NFS Carbon 360 downloads

By Tom Bramwell Published 2 November, 2006

Buy before you play!

With Need For Speed Carbon out this Friday, EA has kicked off its Xbox 360 downloadable content plans with the release of the Collector's Edition Upgrade and various smaller bundles.

The Collector's Edition Upgrade isn't such a bad idea - aimed at gamers who either couldn't find or regret not buying the slightly more expensive retail Collector's Edition, it opens up access to all that version's extra content.

The difference in price on shop shelves ought to be around a fiver, and it's not that bad here - asking for 800 Microsoft points (GBP 6.80 / EUR 9.30) and offering 12 new tracks, six new Challenge series missions and ten exclusive cars for the price.

That includes the '92 Nissan 240 SX, the '07 Jaguar XK, the '06 Camaro Concept, and the Koenigsegg CCX. It's worth noting, though, that the bonus cars cannot be modified further once downloaded, and cannot be used in Career mode.

And if you're buying the game but can't actually be bothered to play it, EA's got you covered too, with its now-standard range of downloadable content designed to let you toy with advanced kit without having to go through the painful process of playing the game to unlock it.

On the turning front, there's the Performance Drivetrain Bundle (400 points), giving you access to all Street and Pro packages for engine and transmission upgrades; the Performance Engine Boost Bundle (400 points), which is the same but nitrous and turbo parts; the Performance Handling Bundle (400 points), which is suspension, brakes and tyres; and the Ultimate Performance Bundle (800 points), which is all three of the above in one handy download.

There's also the Muscle Car Autosculpt Body Kit (300 points), which features 12 autosculpting kits allowing you to play around with the front and rear bumpers, skirt, chop top and bonnet on muscle cars; the Autosculpt Tuner Body Kit (300 points), which is 13 kits for tuner cars; and the Autosculpt Exotic Body Kit (300 points), for exotics.

Not only that, but EA's throwing in the option to buy some cars too, with the '99 Nissan Skyline GT-R R34, the '04 Lamborghini Murcielago and the '06 Dodge Viper SRT-10 all available for 80 points each. All of the stuff in the last three paragraphs either says that the individual pieces of content or "many of the items" in them "can be achieved without purchase by progressing through Career".

Watch out for our Need For Speed Carbon review later this week.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (21) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Hench #1 5 years ago

    lol, got mine in the post just a moment ago from Amazon :)

  • vane101 #2 5 years ago

    "And if you're buying the game but can't actually be bothered to play it, EA's got you covered too, with its now-standard range of downloadable content designed to let you toy with advanced kit without having to go through the painful process of playing the game to unlock it."

    Classic line! :)

  • Jontacular #3 5 years ago

    lol

    Edit: I was sharing the hilarity of the first comment, obviously.
    Edited by 1 at 02/11/06 @ 11:06

  • cmmart #4 5 years ago

    maybe EA could bundle in a blow job and all the NFS achievements in an affordable bundle as well. First, it was a microrapement for some of the various stadiums and alternate uniforms in madden. I am not sure if they followed a similar protocol with FIFA. It wouldn't surprise if Arsenal fans had to pay to unlock Highbury. Second, it was the purchase of in-game money for the godfather and better weapons. In the past one never had to pay for cheat codes. Now you can pay $50 for all the NFS content. Microsoft needs to manage the marketplace better. It shouldn't be a laissez faire whorehouse where Xbox gold members are treated as guinea pigs in the great economics sodomy experient of 2006. I can't wait to see what EA does to my beloved Burnout. Perhaps, I will skip this iteration. EA -- it most definitely is on your disc, but you have to pay to have it in your game.

  • cmmart #5 5 years ago

    subpar games at lofty prices --- lay off the crack pipe EA. Nothing good will come of it.
    Edited by 1 at 02/11/06 @ 11:40

  • oceanmotion #6 5 years ago

    All of the DLC is already on the disc ffs!

  • Talha #7 5 years ago

    Sort of like MS's Vista pricing - everything is on the disc, what you pay will unlock just the content you purchased.

    "And if you're buying the game but can't actually be bothered to play it, EA's got you covered too, with its now-standard range of downloadable content designed to let you toy with advanced kit without having to go through the painful process of playing the game to unlock it."

    Wow - I agree with vane here. Amazing. So much contempt cannot possibly be compressed into one sentence anywhere else. If I were EG, I would have awarded the game 2/10 on the basis of story (ha-ha) and screenshots alone.

  • mitsuo #8 5 years ago

    Thanks to EA and others using this sort of DLC model I've decided next-gen can feck off.

    I know they're saying "it's all optional" at the moment (although that's strictly by omission - EA's current gen offerings are currently far more feature-packed than the next-gen ones) but the prospect of buying a single player game to find that something essential to that game has to be paid for and unlocked online is not one I relish.

    Next-gen games are supposed to be fuller and more complete than anything that's gone before. Why, then, are gamers (not "consumers", thank you very much Mr EA) being asked to pay more for the initial game and then additional amounts for content the likes of which has been totally gratis (or at least included in the cover price) previously?

