Eurogamer recently spoke with Sony president Phil Harrison about the PS3's controversial Blu-Ray adoption. While responding to criticisms of the storage technology being used primarily to push Sony's movie format war, Harrison defended: "It's got nothing to do with movies ... we need Blu-Ray to supply the kind of data that PS3 games use." Nothing to do with movies? We were under the impression your employer spearheaded the technology's acceptance? C'mon, Phil. Can't you budge just a little?He steadfastly continues: "Already, at our launch titles, we're getting up close to the 25GB limit that we have on our Blu-Ray discs this year ... Not every game is going to fill 25 or 50GB. I completely accept that - but there will be games that require that this year, and will push that further in years to come."
That'll teach those skeptics! In related news, Xbox 360 and Wii developers have secretly been envious of Blu-Ray's added movie, I mean, game storage capacity. In case you didn't know, there has been an outcry by developers for years demanding more disc storage for games. It's reaching epidemic levels and is a big problem.













(Page 1) Reader Comments
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(but seriously, do the divisions at $ony ever communicate? One side says this, one side says that)
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
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There is a little dig there about the movie/game storage capacity, but i think it can go wither way depending on your point of view.
I posted on this at Kotaku, but i think the only valid use of this space is for higher resolution textures. AI and level programming is not taking up this much space. In addition, FMV cutscenes, at this point, should in most cases be replaced by in engine cut scenes, which generally only requires slightly higher res textures and scripting elements. 7.1 Audio is also not a necessity. It's nice to have 7.1 channel separation, but most people couldn't tell the difference between simulated stereo surround and 5.1 so while nice, it's not needed.
Anyway Phil, thanks for giving devs the extra space, at least for textres, but the other stuff is fluff...albeit 200 dollars worth of fluff.
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But anyways extra space is good, but its not really getting us anywhere. I just want good graphics and good/long gameplay for a cheap amount. Hd is taking up too much space and its not worth it!
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This is a law of software engineering and anyone with an inkling of knowledge about coding knows that it is true.
And for the record, there is plenty of market available for the coexistence of twitch games and more 'passive' games that have a great deal of cutscene content. I am a complete Xenosaga whore myself, and my only complaint is that the series is over and the games were hamstrung by the repulsive graphical capabilities (or rather, lack thereof) of the PS2. But my love of that series didn't prevent you from getting the latest Madden game, did it? So if you prefer games with less cutscenes... buy those games. I'll be buying the games with a deep story that might spur some sort of thought.
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Sony will have nearly twice as many games on the market in the launch window then movies.
Considering these numbers blu-ray makes more sense as ameans to allow for more data then a medium for watching movies.
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There were a couple two disc gamecube games, so we know some developers have been using more than 1.5GB...
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I don't know what to think of his comments, though. Is he expressing a lack of confidence in the mainstream acceptance of the format? Or is he pushing the fact that Blu-Ray enables devs to not bother with compression as much?
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just look at the pc even the hugest pc games use only one dvd, its all about the compression and its all about how well devs can program and use space effectively.
obviously ps3 devs atm arent worrying too much about clearing up bad programming due to the abundance of space, this is bad practice but ultimately makes no difference and can decrease developement time, but still a bad habit.
ask anyone with a little knowledge about creating games and how much space they use and they will agree.
also dont forget those procedurally generated games popping up over the internet i think one was at about 70kb and replaced the need for over 500mb!!
disk space argument is moot because if space was that scarce for say gamecube or 360 then the devs would just use another dvd which would still be cheaper than 1 blu ray disk anyway
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unless including all localisations saves money ??
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I can't peak for anyone else, but i am not saying that more space is bad. What i am saying is that to indicate that it is a necessity is false. It is not a necessity. And saying that the only medium capable of providing the cell with the data it needs is Blu Ray is rediculous. I mean are you going to tell me that if a DVD were providing the data, that the cell proc would up and die? C'mon now.
All i am looking for is a little honesty from these guys. It would buy tons of respect from me. Is bluray needed? Nope, but we opted to put it in as a conscientious play in the HD medium wars and to give devs more space to put shit in. Don't feed me BS about cell this and needed data that because, to quote Penn, "It's BULLSHIT!"
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Everytime someone syas 'fanboy' take a drink
Everytime a fanboy accuses a blogger of 'generating ad dollars with posts' take a drink
Everytime a commenter accuses Joystiq of being pro-[something] take a drink
Everytime darryl makes a comment drink an entire beer (trust me, it makes him even funnier)
Everytime 'GameCube 2.0' is used take a drink
Whenever a Sony exec lies or tells a whopper of an exaggeration, take a drink
Those last two shoudl be enough on their own to get you sauced.
Everytime
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It's ALSO comical that people think paying more for uneccessary space is a GOOD thing.
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but admittedly they are in the big leagues when it comes to lying
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Actually, having A TON of memory to store CAN be a problem. With so much content, games are more expensive to make and you can expect load times, which should have been done away with with all the power all 3 next-gen consoles are packing.
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It seems to me that whenever media doesn't have enough space, no one has any problem with just splitting things up between multiple disks. And with things moving very quickly toward digital distribution, there really isn't much of an argument for Blu-Ray as the 'savior of storage space'.
