerns about game balance, and some developers have said it can be an extra challenge to balance a complex MMORPG when some users will pay for items and others won't. But games aimed at more casual players may not be possessed of the same level of complexity, or may feature different types of game mechanics, thus lessening the concern.

Parks: More Free Games Needed To Grow MMORPG Market [Worlds in Motion]

But what about the arguable king of all MMOs, World of Warcraft? Will it ever get on the trendwagon and go free, or offer a free option, at least? Not so much, says Blizzard COO Paul Sams, as part of an in-depth Gamasutra interview:

I don’t envision us changing the business model for World of Warcraft. It’s been working really well in each of the markets.

The game has been designed in such a way to where we determined the business model to wrap that around what the game experience was. Given that we’re not looking to significantly modify the overall gameplay experience, which is I think is something you’d need in order to do item-based stuff, what that says to me is the business model’s going to remain the same for WoW, and then as new products come about for Blizzard, we’ll look at what the business model is that’s right for each of those games.

If we make a game that’s right for an item-based game, then we would do that – if it’s the right business model. But really, the game drives what the business model is. And WoW has been built in such a way where I don’t think that would be the way we’d go.

It is an interesting point that microtransactions-driven business models need a concurrent gameplay structure to support it. Okay, then!

"I want to make this very clear," said lead designer Hal Milton. "This is not a microtransaction system within The Agency to allow players to buy weapons, outfits, or operatives to be effective within the game world. That's something that we're absolutely not planning on doing."

Instead, Live Gamer will be implemented as it is in EQII, allowing players to sell their own goods to other players. Milton did add that allowing players to recruit more operatives through a one-time out of game payment was still a possibility.

No microtransactions in The Agency [Eurogamer]

Earlier in the year, SOE and LiveGamer built a new platform for microtransactions, incorporating and ultimately replacing EverQuest II's Station Exchange. The result of that collaboration is the Live Gamer Exchange in-game economic platform, and LiveGamer will be providing the RMT service and technology for both new titles as well.

As SOE says character customization will play a significant role in espionage action-shooter The Agency, players will be able to purchase new clothes, weapons, vehicles and other identifying items that "tailor their gameplay."

As for free-to-play, family-friendly adventure title Free Realms, in addition to a range of avatar customization items for purchase, players can make and trade their own on the transaction service as well.

Full release follows the jump.

Sony Online Entertainment and Live Gamer Expand Transaction-based Game Play to Additional Titles

Live Gamer Exchange to Power RMT in The Agency and Free Realms

SEATTLE, WA - May 14, 2008 - Live Gamer, the premier operator of a publisher-supported marketplace for real money trading of virtual items, has announced it has entered into an agreement with Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) to offer real money trading (RMT) in the upcoming titles published by SOE — The Agency™ and Free Realms™. The two companies are leading the evolution of the gaming industry into transaction-based business models that open emergent game play styles for gamers and opportunities for publishers.

Live Gamer's service, called Live Gamer Exchange™, will provide the SOE gaming community within these new games with a trusted way to conduct real-money transactions. Earlier this year, Live Gamer incorporated SOE's proven Station Exchange technology, the first publisher-developed and sanctioned RMT marketplace, into its own e-commerce platform. The Live Gamer Exchange is currently operating within EverQuest® II, SOE's popular MMORPG (www.livegamer.com)

The next genre of SOE MMOGs to incorporate the Live Gamer Exchange will include:

* The Agency, a fast-paced online action shooter, will let players experience the life of an elite espionage agent with a "you are what you wear" level of customization. As they travel to exotic locales, infiltrate enemy organizations, and seek global domination for their own agency, gamers will be able to customize their characters through attire, weaponry, gadgets, vehicles, gear and aliases that tailor their game play.
* Free Realms, a whimsical fantasy adventure game targeted toward families, will be free to play and offer a catalog of items made by and for players to customize their avatars as much as they wish. The Live Gamer Exchange will provide a new and efficient mechanism for trading these items within the game.

Said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment, "We are actively exploring free-to-play and other revenue models, and always looking for new ways to engage and entertain gamers. Live Gamer is a proven partner that protects and supports our gamers who participate in RMT. We trust them to handle this area of the business for us so that we can focus on creating and growing our games."

