A recent blog on here, written by 'batking', asked a question of Super Street Fighter 4, and whether or not a game which offered very little in terms of new content, was a valid addition to the market place.

Part of the arguement posed in that blog, mused that the game content should have been offered as DLC, instead of a stand alone title. I am going to leave that one alone, I think 'batking' made very valid points, although Capcom's answer to the questions posed of the new title, was a considerably cheaper price tag to justify the limited changes.

After buying the game myself, what irked me more than the limited changes, was the advertised content Capcom failed to supply me with! Those trailers I watched prior to the games release boasted up to 3 new costumes for each character. That was a selling point for me, some very limited customisation to seperate me from my opponents online.

I hammered through a couple of solo player games, unlocking costume colours and taunts, eagerly awaiting the pop up message that would inform me I had unlocked a new costume, but after an evenings play, with no new costumes in sight, I turned to the internet for answers. It was here that I learnt the 2nd costumes would be available at a premium price, and the third costumes were already available on PSN at a price of $24.99, as they were the costume DLC from the origional title. What I have since discovered, as a result of the new DLC costumes made available for Super Street Fighter 4, is that these costumes aren't even 'DLC' in the traditional sense. You don't "download" them, you just pay and unlock them, the data is already stored on the disc. So in essence I own all the additional costumes already, I am just not privileged enough to use them, and no amount of skill or time spent with the game will award me such a privilege.

I am disappointed to say the least. Unlocking colours and taunts was fine, but it didn't offer me the same drive to succeed in solo games, as costumes would have. The fact of the matter is, we live in a world where paying, not playing, earns you bonuses.

This is a world in which 'Sonic the Hedgehog 2' would be one player, unless you payed the $5.90 for access to Tails. 'Super Sonic' would be a pre-sale exclusive content. As for the 2 player race mode... that would be made available, free downloadable content, 3 months after the titles release, because in the world of modern gaming, fashionably late content is fashionable.

This isn't the 'rule' of course. Grand Theft Auto 4 was loaded with unlockable content right out of the box, the additional content which followed, were more like stand alone games in the same universe. As you can see, even when I try to make a positive example, there is a catch 22.

If you have examples of games which pushed payment ahead of skill, or better yet, games which had a plethora of unlockable content for the vigilant gamer, please share them with me. I love to collect and unlock rare items through skill and determination. To me, at least, this seems to be a dying concept in the evolution of the modern gaming market. Thank goodness I still have trophies to earn, because 'highscores' are almost extinct.