Reggie James
Reggie is a 27 year old black man currently living in California. He has been playing video games for over 20 years and currently works as a hardware engineer. If you're looking to be offended you can follow him on twitter at TNAMEAT
It seems that all big game releases these days involve a bare-bones game, forcing players to shell out extra money for downloadable content. This is by far one of the worst things about modern video gaming. Well, it would appear that Star Ocean 5’s producer Shuichi Kobayashi agrees with my sentiment.
Kobayashi recently spoke about Star Ocean 5 and revealed that there would be no expansion packs or downloadable content. This goes against the grain of every other recent AAA game. It seems that just about every game tries to get you to first buy the game and then pay for more content. Speaking on behalf of Star Ocean 5 developer Tri-Ace, Kobayashi gave his honest thoughts on DLCs:
We’d like to invest all we have into the game and make it as good as it gets. [Fans] are looking for a complete package. If you make additional scenarios and packs, Japanese consumers would come back and say ‘’if this content is available, why didn’t you put it in the main game anyway?”
Integrity is the key word here.
I admire Mr. Kobayashi’s pro-consumer attitude and I personally hope that Star Ocean 5 does well, encouraging more studios to go back to making complete games instead of brainstorming new ways to squeeze money out of their customers. While it’s wishful thinking to suggest that DLCs will completely disappear from gaming, this stand could be a nice step in creating a true balance.
Star Ocean 5 doesn’t have a set release date yet, but it will be appearing in North America sometime in 2016.