"SOE pioneered the MMO genre and continues to evolve it by offering new game play experiences, revenue models and expanded demographic appeal. Live Gamer is proud to be a key part of the movement toward transaction-based game play," said Live Gamer co-founder and president, Andrew Schneider. "We're now building on the launch of the Live Gamer Exchange with EverQuest II, and expanding our relationship with SOE to power additional games including these two titles for which the idea of RMT has been built in from the very early stages of design."

If we ever get a game that fits that, we'd love to do that. I'd love to have a game that we gave away saying 'however much you want to invest in this, this is yours'.

NCsoft's goal is to bring more and more people into the online gaming market, and part of achieving that goal is to continue to diversify how customers can pay and play," said Chris Chung, NCsoft North America's president. "This system will offer our customers much greater flexibility and convenience in paying for content.

NCsoft rolls out NCcoin, a new micro-transaction system for online games- Austin, Texas - April 16, 2008

NCsoft® Corporation, the world's leading developer and publisher of online computer games, unveiled today the details of a new micro-transaction system called NCcoin™. This system will allow customers to use real-world money to purchase in-game items and upgrades.

NCcoin, debuting in the action-packed game Exteel™, was designed so that each dollar spent (US$1) equates to 100 NCcoin, which can be used to acquire in-game items and for upgrade purchases. NCcoin is part of NCsoft's continuing efforts to offer a variety of business models while giving customers easier access to NCsoft games.

"NCsoft's goal is to bring more and more people into the online gaming market, and part of achieving that goal is to continue to diversify how customers can pay and play," said Chris Chung, NCsoft North America's president. "This system will offer our customers much greater flexibility and convenience in paying for content. Micro-transactions are a growing part of the online gaming industry and NCcoin will allow us to support micro-transaction based games efficiently, allowing developers and players to quickly enjoy the benefits of those systems. We will soon be rolling out more contents that leverage the flexibility of NCcoin."

In addition to Exteel, NCcoin is expected to be incorporated globally into many of NCsoft's existing and upcoming games. NCcoin is currently available in 100, 500, 1000 and 2000 denominations for $1, $5, $10 and $20 amounts, respectively.

For more information about NCcoin go to: http://www.plaync.com/us/nccoin/.

EA charging for weapons in Bad Company Beta [Xbox 360 Fanboy]

"With the launch of our Direct2Game commerce service, GameSpy is now bridging its dual heritage in digital distribution and in-game technology, opening up new revenue streams and business models for publishers and developers," said Jamie Berger, senior vice president of consumer products and technology for IGN Entertainment.

GAMESPY TECHNOLOGY LAUNCHES NEW IN-GAME COMMERCE ENGINE, DIRECT2GAME

New Commerce Service Will Enable Publishers to Build In-Game Stores and Allow Gamers to Purchase Add-On Content From Within Games

BRISBANE, Calif. - February 19, 2008 - IGN Entertainment's GameSpy, a leader in multiplayer and online gaming technology, today announced the launch of Direct2Game, a new in-game commerce service that will allow publishers and developers to create and manage in-game storefronts, selling and delivering add-on content directly to gamers. Building on the successful foundation of IGN's Direct2Drive, a leader in the digital distribution of games, GameSpy now offers developers a one-stop service to create new revenue streams and expand the range of content available to consumers.

Direct2Game's service will enable gamers to purchase and download add-on content, such as maps, mods, expansions, sequels, and soundtracks. The service will also give developers access to a robust catalog of program interfaces, empowering them to create in-game "storefronts" to market their products. GameSpy will also provide full digital rights management (DRM), billing, and customer support to Direct2Game developers, backing innovations in videogame technology with a high level of client support.

"With the launch of our Direct2Game commerce service, GameSpy is now bridging its dual heritage in digital distribution and in-game technology, opening up new revenue streams and business models for publishers and developers," said Jamie Berger, senior vice president of consumer products and technology for IGN Entertainment. "This new service further demonstrates our commitment to publishers and developers who want to directly offer new content and experiences to their valuable core fans."

