Electronic Arts is set to roll out this week a new mobile version of the popular car racing franchise Need for Speed for Android users, but not surprisingly and quite like car racing in the real world, EA will start charging for gas. It’s not a new thing for game apps to have in-app purchase systems — developers have to eat, don’t they? But it is quite new for a high profile racing game to restrict the driving itself with an in-game resource paid for by real-world money.
Right, so what this means is — no more reckless driving around and tearing the place up for free. The cost of causing trouble in the neighborhood is apparently a full tank of gas. Aside from the racing genre’s usual practice of charging users for the option of customizing their ride, Need for Speed shifts race gaming to a new level by requiring drivers to pay for fuel to make your car actually run. But don’t worry, if you don’t want to pay up for gas, you can always opt to wait.
As we’ve mentioned, in-app purchases are nothing new to Android mobile games, but there’s something about this particular version of NFS that has us quite concerned. It’s one thing to pay for avatar and car customizations, or to eliminate ads, or for top-level in-game items. But to actually pay to play, especially when you’ve already purchased the game itself, we’re wondering if that’s even right. Of course, there’s always the option to wait for the gas tank to fill, but isn’t that running counter to the game experience? With Need for Speed having us waiting, it would be very easy to just close the app and play other games, which would defeat the purpose of making a game immersive in the first place. In their defense though, other games also carry this “wait or pay” feature. Why is EA exempt from earning from this strategy?
It’s probably an accepted fact that game developers will try to make the most out of their creations, but having gamers pay up or wait to play may be going a tad too far. Or maybe EA just wants this particular mobile gaming experience to be more realistic. If that be the cause though, would they start charging gamers for road taxes, driver’s license fees, and other what-nots the DMV would have us pay as well? By then, it’s going to be too much like real life driving, and the streets of Need for Speed worlds would probably be devoid of cars and drivers by then.
VIA: SlashGear
It’s because of greed. They know stupid people will pay for it.