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Sci-fi survival shooter Dead Space 3 includes micro-transactions, Eurogamer uncovered last week, as a way to save time with the game's weapon-crafting system. The response to this news was fairly one-sided: that publisher EA had switched into full money-grabbing mode to nickel-and-dime hardcore gamers. It was another example of a company initiating a "pay to win" scheme, and an encroachment of free-to-play principles into a game that already costs £40. But is it really such a controversial move? Is it that unexpected? Or is it, like other time-saving examples in console games, something you can just ignore?Handing over your cash to progress faster is nothing new. Spending money on micro-transactions is a bit like sitting on the phone to EA's cheats and tips phoneline before GameFAQs was invented. Nowadays there's no holding music, no dialling an 0900 number while EA browses the internet for you. You get help directly sent to your game in the form of more money.
A more recent version of this is time-saver DLC. It's a concept that, to me, seems a little ridiculous. If I have bought a full-price game, the last thing I want to do is spend more to unlock on-disc items faster than normal. If you are enjoying a game (and presumably you are if you are willing to spend extra), then why use your money to boost through the experience faster? If I was committed enough that I wanted to fully explore how a game's complex weapon-crafting works, I would devote the time needed to accomplish this.
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