In addition to Direct2Game, GameSpy continues to be a leader in multiplayer and online gaming. The company's suite of high-end technology enhancements enables videogame developers to build community experiences that transcend the barrier between in-game and out-of-game environments. Core features like instant messaging, friend rosters, and advanced matchmaking capabilities offer developers a turnkey toolset for constructing dynamic communities around their games. In addition to these community elements, GameSpy also provides tools for developers to build extensive player profiles, ranking systems and in-game voice applications. GameSpy technology is featured in more than 500 titles and the company most recently partnered with Epic Games to integrate GameSpy multiplayer technology into Epic's Unreal 3 game engine. This partnership powers the recently-released Unreal Tournament 3 on both the PC and PLAYSTATION®3 platforms.

I don't know what convention organizers thought they would accomplish by bringing these men together, but what they got was a few heated arguments and well-placed jabs. Koster in particular had some great lines. At one point he was discussing 'clumsy microtransactions' that left gamers with a bad taste in their mouth. "Hello Lumines. Hello Oblivion. Yeah I'm talking about you." Apparently not a big fan of horse armor.

Once the smoke had cleared and then panel closed, there was no clear winner in the debate of standard subscription versus free-to-play microtransaction supported games. They only point that seemed to be agreed on was that anything that got gamers online was good, and that PC gaming wouldn't die until parents can work from home and children can do their homework with a games console. Productive!

Now in "open beta" the DDR-esque MMO let's players create custom avatars—choose from freakish ladies or femme gents—and virtually dance by rhythmic keyboard input or via a USB dance pad.

It's free, but Acclaim will be raking in the dollars and cents with microtransactions in the form of downloadable clothing and accessories. I'd participate, but it would only take time away from me blessing the world's dance floors and their patrons with my God-given dance talents. Sorry, DANCE! Online players... you'll have to wait until you're 21 to catch me at a club.

Full press release after the jump. Michael McWhertor

Dance! Online [Acclaim]

ACCLAIM GAMES LAUNCHES DANCE! ONLINE GAME FEATURING MUSIC AND ARTISTS FROM WARNER MUSIC GROUP

Game Features Online Participation by Music Artists

Los Angeles and New York, April 12, 2007 - Acclaim Games today announced the launch of the online game DANCE! Online, a free-to-play multiplayer online dancing game. In an industry first, DANCE! Online will feature top talent and master recordings from Warner Music Group Corp. (NYSE: WMG), making it the first free multiplayer online dance game to feature major label content and artists. With the start of "Open Beta" testing this week, thousands of U.S. PC users will have the opportunity to dance virtually to songs from select WMG artists.

"This is by far the closest collaboration any major music label has ever had with an online game" said Howard Marks, CEO of Acclaim Games.

"DANCE! Online has started the music based game revolution which has captured the minds of hundreds of millions of players in Asia", said David Perry, the game's director and industry superstar designer.

In making the announcement, George White, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Product Development, WMG said, "With the enormous popularity of dance-based games in Asia and other parts of the world, we're excited that our artists and music have the opportunity to reach the millions of fans who are participating in this growing phenomenon."

In another video game industry first, Atlantic Records recording artist Cupid, with his hit single "Cupid Shuffle," will make a personal virtual appearance in the game. Other artist-related announcements will follow where the artists will create their own avatar and play the game live online and chat with fans. The game will feature some of the latest music from select artists and personalized virtual items including artist-branded clothing, accessories and more. Upon the game's full launch later this year, players can compete to win autographed merchandise and other artist-branded products.

Players of DANCE! Online can create their own avatar and use either the keyboard or most PC compatible dance pads to match the beat of the song and to make their character perform choreographed dance steps. The game features up to 6 players dancing together and includes a variety of game modes and options. Players will be able to purchase optional items from the game shop to customize their virtual characters with clothing and various accessories. Players can also purchase "song packs" to dance to even more songs from WMG's catalog. The game is free and will be supported by in-game advertising provided by IGA Worldwide.

DANCE! Online is directed by video game industry veteran David Perry. The game is in Beta testing beginning this week, which means that anyone who registers for an account can immediately play for free. For more information, please visit www.acclaim.com.

###

About Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group became the only stand-alone music company to be publicly traded in the United States in May 2005. With its broad roster of new stars and legendary artists, Warner Music Group is home to a collection of the best-known record labels in the music industry including Asylum, Atlantic, Bad Boy, Cordless, East West, Elektra, Lava, Maverick, Nonesuch, Reprise, Rhino, Roadrunner, Rykodisc, Sire, Warner Bros. and Word. Warner Music International, a leading company in national and international repertoire, operates through numerous international affiliates and licensees in more than 50 countries. Warner Music Group also includes Warner/Chappell Music, one of the world's leading music publishers, with a catalog of more than one million copyrights worldwide.

