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"...corresponds with your ability to accept a little less from a lot more.> MOD PORN As you read this, Bethesda is offering downloadable plug-ins from http://obliviondownloads.com. First out, a 6.2MB horse-armor pack lets you beef up your own Mr. Ed (hey, those animal flank-attacks while you're galloping along seriously beat the poor guy down). Next up, Orrery and Wizard's Tower mods add new specialty structures..."

"...The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion EXTRA LIFE IT'S BEEN COOL OF BETHESDA TO begin offering extra downloadable con- tent for its awesome Oblivion, but we really don't need to drop $2 on the odd bit of horse armor or another couple of bones for an additional quest. Thankfully, the mod commu- nity is already on top of creating new gear and new worlds to explore. The best part? It's all 100 percent free, no strings..."

"...a little hard to believe that nobody in Tamriel ever thought to invent some saddlebags for your horse so that it can hold some heavy gear. And yes, it's even compatible with Bethesda's official horse-armor mod. 2 NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS BY MAX TAEL As if Oblivion weren't pushing the graphi- cal threshold enough already, the Natural Environments mod is a 9.3MB must-have for your game. Polishing textures..."

"...Retail box ESRB RATING: M REQUIRED: 2GHz CPU, 512MB RAM, 4.6GB hard drive space, 128MB videocard RECOMMENDED: 3GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB RAM, 256MB videocard MULTIPLAYER: None NO PLUG-INS, NO MODS, NO HORSE armor, no touching the difficulty slider. It's Tom and Bruce in naked Oblivion for 30 days from the moment they wake up in their Imperial City cells. At midnight on the 30th day, they'll compare their progress..."

"...the 360 hard drive will be able to purchase exclusive equipment using Xbox Live points. "Marketplace 360 is going to be a big deal for us," says Howard. "One of the first mods we're offering is horse armor: We have hors- es you can ride around on in the game and we had this idea kind of late in the process-wouldn't it be cool if you could buy armor for your horse?" What could possibly go wrong? Despite..."

"...Oblivion expan- sion pack sometime this fall with tons of additional quests and stunning areas. Now, if only the developers would stop overpricing downloadable content. (Two dollars and fiddy cents for horse armor? Thanks but no thanks.) An expanding adventure The Xbox 360 is currently home to the hot- test role-playing game on the market, and WHAT'S THE DEAL? Q: Hey, what the heck ever happened to StarCraft:..."

"...will come to pass. Why will developers bust their butts getting in every feature if they can ease back and sell that stuff later for online spacebucks? The second I see more crap like that Oblivion horse armor, I'm gonna vote with my dollar by keeping it firmly in my Velcro wallet. Online All the Time: Halo 2, Splinter Cell, Phantasy Star Online, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. when a cool online game..."

"...Scrolls IV: Oblivion (5) arrives on Sony's machine with an all-new faction, additional quests, and slightly better graphics than the Xbox 360 edition. But expect overpriced downloadable content (like horse armor) here, too. Xbox 360 It's about time someone other than PS2 owners can pay homage to the rock gods. Guitar Hero II (6) will shred the Xbox 360 with a stylish new controller (the design is based on..."

"...and trees, things like that," says Howard. "[With this expansion], we wanted to do some- thing more exotic." For one thing, The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles isn't some two-bit downloadable horse armor. Though it will be available through Xbox Live Marketplace, it's almost another full game, with 30-plus hours of game- play and new terrain, characters, items, and quests. The Shivering Isles are..."

"...networked handheld that will serve as a controller for home, have a hi-def screen, tons of memory, unlimited battery life, and will be affordable." Bethesda charges $2.50 for down- loadable horse armor in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Gamers worry it's the start of microtransaction nickel-and-diming. 2006 Electronics giant Samsung debuts its own console to compete with Sony, Nintendo, and..."

"...THINK WE CAN GET AWAY WITH SKIPPING HOBOKEN TWO YEARS INA ROW? SOUNDS GOOD, BUT YOU CAN'T WHAT ABOUT THE E-MAIL KINDLING NAUGHTYLIST? AND OLD POTATOES! GOT YOU COVERED THERE, TOO PINATA HATS AND HORSE ARMOR! UM NO, NO, THINK I'MWE'VE GOT WI-FIN GOOD THE HOUSE, I'VE GOT SANTA. TWO BARS 98 ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY EGM 1UP.COM Hauling Jolly By Jeremy "Norm" Scott ENSIGN WINKUM DAMAGE REPORT! HOW WOULD..."

