EA selling in-game money for Godfather 360

Slate of new offerings for mob-movie-based game lets players unlock weapons and thugs, as well as the in-game money to actually purchase them for use.

Electronic Arts has released its first wave of downloadable content for the Xbox 360 version of The Godfather, and gamers are likely to find the offer at hand a little more refusable than the ones that normally come from Don Corleone.

Xbox Live director of programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb details the new slate of downloads on his blog, and a couple of items stand out from the pack. First of all, the $50,000, $100,000, and $250,000 in-game money packs each increase the player's bankroll at the cost of 40 Microsoft points ($0.50), 75 Microsoft points ($0.94), and 150 ($1.88) Microsoft points, respectively. Each pack can only be downloaded once. Virtually impoverished gamers may be drawn to download the packs, as the Xbox 360 version of The Godfather apparently lacks the cheat code for free money that can be found in the PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PlayStation Portable versions of the game.

Player who need something to spend their downloaded money on can then pick up five different weapon packs for 100 points ($1.25) a pop that each open up the ability for the player to purchase one high-powered weapon from a specific in-game arms dealer. That power comes at a price, however, as the most expensive of the weapons, the level 4 Tommy Gun, will set players back $750,000 in-game. For 250 Microsoft points ($3.13), gamers can add the hired assassin to their list of employable crew members. However, the assassin still has to be paid $10,000 in-game to join up.

Other downloadable Godfather content released today includes a free MobFace apparel bundle available for a limited time that includes two hats, two glasses, and a leather jacket. There's also a Favor Pack for 250 points ($3.13) that adds three favor missions to the game, provided the player has fulfilled in-game prerequisites.

Finally, gamers interested in the whole cannoli can download The Don Collection for 800 points ($10) and get all of the released content at a discount of 465 points ($5.81). A Level 4 Weapons Bundle-which includes all five of the weapon downloads--is also available for 400 points ($5).

192 Comments

  • joshuahaveron

    Posted May 26, 2007 2:25 pm PT

    Pay for in game money! talk about an unfair advantage

  • imperial_agent

    Posted May 20, 2007 12:30 pm PT

    I'm stil not clear on how this works. So if I buy the Level 4 weapons bundle, do I automatically *get* the weapon? Or does it just unlock the availability of it while I STILL have to purchase it from an arms dealer for $750,000 ?

  • DeathAngel619

    Posted Mar 19, 2007 12:51 am PT

    I have no interest in any of this except for maybe the weapons just as a have all OCD thing but I would much rather have them sell packs that add-on the extra stuff found in the don edition on the PS3.

  • rezonabi

    Posted Mar 14, 2007 11:24 pm PT

    Can I sell in game money back to EA? I only have about 3 million and some change. I am willing to do a 1 for 3 deal.

  • 66550

    Posted Nov 28, 2006 1:42 pm PT

    I got no problem with the capitalism that makes this country great. Basically what EA is doing as they did with other titles, is take out cheats and make what is basically a pay-per-cheat system. If your that helpless that you'd spend money just to get further in a game, you just shouldn't be playing the game. I honestly don't cheat, with or without having to pay for it, so if there are idiots who do, thats their problem, as you can just as easily beat the game without them, I know I did.

  • _Sam_

    Posted Nov 1, 2006 5:42 pm PT

    seems good to me, but I wouldn't buy them

  • Phantom_2003

    Posted Oct 29, 2006 6:24 pm PT

    anyone who is saying "well, you don't have to buy it, it's there if you want it" isn't getting a key point. in all the other versions of the game, you can get the extra money for free. in the xbox version, you have to pay for it. EA is making money off of something that absolutely should be in the game already. All they're doing is removing content for the game so they can sell it back to you. For example: you to mcdonalds and get a meal, and it comes without fries. the guy behind the counter says "sorry about that, but i can get you some fries for $1.50."
    This is pretty much exactly what EA is doing.

  • CheddarLimbo

    Posted Oct 28, 2006 9:55 am PT

    Meh. I really have no strong feelings about microtransactions. They can't sell what people don't want.