About Acclaim Games

Based in Beverly Hills, California, Acclaim Games is a revolutionary company with over 1 million registered players worldwide. CEO Howard Marks, a cofounder of Activision, has established Acclaim as one of America's top online game brands. Today, Acclaim Games offers only the finest online games with a focus on accessibility, playability and most importantly fun. Acclaim's free massively multiplayer games include BOTS!! (futuristic robot fighting action game), 9Dragons (Martial Arts MMORPG), 2Moons (Extreme Action MMORPG), DANCE! Online (hit music dancing game), and Top Secret (a fan developed online game). To learn more, please visit www.acclaim.com.

About David Perry

David Perry - CEO of Gameconsultants Inc. and Acclaim's Chief Creative Officer is a 24-year video game industry veteran, Perry launched his professional career at just 15 years of age by writing video game programming books in his native Northern Ireland. Since then, Perry/Shiny has developed numerous games (including The Terminator, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mc Donald's Global Gladiators, 7-Up's Cool Spot, Disney's Aladdin, Earthworm Jim, MDK, Sacrifice etc.) his most recent games have sold over $300M, based on the Matrix franchise. Perry sits on the Advisory Boards of the Game Developers Conference, the Hollywood and Games Conference, the Gamers Expo & Westwood College. He a regular speaker at key industry events like E3, and has represented the video game industry speaking at conferences like TED.

Both Genji: Days of the Blade and Blast Factor will see downloadable updates in the near future. The former will come in the shape of a costume pack, one that has been available to Japanese consumers (for free) for some time. The other download is a "Co-op Play Download Pack" for the Geometry Wars lookalike Blast Factor.

No price point or availability date is mentioned for either.

Does this signal the beginning of ugly microtransactions infecting the Store, designed to squeeze a few more dollars out of gamers who think they've already paid for the full game, or is this simple generosity, an example of the capabilities of the PlayStation Store? I don't mind games that are upfront about their planned expansions via downloads, SingStar for example, but the withholding of content for future horse armor-like screwjobs just suck. Michael McWhertor

Don't feel like playing your games to get the unlockable content? Then buy your progress, you lazy, horrible business model supporting prick! Major Nelson updated his corporate blog to send us the good news: 1120 points (or $14 USD) worth of cheats for EA's Need For Speed Carbon are available for suckers who like to flush cash down the toilet via the Xbox Live Marketplace.

The most exciting news for chumps with poor money management is that you rubes will be getting bonus cars (2006 Shelby GT500, 1987 Corolla GTS and 2006 Pagani Zonda F) exclusive to the Marketplace. The rest of us are so jealous!

Have fun with your microtransactions, losers! Michael McWhertor

Need for Speed Carbon: Various In Game Content [Major Nelson]

Where part one and part two of N'Gai Croal's interview of Electronic Arts CEo Larry Probst was lecture and brimstone, part three is much more Probst dancing around the harder questions.

It's interesting to see the head of EA trying to avoid talking about the microtransactions issue that has so many gamers ticked off.

There's been a good deal of controversy in the enthusiast press and on message boards about the microtransaction practices of EA and other publishers. There's even a blog called GamerFeast, that has an Xbox 360 Microtransaction Tracker. As of early November, EA's fully loaded games—calculated by taking the price of the game at retail and adding to it all of the various microtransaction costs—held 3 of the top 5 spots, with Need for Speed Carbon topping the list at $94.97. Isn't there a concern that EA may be strip-mining its most avid consumers with these strategies, even if it does extend the life of the game additional content?

We're working our way through that. With some of the initial titles, we did hear complaints from consumers, but I think we learned. We did a better job on Need for Speed Carbon, and we're not hearing those same kinds of complaints or negative feedback about that product. It's generating a lot of money through microtransactions. So it's a learning process, it's iterative and we'll get better about it as we go. Need for Speed is the first example of getting smarter about it.

