Criterion is EA, and there's no way that Sony or Microsoft would ever try to piss off EA. The free updates for Burnout Paradise are free because those are some of the stuff that they are making for the PC version, so it wouldn't be hard to release it on consoles.

But Valve is just a developer that has little power against PS3/360. If Sony or Microsoft are pressuring to charge for TF2 Updates, what does Valve have against them?

valve can refuse to make games for them.
they are easily strong enough to go PC only.
But thats in a drastic case.

Maybe the free burnout content has something to do with the fact that Burnout is going to be released on the PSN as a downloadable game. Maybe EA and Sony agreed to allow free DLC only if the game is offered for full downloadable release. It's possible, although I still feel Valve is just bullshitting to get fans to like them more. Sympathy card FTL

I don't know if I could play a valve game on a console. I mean I had Counter Strike for Xbox but that wasn't very good. I love that free content.

i dont believe this.
they are comparing these updates they allegedly want to do with fixing a game so it works with a new graphics driver.... not even additional content, just making it work better.
as well as the fact that other people have given out free content.

Yeah Valve is tiny, but their games are published by EA too. I don't see any reason why EA wouldn't go to bat for them.

For those thinking the Burnout Paradise free content is because of Criterion's good relationship with Sony, it's not, because it's free on 360 also.

Self absorbed springs to mind when a developer thinks they should be treated as a special case rather then like everyone else. The certification process exists for a reason, and that reason is that third party developers cannot be expected to police themselves. Nor should they ever be exempt from certification that is to great a temptation. A temptation to do what is best for them and bad for the consumer.

I also like the comments about seat of the pants patching. I do not care what developer you are talking about doing that kind of thing on a console is a recipe for disaster. Every PC gamer at one point or another has had to debug their game, or had to alter key aspects of their system to make a piece of software workable. That is not an option on a console. We do not have the power over file that one has a PC. So one wrong line of code could leave a game null and void, and it is going to happen.

This kind of logic irritates me to no end. I have read similar nonsense from perhaps a dozen developers. They would love to run the quality right down into the ground the way it has been on the PC for years, because nobody is forcing developers into competent delivery. I wonder if they understand that one of the reasons consumers purchase consoles is to avoid any risk of having to go through the idiocy.

Because EA licensed Valve's games to publish. The EA/Valve contract is the complete opposite contract compared to say a contract for Ratchet and Clank between Sony/Insomniac.

EA wont go up to bat for Valve as Valve controls their games. If EA pissed Valve off Valve would stop having their games published by EA and go to someone else.

Valve isnt a "tiny" developer as you think. Valve is one of the biggest PC developers there is. They choose to let other companies advertise and distribute their games instead of going through the hassle.

I am so sick of Valve's Bull S***. I used to love the Half Life series and I will not buy a PC game unless it is on steam. But if they don't stop all of their down talking on the home consoles I will never send another dollar their way. The way this company walks around like they are above the law is F'ed up, 1 good game every 8 years is not enough in my book to act the way they do.

 So what do you think they are trying to gain from this? The updates exist, and it would be trivial for the PR departments of the consoles to come out and deny trying to make them charge for the update. What is the endgame for Valve in this scenario of yours? Why wouldn't they want to update the game?