The Cost of Gaming

EA's latest scandal, in which EA made a video game with so many micro transactions some reports say that a person would need to spend around $2100 in order to play the whole game, has got me thinking: Do I need to keep buying video games? Any AAA game I buy anymore inundates me with invitations to spend money on in-game currency, DLC and general upgrades in order to get the "Full experience". Even Pokemon has its own version by releasing the next game before I finished the last one.

Even if I do choose to ignore it some of these games insidiously sneak in little incentives to get you to put more money in their creators pockets. Injustice 2, one of my favorite games this year, wants me to spend $30 to unlock the coloring slider for one character. A COLOR!

Frankly, i'm sick of it. I don't have the most extensive game library, in fact I usually only get 1 maybe 2 new major games a year, but I feel that's about the same as the average consumer. Buying a video game for me is the result of months of anticipation, watching trailers, saving money, then reading reviews from both consumers and video game critics before deciding if the game is worth my time and money, and after all that to then be asked to kick them another $20 for some extra piece is insulting.

This whole incident has lead me to the thought: If all AAA gaming can do is offer to sell me a bulk of a game and say that I can have the rest at a later date if I pay for it, and it looks like the trend is going to only get worse, do I need to keep buying video games?

My parents were taking turns beating Mario before I was born, so I have literally played video games my entire life. Video games are as much a part of my identity as my faith, or my dark hair, so to question weather they need to still be part of my life is not a question I take lightly. I certainly won't be wanting for hobbies, what with my drawing, cross stitch, writing, board/card games, Lego collection, action figure collection, reading and film, but it would leave a hole where my PS4 controller used to fill nonetheless.

Of course, my entire argument loses validity when just yesterday I spent $12 on the Witcher 3 DLC because it was on sale. Maybe if this is the trend of the future, I should just find games that I can deal with paying a little extra for DLC and accept it. Maybe eventually they'll find an easier way to pay for the microtransactions and DLC, like sending someone over to beat me up, take my lunch money and give me a wedgie.

-JOE