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Sure most games wont need the extra space YET, but I can tell you this that ps3 games will have extra content then other consoles, developers will feel the need to fill that extra space, because now they have a higher peak/point to reach too, compared to dvd9 space. The added space is not only actually needed, but it breaks the psychological wall in developers minds that make them THINK they dont need more space, onnce they get blu ray disks, you will suddenly see "oh snap, i can do this....."
Remeber fanboys, that no developer ever said that they didnt get enough space from catridges, however when they finally got more space in CD generation, they found out what to do with it and then games like ff7 and mgs came out.
Again, coming into the ps2 genration, no developer ever said it needed more space in the DVD format, yet, again, we found that the more space was used.
Now you fanboys can laugh it up, but you know what, Sony have been wining the console gaming arena from the day they entered which now constitues 10 years. 10 years of sony ruling with 80 million unit gaps in 2 genartions. You can pitch your fork at any company you want, but I tell you this sony know what they have been doing for 10 years now, and its WIPED THE FLOOR, with even the most powerfull company in the world. I know which company to support.
And when its all said and done, you will have a ps3 just like you had a ps1 and ps2. Then you'll relaise, who the f*** runs this gaming shit. Its sony.
Also joystiq laugh it up, lol trying to make fun of sony as if this site has anymore respect from viewers. Maybe you didnt realise it, but sony didnt have to explain the way they run thier company, they run the way they want to, same way you lot tell people to wait up all night to find out information they already knew.
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Also microsoft is a competitor of the unstoppable kind no matter what happens this generation and the next and so on, how can sony possibley compete in the long run, the truth is they cant unless they some how stop losing market share like they have been doing ever so slowly the last couple of years or somehow gain even more share and then keep that share untill microsoft exit the gaming market which will be at the end of time.
the gaming market is far to lucrative and expansive for m$ to even envision leaving.
sony has got a tough fight on its hands, this gen and the next no matter what happens
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How do these sony executives even keep their jobs?
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And like EVERY other attempt in the past, it will fail.
And make no mistake- it SHOULD fail, too.
The LAST thing we need is a company like Sony (or any media company), who has a stake in the sales of the format as WELL as the media going on that format to be in charge of it.
Sony will NOT hesitate to screw other companies and us consumers if Blu-Ray were to catch on.
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King Pharnace at his victory said:
"Veni, Vidi, Vici" (I came, I saw, I Conquered)
Bill Gates take note. The world is your oyster!
Xbox 360 ~ RULES!!!
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If many games using the DVD format still have load screens, and the Blu-ray is slower than DVD, than what am I to expect in MY future?
I also feel that better forms of compression are needed, not larger (and ironically slower) storage formats. Honestly, if the majority of the developers even remotely knew how to design a game they'll realize the real ability to make a fully rendered 3D world using the lowest file size possible is completely possible through new uses in compression. Offering up 50gigs of storage just allows developers to go dumb and find an easy route to their problems. I don't see this as a blessing, I see this as 3rd grade programming.
At least the PS3 offers one incentive. No more bargain basement companies looking to make quantity games over quality. The PS3 is too expensive for any schmoe to crap and hope to still make tons of money. The days of the PS1 are over.
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I personally prefer halo and I'm all about online gaming,so I bought a 360 but some people prefer MGS and GT along with FFseries... for them ps3 is a perfect fit
and for people with younger kids and long tie fans of mario...(I like mario myself but I prefer it on my hand held) will by a wii
calling people stupid and idiot and fanboys arent gonna make them buy the system you personally like!
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Anyway, i recall Itagaki saying NG was so big that NG's downlodable content were supposed to be for the game but couldnt fit into 1 dvd. And guess what those "downloadable contents" from xboxlive come from? Also, not sure if all you guys are developers or not but there is usually a requirement phase where people talk about constraints etc. Its always nice to have less things to worry about.
Also, havent this "blu-ray push" topic been discussed to death yet since the announcement? is this really news? Regardless whether we need it or not its there to stay - and with it great games to come like Resistance, White knight RR7 etc.
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I bet if you asked developers if they would rather develop on DVD9 and save $X on production of each disc they would jump at the chance. The developers that are looking to use that xtra room are the Sony exclusive guys who are obligated to make the system sell so they can sell their games. All the big developers will be using DVD9 even for the PS3... unless of course Sony FORCES them to use Blu-Ray for the games.
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Personally, I would expect the main reason they need so much space (if they really do) is to have redundant copies of everythign to speed up the BD's slow load times.
Is more space good? Probably. Is it a system defining difference? Probably not.
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Just for that, I'm jacking up the price of my PS3 on ebay. Keep on lying to me, Sony, it makes me feel better about gouging your sheep for your next-gen offering through an auction. Payday is just around the corner. Cha-ching!
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Sony Computers=Crap
Sony Tv=Crap
Sony Playstation=Crap
Bush's Integrity=Crap
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agian thats why i said your looking at 2-5 1st party PS3 games a year tops, as they going to cost as much as a major motion picture to make, other then that you going to have ports from 360 from EA and take two, and activision, the only ones that can afford it, that is the extend of the Sony game libary for the next 5 years.
no more werid japanese centeric games and all those old school gems, will stay as ps1 and ps2 games (part of sonys plan IMO)
the days of low budget playstation games is dead.
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