"...Oblivion as an example of bad downloadable content? Thanks. Brian Blazek EGM: While the extended DLC such as Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles were quality downloads, Bethesda's first offering-Horse Armor-was quite silly. Sure it was only $2.50, but that kind of content was part of what helped open the door to charging for content that, in our opinion, should have been either free or included in the..."

"...flash his nipples to assist in a fight. Plus, he gives Cartman the chance to have a princess on his side without playing with any actual girls. WORST NEW TREND MICROTRANSACTIONS It started with Horse Armor. It continued with pay-to-win schemes and other blights on gaming. And it stands against everything play- ers should want from the industry. 56 05 ZEKE DUNBAR It certainly can't be easy when your..."

"...added after launch thanks to downloadable content! The Reality: Unfortunately, the early days of DLC saw some pretty egregious missteps from developers, including Bethesda's now-infamous Oblivion Horse Armor debacle. Once companies got the hang of delivering fully realized DLC, the digital frontier became just as much a part of everyday gaming life as the controllers we need to play it. And while the occasional..."

"...accounted for by the Grand Theft Auto franchise 100% of gamers who actually expected Starcraft: Ghost to not be delayed are suckers 0% of the GI staff plans on shelling out $2.50 for Oblivion's horse armor. We'd rather use the credits to buy Geometry Wars. again 93% of our office has been "reader-proofed" in preparation for the inevitable riots after you read our Sacred Cow Barbecue article (see page..."

"...Classic Adventure Games On iPhone (A Perfect Fit), Console Price Drops, Guitar Hero Backwards Compatibility, Tripping Icarus (Shameless Plug), My Twitter (@ Dislikes: NXE Avatar Toys & Clothing (2009's Horse Armor), Battlestar Galactica Rebooted Again (This Time As A Film), Being Caught Up On Games With Nothing New To Play Current Favorite Games: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Assassin's Creed II, Shadow Complex,..."

"...dig Epic's appearance- only approach. I'm not a big fan of the vast mul- titude of virtual items like weapon skins on sale through Xbox Live on day one, but if people want to waste their money on horse armor it's not my problem - as long as the cash items are strictly cosmetic. A ton of character models and other vanity items are unlockable through gameplay as well, SO you don't have to be a chump like..."

"...Microsoft and Sony provide service for their systems. Once that is gone, that content (if it's not already loaded on your console) will be gone forever. We won't cry if that means losing access to our horse armor in Oblivion a few years from now, but some missing content will prove more detrimental to the overall experience. Late last year, Rocksteady was criticized for locking the Catwoman chapters of Batman:..."

"...demand is there, publishers and developers are still struggling to find the best way to meet it. Quality is important; slapping a price tag on some recycled or re-skinned character models isn't enough. Horse armor may have cut it in the early days of DLC, but gamers want something more substantial now that provides incentive to continue playing our favorite games. Putting together proper DLC requires strategy,..."

"...you buy her human legs to enable the on-land portions? By purchasing this, we're telling game creators that this is acceptable. If we're going to stand pat for things like this, we can never make horse armor jokes again. Justin Cooper San Marcos, TX You're not the only one who's turned off by Disney Infinity's business model, Justin. Many gamers and critics alike have decried how the series (along with..."

"...something [Square Enix] may want to take up for future Final Fantasies." OUTRAGEOUS MICROTRANSACTIONS by Jeff Marchiafava High-Priced Horseplay The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Oblivion's $2.50 horse armor DLC is nothing compared to the other entries on this list, but that's precisely the point. Bethesda didn't just pave the way for absurd and overpriced microtransactions; it proved to the wider industry..."

"...gatekeeper, that's their problem, not yours. If you're a fan, go ahead and show it! Jackpot! I loved the Top 10 Outrageous Microtransactions list (issue 297). Bethesda even revived the infamous horse armor in its latest foray into microtransactions: Fallout 4's Creation Club has its own Horse Power Armor which I may or may not have bought. Royce Miller via email Your Top 10 Outrageous Microtransactions..."

"...game's price, though they usually follow current industry stan- dards. We sometimes see publishers test the waters in different ways, like when Bethesda released The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion's horse armor DLC for $5. At the time, that test was criticized for being too expensive, but is now relatively cheap when stacked up against the offerings in most free-to-play games. The market and success of..."