Oblivion Horse Armour Causes Fracas

Some aspects of Bethesda's gigantic RPG are getting players riled up.

Would you pay for $2.50 for a piece of armour for your horse in a video game? Many Xbox 360 owners would prefer not to and they're causing a ruckus over 2K Games' decision to sell the item for its rabidly popular RPG Elder Scroll IV: Oblivion instead of giving it away for free.

The armour, which costs 200 Xbox Live Marketplace points (or $2.50 in real money), is one of the first in-game items being sold on the service. But it won't be the last.

Analysts at ABI Research said recently that the downloadable content business would jump from around $1 million last year to nearly $4 billion in 2011. But in these early days console gamers are still hesitant to part with real money for virtual items.

Developer Bethesda responded to the brouhaha saying that it was experimenting with ways to release content.

"We're one of the first [developers] doing stuff like this, so we'll have to see what types of downloads people prefer," a Bethesda representative told GameSpot.

"It's hard to tell right now until we have more stuff out, how many people want item plug-ins, versus quests or locations, and so forth. It certainly may be the case that some plug-ins will appeal to some folks and not others, but we hope we'll be able to provide a good variety so that there's something for everyone...and hopefully more than one something for everyone."

Meanwhile, Bethesda also revealed to GameSpot that it has more content coming to Elder Scroll IV: Oblivion. The developer is planning to release a new quest, where gamers go looking for an elven astronomical device, and a new location, the Wizard's Tower, which will see you picking up new skills.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games