AfterDawn: News

DVD format just too small for Xbox 360 games?

There is an interesting article over at Joystiq that discusses the problems that Xbox 360 games will face in the future due to Microsoft's decision to go for the current DVD format instead of a next generation format. So far, 360 games have yet to come on multiple discs, but an issue of Game Informer indicates that multi-disc games will be coming soon. GI said that nearly every developer it spoke to at X05 complained about the storage issues developing Xbox 360 games.

Apparently, one "highly anticipated" title coming for the Xbox 360 has already used up four full dual-layer 9GB DVD discs. So to play this unnamed game will take 4 disc swaps from start to finish. Japanese RPGs that Microsoft has also been touting are likely candidates. While a game being multi-disc doesn't really effect the quality of the game itself at all, the question has to be asked whether gamers in this day will be OK with having to swap discs mid-play.



Games that would be likely affected by the DVD storage problems in future would be new Grand Theft Auto games for example. Would moving from one part of a city to another require swapping a disc? hopefully not for GTA fans. J Allard has downplayed the storage problems and said improved compression rates in the future will allow more data to be stored on single discs.

Source:
Joystiq

Written by: James Delahunty @ 5 Dec 2005 11:16

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• 21 comments

• Bird7

  Imagine
  "Welcome To Liberty City"
  -please insert "Liberty City Disk"

  5.12.2005 11:24 #1

• manufan

  Doesnt sound very good to me.

  5.12.2005 11:53 #2

• fknhstile

  wonder what that game is??

  5.12.2005 11:54 #3

• prodigy42

  I think the game is halo 3

  5.12.2005 12:07 #4

• Shinraboy

  I strongly believe that the game is Final Fantasy XI, because the game was said be be released with all its expansion packs included in one set.

  5.12.2005 12:11 #5

• bobiroc

  Well hopefully they will realize this and microsoft will wake up and at least use HD-DVD or BluRay in generation 2. Oh and fix the crashing problem too. :) I am glad I cannot afford the new XBOX right now and I am waiting for at least revision 2 to b released.

  5.12.2005 13:56 #6

• aerrexus

  as J allard says, if developers use propertly the xbox 360 hardware capabilities, the must not be any problem about the storage capacity on DVD-9 , because of the use of Procedural Syntesis, the geometry (3d models), Textures and movement patterns are compressed, so it's size is less than normal, Shoud be 1/6-1/2.
  
  everything without sacrifying system resources. learn more at:
  http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/cpu/xbox360-1.ars

  5.12.2005 14:12 #7

• 3lite

  I dont think its Final Fantasy XI because the one for with PC fits on 1 dvd and thats with the 2 expansions

  5.12.2005 15:58 #8

• nato1200

  How big is the hard drive in tha 360? It could be used to cache if large enough, but the load time from DVD>HDD would be slow for that volume of data.
  
  I wonder how much MS will rook gen 1 360 owners for when the HD drive is available? Wont that be a nice addition to this sleek console...a giant external HD-DVD drive...lol.
  
  I still play my Dreamcast the most of all the systems I own. The emulators work flawlessly, and that machine can hang with PS2 and XBOX, IMO. I wish that SEGA would come out with a surprise console for this generation like BAM! SEGA rules.

  5.12.2005 16:17 #9

• bobiroc

  nato1200 - "I wish that SEGA would come out with a surprise console for this generation like BAM! SEGA rules."
  
  Somehow I don't see that happening. I think sega is done with the console business. But crazier things have happened.

  5.12.2005 16:22 #10

• joonbugg

  I wouldnt have a huge problem with having to swap disks, as long as the game is really worth it. It better be an instant classic to put up with disk swapping.

  5.12.2005 17:51 #11

• odb992001

  I'm thinking its gears of war. that game looks amazing

  5.12.2005 17:54 #12

• ZeroTech

  The disc swapping feature is nothing bad, it just depends on what type of game it is. If it's something like a free roaming word like GTA, then you're screwed, but if it's an RPG or an action game, where there's a direct route, disk swapping is easy. Take the Playstation Final Fantasys and their success, with disk swapping.

  6.12.2005 02:38 #13

• nuttin_88

  yea odb Gears of war was the first game that popped into mind when they said upcoming xbox 360 title. But I doubt it is 4 discs maybe 2.
  
  I also agree with you zerotech swapping would not be a big issue for me unless it was a game like GTA. That would just be really annoying since most of the time when i play gta is just to cruise around and maybe listen to the different radio stations and revealing the little secrets hidden within the game while laying in my bed. But Imagine if all the diks had the entire city but each one had different objectives. And then when you complete the story and just feel like cruising like i do just pop in disc 4 since the whole city would be unlocked.

  6.12.2005 03:32 #14

• punx777

  i really doubt microsoft would dare make a multidisk game .

  6.12.2005 07:16 #15

• nuttin_88

  why not?

  6.12.2005 07:20 #16

• Richaayy

  to be honest i seriously dont have a problem with taking two seconds to swap a disc.. i never had a problem with final fantasy 7 or alot of pc games i play now.. i dont really understand the concern but maybe others are different.. seriously would you not buy a really great game because it comes on 4 dvd disc rather than one blu ray disc?..

  9.12.2005 13:30 #17

• ZeroTech

  Quote:i really doubt microsoft would dare make a multidisk game . They _have_ to. It is Microsoft's own fault for creating a next generation console with the capabilities of this current generation. So, unless they want their pretty games to end in a few minutes, they _need_ to use multi disk games.

  9.12.2005 15:37 #18

• 074kev

  According to the last sentence in this article, the compressibility tools aren't developed yet. Microsoft is banking on future developments to compress the games. If they start marketing multi-disc games I will sell my 360 on ebay and buy a PS3 in a heartbeat.

  10.12.2005 13:05 #19

• p2prox

  I think the copy-restriction (protection) obsessed, profit-hungry companies need to improve their dopey compression methods.

  10.12.2005 16:21 #20

• sdweww (unverified)

  Originally posted by Shinraboy: I strongly believe that the game is Final Fantasy XI , because the game was said be be released with all its expansion packs included in one set. trust me it is Final Fantasy XI ive played it

  23.6.2010 06:15 #21