Gaming going down the toilet...

I need to rant and point out some negatives in the gaming industry that are starting to grind my gears! I have just beaten a game called Dante's Inferno and the experience upon completion of this title has left me a little sour. For those of you that were not aware I am a trophy hunter (or achievement hunter if you own an Xbox) and I love to play a game to the point where I never want to play it again by mastering everything a particular title has to offer.

Dante's Inferno has given me one hell of a cold slap in the face though since twelve of the trophies required to get the perfect completion involve you logging onto the online store and spending twenty dollars buying additional content and bonus chapters. So assuming I didn't just borrow this title from my Grandpa and I had actually spent the hefty sixty dollar price tag to play this mediocre game I would now have to shell out more money to simply add this game to a collection of titles I have mastered. -Bringing it's total price to eighty dollars.

The EA and Visceral studio intentionally made an incomplete game, then placed non-existent achievements in their unfinished work, just so they could siphon more money out of your pocket after you have completed it to unlock the content required to get the rest of the achievements they built into their work.

This is wrong! Downloadable Content (DLC) should be a choice if you want to pursue a game further or customize your game to your liking! Not mandatory if you want to beat a game to the fullest! Dante's Inferno has done just that and has literally spit on my face as a gamer! If you are a gamer I urge you to never get involved with this title - If we don't consume this product perhaps this mentality will cease to exist.

To contrast my point I would like to call attention to two titles that have done excellent work: Dead Space 2 and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. They may not be the best games in their genre but the trophy/achievement lists are perfect in showcasing how DLC should work:

-You can spend sixty dollars on either of these titles and you will get a complete game that's beautifully written from start to finish.
-The achievement check list involves only content released onto the disc you have purchased.
-If you like either of these games enough you have the option to download additional content to flesh out the story, play the game again with new costumes or custom weapons, and add bonus trophies/achievements onto your game that have a separate list not affecting the original game.

Support those two titles! They treat us fairly and give us an experience that is enjoyable without the pressure of having to open our wallets to complete their work for them after it has gone to the market.

As always, thank you for reading.
-Schane Mitchell.

P.S. Dead Space 2 may be an EA developed title, yet it seems that particular division has a little more brain power, and a lot less greed, than the studio behind Dante's Inferno.