First Ninja Gaiden 2 DLC: Hello Horse Armor [update]

by Terrence Stasse { May 8th 2008 at 11:30PM }

With so much Ninja Gaiden news arriving this week we're having a little trouble keeping pace. What with the pre-orders, the videos, the generally liberal amount of blood, and the "Power Rangers for grown-ups" character design, things having been looking pretty good. So it was only logical that there would be some bad news eventually. In this case it's the return of the deadly Horse Armor Syndrome. Come this July, Live will see DLC the likes of which it has not seen since the dark days of the early Marketplace.

Each of the first three pieces of DLC is just a skin, just a texture and model. Just, ya know, Horse Armor. Those in Europe will receive a download code for their Dress-Up Ninja™ DLC packs as their pre-order bonus, but the rest of us will have to pay 200pts per pack if we want them. And sadly, (so long as there is some sort of Hurricane-Pack-thing as well) we really do want them.

Update: Microsoft has clarified that the 200 point DLC will in fact contain five new costumes, not just one.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Tags: microsoft, microsoft-game-studios, ninja-gaiden-2, team-ninja

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Digital Limit @ May 9th 2008 12:31AM

Looks cool, if that's any consolation, heh.

Anticrawl @ May 9th 2008 1:13AM

That's cool how they produce additional character skins before they start selling the games (or even finish production, how do we know) and then try to sell them to us after we buy the game. Hrm.. I'll probably just rent the game now.

ryan @ May 9th 2008 1:31AM

that's an idiotic reason for changing your mind on a game's purchase. you don't have to download the content dude.

Anticrawl @ May 9th 2008 2:58AM

It's a hack-n-slash button masher game like DMC4, not really worth owning but I like the developer so I figured I'd buy it. They could have easily just added this in but they decided to pre-produce content to sell after the games release. If they had announced after release, "Hey guys, glad you love the game, we made some cool new skins for you if you want." instead of, "Hey guys we have possible hundreds of extra skins, but we are probably gonna cut out some of the coolest ones and keep them in our pocket till we need the cash."

I personally don't like the skin though, pretty ugly hahaha. Sorry Team Ninja, bad PR on your part. I'll just rent if you're gonna treat me like dirt.

ryan @ May 9th 2008 3:30AM

regardless if they had content made or not pre-release or otherwise, it's petty to change a game from buying status to rentable because of PR content principles.

i doubt Team Ninja's first priority is to play mind games with you. the game is still going to be the same game we've all been anticipating the past year, with some recent small dlc that doesn't affect it in anyway.

i understand you feel cheated, and i can't sway your position or your opinions so i'll just look the other way, buy NG2 enjoy it and decide for myself whether the content is worth the low price they are asking.

and IMO, the falcon fiend suit looks pretty wicked, i love the backstory on it. it really comes across in the design.

Anticrawl @ May 9th 2008 4:01AM

Honestly they won't be hurt from me not buying and I won't be hurt either. It's just a principle, I don't mind paying the extra cash one bit if it adds to the game in a way I'll enjoy and they don't scream, "WE JUST WANT YOUR MONEY!! LOLOLOLOLOL!!!" into my ear when I consider the purchase. I know the DLC is just to make money, but I'd like to think they care about our game experience so sometimes I tell myself that to feel better about being nickel & dimed. These guys however have no shame, so my money won't inflate their sales.

IncredibleBulk92 @ May 9th 2008 6:34AM

I totally agree with Anticrawl here, This game has been degraded to rent status. Cutting content so you can charge for it is complete BS. Even if it is only a skin, this sort of stuff would have been on the disc in previous generations of consoles and it should be now. 200 points IS cheap, but so is 400 points for a plane in Ace Combat 6, the total amount you'd have to pay to get the full game now (inc all DLC) is close to $150 I believe which completely sucks. I'm just voting with my money here to try to stop this kind of stuff. If I miss a few good games because of it then I'm not too bothered

ryan @ May 10th 2008 11:36AM

just thought i'd let you guys know:
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/872/872615p1.html

it's a much fairer price than expected seeing how we get 5 costumes a pack, totaling much more than just 3 costumes yet apprx. 15 by july. still gonna just rent it?

