[aldo_14]

Apparently..... according to a bit on GamesDomain.co.uk, Far Cry is going to be a DVD only release.

Which sounds nigh-on insane to me.... it's basically forcing a substantial percentage of potential customers to upgrade in order to even consider buying the game.  Maybe something like Half-Life 2 or Doom 3 could just get away with this, but even then it'd be a hell of a risk financially.

Even UT2k4 isn't DVd only, despite apprently requiring 6 CDs (although there is a 2 disk 'special edition' DVD, with 1 DVD of tutorial videos for modding).  

I just think it sounds nuts....agree or disagree?

[J3Vr6]

Well, DVD players are phasing out CD-roms to a certain extent.  They are probably seeing the trend and trying to be innovative by being the first to only release like that.  But, not everyone has a DVD player yet so they'd be limiting their market dramatically.

[Petrarch of the VBB]

Idiots.

That is all.

[Petrarch of the VBB]

And this has just spurred off an argument with a friend about the future of the CD, and indeed of the floppy disk.

[Grey Wolf]

There's no real reason for a computer that can competently run Far Cry with decent settings to not have a DVD-ROM drive, if I'm thinking of the right game. This is the one they've started using the demo to benchmark processors with, isn't it?

[Ransom]

I agree with this decision. DVD drives don't cost as much now, and if they don't start forcing people to buy DVD drives at some point, a lot of people won't, and DVD games will take a lot longer to catch on. 1 DVD as opposed to a whole load of CDs is a good idea, in my opinion.

[GeistKrieger]

Even tho i have a dvd and a cd-rom drive I feel bad for those who dont have a dvd drive cuz WTF. I mean what if the system didnt come with a dvd huu what about that.
Just stupid most people dont use dvds.

[Stryke 9]

Um, if it's a recent game, never mind a horrid memory hog like others here suggested, you'll need a recent or upgraded box to run it. A rather elementary part of upgrading is making sure you can use the currently popular physical media formats.

I'd disapprove of "forcing" people to go DVD, but it's terribly unlikely that's the case at all. If they're using DVDs, it's probably because they coulda either gone DVD or used a dozen separate CDs,  and that's just not a good idea at all if you've got any choice.

[aldo_14]

Why not do both?  There's already games out there on multiple CDs (eg. KoToR used 5, UT2k4 apparently uses 6), it doesn't make sense to rule out >505 of your potential audeince.  Unless you're talking about 10 Cds or something, then it starts to make a bit of sense.

I mean, i have no intention of buying a DVD drive until i can get a writer for cheap......

[Grug]

hmm i dont have a dvd drive, but i can see where they are coming from...

just look at the size of the demo...its like 400mb or something, took me ages to d/l... even on Broadband.. :S
and it only has 1 level, even tho it is friggen massive... tho i was surprised how well it ran on my ol GF4 MX440... tho i do hav a 1.8Ghz with 768mbRam... that prob helped too but it is a pretty kewl game...

but yeh 1 level... prob a min of what 10? ur looking at a fairly large sized installation there... so yeh i guess i can see the point of dvd, if it just wasnt going to be economically possible... besides can u imagine "Please insert disk 14..."

errgh


-Grug

[Fineus]

Floppy disks are being massively phased out, heck we've got hard drives that can be connected via USB - why limit yourself to 1.4MB when you can have a couple of gigabytes to hand wherever you go?

Similarly, DVD drives are rapidly replacing CD Drives.. there's simply no need to use the older technology when the new DVD drives can run CDs anyway, not to mention carry shed loads more data.

In addition, most gamers are power users (that is to say they don't have incredibly shoddy anchient computers on which they try and run the lastest games) and so hard drive space isn't an issue either. Most hard drives with standard PCs are at least 60GB these days - more than enough space for a good selection of games as well as the standard OS install.

Sizes can and should increase where needed.

[Stryke 9]

Generally "needed" nowadays because most program designers are twits who couldn't get a string of code under a megabyte to save their lives. I hear the really well-trained ones have heard of image compression, but that's just a rumor.

[Grug]

lol stryke, i'd hope no SCP ppls dont see that lol

but yeh, i still think it would be nice to have the option, even if its by special order...

I guess we shall just have to wait and see how their sales go...

[01010]

I have a DVD drive, most people I know have DVD drives, I see no real problem.

[Petrarch of the VBB]

Originally posted by Kalfireth
Floppy disks are being massively phased out, heck we've got hard drives that can be connected via USB - why limit yourself to 1.4MB when you can have a couple of gigabytes to hand wherever you go?

Aye, but you might have an old decrepit machine that doesn't have any USB capability.
They've been trying to phase out floppies for years, and for what? I mean, who has a Zip Drive?

[Fineus]

Who needs one when you have external hard drives? And these older machines are only in use with people who shouldn't be transfering massive amounts of data anyway. I'm damned if I'll enjoy being limited to older technology because people havent bothered upgrading.

[Arc]

I'm seeing quite a few machines on sale these days that have ditched the floppy drive completely in favour of a 6-in-1 media reader.  I think the ability to boot your machine from a cd/dvd and larger storage and reliability available on cd-r/rw and usb connected flash and hd drives have finally combined to make floppies redundant. Thank god, cos I hate the damned things.

Given how long dvd-roms have been standard on new machines (err...4-5 years now?), it's getting to the time when you can expect most of your market will have dvd drives. They will lose those people who don't have dvds, but it might not be as big a number as first expected. I can't think of a single friend or family member who doesn't have a dvd-rom in their machine, whether they play games or not.  Having said that, it is still surprising for it to be only dvd. Personally I hope it's the start of a trend for (not exclusive) dvd releases  - fewer discs to lose/scratch/change during play...

There's also the comparative cost. IIRC it costs more to press a dvd than a cd, but dvds are more cost effective when you've got large amounts of data to store.  Could be the increasing size of games that becomes one of the driving forces behind the likely eventual demise of cds?

[aldo_14]

I don't think CDs will actually go out until someone makes a same-cost alternatives for music.... although their use for data storage is a different thing.

[Arc]

Good point, dunno where I'd be if I couldn't make my own playlist. As for music, isn't there a dvd-audio in the works that the hype machine says will be the next-gen format?

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by Arc
Good point, dunno where I'd be if I couldn't make my own playlist. As for music, isn't there a dvd-audio in the works that the hype machine says will be the next-gen format?

Dunno.... but do you really need a DVD for music?  Most albums I have are about 40 mins long, probably about 2/3 or less of the CD.... god knows how long cheesy pop albums are, as well (because you can basically flog a blank Cd with a picture of Will young or some other twat nowadays to the kiddies and get a platinum disk.  Actually, the blank disk is probably a better option...........)