You ever wanted to be a millionaire? Well, guess what? You can! Just give Rockstar twenty dollars and you'll receive over a million GTA credits! The dream you wanted will finally become a reality! To Squaresoft didn't think of somehow implementing a similar feature into their Final Fantasy series. Fuck grinding for shit, I'm gonna just pay my way to the end....
Eh, no...
Reading over details regarding Shark Cards, GTA V's micro-transaction offering, I couldn't shake a sense of cognitive dissonance. The thought of exchanging real-world currency for in-game currency seems rather troubling. Rockstar asks for a handful of US dollars in exchange for thousands of GTA credit, and though it could help those that our limited in time, one would be wise to take caution as to not set a precedent for "pay-to-win" chicanery. Oh wait, "pay-to-win" models already exist and business are utilizing them to nickle and dime consumers. But while most, if not all, "pay-to-win" games start out as free downloads, GTA V requires around sixty hard-earned dollars. Having already already acquired a copy through legitimate means, it seems odd to me that one would be so willing as to pay Rockstar additional money just to turn around and waste it on items already in the game!
Perhaps I'm old-fashioned, but why would you, the consumer, spend extra money just to acquire a virtual product that was already included on the disc? Would anyone actually pay Nintendo for coins, power-ups, and lives in Super Mario Bros.? It seems silly as 80's technology wouldn't allow for it, but it seems reasonable to believe that had the option been available people would fork over the money.
But perhaps not, as Super Mario Bros. and GTA V are vastly different in terms of amount of time required to obtain certain rewards. Rockstar wants the player to invest time into GTA V, and thus provides a wide assortment of obtainable rewards, but for a hefty amount of GTA credits. Sounds typical of just about any game. In Final Fantasy, one gains experience in order to level up, and gains money in order to purchase new gear, and while the level cap and prices may increase, they do so within reason. In GTA V, however, the gap between mission payout and cost of mods, clothing, weapons, and other crap is rather wide. A player could invest hours, even days, into doing countless missions just to earn GTA V credits. The credits would trickle in very slowly, leaving the player waiting longer for the perceived reward he or she wants. A faster way, however, would be to exchange twenty dollars for a Shark Card valued over a million in GTA credits. In a game where a tattoo costs ten-thousand, a million can escape from a player's wallet rather quickly.
What baffles me about this though is the absurdity of forking over hard-earned cash for virtual credits that one would use to purchase more virtual crap. While the Super Mario Bros. analogy suffers from complexity, considering this micro-transaction system integrated with games such as Chrono Trigger should offer clarity. Imagine, if instead of investing time into the game gathering experience, tech points, and money, a player had the option to pay his or her way through. Doesn't sound so bad since it only undermines his or her experience, but it does erode the legitimacy of any claim of accomplishment. The other side of this issue is that had the technology existed, along with the current practice of micro-transactions, one could presume a chance that the developers would design the game to encourage micro-transactions. In other words, Squaresoft would have a monetary motivation to design Chrono Trigger with micro-transaction in mind. Thus, creating a repressed economy in the game that renders long investments of time rather stupid.
Of course, what do I know? I'm just some thirty year-old gamer that grew up in the late 80's and early 90's, basking in the glory days of Capcom, Konami, Nintendo, Sega, and Sunsoft. I grew up in a time where purchasing a game meant you could access playable data on the cart. While a game like Mega Man 2 for the NES could cost around fifty bucks, it didn't require or encourage additional payment to enjoy. Capcom didn't charge the player per blaster shot, or in exchange for any other bullshit.
As somewhat of a Libertarian, I understand it is ultimately the decision of the individual what to do with earned money, and it is up to companies like Rockstar to decide on what to do with their product. And while throwing a few fives at Rockstar for some easy GTA credits seems like it does no harm, that's money that could be better spent at a strip club. Either way you come out with nothing but shame, guilt, and an awkward boner.
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