I promise not to do this too much on here, but I need to get this off my chest. Video games are not my bread and butter and chances are I will not be working for a video game company in the near future. So my perception stems from intellectual observance-to- sometimes fandom. Most video games are outright dreadful and even the good ones attempt to do to much and thus fail at many things.
The last Assassin’s Creed comes to mind.
But. Today I want to just rant about games that require to me to “unlock” stuff. It’s one thing to say, Islands 2 and 3 on GTA will not be open until you’ve done something in the story to merit going to them. Fine. It sucks. But fine. It’s another thing to say, you can’t race this track or play this song until you’ve “unlocked” it.
I call bull****.
I paid the developer $50 for a game I’m not allowed to use? Excuse me? Where do you get off? If I want to play a 20th level fighter in D&D, I don’t have to wait to unlock it. I just do it. It’s my game. I do what I want with it.
The same is true of a board game. I don’t “unlock” the additional boards for Power Grid. I pay for them, I open them, and I lay them on the table.
Stop treating the consumer like an idiot that has to “learn” your game before he can drive the GTO. Let him have the f****g car.
post world games 
Many people enjoy unlocking the content of the game bit by bit. It gives a feeling of progression through a game which, without a storyline, would otherwise lack it. Also it ensures the player approaches the content whilst he is on the right part of the learning curve to get the most out enjoyment out of the level. Attempt it too early and you will be frustrated, too late and you will be bored.
If you really don’t want to jump through the developer’s hoops, unlock codes are readily available on the web. There’s really no need to get wound up about it.
I know the internal designer logic for doing it. I get it. But at some point, it’s my game damnit. I’m smart enough to know that if I try the hard stuff first and suck at it, I need to start at the beginning. But there’s enough versions of games now (like Guitar Hero), that I don’t need to play a tired Nirvana tune to get to Slayer. I just want to play Slayer. The same goes for Gran Turismo 17. I know how to drive a car in a video game. Give me the damn Bugatti Veyron, already.