    Some people want these kinds of shortcuts.

  • TheFullPooter

    Posted Oct 27, 2006 9:54 am PT

    The old money cheat code gave you $5,000, but you had to wait 5 minutes each time you used it.

    That means, if you wanted to get the $400,000 that's now available for like three bucks, it would take 6 hours and 40 minutes the old way. Don't know about you, but if I wanted to get money I'd way rather just spend the three bucks. Would have been better to leave the old cheat in for those who wanted it, but this is getting blown way out of proportion.

    Also, all the other stuff is new - and not pulled out of the old versions as some people are saying. (I've played both and there were no level 4 weapons, etc.)

    So, buy this stuff if you want it - don't if you don't. The game companies will figure out what works in this new *Marketplace*. Peace.

  • _UweBoll

    Posted Oct 26, 2006 12:53 am PT

    I am seeing a disturbing trend from EA concerning downloadable microtransactions. There are the Madden jersey and tips garbage, the Tiger Woods red shirt and maxed out character debacle, the spyware/adware trojan horse in Battlefield 2142, and last but not for long this pay for virtual money abomination. For all you morons who say "if you don't like it don't buy it, it's just another option" well, not it is not an option, it is a feature or features that are stripped out of a game and then being sold as 'additional content'. Not something added on a few months later, something done before the game goes gold but is purposely withheld for the stupid gamer to throw more money away with. EA must need the money to pay for the programmers who spent time removing the cheat codes from this higher resolution port of the Xbox version. The last sign of the apocalypse is EA creating a MMORPG. It will not follow Blizzard and SquareEnix's example and ban gold farmers and the practice of buying powerleveled characters, no EA will actually do that for you but for a price. That day is coming and the gaming world might not be smart enough to avoid it.
    .
    .
    .
    One last comment. Paying to unlock a golfers max stats in Tiger Woods is just the start I think. Pretty soon I predict EA will offer to unlock all the achievement points in their games for money. Just think: For only 600 or so points you can "earn" 1000 gamer points on the 360 with no time or effort. The sad thing is that I am not even joking about this.

  • ElectrolightSH

    Posted Oct 25, 2006 4:57 pm PT

    Thats just like EA

  • FallenOneX

    Posted Oct 25, 2006 11:56 am PT

    And EA squeezes one more dollar from the masses. If one person buys it, they make a profit.

  • 040591

    Posted Oct 25, 2006 11:04 am PT

    i think that someone that uses real money to unlock or buy things in a game its not a real gamer (unless you cant get that in the game and the only way to have it is buying it)

  • qiwihead

    Posted Oct 25, 2006 10:01 am PT

    Everyone who says, "You don't have to buy this stuff, it's just there if you want it" has a point. But the bigger point that they seem to be missing is this: How much of the stuff publishers are selling on Marketplace would have been in the game for free before Marketplace existed? Lumines Live is a very good example of this. If Marketplace didn't exist, would they have released LL without levels missing? Probably. Would EA have included those "level 4" weapons in the retail version of The Godfather? Probably. Publishers can claim all they want that they are offering extras on Marketplace, but they are, at best, bending the truth here--most of the stuff they have offered so far is stuff that would have been in the games for free if there wasn't a way for them to make extra money off of us by leaving it out and selling it to us later. There are exceptions, like Oblivion and PGR3 and Kameo--those games don't feel like they were missing anything in their retail versions, but the added content was a nice way of extending the games after we finished them. What EA and some others are doing is simply underhanded and greedy. Yet another way EA is ruining the gaming industry.

  • Bufta

    Posted Oct 25, 2006 9:45 am PT

    Youve got to be joking _E.A. are you listening as long as i have a breath in my body i will never buy downloadable content of you or any other company for that matter! This is starting to get scary as if its not enough that we pay a premium on xbox 360 games as it is now there charging us for in game money. If i wrote what im really thinking this message would get deleted. So ill just say stop this now or you will regret it.

