ssj12 is confused about gebx's purpose of posting. Is it to show that the DLC might be pointless?

god.. another GTA IV thread.... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Well, but to say that those 50 mil aren't wasted, MS has to earn more than 50 mil more than what they'd earn without DLC. And if we take into account not only direct earning, from royalties, but also induced earnings from increased HW sales  and from this, increased other SW's sales and online fees, determining wether that money was well spen't won't be very easy even for MS itself.  And there is even more: if GTA4's DLC helps HW sales to a point that the actual PS3's lead in weekly sales is interrupted, corporate image-wise that investment should be considered a bright choice. The only little hindrance towards those eagerly awaited success and revenge on PS3 is, as gebx and others pointed out, that there are too many "if" separating wishes from reality.

Moore was very important and did one heck of a job for MS without ever getting much credit for it.
The DLC will be quite insignificant I think, people actually seem more eager over achievements and trophies than proper DLC, and I don't understand why.

 He wants everyone to know that the smart guys at that site have no idea what the DLC will be and if its exclusive or not.  GebX is angry that if these smart guys on the net have no idea what it is then the average consumer will have no idea there is any DLC to begin with, and may not even know the game is even on the 360.

The problem is that everyone (here and everywhere esle) refers it to has "DLC" and not Episodic Content

That's the problem which MS sure has hell hasn't done anything to change peoples perception

DLC = Horse Armor, Map Packs, and/or Side Quest

Episodic Content = Half-Life 2: Episodes


Its basically like saying the Half Life episodes are DLC... when they're so much more

DLC encompasses episodic content. Any download add ons that require the initial game purchase. Of course that varies from horse armor to new episodes that take hours to finish.

No one can say what these episodes are like because no information has been released, yet they are still supposed to be The Reason why the 360 version is the definitive version to buy.

One of two things is going on here. Either the next episode isn't anywhere near completed and there isn't anything solid to show people why they want to buy the 360 version and then buy new episodes months down the line, OR they don't want to pump the upcoming episodes because then the typical gamer is going to be asking why any of this must have content wasn't just included with the initial purchase of the game.

It's kind of hard to advertise something that doesn't exist yet, which is why the add on blurb in the GTAIV Xbox TV spots is going to be general and nonspecific ("exclusive new episodes on XBL only") without showing any video.

Of course, there's no point in accessing/buying the new content for anyone who hasn't completed the initial game UNLESS these add on episodes are like lesser side quests rather than the continuation of the main story as is the case with Half Life 2. Not quite the same if it doesn't add to the story.

Until something is done by MS to alter that whole perceived value of the add on content, I'm thinking they should have just used some of that $50million towards their ad campaign instead and allowed the new episodes to be released on all platforms. Because at this point, I don't see it stealing a significant amount of PS3 purchases away.

But do we know that this content is in fact episodic? I don't think I've heard that before tbh, only the DLC label as far as I know.
Either way, I spend a lot of time browsing and reading up on games and if I don't know about this something is wrong at the MS PR department to be sure, like you said yourself gebx; how on earth will potential customers that are much less informed than us catch on to this?

Of course there is the remote possibility that if MS hadn't paid Take Two $50m, they wouldn't have taken the time and money to develop new episodes for GTAIV.

If that's the case, then GTA fans should actually be THANKING MS for footing the developer's bill and just buy the episodes when they come out.

That would be an easier sell if there was actually any information as to how good this extra content will be and whether it's worth an extra $15-20 or whatever MS decides to charge per episode.

And as it was pointed out previously, there will be a drop off in subsequent purchases with each new episode if it's tiered sequentially in a chronological order. If they're just side quests, you won't necessarily buy all the episodes, but it also makes a less compelling reason to pay for them.

 I would hardly consider a few nerds on the internet the general public, but you're right, for the most part the general public knows nothing about the "Episodic content" and that is why Microsoft sucks at life.