The current generation of video game consoles has given us gamers a reason to celebrate: downloadable content (DLC).

Once reserved for PC games as expansion packs or third-party mods, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 allows Internet-connected gamers to download additional content for their favorite games either for free or a low price (usually).

Unfortunately, the money for these packs can add up. The standard issue pricing for downloadable content is about 800 Microsoft Points (MSP) or $9.99 on the PlayStation Store. (It should be noted at this point that every 80 MSP is worth $1.) Typically, there will be some new missions/maps, new characters, and new achievements/trophies to increase some of our growing addictions to meaningless awards.

Some of the DLC is awesome and worth getting. Take Fallout 3, for example, a game that is scientifically proven to rock your socks off. The game’s expansive world, intriguing storyline, and overall freedom of choice were expanded through five DLC packs that Bethesda Softworks released within a year of the game’s initial release. All five packs are available for download at 800 MSP/$9.99 each. All seemed right with the world.

But then they released the Game of the Year Edition a year later. This includes the full game along with all five packs-at a price of $59.99. This sounds like a fantastic deal, but I bought the game new ($59.99) and all five DLC packs full-price. For those of you who are not good at math, I just spent about $100 on a game.

You would think I would have learned my lesson, but consider the upcoming release of the epic Dragon Age: Origins: Ultimate Edition. Details on the game are sketchy, but it would presumably include the full game ($59.99) and at least eight different DLC packs. Assuming I’ve bought the game and the Awakening expansion new, at full price, along with all of the DLC, that means I would have close to $140 for the entire game and all the DLC packs. So if I wait for the “Ultimate Edition,” I will save about $70 or so.

“Ultimate Edition” or not, Dragon Age: Origins is still an awesome game. And so are some of the other games that re-release their games with more content. But the fact that I am paying so much money for extra levels is really quite frustrating, and really the only way to counter this is to hedge your bets and wait.

But who wants to wait a year to see if this comes true? Halo 3 is a fantastic game, but who would have predicted in 2007 they would release all four of the games map packs onto one disc two years later? No one, hence why I bought the map packs when they came out.

The same goes for used games too. Gears of War cost $59.99 when it came out, and the two map packs were 800 MSP/$9.99 each. Now I can get it used at GameStop for $10, and the map packs are free. And the game is only four years old. Kind of a rip, right?

In the end, it comes down to two choices. The first is to give in to my impulses and buy the stupid game (and ignore the DLC if it sucks), or to be the money-conscious consumer and wait until I get a deal. Either way, it doesn’t erase the feeling that I am being screwed over.