Last month Maxis released the free DLC for the Nissan Leaf which at the time received a mixed reaction from the community. As it was free, gamers could get their hands on the new electric car charging bay as an option if they were happy with the brand advertising on the DLC.
Today things took a turn for the worse with the announcement of the Crest DLC for the game. This new DLC is only available in North America and to obtain it you would have to purchase a Crest or Oral-B product to obtain a code. The FAQ on the new DLC reads as follows:
Q: What is included in the Attractions Set?
A: There are five attractions: Giant Garden Gnome, Dolly the Dinosaur, Llarry the Llama, MaxisMan Statue and the World’s Largest Ball of Twine. Each attraction adds happiness and will also act as tourist destination in your city. You will have a choice of redeeming the Attractions set, The Sims Social SimCash, or a $5 off Origin coupon.
Q: How much does it cost?
A:Â There is no in-game charge for the Attractions Set; however, you will need to purchase a specially marked Crest or Oral-B product in order to redeem the code. Look for the orange sticker on pack. Please visit with crest.ea.com to learn more about this promotion.
Currently the SimCity DLC that’s been released can be consumed in a couple different ways.
- Free but its branded with a product (Nissan Leaf)
- You have to purchase another unrelated product to obtain a key to unlock DLC. (Crest DLC)
The new Crest DLC gives players access to new attractions for their cities including a Giant Garden Gnome, Dolly the Dinosaur, Llarry the Llama, MaxisMan Statue and the World’s Largest Ball of Twine. The DLC enhances the game by bringing happiness to low wealth Sims and attracting all three wealth classes of tourists into your city.
As an avid SimCity player I would love to have access to this new DLC but EA and Maxis have stepped over the line with this new content as far as I’m concerned. I would be more than happy to pay for the DLC directly, I do not want to have to buy a product such as Crest to obtain it. I wouldn’t even wash my pans with Crest.
This deal between Crest (Proctor & Gamble) was more than likely arranged before the release of the game but it is extremely worrying for a few reasons.
Let’s take a look at what EA and Maxis are encouraging gamers to purchase. Crest is owned by Proctor & Gamble, and anyone who is diligent about the products they purchase will know that P&G are not exactly an ethical organisation.
As an avid advocate to alternatives to animal testing, I was well aware of P&G’s involvement in testing cosmetics on animals which has been going on for decades. I’ll point you at P&G’s own website for their own take on animal testing.
Sometimes, to ensure that materials are safe and effective, we must conduct research that involves animals. This is a last resort. We consider such research only after every other reasonable option has been exhausted. The vast majority of our tests do not use animals and our ultimate goal is to completely eliminate animal testing.
Contrary to the statements on P&G’s own page, animal welfare organisations state that P&G’s involvement in animal testing is more prolific at P&G than they admit.
After today’s Crest DLC announcement I am absolutely appalled that EA and Maxis would strike a deal with a company such as P&G. For this gamer EA has stepped over the line and I would hope that anyone with a conscience would boycott this particular DLC and encourage EA to release it either as stand-alone purchasable piece of DLC or for free.
Of course Maxis and EA are not forcing anyone to buy these products but I assume there will be no other way to gain these game features without buying them.
Oh and finally, when was SimCity released on the Ps3 and 360 as the picture shows. Did I miss something?
