Criterion Games and Electronic Arts are releasing new downloadable content into the city of Fairhaven this week for Need for Speed: Most Wanted for the Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, and PC.  Three new packs add an airport location and two collections of famous cars to the experience.  Joystiq has the details.

Terminal Velocity is the first offering and most substantial, bringing speeders to Fairhaven International Airport. The airport itself is under construction in-game, and features lots of launchers for high-flying antics, along with a new "nitrous jump" mod for extra pop off those construction ramps.

Need for Speed Movie Legends is a DLC pack centered around iconic movie rides. Bond's Aston Martin DBS 2008 and Aston Martin DB5 are here – Smokey's Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am Special Edition 1977 is represented, as is Vin Diesel's chunky ride from the Fastion & Furious, the Dodge Charger R/T 1970. Rounding out the pack is the Shelby GT500 1967 from Gone in 60 Seconds.

The third DLC pack focuses on the Need for Speed series' lineage of locomotion. Need For Speed Heroes comes sporting five new whips: the Lamborghini Diablo SV from Need for Speed III Hot Pursuit; Need for Speed: Underground's Nissan Skyline GT-R; the Nissan 350Z from Need for Speed Underground 2; Porsche 911 GT2 from Need for Speed Undercover; and the BMW M3 GTR featured in the original Need for Speed Most Wanted from back in 2005.

I love new content, Most Wanted was one of my top picks for 2012, and I have fond memories of how much DLC brought to Burnout Paradise back in 2009-10, so I was all set to buy these new offerings until I saw the price that EA is asking.  The Terminal Velocity airport costs $14.99, while each pack of cars is $9.99 each.  That's way too steep for content which I'll muck around with for a short while before moving on to something else.  Burnout's free and fairly priced DLC added hours and hours of new experiences to the game, but Most Wanted's additions just seem like cash grabs in comparison.  I know the days of Burnout-priced DLC are long gone now that publishers know what the market will pay for additional material (and I've certainly been burned on high priced, low value DLC before), but I'm tired of overpaying for content.  I'll just hold out for a sale and if a sale never comes, I'm alright with skipping this altogether.  I know that sometimes I sound like a cheap bastard when it comes to issues like this, but I'm tired of seeing the price of DLC creep ever upward.  I know I can't be alone in that.