@Wagomu:
That's exactly it, though. If you would play the game that way, anyways, then why do we need any unlockables to tell us to do that?
In any case, hiding away content like that reminds me a little of how one might starve a pet so that it will do anything for a scrap of food. Dio knows that's the only reason why most of us went through 15 Minute Melee.
I didn't say I would play the game anyways. What I actually said is that I would play a game until I had obtained/done everything it had to offer, even if there isn't a trophy there telling me "hey you did everything, you're great!" But to do everything, there has to be stuff to do. Now, this will obviously all depend a lot on the type of game. But a lot of that has to do with collecting rewards of some kind. Items, upgrades, secrets, bonuses, extras, abilities, modes, and of course characters. Some of it is not in the form of a tangible reward. Like beating every boss, doing every quest, exploring every area, beating every story. But then, the two are often linked. Exploring areas is often of limited interest if there's nothing to do and collect in them. Beating bosses is cool but often you look forward to a reward for doing so. Like, I get your point that a game should be fun without bribing you. But that doesn't take away the fundamental excitement and joy in finding cool shit, feeling awesome for getting rewards, and having something meaningful to brag about.
Now in addition to that there are, like I mentioned, challenges that can be established for doing things that aren't tangible milestones otherwise. Like beating something in under some amount of time. Sure there still doesn't have to technically be a reward for it, but what's wrong with wanting one?
It sounds to me like you look at it in a kind of bitter, backwards way. Where you feel gamers are being deprived of something intentionally and tortured to force them to go through some hellish trial before the sequestered content is relinquished. I see it the opposite way. I am playing an awesome game, doing awesome things, and getting rewarded for it. If the things in question aren't awesome, it's a poorly designed game.
Also I ain't no saint. I like rubbing it in that I did x and obtained y and you didn't. And if that "y" is awesome, it prevents the reply of "Who cares? Not like it matters."
But to continue I'd like to address Robby's point, because I feel it's important:
@Robby:
Unlcoking is a bitch for a party game… but after a while its the only thing that keeps you playing in a solo game.
I think the problem for me, at least, is that Smash is both. Yeah it's a blast as a party game that you sit around and play with multiple people. But often times I don't have people to play with, or I'm just in the mood to play by myself. And for that, I really appreciate every possible extra mode that gets put in the game. Extra content, unlockables, all that. I loved SSE in Brawl. So the problem is the reconciliation between "I just want to play with friends" and "I want to have stuff to do and look forward to unlocking." Which is exactly why there are alternate unlock methods for characters. A sort of compromise between giving you everything instantly and making you do all kinds of crap you don't have an interest in ever exploring. But I guess that's still too much for those who care SOLELY about that party experience.