First up is the matter of offering content, which will create a sort of mini caste system in gaming by offering exclusive weapons or gadgets for paying players, which can in turn be used against those players who did not buy the same equipment. The best current example of this is EA DICE’s DLC plan for the upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company. Those who were invited to the Beta noticed that only five weapons were available, with the other five carrying notes that they were able to be purchased on Xbox Live. After some pressing EA admitted that the guns would only be available to those who either bought the “gold” edition of Bad Company, or those who went online and bought the weapons later. Thus far, signs indicate that the weapons will be sold only as a bundle, and will cost $10.

When taken to task for forcing players to buy their weapons, EA responded by saying that all the guns are “balanced,” and that no one purchasing these special weapons would receive an unfair advantage. Any logical person can see straight through that argument, because if these guns were essentially the same as the free weapons, but with a different paint job, then there would be no incentive to purchase them. Instead, it’s obvious that these weapons, while not overpowered, will most likely confer subtle yet tangible benefits such as an increased rate of fire or reduced recoil.

Thus, the decision of EA to include this content creates a world of the haves vs. the have nots, as already elite players will be able to further augment their abilities with special firearms. This sort of disparity is absolutely antithetical to the world of gaming, where the axiom should be that any player can have access the same equipment as any other player given enough time and effort. Sure, you had to earn the good weapons in Call of Duty 4 by playing a lot of multiplayer games and dying more than your fair share of times, but you finally got the good stuff after putting in an honest effort and honing your skills, not by typing in a credit card and confirming a purchase on Xbox Live.

While some games provide extra content that is created to augment the game, many others are going down the path of stripping out characters, items, and levels which should already be included and marking them as “sold separately.” Just this week, an analysis was made concerning the forthcoming Wiiware title Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King and its initial bevy of DLC goodness. Word had already leaked that only one of the game’s four races would be available from the outset, with the others having to be downloaded separately. Now it has been discovered that if you download all of the available content (races, missions, outfits, etc.) available on launch day then you will have to pay $13 to cover the bill. That amount is bad enough considering that all of these things should have been included in the original title itself, but it’s made even worse by the fact that the entire game costs $15. That’s right, you have to practically buy the game twice just to get the stuff you should have received the first time around.

As egregious as this is, it’s not the first time gamers have been charged for content that should already be available. Owners of titles like We Love Katamari, DDR Universe, and Need for Speed found that when they paid to download new levels, songs, and cars no new content was actually being added, but rather they were paying for keys to unlock content which was already on the disc. It’s simply ludicrous that content is being placed on the retail disc customers have already paid $60 for but can’t be accessed until you pay even more.