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[Seraphis Cain]

So today I remembered that Double Dragon III, which came out in the arcades in 1990, had an early form of microtransactions. There was an in-game shop in which you could buy extra lives/life/attack power/moves/weapons with real money. Each one cost a coin (quarter, token, whatever). Combine that with the absolutely ludicrous difficulty of the game and it kinda makes Double Dragon III one of the scummiest arcade games I can think of.

(Interestingly, the Japanese version of the game lacked this, instead giving you those extra moves by default, and placing weapons throughout the stages.)

Any other really early examples of stuff like this? Kinda blows my mind that the concept of microtransactions existed as far back as 25 years ago.

 

[Nintendont]

You listen to Giant Bomb too?

 

[oldmario]

don't all arcade machines have microtransactions? if you die you have to pay to start the game again

 

[Leafhopper]

Arcade machines are microtransaction machines.

 

[Seraphis Cain]

You listen to Giant Bomb too?

I actually don't. Did they talk about this recently? :lol

 

[Phediuk]

Lost Tomb had microtransactions in 1983

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8456

The most unusual feature in this game is a false advertisement that appears during the demo of this game. A graphic reads: "And now a word from our sponsor" flashing on the screen, and the machine offering to sell you 99 whips for 25 cents a bargain, if you are going to do some serious playing, but also an indication of how expensive this machine can be.

 

[koopas]

I actually don't. Did they talk about this recently? :lol

They copied you dude.

 

[notworksafe]

So did Gauntlet and a few others where you put money in to get HP back.

 

[The Albatross]

Isn't the arcade concept one of microtransactions? Games at home cost $60, $70, and you could go to this arcade and spend $0.25 or $0.50 to play a game that may only last 4, 5 minutes, and if you die, you pump another $0.50 in to keep playing.

 

[onimonkii]

i'm so tired of all this on-machine dlc

 

[Phediuk]

So did Gauntlet and a few others where you put money in to get HP back.

If that counts as a microtransaction, then Lunar Lander had them in 1979, as the only way to refill fuel is to put another quarter in the machine.

 

[Seraphis Cain]

don't all arcade machines have microtransactions? if you die you have to pay to start the game again

Arcade machines are microtransaction machines.

Isn't the arcade concept one of microtransactions? Games at home cost $60, $70, and you could go to this arcade and spend $0.25 or $0.50 to play a game that may only last 4, 5 minutes, and if you die, you pump another $0.50 in to keep playing.

This is all true, yes, but I'm more talking about the idea of buying in-game perks, specifically the moves and weapons and attack power and such.

 

[krae_man]

You could buy money to upgrade your truck in Super Off Road and that came out in 1989.

 

[Vlaphor]

Take comfort in the fact that Double Dragon 3 is not only the worst game in the series, but one of the least enjoyable beat-em-ups of all time (USA or JAP), so not playing it is an entirely viable (and some would say, advisable) option.

NES game is fine though.

 

[SeanR1221]

You listen to Giant Bomb too?

Hahahahaha I was gonna post this

 

[ILoveBish]

WWF wrestlefest had HP reload with cash too if I recall correctly.

 

[Leafhopper]

This is all true, yes, but I'm more talking about the idea of buying in-game perks, specifically the moves and weapons and attack power and such.

Oh I see what you mean. Yeah those were kind of rare.

 

[Seraphis Cain]

Take comfort in the fact that Double Dragon 3 is not only the worst game in the series, but one of the least enjoyable beat-em-ups of all time (USA or JAP), so not playing it is an entirely viable (and some would say, advisable) option.

NES game is fine though.

DD3 NES is stupidly hard too. :lol

 

[Tripon]

don't all arcade machines have microtransactions? if you die you have to pay to start the game again

Arcade machines are microtransaction machines.

Arcades are paid as you go machines. You know the full price walking in, and is always a set price to continue the game.

There is no "BEST PRICE" where you can spend $100 in one purchase in an arcade game like there is in Plants vs. Zombies 2 or other F2P mobile games.

 

[matrixman92]

For Initial D, you need to buy a card to be able to save progress...not sure if that counts though

 

[Biker19]

don't all arcade machines have microtransactions? if you die you have to pay to start the game again

Arcade machines are microtransaction machines.

Most arcade games were full games from the start.

 

[LeBart]

So the asshole rich kid who came in everyday with a belt bag full of quarters to play Double Dragon for 90 minutes non-stop was basically a whale?

Although come to think of it, there was no option to put a hundred dollar bill inside the machine to get 5000 "Dragon Bucks" or whatever, so it wasn't real microtransactions...

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

Arcades are paid as you go machines. You know the full price walking in, and is always a set price to continue the game.

There is no "BEST PRICE" where you can spend $100 in one purchase in an arcade game like there is in Plants vs. Zombies 2 or other F2P mobile games.

Then again, arcades were not F2P.

 

[Nairume]

You listen to Giant Bomb too?

Retronauts made this observation a few years back too.

Conveniently just happened to listen to that episode today

 

[ship it]

gauntlet had microtransactions, you spent quarters to get extra life while in game.

Crime Fighters had the same thing.

So did Gauntlet and a few others where you put money in to get HP back.

oops beat

edit: beat a million times. I should read next time.

 

[ArjanN]

Retronauts made this observation a few years back too.

Conveniently just happened to listen to that episode today

I assumed it was because of the recent Double Dragon re-releases.

Take comfort in the fact that Double Dragon 3 is not only the worst game in the series, but one of the least enjoyable beat-em-ups of all time (USA or JAP), so not playing it is an entirely viable (and some would say, advisable) option.

NES game is fine though.

I just played all three games through the Double Dragon Trilogy on Steam and was reminded that, yeah, DD3 sucks hard.

Playing for achievements also made me notice a couple of other things:

DD1 is super easy to break with the elbow, except for the totally cheap traps in the last level, which are clearly designed to get an easy extra buck or two out of you. The other DD games (and lots of arcade games) also do this, simply because they know that once you've gotten that far you're going to continue anyway. DD2 was also clearly balanced to be harder than DD1, the regular AI is better, but the bosses are also pretty lame in that you either cheese them or brute-force them by putting in more money.

 

[bengraven]

DD3 NES is stupidly hard too. :lol

Yep. Very much so. My uncles were huge DD2NES fans and every time I was at their house they were playing and beating it. They could barely get past the first level in DD3 while playing alone - I think their best was lvl 3 together. I could only get halfway through lvl 1.

Don't you have to earn shit to make it easier? Like a Rogue-like? I can't remember.