The big three and what they've done for us lately

[Ex-Cyber]

Obviously it's always nice to have more storage, but as rendering capabilities and audio/video compression have improved I think the need for storage expansion has decreased. Online distribution will probably also tend to encourage the development of smaller games. There's a lot of discretion that goes into a game's data size; it's a tradeoff in terms of programming and design effort. Capcom moved Resident Evil 2 from two CDs to a 64MB cartridge once they decided it was worthwhile to do so.

[louisg]

Re Ed's comment: I wonder what defines a level and how much of the data is textures. I know as long ago as the early 90s there was all kinds of realtime decrunching going on (e.g. Sonic), so I'm not sure I'd expect data to have to be decoded in advance.

The demogroup Farbrausch does amazing things with algorithmically generated textures; I wonder if any games do that. It'd be a smart way to save space.

[Deathgeese88]

I have to seriously ask people WHY they have such a huge problem with paying for XBox Live. Running online gaming services costs money. If that source of income doesn't come from a small, extra fee, then it's going to be taken from somewhere else which means something else will suffer. That aside, it's less that $5/month. It's not like you guys are shelling out MMO prices or anything. Yes, I wish MS had a free version with reduced features or something for people that just wanna play a game or two every week, but $5 a month is a paltry fee. Just buy one less drink from Starbucks every month and you'll have saved enough money to afford it. And if you can't even afford one drink from Starbucks every month, then how did you get the money to buy a 360 and some games?

As for the argument that XBox Live is a higher quality service, it's hard to say. I only have PSN and I haven't been very impressed with the extremely laggy matches I've had. But the only evidence we have that one service is better than the other is personal testimony usually found on Internet forums like this one, which makes it very hard to determine what percentage of users are experiencing a quality service versus a low quality service. Though, I am a believer in the "you get what you pay for" theory. So, if I had to bet, I'd bet on XBL over PSN, but I'm not a huge online gamer, so the 360 couldn't win out over the other things I liked about the PS3.

[Jockel]

The demogroup Farbrausch does amazing things with algorithmically generated textures; I wonder if any games do that. It'd be a smart way to save space....

But a stupid way to waste loads of processing power.
Btw there IS a game using this technique, it's called .kkrieger and 96kb in size.

[Kaspal]

actually there are more games using those techniques... i know for a fact that there are games made with UE3 that uses a middleware that compresses the textures procedurally and all that... one of them is Roboblitz (if im not mistaken, it was the 1st UE3 developed game to use such things), which when fully uncompressed could take up to 1GB of space, and when installed, uses less than 80MBs on the X360.

[neorichieb1971]

Most online games on PS3 tell you what sort of ping time your friends/competitors have therefore if it lags its not down to the service but the players your up against.

I don't mind paying $5 a month for the service, but I would definitely feel like I would need to use it more than I use PSN to get my monies worth. I know one parent who has 2 kids that also have a 360, he has to pay $5 each a month because they want separate accounts. With PSN thats not a problem. It all adds up.. Although I can see if your the only person who has a 360 and don't mind sharing accounts its not that expensive.


As for storage. If MS next console is DVD its so going to be last gens technology.

Then you have to look at other avenues that Sony will be Pioneering this gen with PS3 -

3D - If it does take off or not, its a feature that PS4 will almost certainly take on, MS will have to make their successor console compliant.

Storage - Obviously Blu ray is already a part of PS3, so its going to carry over to PS4. MS will need to come up with a 9GB download service for games or choose/invent a proprietory storage medium for its successor.

Games size on PSN vs Live - I don't know about Live but they had a 50mb restriction on Live games at one point.. Vs PSN games which were unlimited in size. If DLC is going to be a viable thing, it needs to be unlimited.

Game selection - Even though many Xbox fans love their FPS, Sports and racing titles (amongst others I know), Microsoft are not inviting newcomers to the console that don't particarly like a gaming diet of just those genres plus Live dlc that caters for almost everything else on the console. Their customer base at the moment won't grow (Sony claim 3.8 million PS3 consoles sold in the past 2 months), although it will remain loyal because those that are used to the console and its wares are die hard fanatics now. If I like platformers, adventures, cutesy racing, on rail shooters, light gun games, 3D fighters.. There is no variety in those genres to choose.. Your almost shoe horned into buying whats available whether its good or bad because nobody is making those types of games anymore. Although I cannot say that Sony is doing much better, but I like the idea that they have big budgets for stuff like Modnation racers, God of War, Heavy Rain to keep things fresh and new. I already know that Microsofts new killer game is Halo 4, because the demographic of the customer base is that way inclined and Microsoft would rather get 3rd parties on board to do the risk taking. 3rd parties will be reluctant to take that risk, therefore it has to come from 1st/2nd party studios to do the risk taking so others can jump on board so new customers can start to have a good vibe about more content coming. Again, Sony (Nintendo is expected to do platforming/cutesy well) are getting closer to my ideal.. Maybe not everyones ideal and probably not profitable.. But at least its variety, a choice. Thats the gaming world I want to be a part of.

