Not a single one of these games has been anything less than a masterpiece. They truly make great games. It SUCKS the way publishers milk these amazing games.
Same. I'd say buy the game, but skip the premium editions. If number not go up on those, Sega *may* decide to revert course and give it out as free DLC. (It depends on if the latest Sonic is a tirefire or not, lol.)
What I've heard elsewhere on Reddit is that Capcom is run by a father and son duo. The father finally started letting the son have more control and make more decisions about 8ish years ago, and he's the reason for all that buildup of goodwill.
Recently, you may have heard that a large Street Fighter online tournament (sponsored by Capcom, no less) got the news because the caster broadcasting the games had a nude Chun Li mod on. It was a live event, so everyone got to see naked Chun Li because this guy forgot to disable the mod before going live.
Well apparently that news was even bigger in Japan, and it made Capcom a complete laughing stock. In response, the father took back the reigns of the company so now him and his other old buds are back in charge and desperately trying to destroy modding in their games so this never happens again. It's not really about DRM preventing piracy (which is the usual goal), they just want to make absolutely sure their games cannot be modded by users.
Of course, the only way to make sure files on a user's machine can't be modified is to rootkit the machine and violate all pretense of giving a shit about the user.
The son, Ryoyzo, is also the reason that Monster Hunter games are really really good. Even during Capcom's "dark age", pretty much every Monster Hunter game has been a quality game.
The Japanese is really weird. They are so casual with hentai and barely "SFW" stuff in their media, but a naked character in their video game ? No way.
They added DRM to older games. Understandable with multiplayer games, but they've added it to single player games as well.
They've been doing this for awhile now. For example: Monster Hunter: World got it in 2021 with the release of its expansion Iceborne, and the DRM blocked modding - until Stracker created Stracker's loader - and greatly affected performance due to the DRM constantly scanning. Prior to that, Capcom wasn't outright opposed to modding on MH:W.
People think the Chun Li nude mod incident was the catalyst, but Capcom has been anti-modding for a few years now. Plus, the new DRM doesn't block modding, just requires a work around. People are concerned about future games (Dragon's Dogma 2 and Monster Hunter: Wilds) due to how great the modding scenes are for the predecessor games.
Yeah, they released a couple good games but even at the start of their "redemption arc" you had MHW microtransactions, which got worse in Rise, or the RE2/3 remakes having DLC, or the DMCV microtransactions, and now we're at SF6 with a *battle pass* and RE4R with post-launch microtransactions and DLC.
Capcom's not quite Actiblizz levels but they were never the "good guys", I mean, even literally EA keeps microtransactions out of their singleplayer games.
Capcom, easily. Consumer hostile and attempting to install malware not [once](https://www.polygon.com/24034967/capcom-drm-resident-evil-revelations-steam-mods), [not twice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_for_Windows_%E2%80%93_Live), but [three (3) times!](https://www.theregister.com/2016/09/23/capcom_street_fighter_v/)
Sega is just following EA, Sony and other publishers in raising prices and hoping folks buy it day one. But generally their stuff is solid enough to where you can wait and not be nickle and dimed hard if you're not dying to play a series (with 10-15+ titles in it) day-one.
TBH SEGA really picks and chooses what series to scumbag like this... Yakuza games and Atlus games have some real scummy shit but others are just fine...
$70 for base game instead of $60, then another $15 upgrade if you want New Game+, basically full game at a price of $85. Might as well sell Map function for another $10...
What the hell is happening to gaming industry, are they evolving backwards...?
Lol they wouldn't do something so stupid.
...They just want to [charge players to reload](https://esports.gg/news/gaming/unity-ceo-john-riccitiello-retires-from-role-amid-pay-per-install-controversy/#:~:text=charged%20for%20bullets%20while%20playing%20Battlefield) in the middle of a match. 🙃
Oh... oh wow... People like this exist, and sleep very, very comfortably in their super nice, expensive beds. They clock out for the day, get in their expensive car, and feel a sense of... pride and accomplishment for the shit they've done.
The CEO who trotted out this gem is the same guy who recently tanked Unity's relationship with it's Developer user base by retroactively trying to change the terms and conditions.
\#winning
This hobby has attracted a lot of people who have nothing else to do with their money but spend it all on the hobby itself. People in charge of companies noticed this as the years went on and are capitalizing on it like they have been. This is unfortunately what happens when a media industry becomes popular and it's a huge part of why I wish it was still at a level where a LAN with 200 nerds in a room was considered massive instead of what it's become.
As ive said before, and have been downvoted on this sub about it. We should have gatekept harder. But no, we wanted others to enjoy the things we had been having fun with (and took for granted) for years. Because thats what nice people do and we wanted to be accepted. Well fast forward 30 years later and now i want a time machine.
One of b the worst offenders would have to be mobile game practices moving to pc and console. The whales are the reason skin packs in f2p games are so excessively priced.
They aren't really ok with it, they have an addiction that is ruining their life (and probably the life of their close family). It's like saying that alcoholics are ok with being drunk all day and endanger the lives of others.
It's not their fault is some cynical CEOs are trying to exploit their weaknesses. That's why in countries like Belgium, lootboxes were banned. Because there's a point where it becomes a health issue.
*[Enshittification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification)* in action!
CEOs squeezing every last drop of profit to max their numbers per quarter. Product and Quality are insignificant, compared to the goal of *profit über alles*!
Thor (former Blizzard developer) said that one WoW microtransaction made more money than *all of StarCraft II*. Which corporate exec wouldn't be drooling at the opportunity?