seems much better than horse armor to me...

ryan @ May 9th 2008 1:32AM

firstly, your welcome! glad to contribute.

now then, if the character skin is the price of a taco, who cares. if you are interested in it, go ahead buy it.

i'm sure the game already has additional skins with it, but this one in particular is used to boost sales in europe.

true something like this could be in the game from the beginning, but who's to say the extra 2 skins aren't still in the concept stage and won't be ready for launch. they are selling the rest in July after all.

and yeah, it's a bonus that it actually looks decent compared to Oblivion's hideous horse armor.

200 pts is very cheap for something like this. it's a win win situation for the buyer and the developer (and MS).

also how much is an Idolmaster skin for Ace Combat 6?.....yeah 400 pts for 2 plane skins. smells like Horse to me!

Stephen @ May 9th 2008 3:48AM

Epic.

Stephen @ May 9th 2008 3:50AM

Epic.

NitroFrost @ May 9th 2008 6:44AM

1st the amour looks awesome. 2nd This game is a must buy not a rent. The game is just stunning. Hack-n-slash this game is but if it anything like NGB then you will be in for a rude awaking since the game will be hard as hell. I

KilgoreTrout XL @ May 9th 2008 8:41AM

Looks cool, but I only pay extra for playable stuff.

That said, I see *no* reason at all to blame or be upset with Team Ninja for this, especially when considering all the extra shit they handed out for free in the previous xbox installment.

NummNutts @ May 9th 2008 9:13AM

It's understandable that many people are upset over this. The way I see it:

1) I hope they still put in some extra skins for finishing each difficulty. That was always a nice reward for finishing an incredibly hard game.

2) I doubt Team Ninja is to blame. And like KilgoreTrout put it, Team Ninja has always been good to their fans in the past. I see no reason why they would change their ways now.

3) There is no way in hell I would consider renting this game instead of buying it. I've waited too long for this one =)

Tony @ May 9th 2008 9:39AM

I think people are forgetting that Team Ninja charged for equally expensive, equally useless items in DOAX2. There was an in-game store.

There is precedent for this for the developer because of that and I find it hard to believe that this was something MS forced them to do.

Terrence Stasse @ May 9th 2008 9:57AM

Indeed, in the end, who made the decision doesn't matter. And to those who were pushed off the fence onto the side of "No Purchase" thats just silly.

Vote with your wallet by not buying the DLC, not by not buying the game.

PerfectStrategy @ May 9th 2008 11:16AM

Who is dumb enough to not buy the game because of this?

You also didn't buy GOTY Oblivion because it had Horse Armor? Or GOTY BioShock because they cut out some Plasmids and added them later for money? Or Halo 3 because you had to buy an entire game to get access to the beta, or because they charge extra for Bungie Pro which could have been included? Or about 200 other great xbox 360 games that have themes/gamer pics available for purchase that could have been included on the disc?

Or take GT5P for example. I doubt the final game will live up to expectations, but let's say that it turns out amazing. So somebody doesn't buy it just because they dared to offer GT5P for $40.

If you don't want the extra content you just don't buy it, that simple. If you don't want the special edition of some game with a damn lock-box or cat helmet or turkey club sandwich, then don't buy it.

But boycotting a great game for something extra they are offering to hardcore fans that can make them some extra money is beyond insane. Horse Armor, Ninja costumes, gamer pics, and other harmless fluff items do not detract from your experience in any way. The game is going to be amazing and worth $60 easily whether you are prancing around in a special samurai robe outfit or not.

I do understand some of the problems with microtransactions though. Like with Bad Company, although I guess they have some weird options for that, but that would affect your experience if you get shot by somebody's $10 weapon in multiplayer for example.

But the Team Ninja stuff ain't that bad and certainly nothing to fuss over. I mean maybe the only reason they made these costumes is because they were expecting some money back for them. Development studios don't have infinite money, time, and resources as much as some of you would like to believe. Ninja Gaiden is a niche game, and it needs to make money on niche fans.