It's no surprise that DLC has bad press, I'm not convinced most developers really plan for DLC in the first place. Most likely developers are setting out to create a great game, a wholistic interactive experience, and the idea of DLC - of leaving some stuff out - is usually a bit contrary to this objective. I look at half-life 2, a linear game where they've planned to try a type of DLC in "episodes" and really they are basically proper new games in and of themselves - the engine doesn't even stay intact between episodes. Similarly for GTA4 DLC; - The Ballad of Gay Tony being my tip for best DLC. It's great simply because it makes for a good new game (I thought GTA4 was pretty poor too), nothing to do with the downloadable or addon nature of it.

The other types of DLC, small addons or new gameplay abilities can often seem more like paid-for cheat codes, especially if you are just activating pre-made goods. Again I think this is because the DLC is always considered outside the core game, no-one wants to impinge upon the core game. I'm not sure we've figured out how it should work yet - where's the value in superfluous addons. The Crackdown DLC is probably the best of this bunch.

Of course the people who are making an art out of paying piecemeal for the "core" game are to be found on Facebook with the likes of Happy Island, Restaurant City, Farm Vile etc. But those games are still a generation or two behind in terms of delivering gameplay worth paying for and rely too much on a skinnerian box approach... for now. There's also much more effort made by developers into getting players to buy social status items (more profitable, players don't mind as much), but I think that's a tad tangental and will become less important as games improve and casual gamers wise-up.

Btw I wouldn't have a problem with whether or not some developer had or hadn't already made the content for the game. The costs to develop vary wildly, one competent developer may create twice as much game as an incompetent one, why shouldn't they profit. The connection between costs before release and the returns after are so unpredictable and elastic, with so few developers making any profit, that I find the idea that gamers are judging the "costs" or ethics of development to be a bit laughable. If it's a good game and you want more and are will to pay for more why does it matter how or when it was made.

Tadgh Kelly talks often about the idea of value in games and may have an expanation as to why people see the disc as the physical product with the value. The gist is people don't put any value into the entertainment itself, hard to argue when you see people not much paying for iPhone games or paying less than a dollar when World Of Goo did a pay-what-you-like fornight. They do put value into the access of getting the game. So people will see an investment in a chipped xbox, an internet connection and a sign up to rapid share servers as well worth it. In the past they would see paying 30 euros for a physical copy of the cd well worth it. And in the future they may see paying 10 quid a month to a legit streaming/on-line (like spotify for games) service as well worth it. Outside of this people do put value into other things, the social aspects, the sharing of game creations, the glorified irc chat channels and there is also value in following a favourite indie dev and becoming part of a niche gaming tribe.

So the issue is that people get annoyed because their purchase of the Cd no-longer guarantees the full goods. In the past we did dlc as add-on disks - more disks, had to give at least 6 months dev etc, so all ok in the customers mind. Gamers are reacting to the trend of dripfeeding the game over time. OCD? Gotta Catch Them All? I think the developers are partly to blame for not being clear (or deciding early) how to do their DLC. Fallout3 was pretty clear early on, so that's ok. I think there's alot of love for indie developers who do games and promise so called life-time updates - they can charge a little more, even release crap, but the customer is always happy that their purchase has future potential to improve. This is a clever way of getting the positive buy of some vocal fans who are often vocally negative about their perceived personal value systems.

I would have to agree with 'Little Wooden Boy.' LittleBIGPlanet's level packs - Metal Gear Solid and the more recent Pirate's of the Caribbean - have added a new element of play that genuinely goes someway to airing out creative possibilities. While it is a game that can be very hit and miss in terms of level creations(not at all helped by trophy support), many level creators continue to come up with some marvelous concepts and the fact that Media Molecule is so willing to encourage the creative aspirations(perhaps recklessly so) of the gaming populace shows great admiration. Even rewarding those who seek out bugs within the game, or those who ignite the community with creative projects, with special costumes. The esteemed "Crown" being the pinnacle of a creators recognition.

I know neither of you are particularly taken aback with LittleBIGPlanet(as a game, rather than a concept) but both of theses packs deprived me of meager ten doubloons and offered me two new creative/playable tools: the paintanator and water - which can still be experienced by non-purchasers - as well as a ten new levels and a slue of other items to play with. They did not destroy the mechanics of LittleBIGPlanet but they did successfully integrate new ways of playing the game.

::goes for a bramblebeasting::

My favourite DLC would be the Metal Gear Solid pack for Little Big Planet. A few more levels with a bit of variety (opening scrolling shooter level, VR training) and even a paintball gun.

What about the Dreamcast VMU or the fishing rod? I think you guys cut this content from the main podcast and I bet you'll be charging us for it at a later date! I AM NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS!!!!1

As for my favourite bit of DLC, that is actually quite hard to answer! There are quite a few bits of DLC that i've enjoyed, but I can't think of any that have really stood out as my number one top favourite. Track packs by my favourite artists on Rock Band or map packs for Call of Duty, I don't think i've got any DLC that I don't like, I just can't think of anything stand-out. I didn't bother with the GTA4 DLC episodes at the time, I got them on disc instead.