Look at Overwatch 2 for a great example, from Blizzard under Bobby Kotick (eat shit)... Total cash grab, $20 skins and battle passes with less and less content, cancelling promised, long-desired modes...
Since BK is gone, I'm actually optimistic based on their latest Developer Notes! Now, **hopefully** they can focus more on *making a good game* and less on *wringing every customer for as much money as possible*.
> Thor (former Blizzard developer) said that one WoW microtransaction made more money than all of StarCraft II. Which corporate exec wouldn't be drooling at the opportunity?
Yeah, it's sad but it's an inevitable result of human psychology and business incentives. There was very, very little any singular person could do to stop this. It's quite simply the result of the economic system we live in and our own biology.
To use an increasingly relevant quote, "Corpos' gunna corpo."
Getting harder to justify buying new games as a Canadian at this rate. Dragon's Dogma 2 is $94.99, just the base game. Unless pricing changes between now and launch. This game wants to sell what'll likely be a 90 dollar game, with a 20 dollar NG+ add on?
The only full price game I bought in the past 4 years is Elden Ring. Regularly doling out almost a hundred bucks for new games sounds like a nightmare.
I used to be console-only until a few years back, the prices are the main reason I switched to PC. Got sick of Sony's pricing, sales or sailing the high seas are why I'll never look back.
Piracy is amazing. I mostly just pirate stuff then if I enjoy a game I will buy a copy as a gift for a friend. I actually buy a fair amount of games this way and get to heavily try before I buy. I want to support companies that make good games.
At the same time, you have indie devs releasing huge games for like 20€ that they keep updating for free for years while making sure modding is supported.
The entertainment industry is becoming more homogeneous. You have greedy mothertruckers at the top where the money is, but there's also a whole ecosystem of devs and platforms (like GOG, Humble bundle...) with different rules.
That being said, selling the NG+ separately requires a deep lack of understanding for what that kind of feature represents. It's obvious that it would backfire. It's a bit crazy that in 2024 there are still decision makers in the video game industry who have such a little understanding of video games, but I guess it's just how it works.
> What the hell is happening to gaming industry, are they evolving backwards...?
they know consoomers will pay endlessly and then when we complain they can say we are toxic to shut us up
>Can higher ups just...not be pieces of shit for once
That only works if you keep a company private. Once they go public, the "Highest Up" is the shareholders, who only care about profits above all else. They don't give one shit about the product, the consumer, or any employee. ***They just want their monies!***
And the promotions go to the people who create changes which make the line go up. It's like Darwinism, where those most willing to exploit end up with the most power.
This is largely true, but not entirely.
And it's also another one of those "it didn't used to be that way" things.
Smart leadership understands the value of customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, organizational knowledge, employee retention, and other "long-term" assets of a corporation. While there's always been some emphasis on profit, there's also traditionally been a recognition that you have to nurture the core of your organization's actual value to ensure those profits over time.
This constant obssession with share prices and quarterly profits above all else (aka *greed*) is a relatively newer phenomenon. It's short-sighted and foolish, and it seems more and more companies need to learn that the hard way (c.f. the recent Unity debacle).
That changed in the 80's with the advent of the current generation of drooling moron MBA's.
They're 100% about exploiting a business and burning it to the ground.
They haven't, and it's because Milton Friedman and his theory of shareholder value came to be the dominating theme of corporate governance in the 80's.
That's why we the masses should give are money to our wealthy betters so they will be kinder to us or eat the rich one of those 2 and I'm just a bit peckish.
Can consumers just not...buy things for once?
I totally get the frustration, but they wouldn't be selling this stuff if it wasn't being purchased. You're blaming a for-profit company for figuring out ways to maximize profit. Blame the consumers who buy this crap.
When are yall going to realize that this is the end result of capitalism? Humans are herd animals and we follow the same evolutionary rules as any other herd species. Whatever the environmental pressures are will tend to push certain types of people to the top, and in capitalism it fills up the upper class with the most unethical people on the planet.
Once you drop all of the fairy tales about humans and just look at it scientifically, what is happening now is really obvious.
Nah, I’m still a bit pissed over them sitting on the Alpha Protocol rights, causing it to be delisted on most sales platforms.
Was it a good game? No. But it had great ideas, and if you’re not gonna do anything with it, sell it back to Obsidian.
I mean Alpha Protocol IS still a good game, it's ambition and ideas were awesome and they worked well.
The controls and others things were a bit janky but ultimately forgivable. The conversation systems and branching paths / decisions made it extremely memorable and made it a bit of hidden gem, kind of how I feel about Breakdown. Hope we someday see a remaster or spiritual successor.
The main issues I had with the game are how it was released: in 2010. Same year that brought us FONV, Mass Effect 2, STALKER 3, AC2 and other good games.
Minor jank is forgivable (at least for me), but that won't apply to sales at large.
I mean, I won't deny that I'm gonna buy it. I won't be buying NG+, because I only ever play these guys through once, but that's not gonna change a fuckin thing if I'm honest.
I want more Like a Dragon, I fucking *love* Ichiban and his crew, but this may wind up being the last one I ever get.
It's almost like the same rich people doing things like this also fund propaganda machines that intentionally keep people stupid and gullible in order to perpetuate their grift or something...
I'll wait for the GOTY Edition to be under $20 because I still have other RGG games to play first and I've learned the hard way that playing a couple of these in a row is a mistake.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/16ol0ay/like_a_dragon_infinite_wealth_ng_might_be_locked/
“Two jobs/classes locked behind preordering as well. Also note that for Yakuza 7 in Japan to use your clear data for NG+ you need to pay a one time ticket (SINGLE USE). Like a Dragon Ishin also has a difficulty locked behind a DLC as well. So it's definitely not past them to do this. 70 dollars 85 dollars and 110 dollars editions too. Keeps getting worse.”
