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Name the first (in today's standards) 'expansion pack' / 'DLC' you played/bought in the 80s/90s

Nowadays we get DLC and expansion packs like there's no tomorrow and we think of the good ol' days. However, technically we would get expansion packs and DLC in the old days as well, except that they were more or less sold like pseudo-sequels or flat out new games.

So. What was the first time you bought a 'dlc' / 'expansion pack' masquerading as a 'brand new game' and got the impression it really wasn't a new game but a rush job sold as a brand new product? Note that the content doesn't have to be bad, but it had to give you the impression you weren't playing a new game, but the same game with minimal additions or changes. Also, it has to be in an age where actual DLC wasn't a thing yet. Which means it has to be before the Oblivion Horse Armor. Also, it has to be something you bought, played, or simply saw at a friend's house. Not something you recently googled.
I don't get what you're saying. Expansion packs didn't really masquerade as new games... Like... it was all pretty clear. This pack adds voices to Wing Commander Privateer. This pack adds new missions for X-Wing... Nobody expected a new game from an expansion pack.

So it kind of sounds like you're looking for shit-tier expansion packs, but then you say the quality doesn't matter... so I don't know. I recall the extra missions disk for Command and Conquer was just a fucking list of missions to play... that felt pretty lazy.

The X-Wing expansions were decent, new campaigns that integrated properly with the game. They'd have opening title crawls and there was a story that followed through the string of missions. I think there were some new cut-scenes.
 

Nickolaidas

Banned
I don't get what you're saying. Expansion packs didn't really masquerade as new games... Like... it was all pretty clear.
It Came From the Desert II Antheads is basically the entire same game again with just one new enemy type encounter - the Antheads - and a upped difficulty. Otherwise, it's the entire same game. Same areas, same graphics, same music, same gameplay, same non-player characters, same to-do list in order to beat the game. Yet it was sold as a sequel, hence the 'II' in the title. It's basically Resident Evil 7 DLC levels of 'new content' (think of the tapes DLC) but sold as 'Resident Evil 8'.
 

Nickolaidas

Banned
Come to think of it, the Guilty Gear games back in the early 00's are also guilty of this. Same game with 2-4 new characters yet it was sold at 40-50 bucks.
 
It Came From the Desert II Antheads is basically the entire same game again with just one new enemy type encounter - the Antheads - and a upped difficulty. Otherwise, it's the entire same game. Same areas, same graphics, same music, same gameplay, same non-player characters, same to-do list in order to beat the game. Yet it was sold as a sequel, hence the 'II' in the title. It's basically Resident Evil 7 DLC levels of 'new content' (think of the tapes DLC) but sold as 'Resident Evil 8'.
Gotcha, your examples are the things that aren't clear they are small expansions or the same product with minor alterations. And the thread kind of ran off in the direction of "this is the oldest expansion I played" without regard to whether they were deceptive or not.

I don't quite follow your Expansion/DLC example with Street Fighter 2... but that franchise was the king of putting out a new cartridge with 2 new characters and calling it a day. I bought the original on SNES and didn't fuck with any of the Championship Editions and Super versions... even though I know the later ones weren't as sluggish as the first release. Even those releases seemed pretty clear, as a kid I knew that they were the same game. They didn't call it Street Fighter 3, they just kept appending and prepending words to the title to the point of absurdity.

Those Origin voice packs in hindsight were pretty laughable value, but at the time they were some of my favorite expansions.



"WHO ARE YOU THAT FLIES SO GOOD?!? ARE YOU INSANE?!?"
 

p_xavier

Authorized Fister
I don't get the Mario All-Stars being listed here. For me the first add-on was with Dance Dance Revolution.
 
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