  • the_dudefather #9 5 years ago

    how long until they make an action relay DLC unlocker for EA games?

  • #10 5 years ago

    I saw all this on last night, and thought "Peej is gonna frikkin hit the roof".

    It's not a game I'm all that interested in, so meh. But I do think the downloadable content model is heading in the wrong direction.

  • bloodflowers #11 5 years ago

    Oh look, EA stuff misreported again - why can't anyone get this right.

    The 'downloadable' unlock codes unlock things including ones you CANT UNLOCK THROUGH PLAY. It's all in the small print on marketplace. This is just like Godfather, which had GUNS AND FEATURES YOU CANT UNLOCK THROUGH PLAY.

    Please, PLEASE start getting this right, EG? A lot of people are starting to believe the content is all unlockable through play, and it's not - the gouging goes deeper than that.

  • SomaticSense #12 5 years ago

    This is the biggest rip-off regarding downloadable content I've seen so far. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether a company has purposefully held back content or just couldn't get it finished in time. This is the first case I've seen where the content is finished before the game is released!!
    Why the fuck isn't it in the boxed copy? This is just a slightly lesser example of what Sony/Polyphony are planning with Gran Turismo:HD.

    This is even more reason to stick to my "Anyone but EA" philosophy, because they can just fuck off if they think I'm going to be buying any of their blatantly unfinshed and shit games.
    Edited by 1 at 02/11/06 @ 13:38

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #13 5 years ago

    "Oh look, EA stuff misreported again - why can't anyone get this right."

    The smallprint on Marketplace, as you put it, notes that the three cars are unlockable through play, and says that a portion of the other items that make up the performance/autosculpting packs can be unlocked through play. I realise that you can't unlock all of it that way, which is why I said so. Incidentally, I haven't ever said that the level-4 weapons in Godfather can be unlocked through play - if you listen to our most recent podcast, you'll hear me making that point during a debate about downloadable content, too.

    "A lot of people are starting to believe the content is all unlockable through play, and it's not - the gouging goes deeper than that."

    I agree that it's unsavoury. But I will say that it's unfair to tar EA with this brush exclusively - other publishers have had content on the disc that can only be unlocked through online purchases, and since long before Godfather did it too. As for the general point, I'll simply reiterate what I said in the podcast: if you want to keep them honest, or if you disagree with their policy, keep posting on comment and forum threads, keep writing to EA and Microsoft, and don't buy the content.

    But I don't think you give the average punter enough credit. Certainly to the average Eurogamer reader, a 108 kilobyte downloadable next-gen content pack that costs 6 quid and supposedly consists of 10 cars among other things is quite plainly something you are unlocking on the disc and not downloading, and while we may make more of a habit of emphasising this in future copy, I don't think we need to spell it out every time.

  • mng70 #14 5 years ago

    It's clear by the timings that this content was delibverately held back to further increase EA's profits. Who is supposed to benefit from this content as it sure isn't the consumer. The whole pont of this kind of content was to increase the life span of teh product and not to withhold content for a quick buck.

    The only way to stop this nonsense it to refuse to buy it. Let's face it, it must be costing EA some money to post this drivel.

  • kissthestick #15 5 years ago

    its all about choice!!1111

  • bloodflowers #16 5 years ago

    Whoops - I didn't notice that part in the final paragraph - you did mention it - sorry! I don't listen to the podcasts, not really my thing. There's a lot of people still claiming that you can unlock everything through play (Godfather), both on forums and news sites. Makes me sad.

    I thought the only other company to do this was Sega, with Chromehounds - are there others? We realised one day when getting attacked by AI mechs carrying unreleased "downloadable" weapons. Can't have been very good weapons because the mechs were mostly sat there covered with flames and smoke, but it was an eye opener.

    I think you're giving the average punter a little too much credit unfortunately. Try wandering around the xbox.com forums, it seems to have the largest cross section of general users - although they're still several steps above the local chavs who will rush down to GAME in force, to buy NFS Carbon at the full EA RRP.

  • stoopidgreg #17 5 years ago

    is it the Koenigsegg with the spoiler or the one that tried to kill the stig?

  • MaxiSleep #18 5 years ago

    Ea has got that damm gold egg laying bird in its sights........

    This really reminds me of the 2600 game crash. These idiots could well do it again.

  • technofranki #19 5 years ago

    I got the game two days ago and checked out the downloadable content today. Well the content for "download" is actualy a patch (only 108 kb which could not hold 12 cars and 6 tracks) that opens content already on the gamedisc you bought.

  • Steroyd #20 5 years ago

    /gets calculator

    Wow paying as much as a full game on what is effectively cheats you think of the worse for Micrtransactions yet astonishingly a company like EA just exceeds those fears.

    I'm so glad i've gone off the only EA game I actually like these days which was burnout.

    The collectors edition is the only good move from EA.

  • captain-future #21 5 years ago

    Not bad?

    So basically the release the game without "full content" and then they try to charge you for it?

    If that's not bad then what is bad?