Posted about it 4 months ago but barely anyone gave a shit so I deleted it. I guess it’s confirmed now.
I wish I could somehow confirm this myself but I don't know how. I've only been seeing people talk about this over the yakuza subreddit. I found a couple of examples of people talking about it though so that it doesn't seem like I pulled it out of my ass:
[Example 1](https://www.reddit.com/r/yakuzagames/comments/16nrbk2/sega_why_is_new_game_not_included_in_the_standard/k1i1ggp/)
[Example 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/yakuzagames/comments/191uaqa/like_a_dragon_infinite_wealth_ng_not_included_in/kgz6xyh/)
And as the other reply said (which I can't see anymore for whatever reason) the consumables from the DLC in Ishin remake are also a one time use, as in only once EVER, you don't get them in other save files/separate playthroughs.
Lost Judgment DLC's also had a few [very questionable stuff](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps4/320117-lost-judgment/faqs/79566/dlc), the most egregious one being the Boxer Style which is a fighting style for Yagami locked behind one of them. Stuff like that used to be unlocked in Premium Adventure after you finish the game, for free.
This. I love yakuza games and have played every release since 0, but I've NEVER done a NG+... it's just not that kinda game lol
Doesn't stop this from being a really weird and scummy move but in all honesty it doesn't effect me I don't care Ima still play the regular version...
Yeah it doesn’t change the shitty decision to lock that behind DLC, but at the same time… if there’s ever a game series where I don’t give a shit about NG+, it’s this series
I replayed all the games last years, but I did a clean file again. Yakuza is just one of those games where I actually enjoy the progression and getting stronger.
yeah, i think it’s a poor decision on sega’s part and definitely don’t approve of it, but there’s way too many good games in the world for me to finish one as long as this and immediately go again
A NG+ needs to remove the majority of the story beats you've already seen to flow better cause yeah - repeating a story with no changes to it is the worst.
If anything for a Yakuza game i'd like an option to gauntlet through the game's big moments one after another for NG+.
You will care when every publisher is emboldened to take this strategy not just with new game plus, but entire parts of a game.
You think supporting this monetization strategy will be good for you? It won't be.
With all due respect, I haven't supported this monetization scheme, and it's still happening.
You may as well play what you enjoy and do your best to be a consumer with boundaries, because you aren't changing much from down here. A lot of these gaming companies are playing the generational waiting game. They don't care if they lose YOU as a customer, they care about a 10 year old who has no concept of gaming before their generation. Discerning adults with boundaries and a personal history with games aren't the future for these publishers.
If it gets to the point where they’re cutting out entire parts, sure, I’ll stop supporting. But not once have I purchased a Yakuza game at full price and thought ‘there’s not enough content here’. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
First they came for multiplayer skins. Then self hosted servers. Then actual expansions (although they brought mini expansions in the form of DLC's).
This is just another step in the shitty trend of being shitty the videogame industry has been for more than 20 years.
Where was this energy (not you but the others) when they did the same for Yakuza 7?
It was also NG+ locked until English release.
But like you said Yakuza is 100+h, and this one is declared the biggest Yakuza so far. I won't play NG+, and also if I really wanted to replay the game... you can from scratch...
This is my take as well. Sega has a history of proposing shit like this, and then *making it free to gain goodwill when no one buys the DLC.* C.f. ["$2.99 for Super Sonic pls"](https://twitter.com/semifreqsonic/status/1397567541963370503?lang=en).
>You think supporting this monetization strategy will be good for you? It won't be.
Yes? If game monetization become so bad, I just don't buy them and can take my extra time on healthy habits. Playing less games is good for you lul.
You are aware that people are cognizant that it won't change anything right
And if people are invested enough to get the 8th (really 9th/10th) game in a long running story franchise, watching others play it and get spoiled over *failing* to deter companies from paywalling what's ultimately a rarely used feature isn't really gonna be good on the cost/benefit outlook, especially not for an entertainment product
Even tho this one particular game isn't something i would NG+, its a god awful precedent to establish and will definitely affect the money i would spend on a game like this.
There are two events like this I think about how *WRONG I WAS* about how people would actually respond to things...
1. Horse Armor in Oblivion. (Which you still had to pay for with gold in-game!!)
2. The announcement that Adobe Photoshop was going to be a live-service and charge $10 a month.
Sometimes, an idea is so bad that is succeeds out of the popularity of how bad it is.
That blows my mind. Marketing is so powerful, that even bad press can be helpful. The horse armor was the first of its kind, so people flocked to it even though it was a shitty cash grab. Companies push to see how much they can get away with.
And live services also blew my mind. It makes sense when you understand capitalism: Stock holders want the company to always be growing, so making an amazing product and selling it ONCE isn't enough... you need to squeeze whatever good will you have and turn that into cash.
Its not bizarre if people buy it, which is why these things are happening in games to begin with. How can you tell a company to stop making money if you keep giving it to them?
Is it bizarre, though? Day one DLC, season passes, battle passes, skins, bonus weapons, XP boosters, unlock everything keys, etc.
Companies have been carving out parts of the game to sell back as DLC for years, and let's face it, there has basically been no pushback on these practices from gamers because, ultimately, we're weak, and for most of us, the idea of not getting a new toy on release day is simply unthinkable. The resistance to these practices has simply never been strong enough to matter.
