IGN is stupid

Yeah, that's the tricky part GM. I'm still rocking the default Hard Drive and it ain't much space. Ain't much at all.

I don't like the idea of ONLY direct download for a couple of reasons. The first, being that all data and such is vulnerable to viruses/hacking. Yeah, physical stuff can also get broke/lost, but I don't have to worry about somebody destroying my book/disc from halfway across the world with pyrokinesis or something.

Second reason, is that not all people have internet, or internet that is very fast. I HATE downloading things. Have you guys ever downloaded WoW? If not, even if you don't play it, go do it right now, and tell me how much fun downloading 8 GB worth of date is, especially if you had a 6 MB connection like me. I would absolutely want to cry if all games were forced to be direct download, because it would take me hours to get a game, that I could easily plan for the day it comes out, and get it on the way home.

There are pro's/con's to both, and I think both should stay.

I dont think its to dramatic. I mean were both obviously old enough to have been gaming for a long time. Do you like the direction the industry is headed with DLC and episodic downloads for games? Honest question. Because to me, this could potentially kill the industry. The casuals would still stick around for sure. But the business practices currently going on in the industry are not of my liking personally. Companies no longer take risks, and instead pump out generic title after generic title. Yet the consumers eat it up, telling the Pub's they can continue to nickel and dime us with disk locked DLC and more. If the direction of the industry focuses on this method of delivering their products, I really do feel us gamers who have been playing since children are going to be left totally alienated. If that model succeeds I feel its a forgone conclusion it will be abused, and we will get even more rushed and unpolished/unfinished products hit the market than ever before. I wont be a happy camper if in order to play games like Fallout in the future I have to DL the game in multiple installments for a different set price. That scares me personally. I can see both sides to the DD discussion as I said. But this is my real concern about the article and the future. I could be way off base, Ill admit, but with the current direction and how Pub's have handled DLC and patches this gen, I could see this direction being a huge mistake for the gamers. Maybe were all fucked was a bit dramatic, but I said that for effect. And essentially most hardcore gamers( I really dont like using that term, but it works here) could potentially be left in the dust. Hell Nintendo has already done it.

Shit I have a 120 GB hard drive and Ive only got like 11 gigs left. Ive got a ton of XBLA games, and I install most of my games that I play with semi regularity. Need moar space!

@Bob: I hear ya, I've been saying I'd like to see both methods as an option to users.

@Symbolic: I'm excited at the direction that the industry is headed. Obviously I'm a bit biased since I work in it, but things evolve. Regarding the DLC aspect, what I read made it seem like they're talking about selling different components of games separately. The Bioshock example listed sounds perfectly fine to me. I'll reread the article again when I get home, perhaps I misunderstood something.

@GM: Dude, I've been wanting to play Ninja Gaiden Black for a few days now, but can't unless I delete my BC2 updates lol. Not sure if it's worth it or not. I need ot get a bigger HD (yeah that's what she said).

I got the 250 GB hard-drive in my 360, but I'm glad, because i used to only have the tiny 20 GB one (basically the 14 GB), and I could barely choose any games to DL to the hard-drive.

D- Have you considered using a flash drive? Its not the best answer, but a hell of alot cheaper than buying a new HDD.

And the article does hit on the DLC and episodic content quite alot. That was really the part I should have posted about right away to be more clear. DD I still dont like, but Im sure in time I could learn to like it. But this IGN writer almost seems to be advocating selling games in parts. Which again, to me thats not a good idea.

But I do however, like the idea of not having to buy the MP portion of a game if you dont want to. That could be awesome. ONLY if they price it fairly however. Also the only way I would adapt to DD is if it lowers the cost of games. If we are still paying the same price I wont be happy. Just my two cents though.

Symbolic wrote:Shit I have a 120 GB hard drive and Ive only got like 11 gigs left. Ive got a ton of XBLA games, and I install most of my games that I play with semi regularity. Need moar space!

Same thing here. I also got about 600 hundred songs on it as well. That's about 10 gigs.

I hate how it says 20 gigs but it only 14, and 60 when its only like 50...

I think within 5 years, a TB or more of HD space will not be a big deal at all. Even now you can buy 2tb hardrives (seriously insane amount of space) for only like $80

read: moore's law

Zillah wrote:I hate how it says 20 gigs but it only 14, and 60 when its only like 50...

I think within 5 years, a TB or more of HD space will not be a big deal at all. Even now you can buy 2tb hardrives (seriously insane amount of space) for only like $80

read: moore's law

Yeah I'm about to get an external hard drive soon, they've gotten pretty damn cheap and I can't see me ever needing more than a TB of space.

