DLC and the issues that arise from this new form of distribution

Despite waiting overnight outside a store in the cold 2 and a half years ago to get my hands on a Wii, I never truly thought I had entered the "next gen" of gaming. This is purely my feelings of the situation, it definitely innovated and did it's own thing, but to me it was a new spin on last gen's technology (I know the Wii is a more powerful system than the original xbox so it is better, so that's why it's like last-gen.5 or something). Today I look forward to the pleasure of coming home from work and finding an Xbox Elite waiting for me on my doorstep. Waiting to jump into the meaty PS3/360 market I figure has proved beneficial because I didn't have to deal with any RRoDs and hardware issues, the only downside being I missed out on the 60GB PS3 with proper backward compatibility. Myself being someone that saves up and inevitably invests in most consoles, not blindly favoring one brand, I chose the 360 first due to the strong surge of JRPGs appearing on the console. ATLUS deciding to bring over and distribute largely 360 games instead of PS3 has also been a very large factor. This just means sometime a couple years from now I may finally get around to getting a PS3, they're all lovely honestly. As long as I play a game that is sweet and entertaining I am happy.

More to the point though, in recent days I have been catching up on 360 media since I don't tend to pay much attention to game releases on consoles I don't immediately own (go figure). I have come upon quite a difficult decision that is whether or not it will be worth downloading games that have been re-released on Xbox-Live Arcade in HD or other newer shiny version despite having the original game. For me this applies to Rez and Ikaruga in particular, for all I know there are others. Both games are utterly beautiful pieces that in their previous incarnations were already in a league of it's own in presentation. The fact that I will have my 360 hooked up via HDMI thus getting the most out of the HD experience I am torn on whether it would be worth it to pay again for these great games, and since these will be the definitive versions to play my progress and data from the previous games become moot. Why God why! These kinds of decisions are obviously what truly make life such a burden to experience.

Despite that DL issue I am also now burdened with that "oh so horrible" decision of what order I should get all the sweet games I have been missing out on. What a tragedy right? the horribly unfair decisions of deciding how to best approach eating the whole cake for yourself to maximize pleasure. I mean, I need Ninja Gaiden 2. Gamestop's ridiculous pricing of NG:Black at $5 less than original MSRP for a used game that most don't even have a manual has always deterred me from picking it up (I missed the "holy crap ninja gaiden" train when it came out initially). Then there is Bioshock, GoW, Dead Rising, Culdcept Saga, and Assassin's Creed. Yeah, that's right I said it, Assassin's Creed. Currently priced at a reasonable $31.99 on amazon I find that a pretty reasonable deal. Yeah I know the storyline twist, yeah I know it's repetative, yeah I've seen plenty of reviews and videos of it. I don't care, if I get to run around as a badass assassin in a robe and slay who I wish while prancing about rooftops a la parkour then I want it. I need to TASTE that. Also the animation and eye-candy that looks absolutely immersive and gorgeous, I must try it.

Also to satiate my next gen JRPG hunger I don't know where to start first: Lost Odyssey, Eternal Sonata, or Blue Dragon. The first I know I can definitely wait a bit and it's price will drop as well known publisher RPG prices tend to fall like rocks after a few weeks (blue dragon is $20 on amazon now).

Oh! Also I found another conundrum with regard to Lost Planet. First a note about myself, I am a collector of games and I like good package presentation, limited edition, the whole deal. I recently got DMC4 Special Edition for the same price as the normal (yes I bought it before I owned the console, it is an awesome trend that I have done for the PS2, Gamecube, DS, and PSP) and it came in a sweet-ass tin, bonuses DVD, and first disc of the anime (no idea if it's any good). Anyways, the special edition of Lost Planet is still available on amazon that comes in a metal tin and comes with some extras/goodies. Alas, the problem is that they have since released a "Greatest Hits" version of lost planet that is a whole other beast in itself. It features various new multi-player modes and new characters to play and for all I know it has an option to suck off the user upon winning in an online match. The only thing is A. it doesn't come with a soundtrack/tin etc. (so I can be cool and pretend I got it when it first came out!) and B. the stupid giant font of "GREATEST HITS" on box art I find absolutely horrendous and an eyesore. They need to make that shit reversible-covers or something for anal-retentive people like me. Ahh, there is poverty around the world, hunger, and AIDs among other things and I am stuck with these tough decisions... life is hard.

*Ramp(Logical Song) by Scooter bitches*