The Sims 3 (PlayStation 3)
The Sims is obviously perfectly set up for microtransactions so, to be honest, we're surprised there isn't more for the PS3 version. But does this stuff really sell? There's one pack that asks you to part with £7.99/$9.99 in exchance for some hairstyles. Real money for not-in-the-slightest-bit-real hairstyles.
And then, just in case lounge-based DLC is the next logical step in your immediate future happiness, there's the 'Ultra Lounge' set which consists of three packs. There's the standard Ultra Lounge set for another £7.99/$9.99, then there's the Ultra Lounge 'Teens' set for the same amount again, before capping it all off with an Ultra Lounge Kids' Bedroom set for – you guessed it – another £7.99/$9.99.
Above: Burning money from microtransactions is perfect for toasting marshmallows
Throw in some interior décor themes for the rest of your abodes (which you know full well are immediately going to be sealed up by removing the doors, forcing your poor Sims to wet themselves to death) and you've got your magic number of £56.33/$80.42… which doesn't even include the game because for some reason it isn't available as a digital download on PS3. The RRP was an incredible £49.99/$59.99, which means the resulting magic number is:
Surely that's a winner? Oh, wait… what's this pulling up next to us in a car that looks like Superman's butt with a nuke in it?
ModNation Racers (PlayStation 3)
It's ironic that DLC should even be available for a game that's supposed to let you make anything you want in the first place. El Snake-O, anyone? Backburn mod and kart? These are over a pound each! These aside, there are also various themed packs full of parts to add variety to your tracks and mods to make them stand out online, as well as career mode extensions and the like.
You can buy the game for £19.99 on PSN, which is a decent price for a great game. But if you wanted to buy the game and all of the DLC with it at the original RRP of £49.99/$59.99, your total outlay would be… no, this can't be right…
But wait… that's not even the most expensive one! How about another Play Create Share game? Or should I say 'Play, Create, Purchase'? Eh?
LittleBigPlanet 2 (PlayStation 3)
LittleBigPlanet 2's DLC list is so long, the costumes alone need to be divided into sub-categories within a split halfway through the alphabet. No, I'm not suggesting that's what 'needs doing' - that's actually what you find when you search through the PS Store. This is craziness and will not be tolerated. Especially when most of the content is duplicated for your confusion. What if you bought the Ico costume and then realised the very next item is an Ico & Shadow of the Colossus pack? Exactly - you'd be angry.
This is worst in the UK store. So we went through the entire list and crossed out every duplicate we could find, in order to give you the cheapest, most value-tastic option for buying everything. This resulted in physical pain because we're used to computer keyboards now and pens are hard.
Above: The beginning of a blister actually appeared from having to use a pen for this long
To confuse things still further, LittleBigPlanet 2 is 100% compatible with DLC for the original LittleBigPlanet. This means the DLC list is even longer than it would be. So let's put some numbers on this, shall we?
Moving on, we've got level kits and creator kits, although there does appear to be some duplication between the two. According to our calculations, there's £9.58 worth of level kits for LBP2 and £23.63 for LBP, totalling £33.21. The 'creator kits' add a further £17.53 in total.
But wait! Don't start complaining that there are too many numbers already and leave - you still need to buy the game! That was £49.99 as an RRP. Oh, and you might want PS Move support, which is another £6.49. Are you happy with that lot? Need a hand carrying it all? OK, let's hit the checkout.
With the tiny caveat that there still might be the occasional duplicated item in our workings due to the mess the store is in, that's a total of £126.15/$190.61 for LittleBigPlanet 2 and all of its DLC. But seeing as all of the original LittleBigPlanet's DLC is also compatible, we should really add that to the total that the completist would be looking to spend. So the final, final total for LBP2 and all its available DLC is:
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner. And, just to illustrate the crap we Brits still have to put up with when it comes to buying game stuff, a quick Google currency conversion shows that the GBP figure there equates to $478.33 - over $100 saved just by being American, while the US total converts to £239.58 - more than £60 cheaper than we're expected to pay. But that's for another article, so for now, we're off to put a plaster on our writing hands.
