It feels like with every piece of good news that comes a Capcom fan's way, like the reveal that Darkstalkers might be the developer's next fighting game project, there follows a piece of news that is equal parts disappointment and shame. Anyone who has played a Capcom game, or even followed the news surrounding one of their releases, knows that Capcom and DLC are like nitro and glycerin, but this most recent story seems to take the cake.

Capcom has had a long string of misses with their attempts at DLC, from releasing a fully fledged title that was essentially a DLC expansion (Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3) to charging for some new player costumes that were essentially re-skins, but there biggest crime has always been placing the DLC on the game's disc and then charging later. It should come as no surprise that yet again that is the case with Street Fighter X Tekken, but at least this time they are trying to justify the decision.

In total there are believed to be at least 12 characters buried somewhere on the Street Fighter X Tekken disc that are only accessible after first purchasing the DLC, which itself is just an unlock code. According to Capcom, rather than run into any incompatibility issues amongst players trying to play online, they decided it was better to put the DLC on every disc to make one unified version and to help gamers save hard drive space.

That obviously sounds good in theory, but it makes for another instance where fans are going to feel like something was held back, despite it being able to fit on the disc, so that a developer could make a little extra cash. Here's Capcom's full response to the matter:

Capcom has confirmed that 12 new fan-favorite characters will be available as Downloadable Content (DLC) on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC versions of Street Fighter X Tekken later this year. The playable characters will make their debut on the PS Vita system when the game is released this fall, with the console and PC versions receiving them as DLC soon after. The character information and files were intentionally included on retail versions of the PS3 and Xbox 360 game to save hard drive space and to ensure for a smooth transition when the DLC is available, allowing players who choose not to purchase the content the ability to play against players that did. More specifics regarding pricing, dates and other additional exciting DLC plans for Street Fighter X Tekken will be shared at a later date. As a reminder, the retail version of the game will be the only disc-based version consumers will need to own and all future upgrades will come from post-launch DLC. The new characters fighting their way onto Street Fighter X Tekken are... from the Street Fighter side... Blanka, Cody, Dudley, Elena, Guy and Sakura will be playable and from Tekken... Alisa Bosconovitch, Bryan Fury, Christie Monteiro, Jack, Lars Alexandersson and Lei Wulong will all be available.

What's most disconcerting about this issue is that, rather than circumventing the issue with claims that the DLC characters were placed on the disc because they was finished early or trying to find a way to make the DLC feel ancillary, Capcom is making matters worse by stating that gameplay is improved by having all the DLC already on the disc.

At the end of the day, it's hard to tell just what Capcom's thinking when they choose to place DLC on the disc, and then a clever hacker finds it, but at least this time they responded to the outcry. Now if only they can find a better implement DLC.

How do you feel about Capcom's reasoning behind placing the Street Fighter X Tekken DLC on the disc? What would be the best way to go about DLC for a fighting game?

Street Fighter X Tekken releases tomorrow for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Source: Capcom-Unity