The other complaint that gamers have is that with the next-generation versions of some of your biggest franchises, like FIFA and Madden, they're paying more money for fewer features—fewer leagues and stadiums, no owner mode, etc.—yet those features can be found on the lower-priced current-generation versions. How do you justify the price difference, and how soon should gamers expect feature parity across both generations?

We heard that complaint more frequently on the first generation products. As we get into the second and third iterations, I think that's not so much of a problem. It's more expensive to develop on these [new] platforms. We've got to figure out some way to defer and recoup those costs. The real answer is, when you get these first iterations, it's a rush to the finish line to get these things ready for the launch windows. In year two and year three, we start to catch up and deliver more than what the consumers expect in terms of features.

Better still, though, is Probst's response to EA's dipping innovation. Croal points out that EA is often criticized for a lack of innovation despite coming out with some very innovative titles.

EA is often criticized by gamers and the enthusiast press for not being innovative, that your company only puts out sequels, licensed products and annual sports games. But you're also making games like Spore and Army of Two; there are the Steven Spielberg games which have yet to be shown; and a number of your executives have been talking about the importance of new IP. Why do you think EA doesn't get credit for its innovations?

Because we don't have journalists like you writing articles about us. [Laughs.] Look, I think you're absolutely right. Last year, about 40 percent of our business was wholly owned intellectual property, and our goal is to move that up to 50 percent or better. We've got some great things in the pipeline. You mentioned Spore, there's Army of Two. We're resurrecting the Command & Conquer franchise.

What else have we announced that I'm allowed to talk about? Skate is a really cool-looking game. That should give Tony Hawk a run for his money. Tony's getting old.

I like how Probst mentions Command & Conquer as an example of innovation. Hello... that's an example of EA milking an IP, not being creative. Brian Crecente

Larry Probst Interview, Part III [Newsweek]

The Played Podcast
Microtransactions Theme Song [The Box Domain - Thanks Michael!]

Moore was familiar with the controversy and admitted that the whole concept of paying for game extras is still largely uncharted territory: "What we try very hard to caution our publishers about, and we do ourselves as well, is to make sure that in no way do you nickel or dime or shortchange the consumer because they call bullsh— pretty darn quickly on that." About "Need for Speed" specifically, he said, "I've got the game. The game is great. Should I wish to continue to enhance that game, I'll download some stuff. New cars. Maybe some new tracks. Or in my case, I probably won't."

Asked if Microsoft would put tighter reins on game publishers because of gamers' concerns, he instead said the issue was literally in players' hands. "The consumer has the ability to vote. And they vote with the A-button most of the time. Either they download it or not." If something is priced wrong, he said, "I think publishers, and we're a publisher as well, will get the message."

You got that right. Vote eject button in 2007. Brian Crecente

Moore Talks [MTV]

Greeting me from the tips inbox today was an email so full of white-hot rage, profound spiritual hurt, and f-bombs that I thought I was getting Florian's fanmails by accident again.

But soft! I was wrong. It was just the Ineffable Jut, weighing in on the bumblefuckery that is the Lumines Live microtransaction stack:

They fuck you just a little at a time, so you don't feel your asshole tearing.

I just downloaded Lumines live. It's a good game, but it's right full of fucking microtransactions. Puzzle-mode; 5 levels until you buy the puzzle pack. Mission-mode; 5 levels until you buy the mission pack. This pisses me right off! Minus the online, the PSP version has more to it than the XBLA version.
I don't want to get this excited about a fully awesome XBLA game only to find out it's only partially awesome unless I plop down another $25 to get the full package.

If more games are going this microtransaction route, I'm going to flip my proverbial lid!

Stickypig was likewise incensed, and spent several hours this morning shoving slices of sandwich meats under my door while muttering ancient invocations to demons. Each slice had the name of an Xbox Live employee written on it. I think he's under the impression that I am some flesh-hungry devil godling who can grant wishes.

But really, anyone could've made that mistake. Eliza Gauger

It looks like microtransactions are getting macrofied.

Luke Smith has an interesting story up, which leans on a Famitsu report, about the upcoming release of Gran Turismo for the Playstation 3.

If Famitsu's story is accurate, the game will ship in two flavors: Gran Turismo HD Classic and Gran Turismo HD Premium.

Premium will ship with two courses and 30 cars, with an additional 30 cars and two courses coming out later online.