Sony need to borrow Microsofts idea of the headset plugging into the controller. That is pure genious, simple and ideal. All this blue tooth stuff takes you away from the experience because A) none of the mic/headsets on PS3 work that well and B) its shite to set up.


So from where i'm sitting, for an all out winning console to be, we need the companies to borrow from each other a little bit. Although MS have the online side sorted out, they are not as adventurous. Sony's adventurous way of doing business, getting lots of ideas off the ground now and putting it all in the box from the get go (even if its expensive) is surely a better solution in the long run. Technology doesn't remain expensive.

And we need the Japanese devcos to find their identity again. Stop trying to be like the Westerners.

[louisg]

But a stupid way to waste loads of processing power.
Btw there IS a game using this technique, it's called .kkrieger and 96kb in size.

It's essentially compression.. I don't see why it's a bad idea. It doesn't necessarily have to be done outside of load time.

[cools]

If the PS3/360/Wii whatever are so damn good, why are you not playing on them right now instead of arguing about them?

(If you're on the road/in work/school/etc then fair play. The current generation of handhelds aren't that inspiring either.)

[Vexorg]

Size restrictions on XBLA games have been removed at this point. If I recall correctly, Shadow Complex was more than 1GB in size when I downloaded it. The original size limitation was to allow games to fit onto a memory unit.

[neorichieb1971]

I’m not playing them because the games are not matured, only the graphics. It’s the design of the games that keeps you interested, not so much how good it looks on the screen. At this time I only have 9 or so games and the only one that remotely keeps my interest to keep playing on a 2nd run through right now is Dead space.. and I’ve almost completed it again. I have no ambition to buy any new game out there right now either.

GOTY for me was Infamous. As a game it pissed on UC2 from a great height. Better character design, super abilities, upgrading, choices, variety.. awesome game. I recommend it 10/10.

If my PS3 didn’t play blu rays it would probably be collecting dust.

However, I don't see Xbox as any better. I see them both as 2 turds, one just smells more than other. Which one do you like the smell of most?

[Specineff]

Obviously it's always nice to have more storage, but as rendering capabilities and audio/video compression have improved I think the need for storage expansion has decreased. Online distribution will probably also tend to encourage the development of smaller games. There's a lot of discretion that goes into a game's data size; it's a tradeoff in terms of programming and design effort. Capcom moved Resident Evil 2 from two CDs to a 64MB cartridge once they decided it was worthwhile to do so.

RE 2 on the 64 was 512 MB. One of the largest carts evar.

[kengou]

actually there are more games using those techniques... i know for a fact that there are games made with UE3 that uses a middleware that compresses the textures procedurally and all that... one of them is Roboblitz (if im not mistaken, it was the 1st UE3 developed game to use such things), which when fully uncompressed could take up to 1GB of space, and when installed, uses less than 80MBs on the X360.

I'm pretty sure Roboblitz was the first UE3 game, period, but it is also stupidly small in size. Fantastic and underappreciated game.

[Ex-Cyber]

RE 2 on the 64 was 512 MB. One of the largest carts evar.

It's 64 megabytes, which is 512 megabits. It's one of the largest N64 carts, certainly, but it's quite small compared to a CD.

[Specineff]

I stand corrected, then.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

One of them just made the PSP go.
The system that completely eliminates the joys of a good bargain at the retail store or pawn shop.

[Udderdude]

One of them just made the PSP go.
The system that completely eliminates the joys of a good bargain at the retail store or pawn shop.

The system royally flopped everywhere, so I don't think you have much to worry about.

[neorichieb1971]

RE 2 on the 64 was 512 MB. One of the largest carts evar.

It's 64 megabytes, which is 512 megabits. It's one of the largest N64 carts, certainly, but it's quite small compared to a CD.

The N64 used its CPU almost entirely for decompression. That 64mb cart probably had 8 times as much data on it.

Still good use of resources though.

[neorichieb1971]

One of them just made the PSP go.
The system that completely eliminates the joys of a good bargain at the retail store or pawn shop.

The system royally flopped everywhere, so I don't think you have much to worry about.

Its current marketing strategy flopped. The console is a technical marvel to hold and look at. All Sony have to do is concede their greediness and it will sell like hot cakes again.