PS3: Mobile Suit
Gundam - Battle Operation
Official Release
Date: Jun 28th, 2012
Pre-Registered
Players Start Date: Jun 7th, 2012
Platform: Playstation
3
Cost: Free of charge,
some pay-per-item scheme will be implemented
Age: 12 and up
Pricing Scheme Detailed [via Andriasang]
Gundam Battle Operation is free to download and play, but
there's of course a catch. Namco Bandai revealed today how they'll be making
money off the game.
Playing the game requires energy. One play burns up one
piece of energy.
You automatically earn energy throughout the day at rate
of one energy every two hours. This works out to 12 energies per day, but you
can actually only store up to three.
For those who can't wait for the two hour cycle, Namco
Bandai will sell energy. Pricing is ¥100 per one piece of energy. You can also
buy in bulk at discount - 6 energies for ¥480, 13 for ¥950, and 27 for ¥1850.
Namco Bandai will have a campaign which doubles the
energy for the price through July 11. Also, there are other ways to earn energy,
including rewards through play.
As you play, you'll need to unlock Mobile Suits for
future use. Except for certain special machines, such as those distributed as
part of special events, the MS units are free.
You can use rewards that you earn during combat to power
up your MS. To make your Mobile Suit even more powerful, you'll need to
purchase a Limit Unlock key, which costs ¥300. You can also purchase Limit
Unlock keys for your weapons and custom parts at ¥200.
Joining the pricing details, Namco Bandai provided a look
at the game's battle grounds, showing how weather and time changes affect
things, and the various weapons for the three types of MS units, Fighting type,
General type and Support type. Fighting type has weapons like Beam Saber and Heat
Rod. General type has weapons like Zaku Machine Gun and Hyper Bazooka. Support
Type has weapons like Cannon and Beam Rifle.
What a marketing scheme...I hope it works out for them :o.
ReplyDeleteBut man...We can only store 3 out of 12 energies? That means you either have to play a LOT, or miss out :/.
Don't forget that Namco Bandai has released quite a few Idolmaster games which are notorious for the pricy DLC.
DeleteI suspect that one energy unit might only last a certain time period too. Or maybe per match or such. I don't understand much about the game as I'm just learning of it. From what I see I wanna play it. Doubt there will be a NA localization though. Like most gundam games.
ReplyDeleteI guessing this game is not coming to North America. Right?
ReplyDeleteWith this system people who want to play for free will get very limited practice time and underpowered mobile suits. It's about as pay2win as any game has gotten so far.
ReplyDeleteDamn if you are hardcore, this will actually cost more in the long run!!
ReplyDeleteAs long as it's coming to America, I don't really care.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's one of the most awful pay systems I've ever heard of. Why don't they just make it a bloody subscription service if you're going to have to pay to play the goddamn thing anyway?
ReplyDeleteThen to hear about that "unit unlock" nonsense... Talk about completely using paid content in the WRONG way.
They should charge for unique markings and such, not for "limit releasers". The content is not supposed to actually impact the core gameplay, but here it most definitely does.
Jesus Christ, I'm glad I didn't have any interest in the game before now.