Downloadable content is good. You don't have to out to the store to buy it, nor does it take up more space in that box bursting with games, controllers and other paraphernalia involved in gaming. But these days, you see additional downloadable content for almost every game that comes out. If the game is likely to sell, the downloadable content will be announced before it actually comes out. Game companies are dangling the sweet, alluring hook of "free downloadable content" in front of our faces, but only if we preorder, buy it on the first day or buy a more expensive, limited edition.

What boggles me here is this: if the downloadable content is ready to roll before the game comes out, why isn't it in the game already? It's probably easier for everyone that way, as a lot of people experience problems with some DLC. It's a marketing tactic, I know. It's meant to maximize profits and make numbers bigger. But it's a blatant and rather low one. It's like they're telling you, "We have this much to sell, but only if you buy it now, at our leisure, right now. Tomorrow you're going to have to pay more." It's not advertising. It's pressuring the buyer into thinking that his or her money will lose value if spent tomorrow. To a point, this is true. But some gamers, like myself, like to hang back, check out a few reviews, try the game at a friend's and wait for the atrocious price to drop down a little. This is understandable, because where I am, new games are worth about 80 US dollars, with the more popular ones reaching as much as 100.

So, why on earth all this pressure, all this rush to buy games because of free DLC on the first day? What guarantee do these companies have that their games are actually worth it, and that their free DLC is something hurriedly thrown together to unload money into bank accounts?

I, for one, will continue to hang back and pick my games at my leisure. A good game will not need additional free content to make it worth it's money, so I will not be bothered I miss it.