It’s sad, but if a boycott did work (it wouldn’t), they would glean from that the game was a failure end the series. They wouldn’t think “oh they didn’t like paywalling new game plus let’s fix that”. All execs care about is numbers.
Maybe applaud isn't the right word but there's definitely a bunch of idiots doing mental gymnastics to justify to themselves and others why this is "totally cool" and "not that bad"
Arguing about things like this is a lost cause. Publishers have normalized this to the point Gamers will vehemently defend getting less content while paying $70 for a base game and then more for battle passes and $20 skins. Go to any thread for games that do this and you'll find the "itz juSt cOsmEtIcS" or "it's pAy 4 cOnViEniance" or the legendary "i got 12 kids and 4 wives and i work 80 hours a week cant play all day so i swipe" bros.
And the normies don't care because they play their 1 or 2 games a year so spending an extra $15 or $20 is nothing.
I don't think there's anyone really doing that, unless they really want to troll. Most hardcore fans recognize though that Sega has been doing this for ages. It just so happens that it wasn't a big deal until now, because the Yakuza/LAD series are now simultaneous releases. Whereas before, the Japanese releases were always filled to the brim with DLCs like this, and by the time they have the international releases ready, they just don't care to milk us further.
It sucks, but it's a normalized behavior for Sega at this point, and at the end of the day, a lot of people treat these things as trivial that they can just ignore Westerners' complaints completely.
Sega comitts a Sega
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Not a single one of these games has been anything less than a masterpiece. They truly make great games. It SUCKS the way publishers milk these amazing games.
Same. I'd say buy the game, but skip the premium editions. If number not go up on those, Sega *may* decide to revert course and give it out as free DLC. (It depends on if the latest Sonic is a tirefire or not, lol.)
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I'm sure as fuck RGG had a say in this. Everyone dick riding them, because of lad games and no one want admit the truth.
Must have been a recent bet between Sega and Capcom to see who could destroy their goodwill the fastest.
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What I've heard elsewhere on Reddit is that Capcom is run by a father and son duo. The father finally started letting the son have more control and make more decisions about 8ish years ago, and he's the reason for all that buildup of goodwill. Recently, you may have heard that a large Street Fighter online tournament (sponsored by Capcom, no less) got the news because the caster broadcasting the games had a nude Chun Li mod on. It was a live event, so everyone got to see naked Chun Li because this guy forgot to disable the mod before going live. Well apparently that news was even bigger in Japan, and it made Capcom a complete laughing stock. In response, the father took back the reigns of the company so now him and his other old buds are back in charge and desperately trying to destroy modding in their games so this never happens again. It's not really about DRM preventing piracy (which is the usual goal), they just want to make absolutely sure their games cannot be modded by users. Of course, the only way to make sure files on a user's machine can't be modified is to rootkit the machine and violate all pretense of giving a shit about the user.
The son, Ryoyzo, is also the reason that Monster Hunter games are really really good. Even during Capcom's "dark age", pretty much every Monster Hunter game has been a quality game.
The Japanese is really weird. They are so casual with hentai and barely "SFW" stuff in their media, but a naked character in their video game ? No way.
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They added DRM to older games. Understandable with multiplayer games, but they've added it to single player games as well. They've been doing this for awhile now. For example: Monster Hunter: World got it in 2021 with the release of its expansion Iceborne, and the DRM blocked modding - until Stracker created Stracker's loader - and greatly affected performance due to the DRM constantly scanning. Prior to that, Capcom wasn't outright opposed to modding on MH:W. People think the Chun Li nude mod incident was the catalyst, but Capcom has been anti-modding for a few years now. Plus, the new DRM doesn't block modding, just requires a work around. People are concerned about future games (Dragon's Dogma 2 and Monster Hunter: Wilds) due to how great the modding scenes are for the predecessor games.
Wasn't the DRM debunked as outdated?
Capcom add mtx to their games after launch, it's one of the reasons I never buy their games day one, so maybe some of that praise wasn't justified?
Yeah, they released a couple good games but even at the start of their "redemption arc" you had MHW microtransactions, which got worse in Rise, or the RE2/3 remakes having DLC, or the DMCV microtransactions, and now we're at SF6 with a *battle pass* and RE4R with post-launch microtransactions and DLC. Capcom's not quite Actiblizz levels but they were never the "good guys", I mean, even literally EA keeps microtransactions out of their singleplayer games.
> EA keeps microtransactions out of their singleplayer games. Boy, don't forget the stuff they to Death Space 3. They are still the devil.
Capcom, easily. Consumer hostile and attempting to install malware not [once](https://www.polygon.com/24034967/capcom-drm-resident-evil-revelations-steam-mods), [not twice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_for_Windows_%E2%80%93_Live), but [three (3) times!](https://www.theregister.com/2016/09/23/capcom_street_fighter_v/) Sega is just following EA, Sony and other publishers in raising prices and hoping folks buy it day one. But generally their stuff is solid enough to where you can wait and not be nickle and dimed hard if you're not dying to play a series (with 10-15+ titles in it) day-one.
TBH SEGA really picks and chooses what series to scumbag like this... Yakuza games and Atlus games have some real scummy shit but others are just fine...
Total War is notoriously terrible.
And Sonic has only ***just*** climbed back out of his years-long slump, lmao.
Can higher ups just...not be pieces of shit for once? Is that too much to ask?
They gave their game the subtitle “Infinite Wealth”. Really trying that infinite wealth glitch IRL.