The difference between advertised and displayed amounts has something to do with binary and decimal conversion though(difference between GiB and GB). They're not lying about the size, it's just displayed differently on a computer. If you divide each 1000 bytes of the advertised amount by 1028 that's what you're getting I believe. Although on the xbox ones they do short you exactly 5 GB, which they say is for system updates.

Good point about hard drives--if the industry wants to go the fully digital route, they ought to allow external hard drives to connect.
Of course they're greedy, however, and will probably market their own specialized hard drives, compatible only with their systems.
As for DLC, the market will determine the prices. If gamers can be so easily played by these companies, then it'll get that way.
If they get too carried away, then we'll just have to stop paying them...

Fair enough Cram. I think this is a good thread. Alot of different views on this subject, and everybody seems to have a good amount of evidence supporting their opinion. Regardless its fun to talk about, as it seems a forgone conclusion this is the direction the industry is headed.

So long as it's just the video game industry that is, it's fine.



I will just stick the music and books I all ready have if those industries go completly digital.

I'm not exactly sure I'm following you then Sym.
You're worried that DLC and episodic content will be price-abused?

Personally I love DLC. It's one of my favorite things this gen and one of the most exciting, positive changes to the industry for me.
-I love that you can get more of a game that you like without having to wait for a sequel.
-I like that you can add this enjoyment to your game for far less than the price of a new game.
-I love that problems can be patched now instead of games being broken forever.

As for quality vs. price that's going to be all over the map, just like every other type of product for sale in a free economy. Movies, books, cars, computers, restaurants, shoes, clothes, insurance, homes etc... There will always be good deals and bad deals for any product, this is nothing new. Whether or not something is worth buying is entirely up to the consumer.

But like I said, I think I'm missing your point (again)

My point is simple.

If the industry steers toward episodic content, and selling its game in pieces, I am worried that system will be abused in many ways. I like DLC sometimes, but I was just really using current DLC as an example. Some of the DLC available these days is obnoxious. For example, all EA sports games have DLC allowing you to cheat in some form or another, AND unlock extra stadiums LOCKED on the disk. Resident Evil 5 Vs mode was locked on the disk, but we had to pay extra for it etc....

- I dont like the idea of full DD, as Im still leery of the safe guarding measures companies will take. XBLA games are a bit different IMO. They are usually 25% the price of retail games, and are much shorter. Much less risk involved. But I am warming up to the idea after reading some of your guys posts.

-In this day and age, we already get glitchy, half finished games that are not properly bug tested all the time. Developers do this because they can no patch games obviously. I hate this, and really rubs me the wrong way when I buy a game day 1 with these issues.( Looks at Fallout NV)

- With the industry headed in this direction, Im worried this trend will continue at an even higher rate, ESPECIALLY if pubs can put games for sale in 25 little parts. Thats really my main concern.

-I do however like the idea of being able to JUST buy the SP or MP mode in a game. However, if they price it accordingly. But if I could have gotten say Dead Space 2 for 45$ for just the SP portion I would have done it.

All in all those are really my main concerns. I might warm up to the idea though, who knows. I see valid points to both sides. I just hope its handled correctly and we as consumers are taken advantage of. And I can see that happening very easily.

Ah, now I see where you're coming from. Good points.

Yes being able to patch a game after release means they can push it out before it's fully cooked. We've already seen this, BC2 is a perfect example the launch bug list was enormous. However I doubt we'll see this get any worse than it already is simply because they need good reviews and positive word of mouth to sell copies. It would hurt their bottom line to release something too broken, better to delay it.

I can see what you mean about episodic content also. A game released in 10 parts for $10 per part is a bad deal if it really should have been sold together for $60. It's also really hard to judge with some $60 games lasting 4 hours and some 40. We'll have to wait and see.

Metalzoic wrote:Ah, now I see where you're coming from. Good points.

Yes being able to patch a game after release means they can push it out before it's fully cooked. We've already seen this, BC2 is a perfect example the launch bug list was enormous. However I doubt we'll see this get any worse than it already is simply because they need good reviews and positive word of mouth to sell copies. It would hurt their bottom line to release something too broken, better to delay it.

I can see what you mean about episodic content also. A game released in 10 parts for $10 per part is a bad deal if it really should have been sold together for $60. It's also really hard to judge with some $60 games lasting 4 hours and some 40. We'll have to wait and see.

Woot somebody understands what I failing to say! Those were my main issues with the article, as the IGN guy talked about as if it was an awesome idea. DD still bugs me, but I think I could warm up to it over time.