Well there will now be two versions of Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate being released. There will of course be the full, purchased version with all of the bells and whistles immediately available at once, but Yosuke Hayashi of Team Ninja has also said that a base version of Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate will be available for free on the PlayStation Store.
This base version will have Ryu Hayabusa, Hayate, Kasumi and Ayane available from the outset. They are still toying with the idea of week-long or weekend releases where characters may be available, but this base version will include a training mode and online connectivity. There is no timer or deadline - the idea is to get as many people to try the series as possible, and then you can purchase additional content if you prefer that over buying the full retail game.
It is an interesting model, and if it brings in more fans to the fighting genre, I think it is definitely worth a try. A few friends have joked that with these additional releases, Dead or Alive 5 feels a bit like Street Fighter right now, just without the ever-expanding list of over-the-top adjectives (think Hyper, Super, Championship, etc) that tend to get tacked onto the Capcom fighting title.
Now mind you - this has only been announced for Japan so far, but I wonder if it will gain traction elsewhere? What do you think? Will you be willing to give the base version of this game a try?
As little as I'm using our PS3 these days, I don't know that I will be downloading it if it heads our way. Plus, by then, the PS4 will be out and Sony will get "hacked" again, causing all PS3s to become useless.
ReplyDeleteI downloaded Zen Pinball 2 on the Wii U, but the "free" didn't impress me and I haven't gone back to really try it. I think in a case like that, a demo would be better suited for it, even it's a limited day/time demo.
I hope they will bring this to the U.S., I would definitely give the base version a try. While I'll always be a Soulcalibur guy, I do enjoy the fast-paced action of the DoA games. I downloaded the demo of DoA 4 quite a few years ago, and I played the heck out of it, so a demo-ish base version with online play sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me!
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by, Rob. That's precisely how I feel about it too. There's enough characters, modes and other features in the game that it seems like only getting to use 4 characters but getting to fully test out the content would only encourage players to buy it.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the Zen Pinball series, but I know what you mean - that sometimes the 'free' versions are really just glorified demos. I suppose it is all in how they wrap up the package. For example, while my dad was up last weekend, I wanted to show him Plants vs Zombies, since he is a huge fan of other Popcap games. He would be looking to buy and play it on PS3 though - so the fact that I had it on my Vita and my wife' iPad did not make a good demonstration of the game - so we went out, grabbed the demo and let him play a bit. He liked it - he does plan to play it.
ReplyDeleteThe ability for Dev studios to try things like this is pretty cool though - it gives gamers a much better idea what the end product is before they go putting money down on it.
*ignores the PS4 hacked comment* hehe
Thanks for stopping by!