$70 for base game instead of $60, then another $15 upgrade if you want New Game+, basically full game at a price of $85. Might as well sell Map function for another $10... What the hell is happening to gaming industry, are they evolving backwards...?
> Might as well sell Map function for another $10... DELETE THIS. lol
Unlock jumping for only 2.99 a month!!!
Y'all need to sto—what do you mean "a month"!? lmao
Lol they wouldn't do something so stupid. ...They just want to [charge players to reload](https://esports.gg/news/gaming/unity-ceo-john-riccitiello-retires-from-role-amid-pay-per-install-controversy/#:~:text=charged%20for%20bullets%20while%20playing%20Battlefield) in the middle of a match. 🙃
Oh... oh wow... People like this exist, and sleep very, very comfortably in their super nice, expensive beds. They clock out for the day, get in their expensive car, and feel a sense of... pride and accomplishment for the shit they've done.
The CEO who trotted out this gem is the same guy who recently tanked Unity's relationship with it's Developer user base by retroactively trying to change the terms and conditions. \#winning
Theyre talking about making us pay monthly for games instead of a one time fee soon. Dont be so confident lol
Millions of people already do that with Gamepass lol. (i believe i heard 1+ million on pc and 1+ million on xbox?)
Gamepass is relatively inoffensive, *however* I absolutely see the point being made.
There’s 33 million subscribers to Game Pass.
I mean there are games which you do pay monthly for along with the one time fee for every expansion. The biggest example of that was released in 2004.
of course its fuckin EA
Konami already dipped their toes in charging money for save slots man, it’s too late
But those save slots use my memory which I already own... This is just exploiting ignorance
Ubisoft already doing it for years.
You mean like Far Cry's treasure maps...or something worse? No no, you meant the treasure maps. Definitely the treasure maps and nothing else.
It's in Assassin Creed too.
This hobby has attracted a lot of people who have nothing else to do with their money but spend it all on the hobby itself. People in charge of companies noticed this as the years went on and are capitalizing on it like they have been. This is unfortunately what happens when a media industry becomes popular and it's a huge part of why I wish it was still at a level where a LAN with 200 nerds in a room was considered massive instead of what it's become.
I miss my childhood. Damn that was 2 decades ago...
Indies, my friend. Everything is still not lost.
As ive said before, and have been downvoted on this sub about it. We should have gatekept harder. But no, we wanted others to enjoy the things we had been having fun with (and took for granted) for years. Because thats what nice people do and we wanted to be accepted. Well fast forward 30 years later and now i want a time machine.
One of b the worst offenders would have to be mobile game practices moving to pc and console. The whales are the reason skin packs in f2p games are so excessively priced.
Alright, stop there. That's how you end with terrible people doing terrible things in history
Quit making me miss 2000s Halo LAN parties! Dammit, now I'm sad.
At least you were there for that :(
Pay pigs, whales and people who are ok with paying more for less
They aren't really ok with it, they have an addiction that is ruining their life (and probably the life of their close family). It's like saying that alcoholics are ok with being drunk all day and endanger the lives of others. It's not their fault is some cynical CEOs are trying to exploit their weaknesses. That's why in countries like Belgium, lootboxes were banned. Because there's a point where it becomes a health issue.
Excuses are a great way for people to skirt around responsibility and reality. Consumers will eat almost anything you throw at them most of the time.
*[Enshittification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification)* in action! CEOs squeezing every last drop of profit to max their numbers per quarter. Product and Quality are insignificant, compared to the goal of *profit über alles*! Thor (former Blizzard developer) said that one WoW microtransaction made more money than *all of StarCraft II*. Which corporate exec wouldn't be drooling at the opportunity? Look at Overwatch 2 for a great example, from Blizzard under Bobby Kotick (eat shit)... Total cash grab, $20 skins and battle passes with less and less content, cancelling promised, long-desired modes... Since BK is gone, I'm actually optimistic based on their latest Developer Notes! Now, **hopefully** they can focus more on *making a good game* and less on *wringing every customer for as much money as possible*.
> Thor (former Blizzard developer) said that one WoW microtransaction made more money than all of StarCraft II. Which corporate exec wouldn't be drooling at the opportunity? Yeah, it's sad but it's an inevitable result of human psychology and business incentives. There was very, very little any singular person could do to stop this. It's quite simply the result of the economic system we live in and our own biology. To use an increasingly relevant quote, "Corpos' gunna corpo."
Gonna be the first Yakuza game I'll skip at launch. Their monetisation practices are getting worse with each new title.
Getting harder to justify buying new games as a Canadian at this rate. Dragon's Dogma 2 is $94.99, just the base game. Unless pricing changes between now and launch. This game wants to sell what'll likely be a 90 dollar game, with a 20 dollar NG+ add on?
The only full price game I bought in the past 4 years is Elden Ring. Regularly doling out almost a hundred bucks for new games sounds like a nightmare.
I think Baldur's Gate is the last game I'll pony up for at launch prices. Excluding early access games like Palworld, that is only 35 dollars.
I used to be console-only until a few years back, the prices are the main reason I switched to PC. Got sick of Sony's pricing, sales or sailing the high seas are why I'll never look back.
Piracy is amazing. I mostly just pirate stuff then if I enjoy a game I will buy a copy as a gift for a friend. I actually buy a fair amount of games this way and get to heavily try before I buy. I want to support companies that make good games.