  • Arley569

    Posted Oct 25, 2006 9:37 am PT

    You gotta respect them making there quick money off these retards paying for it, damn morons.

  • phidelthegreat

    Posted Oct 25, 2006 9:25 am PT

    come on guys it only cost 50 cents jesus what a bank breaker!

  • Maquis_UK

    Posted Oct 25, 2006 7:48 am PT

    this is a shysters paradise. in more ways than one. only casuals play EA 'games' ( and by 'game', obviously i mean 'unlockable-fest'.)

  • SpruceCaboose

    Posted Oct 25, 2006 6:07 am PT

    I, for one, rant not because the cheat codes now cost money, but because of what this might signal. What is to stop EA (or any company, but I suspect EA will do it first) from releasing a game that is half done, and to progress, you download the additional levels? Or they force you to download real stadiums, teams, etc for sporting games? Maybe they will charge for bug-patches in the future. Their use of microtransactions is way out of the spirit of what it should be. On a 360, we already pay more, for what they told us was improved content, which for EA, would be a lie. This whole pay for play thing they are starting is scary to the future of gaming. Think of an arcade. Pump money in to beat a game. That is where EA seems to be taking console gaming.

  • SavoyPrime

    Posted Oct 25, 2006 5:18 am PT

    EA is making it really hard for people to like them. What happened to gamers earning stuff?

  • Britesparc

    Posted Oct 25, 2006 2:16 am PT

    If the cheat code is absent in the 360 version of the game, that smacks of EA thinking "Hmmm, instead of a cheat for more money, let's make gamers PAY REAL MONEY instead!"

    I don't really object too much to people paying to progress in single player games, but this is a wee bit dodgy.

  • NinjaShadows

    Posted Oct 25, 2006 12:34 am PT

    I hate Ea

  • HRDKyoSaNim

    Posted Oct 25, 2006 12:29 am PT

    Have gamers actually became so lazy that they're actually willing to pay real money for in-game money...JUST EARN IT BY PLAYING THE GAME!!! That's part of the fun no? UGH, a sad day for gaming indeed.

  • GothaChu

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 10:06 pm PT

    I love how crazy people are getting over this. You dont need these downloads to enjoy the game. You pay money because you're too lazy to play the game and get the weapons by kicking people in the balls.... If you are playing the game to cheat, then pay money... If you are playing in order to play a game, then you have no need for these downloads. If you dont like it, dont pay for it.

  • johnclee

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 9:23 pm PT

    I love the concept. I'm not a teen anymore, who has hours each day to blow through, and spend all day leveling up, collecting money, grinding... I just want a FUN experience. And if I don't have time to get money by playing, then being able to download money can help me enjoy a game in shorter bursts, without having to sacrifice having a life.
    So what's wrong with that? You don't have to download. No harm to you.

  • _LEGIONS_

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 8:33 pm PT

    they really crossed the line with this one. It's a matter of time for someone to sue their unethical practices.

  • LiliShake

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 8:22 pm PT

    There's horse armor, and then there's...

  • wenbin09

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 8:17 pm PT

    wow!

  • joeamis

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 7:43 pm PT

    Pablo620
    "lacks the cheat code for free money that can be found in the PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PlayStation Portable versions of the game." - yea so u buy it

    People WE DRIVE THE MARKET. DO NOT SUPPORT THIS KIND OF GARBAGE. Things that were once free are starting to cost us. DO NOT SUPPORT THIS GARBAGE ///////// I was going to say the same exact thing, good job Pablo. They decided not to include the code in the 360 game just so they could ask people to pay for it. So beyond beyond beyond ridiculous!

  • Pablo620

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 7:19 pm PT

    "lacks the cheat code for free money that can be found in the PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PlayStation Portable versions of the game." - yea so u buy it

    People WE DRIVE THE MARKET. DO NOT SUPPORT THIS KIND OF GARBAGE. Things that were once free are starting to cost us. DO NOT SUPPORT THIS GARBAGE

  • idontknow_idk

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 7:17 pm PT

    im never touching another EA game ever again

  • vitz3

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 6:52 pm PT

    Well I think I'm done buying EA's crap for one lifetime. This is stupid and they just alienated a good customer. So long jerks.

