The Great Big Microtransaction: Mega Man 9 Price Gouging

(image source: Nintendowiifanboy.com)

When Mega Man 9 made it’s triumphant 8-bit leap onto the virtual console on Monday, the online instruction manual lept onto the VC with it. That manual contained some information about future plans for some rather controversial DLC. Just about every video game released in the past decade has had multiple difficulty settings. Mega Man 9 will have them too….. but you’ll have to pay for them.

Before I go any further let me put a few things out there. First off, I’m not one of those people who hate on Mega Man 9 for being 8-bit. I think it was a bold, artistic decision on the dev team’s part, and I applaud them for it. Second, I’m not one of those people who cries foul every time a downloadable game comes out costing more than $10. If the quality of the game matches the price of the game, then I’m all for it. Now that that’s out of the way, on to the matter at hand.

The online manual for Mega Man 9 details the following pieces of DLC, and when they will be available:

1. Endless Attack: Test your skills on a stage without end. Try to break the record for getting the furthest. Results will be displayed in the rankings. Not compatable with challenges. Cost: $3.00 Sale date: 10/06/2008

2. Hero Mode: Play the game with a more difficult level of enemy distribution. Not compatable with rankings or challenges. Cost: $1.00 Sale date: 10/20/2008

3. Superhero Mode: Play the game with a super difficult level of enemy distribution. Not compatable with rankings or challenges. Cost: $1.00 Sale date: 10/20/2008

4. Proto Man Mode: Play the game as Proto Man. You can use the shield while jumping. Some of Proto Man’s abilities may differ from Mega Man’s. There is no story for Proto Man. Not compatable with rankings or challenges. Cost: $2.00 Sale date: 10/06/2008

5. Special Stage: Gives you another time attack stage to try. Includes a new boss at the end! Results will be displayed in the rankings. Not compatable with challenges. Cost: $1.00 Sale date: 10/20/2008

Endless attack, and special stage seem like fair value for your buck, however, I’ve never heard of a game charging for different difficulty levels. Furthermore, Proto Man seems to be the ungimped version of Mega Man. In MM9, Mega Man can’t slide, or fire a charged shot. Rumor has it Proto Man will be able to do both.

Now, let me be clear here: DLC can be a great way to enhance a game, or provide additional replay value. However, most of the above mentioned DLC seems like it should have been included in the initial purchase. Capcom didn’t look at community feedback and decide to add in additional difficulties; they held those additional difficulties off to sell at a later date, and that just seems greedy. I could even understand if they had bundled the two additional difficulty settings together for a dollar - but no, that wouldn’t have been as profitable.

This game was created as a love letter to a different era in gaming. Everything from the graphics and sound to the enemy placement and gameplay mechanics reminds me of Mega Man 2 - which is widely accepted as the best game in the series. The funny thing about that is I don’t recall having to pay an additional fee for “Difficult” mode in Mega Man 2.

-Mike Kurz