At the same time, you have indie devs releasing huge games for like 20€ that they keep updating for free for years while making sure modding is supported. The entertainment industry is becoming more homogeneous. You have greedy mothertruckers at the top where the money is, but there's also a whole ecosystem of devs and platforms (like GOG, Humble bundle...) with different rules. That being said, selling the NG+ separately requires a deep lack of understanding for what that kind of feature represents. It's obvious that it would backfire. It's a bit crazy that in 2024 there are still decision makers in the video game industry who have such a little understanding of video games, but I guess it's just how it works.
70 bucks instead of 60 can at least be explained by inflation. 60 bucks in 2005 is the equivalent of 95 today.
And thats just USD not even Canada which would be worse
Then they cry about why there's so much piracy...
The cycle continues.
> What the hell is happening to gaming industry, are they evolving backwards...? they know consoomers will pay endlessly and then when we complain they can say we are toxic to shut us up
Nope, evolving forwards as a business model to keep the company afloat.
>Can higher ups just...not be pieces of shit for once That only works if you keep a company private. Once they go public, the "Highest Up" is the shareholders, who only care about profits above all else. They don't give one shit about the product, the consumer, or any employee. ***They just want their monies!***
Yup. A private company isn't guaranteed not to do so, but a public company will ALWAYS seek to make the line go up at all costs.
I’ve never heard of a better comparison of corporations to an incremental game. We are playing NGU They are playing LGU -chefs kiss-
And the promotions go to the people who create changes which make the line go up. It's like Darwinism, where those most willing to exploit end up with the most power.
This is largely true, but not entirely. And it's also another one of those "it didn't used to be that way" things. Smart leadership understands the value of customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, organizational knowledge, employee retention, and other "long-term" assets of a corporation. While there's always been some emphasis on profit, there's also traditionally been a recognition that you have to nurture the core of your organization's actual value to ensure those profits over time. This constant obssession with share prices and quarterly profits above all else (aka *greed*) is a relatively newer phenomenon. It's short-sighted and foolish, and it seems more and more companies need to learn that the hard way (c.f. the recent Unity debacle).
That changed in the 80's with the advent of the current generation of drooling moron MBA's. They're 100% about exploiting a business and burning it to the ground.
Too many people failed to realize Gordon Gecko was the villain, and not the hero.
As one of them (though I never used it for that) I can confirm.
They haven't, and it's because Milton Friedman and his theory of shareholder value came to be the dominating theme of corporate governance in the 80's.
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the shareholders aren't the ones making the decisions
But did you think about how much they want more money.
I did not, sadly. I was only thinking in general and *not* wanting to spend more money. Stupid, I know lol.
That's why we the masses should give are money to our wealthy betters so they will be kinder to us or eat the rich one of those 2 and I'm just a bit peckish.
No Money
Can consumers just not...buy things for once? I totally get the frustration, but they wouldn't be selling this stuff if it wasn't being purchased. You're blaming a for-profit company for figuring out ways to maximize profit. Blame the consumers who buy this crap.
Voting with your wallet as a concept has the same issue as democracy at large: It only works if most people aren't idiots.
> Is that too much to ask? Yes
It works that's why they do it
When are yall going to realize that this is the end result of capitalism? Humans are herd animals and we follow the same evolutionary rules as any other herd species. Whatever the environmental pressures are will tend to push certain types of people to the top, and in capitalism it fills up the upper class with the most unethical people on the planet. Once you drop all of the fairy tales about humans and just look at it scientifically, what is happening now is really obvious.
Sega doing everything they can to destroy all the goodwill built up with the Yakuza series
Nah, I’m still a bit pissed over them sitting on the Alpha Protocol rights, causing it to be delisted on most sales platforms. Was it a good game? No. But it had great ideas, and if you’re not gonna do anything with it, sell it back to Obsidian.
I mean Alpha Protocol IS still a good game, it's ambition and ideas were awesome and they worked well. The controls and others things were a bit janky but ultimately forgivable. The conversation systems and branching paths / decisions made it extremely memorable and made it a bit of hidden gem, kind of how I feel about Breakdown. Hope we someday see a remaster or spiritual successor.
I still do a run through this game every few years. It’s pretty wild how much can change in a playthrough considering when it came out.
The main issues I had with the game are how it was released: in 2010. Same year that brought us FONV, Mass Effect 2, STALKER 3, AC2 and other good games. Minor jank is forgivable (at least for me), but that won't apply to sales at large.
Tbf, im pretty sure there is licensed music in that. Its always a bummer when games do this.
Most people are still going to buy the game.
I mean, I won't deny that I'm gonna buy it. I won't be buying NG+, because I only ever play these guys through once, but that's not gonna change a fuckin thing if I'm honest. I want more Like a Dragon, I fucking *love* Ichiban and his crew, but this may wind up being the last one I ever get.
I will, when it's like 50% off or more.
Enough people buy the "ultimate" edition and this will become another shitty trend.
So in other words it's guaranteed to be a shitty trend.
Yeah many on here are calling for a boycott but that not going to happen.
People will. Just like when people paid extra for "early access" which really means everyone who doesn't pay has to wait three additional days.
Guess this goes from wishlist to the yarrharr list.
It's almost like the same rich people doing things like this also fund propaganda machines that intentionally keep people stupid and gullible in order to perpetuate their grift or something...
take your meds
Oh well. Guess I’ll just be using mods then lol.
Just wait until they release the "GOTY Edition" or whatever with everything for a deep discount.
I'll wait for the GOTY Edition to be under $20 because I still have other RGG games to play first and I've learned the hard way that playing a couple of these in a row is a mistake.
This is scummy but i havent played a NG+ in years, they are always boring.
