HistoryPrecursors to Downloadable content
The earliest form of digital distribution in video games was the Atari 2600's GameLine service, which allowed users to download games using a telephone line. A similar service, Sega Channel, allowed for the downloading of games to the Sega Genesis over a cable line.
While the GameLine and Sega Channel services allowed for the distribution of entire titles, they did not offer Downloadable Content for existing titles. Perhaps the closest the services came to offering true Downloadable content was Shiny Entertainment's special edition of Earthworm Jim offered over the Sega Channel, though it too was still a stand-alone download.
On personal computersAs the popularity and speed of internet connections rose, so did the popularity of using the internet for digital distribution of media. User-created game mods and maps were distributed exclusively online, as they were mainly created by people without the infrastructure capable of distributing the content through physical media.
The majority of such content was available for free, and the phrase "downloadable content" is rarely used to refer to such content, instead being termed "user-created content" and or "mods", for example, the Spring game engine has many downloadable content under both free and proprietary licenses.
On consolesThe Dreamcast was the first console to feature online support as a standard; Downloadable content was available, though limited in size due to the narrowband connection and the size limitations of a memory card. These online features were still considered a breakthrough in video games, but the Dreamcast's immediate competitors, the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube, did not ship with built-in network adapters.
With the advent of the Xbox, Microsoft was the second company to implement downloadable content. Many original Xbox Live titles, including Splinter Cell, Halo 2, and Ninja Gaiden, offered varying amounts of extra content, available for download through the Xbox Live service. Most of this content, with the notable exception of content for Microsoft-published titles, was available for free.
Microsoft was the first company to charge for downloadable content, with the 2002 video game Mech Assault.
With the Xbox 360, Microsoft integrated downloadable content more fully into their console, devoting an entire section of the console's user interface to the Xbox Live Marketplace. They also removed the need for credit cards by implementing their own Microsoft Points currency, a strategy that would be adopted by Nintendo with Wii Points and Sony with the PlayStation Network Card.
Sony adopted much of the Xbox Live Marketplace's features into their downloadable hub, the PlayStation Store. With Gran Turismo HD, Sony planned an entirely barebones title, with the idea of requiring the bulk of the content to be purchased separately via many separate online microtransactions. The project was later canceled. Nintendo has featured a sparser amount of downloadable content on their Wii Shop Channel, the bulk of which is accounted for by digital distribution of emulated Nintendo titles from previous generations.
Music video games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band have taken significant advantage of downloadable content. Harmonix claimed that Guitar Hero II would feature "more online content than anyone has ever seen in a game to this date." Rock Band features the largest number of downloadable items of any console video game, with a steady number of new songs being added weekly. Acquiring all the downloadable content for Rock Band would cost at least over $2000.
(en.wikipedia.org)
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