Bizarre clarifies DVD limitations remark

It sure seems that Microsoft must have visited the developers and gone Steinbrenner on them. Spin control....pure and simple.

More space is ALLWAYS a good thing otherwise we would still be using floppy's from an IBM PC.

Spin control.....wwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhooooooooooooo

I 2nd the geometry wars thing. No new geo wars means no PGR4 for me.

Wow damage control in full effect.

yup, Bizarre's "clarification" is a result of Microft Game Studios getting pissed at their earlier statement, in which they clearly admitted "Whilst this wasn't a problem for our dev team, it was a problem fitting all this data onto a single DVD." damage control in full effect indeed.

It's just a double-edged sword: put out a console without an expensive optical drive, and you get cheap media with problems of storage down the road. Put out a console with an expensive optical drive and media, and you gain storage but alienate consumers with a much higher price.

I'm just curious how Oblivion managed to have night and day effects while PGR4 cannot. It seems that it was simply a decision of the dev team to NOT use dynamic lighting techniques but rather create "lit" tectures, therefore needing to rework the tectures for each time of day. This isn't a limitation of the DVD9 as much as a limitation of not using dynamic lighting.

But I must say that I'm not upset. I loved PGR3 to death, but I never used the night mode. It was just so much prettier in daylight!

So how did Oblivion have day and night effects?

Seems this isn't a limitation of the DVD9 format as much as it was just a limitation due to the dev's design choices (by not using dynamic lighting).

Either way I'm not upset. I loved PGR3 and NEVER used the night mode... It's just so much prettier in daylight!

Grrrrr... After 2 refreshes it seemed that joystiq had eaten my comment, so I rewrote it- only to see the old one posted... Sorry about that.

::ALERT:: ::ALERT:: ::SPIN CONTROL NOW IN FULL EFFECT:: ::PLEASE STAND BY::

yall are not complaining that you wish the xbox had a hd-dvd drive are you? so you want a 600 dollar xbox?

well i think we will all be happy in 3 more years when the new microsoft game system comes out.
im sure they'll use there hd-dvds and games will look awesome.
dvds are the cheapest thing.

This was not spin control.. The original comment was from a forum post and should of never made headlines in the first place. Who would you believe a forum post or a official statement from the company? Of course Sony PS3tards are going to continue to wave their Blu-ray flag around while their games get crap scores and look no better than anything on DVD9.

so in other words the stuff that couldn't fit it will appear as downloaded content that you'll have to pay for.

so if more disk space was available the extra stuff would be included and M$ couldn't make more money on downloaded content

thats why DVD9 is more than enough

I'm probably out of line on this, but since when did you need two different textures for a lighting effect? Also I'd take lack of day/night change over some of the load times that are on some PS3 games.. like MotorStorm.. It really takes you out of the game when you have to wait like 3 minutes for the next track to load or even when you're selecting a rider, it takes like 25 seconds to load the next character.

For all the arguments against PS3 and wii, at least the companies behind them matched the machine specs to their goals i.e. HD gaming = HD optical Drive, Non-HD gaming = DVD drive.

MS where very short-sighted in the rush to launch before the other two.

/my two cents

Deadplasmacell:

You're right, you don't need two texture sets. Having two texture sets would be stupid and would be an outdated way of doing things. So while two texture sets might not have fit on one DVD, that never should have been an option in modern game design. If your textures are good in the first place, the lighting can do all the rest.

All the 360 "games" Ive played are in HD. I didnt have to purchace any cables to access HD content.

"Maybe it wasn't cut, but we're pretty sure they would've planned for more environments on a larger disc."

And then the game wouldn't be coming out in a few weeks, either. Time to market is a big deal.

BNinjaC

OK I re-read your post, sorry. I see where the Wii fits into your comment.

But the 360 has proven that HD Gaming does not need an HD optical drive. Go look at the shelf.

The whole BluRay:Sony::HDDVD:Microsoft thing is nuts.

Microsoft was involved in the development of both formats, and they support both of them in Windows.

Prior to the PS3's release, subsequent dearth of games, and the rise of BluRay movies as an alternative excuse for paying $600 for what amounts to a gaming doorstop, there were plenty of arguments that indicated that HDDVD might be the dominant format:

1. The format launched earlier
2. Playback equipment was less expensive
3. Replication of HDDVD media could be done in existing DVD production facilities without massive and expensive overhauls of production lines and equipment like BluRay
4. HDDVD's scripting system was in place, formalized, and in general use before the Java based system on BluRay even worked.
5. Flipper HDDVD discs that include DVD content on one side or even DVD content on a separate layer on the same side of the disc are possible and in some cases implemented.
6. HDDVD media is cheaper to produce and typically the movies retail at a lower price than BluRay discs.

HDDVD's main failing is that Sony owns about 1/3 of all of the movie content that currently exists. They're the 1000 pound gorilla of the entertainment business. Naturally, that content is going to go to BluRay, so if you want any of it, you have to own a BluRay compatible player unless Sony abandons the format entirely.

Sony didn't have that dominance in the movie marketplace during the Beta/VHS debacle, which is a key factor in why they failed at that time.

The real irony here is that Sony is doing exactly what Microsoft had long been accused of doing: they're engaged in activities where they use their market dominance in one industry to establish market dominance in another industry. That's a classic anti-trust violation, and most likely they'll never receive even a slap on the wrist for it.

Why an HDDVD player for 360? All the reasons stated above, primarily component pricing, media pricing, and the 360's existing excellent decompression of VC-1 content which was already being used for the video marketplace and games.

There's nothing that stops Microsoft from releasing a BluRay attachment or even a revised dual-format player in the future. That isn't true for Sony, which is fully entrenched as a corporation in the BluRay format, and requires it to be the sole viable format to keep their home media divisions spinning on massive royalties and higher media pricing.

Meanwhile, BluRay's supposed studio dominance is being revealed as a sham on a monthly basis as video marketplace expands it's portfolio, cutting out the physical media middleman.

Mr goodwin, will you raise my children for me?