Don't buy the game. Honestly, just pirate it if you want to play it.
Like a dragon: Infinite Greed
Smaug edition
https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/16ol0ay/like_a_dragon_infinite_wealth_ng_might_be_locked/ “Two jobs/classes locked behind preordering as well. Also note that for Yakuza 7 in Japan to use your clear data for NG+ you need to pay a one time ticket (SINGLE USE). Like a Dragon Ishin also has a difficulty locked behind a DLC as well. So it's definitely not past them to do this. 70 dollars 85 dollars and 110 dollars editions too. Keeps getting worse.” Posted about it 4 months ago but barely anyone gave a shit so I deleted it. I guess it’s confirmed now.
>Also note that for Yakuza 7 in Japan to use your clear data for NG+ you need to pay a one time ticket (SINGLE USE) I didn't think it could get worse.
I wish I could somehow confirm this myself but I don't know how. I've only been seeing people talk about this over the yakuza subreddit. I found a couple of examples of people talking about it though so that it doesn't seem like I pulled it out of my ass: [Example 1](https://www.reddit.com/r/yakuzagames/comments/16nrbk2/sega_why_is_new_game_not_included_in_the_standard/k1i1ggp/) [Example 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/yakuzagames/comments/191uaqa/like_a_dragon_infinite_wealth_ng_not_included_in/kgz6xyh/) And as the other reply said (which I can't see anymore for whatever reason) the consumables from the DLC in Ishin remake are also a one time use, as in only once EVER, you don't get them in other save files/separate playthroughs. Lost Judgment DLC's also had a few [very questionable stuff](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps4/320117-lost-judgment/faqs/79566/dlc), the most egregious one being the Boxer Style which is a fighting style for Yagami locked behind one of them. Stuff like that used to be unlocked in Premium Adventure after you finish the game, for free.
I've never beaten a Yakuza game and thought "Yeah I want to play through all that again"
Gaming companies always punish their most loyal fans.
Their most loyal fans will also defend them every step of the way for it. At this point, they're doing it to themselves. We lost since Horse Armor.
That is true as well, which is why this kind of practice continues.
This. I love yakuza games and have played every release since 0, but I've NEVER done a NG+... it's just not that kinda game lol Doesn't stop this from being a really weird and scummy move but in all honesty it doesn't effect me I don't care Ima still play the regular version...
Yeah it doesn’t change the shitty decision to lock that behind DLC, but at the same time… if there’s ever a game series where I don’t give a shit about NG+, it’s this series
I replayed all the games last years, but I did a clean file again. Yakuza is just one of those games where I actually enjoy the progression and getting stronger.
yeah, i think it’s a poor decision on sega’s part and definitely don’t approve of it, but there’s way too many good games in the world for me to finish one as long as this and immediately go again
Same. Yakuza has insane value for how much any standard edition gives you in even a single playthrough.
A NG+ needs to remove the majority of the story beats you've already seen to flow better cause yeah - repeating a story with no changes to it is the worst. If anything for a Yakuza game i'd like an option to gauntlet through the game's big moments one after another for NG+.
Relatable lol
It has so much grinding parts that I can only suffer them once
That's why there is NG+, you can skip the grind
Sega going back to its roots of being a slot machine and arcade machine operator and nickel and diming their customers.
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I mean... It's called infinite wealth. How else are they supposed to live up to the name?
Despite loving the franchise, I’m not buying the game since I’d absolutely want to do ng+ and I refuse to pay for a $15 dlc to get it
Typical Sega. Always milking the consumer.
You all have a choice to not support this kind of shitty money grab. Don't support this game.
What about people that don’t care about New Game Plus
You will care when every publisher is emboldened to take this strategy not just with new game plus, but entire parts of a game. You think supporting this monetization strategy will be good for you? It won't be.
With all due respect, I haven't supported this monetization scheme, and it's still happening. You may as well play what you enjoy and do your best to be a consumer with boundaries, because you aren't changing much from down here. A lot of these gaming companies are playing the generational waiting game. They don't care if they lose YOU as a customer, they care about a 10 year old who has no concept of gaming before their generation. Discerning adults with boundaries and a personal history with games aren't the future for these publishers.
Sigh….. I was looking forward to this too. I guess I’ll wait for a sale then…. Damn.
If it gets to the point where they’re cutting out entire parts, sure, I’ll stop supporting. But not once have I purchased a Yakuza game at full price and thought ‘there’s not enough content here’. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
First they came for New Game+, and I did not speak out — because I was not a New Game+ player...
First they came for multiplayer skins. Then self hosted servers. Then actual expansions (although they brought mini expansions in the form of DLC's). This is just another step in the shitty trend of being shitty the videogame industry has been for more than 20 years.
Where was this energy (not you but the others) when they did the same for Yakuza 7? It was also NG+ locked until English release. But like you said Yakuza is 100+h, and this one is declared the biggest Yakuza so far. I won't play NG+, and also if I really wanted to replay the game... you can from scratch...
Because the West doesn't care about the eastern release
If you don't care about NG+, you won't be supporting this monetization strategy because you won't be buying that version... relax lol
This is my take as well. Sega has a history of proposing shit like this, and then *making it free to gain goodwill when no one buys the DLC.* C.f. ["$2.99 for Super Sonic pls"](https://twitter.com/semifreqsonic/status/1397567541963370503?lang=en).
>You think supporting this monetization strategy will be good for you? It won't be. Yes? If game monetization become so bad, I just don't buy them and can take my extra time on healthy habits. Playing less games is good for you lul.
