Downloadable Extras: Good Value or a Rip Off?

So I was recently reading a Yahoo article about whether downloadable extras for today's modern consoles represent good value for money or just one big con? And it made me think about my Christmas present, Fable 3. Whilst I am thoroughly enjoying the game, getting every single bit of possible enjoyment out of it, my one major criticism has to be that it feels like the game is all about making more money out you.

For starters there's the Understone quest pack. This was released very soon after the game was, in fact too soon to have really been something developed after the game was released. The only way this could even been possibly claimed would have been if the developers had been in a rush to get the game out so cut out a few non-essential bits to meet the time restrictions. However this is all completely irrelevant when you actually go to download the 'downloadable content'; To my surprise the 250MB download took only a few seconds, and a quick Google search turned up several articles that pointed out that the content was already on the game disc and you were just paying to unlock it. This also applies to most of the costume packs, dog potions and other 'downloadable' extras. To me it's a big con if the content is already on the disc. I've paid for it so why should I have to pay again to get what I've already paid once for?

I expect this trend applies to many of the new releases of the past year. I always thought that downloadable extra content should include genuine extras such as new maps for multiplayer games and content that IS NOT included on the original game disc! How far should we really go for extras for our games? How much should be expect to pay to extend the life of our favourite games? I'm more than happy to pay for brand new content that adds a lot to my games; not just one mission, one costume, etc and especially not content that is already included on the game disc! Where do you stand?

If you'd like to read the original article you can find it here: Downloadable extras: Treated or cheated?