  • nintendorocks

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 6:03 pm PT

    Oh, goodness....

  • Hippoboy

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 5:43 pm PT

    money is not hard to get on the godfather whoever pays is a fricken retard

  • dn3datomiced

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 5:17 pm PT

    Really, I'm on the fence, but if I had to pick I side, I'd be with the "THIS IS CRAP" side in a heartbeat. Honestly, maybe this stuff isn't so bad, and maybe even a good business idea, but I can't support this. It feels like exploitation.

  • PiNoYPrOjEcT

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 5:13 pm PT

    You're paying money for fake money?!? WTF?!?

  • matttrd

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 5:08 pm PT

    It's just getting more and more crazy, greed.

  • Tommyboy0823

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 5:05 pm PT

    Now this is getting a little ridiculous, I can understand charging for something that developers put extra time and effort into (such as Oblivion's extra content), but charging people to unlock weapons already available within the game is absurd. I wonder if EA deliberately removed the cheat code from this version just to charge people, cause I can't think of any other reason why the would have.

  • the_real_VIP

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 4:54 pm PT

    Everything has a price now, even virtual. One day, dreaming will have a price. People equivalent of those who says "you are not obliged to pay for the cheats, just play normally" will then say "your not obligated to dream, just stay empty minded".

  • coolcool23

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 4:51 pm PT

    Why would anyone pay real money for fake money????

    I already have like 500000 on the godfather anyways and that comes from just playing through the thing!

  • thegr8ben

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 4:48 pm PT

    Ea has gone insane with its downloads. 1st stadiums now clothes and weapons these are all things that should be in game items already. If this keeps up we will pay 50to 60 for agame that includes a few weapons and a few missions. Then we pay for each additional mission and weapon and this could be double the price of games. Add ons to a full game i agree with but bleeding me for every cent will finally push me to stop buying ea games all together. Thats all for now

  • AC305

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 4:18 pm PT

    Okay, what happened to good old fashioned hard work? Now EA is trying to make the game easier by charging us? Whats next, charging us for levels in a game?

  • vallen1311

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 3:57 pm PT

    Is it just me or is this simply the legal equivalent of gold farming? I mean, as long as they don't do this stuff for multiplayer games I suppose its cool. Can you imagine simply being able to buy all the best gear for WoW? Hopefully things won't go that far.

  • hepcat00

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 3:45 pm PT

    I agree with Spaceworlder, you DO NOT have to buy these things, you can earn them by playing the game (ie- spending your time, not your money).....yes, you CAN press the "Easy" button (Staples commercial), but nobody said there wouldn't be a price to pay for doing so....so come on, people, be a true gamer! unless you're at an arcade, you shouldn't be willing to pay for all these useless microtransactions!

  • Corvin

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 3:23 pm PT

    What with EA and paying extra for cheats. Where is the fun in that? If you are a hardcore gamer or no, sometimes cheating makes a game more fun, maybe you beat it once legit then cheat just to have some fun, a game like GTA has lots of fun cheats. Imagine if they made you dole out cash every time you wanted access to those? Just seems very greedy.

    What really hurts is that these cheats are free in the other versions but they cost money on the 360? Where the game is already $10 more? And EA hasn't exactly been doing so hot as far as next-gen goes.

    RyuSage: I love those game genie/codebreaker devices. Had one for just about every system I ever had. Cheats aside, they were 'fun enhancers'. Try getting a car with 4000+ HP in GT3, its hilarious. Or give your car the ability to hop over traffic in Burnout 2. Those days are sadly fading away.

  • Oni

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 3:18 pm PT

    "Why is there so much hate on EA?" They are greedy, that's all their is to it. So to the people who defend EA , Uh either you are a billionaire or you work for them.

  • Igwababa

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 3:17 pm PT

    wow talk about handing the game on a silver platter

  • Generic_Dude

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 3:00 pm PT

    Why is there so much hate on EA?

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