Classic will come, Famitsu reports, with no cars or courses. Instead, gamers will need to purchase their cars and courses piecemeal. Famitsu reports that the cars will likely sell for 50 to 100 yen ($0.43-$0.85) and courses for 200 to 500 yen ($1.71-$4.26). Gamers will have about 750 cars ad 50 tracks to choose from.

Now Luke kinda goes psycho on Sony, adding up the cost of every car and track and saying that a complete copy of the game will cost gamers between $426.50 and $975. I don't think that's really a fair way of putting it.

Before we all start freaking out, and I'm not saying we shouldn't, we need to know what the two versions of the games will cost. What if the Classic was very cheap, or even free? Maybe Sony's going to pack it in with the PS3?

If that were the case then it would cost you $38.40 to $179.10 to get the same things the Premium ships with, meaning they could make the price about the same if you purchased it piecemeal.

Now here's where my defense for Sony breaks down. GT4 shipped with 250 cars, they were included in the price, not 30. So unless they plan on shipping both games for next to nothing or the single car price is much cheaper than even $0.43 a pop, Sony is trying to create a little money machine for themselves.

I love the idea of microtransactions, and I think the concept of being able to purchase cars and tracks for tiny fees is a great idea, but first you have to give the consumer a full experience. You can't sell them an empty box and a dream. Brian Crecente

Gran Turismo HD: Two Versions, Tons Microtransactions [1Up]

Prices for each item range from 60 to 100 points (0.75 to 1.25 in real monies). This is what we in the biz refer to as a "rip off total". More concerning than bleeding customers for cash? Players will have the option to use these items in multi-player games. Instead of keeping the playing field level, online gaming combined with Marketplace items may become a costly "keeping up with the Joneses" exercise as players will be "forced" to spend an additional $10 on top of the $60 they already paid for the disc.

The Xbox Live community doesn't seem to be reacting too well to the news, as illustrated in the comments section of Major Nelson's blog entry. Worse PR news? They've fueled the ire of cranky 1UP news editor Luke Smith!

Supposedly, the new weapons don't seem to alter game balance. But let's hope this doesn't start a trend of quesitonable assets available for multiplayer games. Michael McWhertor

Chromehounds Gets Its Own Horse Armor [1UP]
Content: Chromehounds [Major Nelson]

If you've gotten to a particular part in a game, we could push content out to you, so you get to battle a new boss. Maybe you get a new artifact; maybe you get a new weapon...that's just one example.

Looks like two examples, but we'll let that slide. Like most Nintendo staffers, Reggie is painfully cryptic about exactly what WiiConnect24 will offer, but those features both excite and give pause. How exactly will unlockable content be provided? Will we need to rely on an internet connection to progress particular story branches on the Wii? Will we have the option to buy in-game content, like weapons, wallpapers, and customized overalls? Duh! Of course!

If our licensee partners want to go in that direction, it's certainly possible in our system.

While it doesn't sound like anything is set in stone just yet, no one will deny that the microtransaction revenue stream is appealing to publishers. I'll bet my prized copy of Clu Clu Land we'll be seeing Xbox Live style microtransactions on WiiConnect24 as soon as is corporately possible. Michael McWhertor

Fils-Aime on WiiConnect24, Microtransactions

Well, the GRAW 'Chapter 2' content pack is now available on XBox Live Marketplace. Goodie — more GRAW is good. But is paying $15 for it?

Our old buddy Luke over at 1UP has dared to be as cynical of the Content Pack as 1UP's stated policy of relative objectivity allow, swallowing his indignation only with huge inhalations between gulps:

But [the GRAW content pack is] $15, is that content worth it to you? Bear in mind, Xbox Live is a business model, but is this enough content to justify some of the most expensive downloadable content we've seen? Keep in mind the Halo 2 model and compare it with the microtransactions model that Oblivion has used — not to mention yesterday's report on the potential price model for Lumines Live, is this how you want microtransactions to function?

You mean, more like macrotransactions? Totally not. This seems less like microcontent than a small expansion pack, though (admittedly, a nebulously defined distinction). Is $15 too much for four new maps and some new weapons?My answer would be 'hell no' if we weren't talking about co-op maps. But I'm a co-op sucker.
GRAW Downloadable Content Comes With A Price [1UP]