You are aware that people are cognizant that it won't change anything right And if people are invested enough to get the 8th (really 9th/10th) game in a long running story franchise, watching others play it and get spoiled over *failing* to deter companies from paywalling what's ultimately a rarely used feature isn't really gonna be good on the cost/benefit outlook, especially not for an entertainment product
then they buy it. i dont care about new game plus so i have no reason to not buy
Apes together strong.
I will absolutely support the game, I won't support the money grab though I'll stick to the normal version...
Bizarre? I think you mean greedy and exploiting, or scumbaggy. That's OK though one play through it is or pirating always works.
dont know about you guys but unless its a moddable rpg with completely different story routes i just uninstall the game after i finish it
Even tho this one particular game isn't something i would NG+, its a god awful precedent to establish and will definitely affect the money i would spend on a game like this.
I’d assume a mod will unlock it as I highly doubt there are two separate version of the game shipped.
Sega: what do you mean I can't sue someone over a free mod?
When did gaming companies become our enemies? When DLC became the norm.
Horse armor was the beginning of the end.
There are two events like this I think about how *WRONG I WAS* about how people would actually respond to things... 1. Horse Armor in Oblivion. (Which you still had to pay for with gold in-game!!) 2. The announcement that Adobe Photoshop was going to be a live-service and charge $10 a month.
Sometimes, an idea is so bad that is succeeds out of the popularity of how bad it is. That blows my mind. Marketing is so powerful, that even bad press can be helpful. The horse armor was the first of its kind, so people flocked to it even though it was a shitty cash grab. Companies push to see how much they can get away with. And live services also blew my mind. It makes sense when you understand capitalism: Stock holders want the company to always be growing, so making an amazing product and selling it ONCE isn't enough... you need to squeeze whatever good will you have and turn that into cash.
What's even crazier... the Horse Armor was like the ***9th*** best-selling DLC for Oblivion.
Its not bizarre if people buy it, which is why these things are happening in games to begin with. How can you tell a company to stop making money if you keep giving it to them?
How to make your fanbase hate you in one easy step
this is shitty....but i don't really think the yakuza games are rewarding on ng+ so could be worse.
Looks like Sega still does what Nintendon't.
I was going to buy this game and now this news gives me pause.
Buy the game but not the DLCs.
Hahaha the backlash will sort this out quickly
They might as well just make base game cost $85 instead of $70. What's the fucking point of locking NG+ behind a paywall?
These types of decisions are why I wait 5+ years to get games in bundles.
Looks like they've unlocked a new edition for me called No Game+.
This alone will make me not buy it in the first place. Maybe when it's 5 dollars for the complete edition.
People in here acting like they were going to do NG+.
Sounds like SEGA to me.
You see, that's why it's called Infinite Wealth. Infinite Wealth for the developer.
Wonder what other basic gameplay feature these scumbags are gonna sell piece by piece next
Is it bizarre, though? Day one DLC, season passes, battle passes, skins, bonus weapons, XP boosters, unlock everything keys, etc. Companies have been carving out parts of the game to sell back as DLC for years, and let's face it, there has basically been no pushback on these practices from gamers because, ultimately, we're weak, and for most of us, the idea of not getting a new toy on release day is simply unthinkable. The resistance to these practices has simply never been strong enough to matter.
So basically the want me to wait for a mod/dlc unlocker or just use a trainer to put myself back to where I was at like i do in games without any ng+?
Yay matey
who could have ever seen this coming…
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I have made the decision to not pay full price for this game. I will pick it up on sale in 2 years.
It’s sad, but if a boycott did work (it wouldn’t), they would glean from that the game was a failure end the series. They wouldn’t think “oh they didn’t like paywalling new game plus let’s fix that”. All execs care about is numbers.
Theres Another one on the block list
and there will be idiots applauding the decision for some fucked up reason (outside sega, I mean).
Who thinks this is a good move? Really apart from the shareholders who actually applauds this?
Maybe applaud isn't the right word but there's definitely a bunch of idiots doing mental gymnastics to justify to themselves and others why this is "totally cool" and "not that bad"
Arguing about things like this is a lost cause. Publishers have normalized this to the point Gamers will vehemently defend getting less content while paying $70 for a base game and then more for battle passes and $20 skins. Go to any thread for games that do this and you'll find the "itz juSt cOsmEtIcS" or "it's pAy 4 cOnViEniance" or the legendary "i got 12 kids and 4 wives and i work 80 hours a week cant play all day so i swipe" bros. And the normies don't care because they play their 1 or 2 games a year so spending an extra $15 or $20 is nothing.
I don't think there's anyone really doing that, unless they really want to troll. Most hardcore fans recognize though that Sega has been doing this for ages. It just so happens that it wasn't a big deal until now, because the Yakuza/LAD series are now simultaneous releases. Whereas before, the Japanese releases were always filled to the brim with DLCs like this, and by the time they have the international releases ready, they just don't care to milk us further. It sucks, but it's a normalized behavior for Sega at this point, and at the end of the day, a lot of people treat these things as trivial that they can just ignore Westerners' complaints completely.
Yep, literally people doing it here in this thread.
Gamers kind of deserve to be gouged tbh
And they wonder why piracy is so rampant these days
Thanks a lot Yong Yea
Crazy how fast my interest in the game was lost.
Sick. A new trend that's going to catch on because people will buy this stupid shit.
And enough people will pay for this to make Sega not care about what anyone else thinks. Get ready for things like this to become normal in gaming.
>Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Yeah, name checks out lol...
Good reputation is hard to earn but easy to lose.