Posted by Scott on 09/30/05 04:03

On 28 Sep 2005 06:08:34 -0700, elrous0@pop.uky.edu wrote:

>Quantum Leaper wrote:
>> more than big enough for todays games
>
>I wonder how many times the average gamer has heard that phrase in his
>lifetime?
>
The same PC users who were told they would never need more than 640k of
memory? ;)

>> most don't even come
>> close to using the whole disk, unless their is a lot of FMV on the disk.
>
>The problem is that losing the hard drive is a huge step *backward* for
>MS. The hard drive on the original Xbox not only could be used for
>saving games, but also for caching content. Games won't be able to do
>that on the 360, which will mean longer in-game load times (no DVD
>drive is going to be as fast as a hard drive, particularly for even
>more demanding graphics).
>
Exactly. Hearing developers going off about not being guaranteed a hard
drive on the 360 sounds like they weren't told about it being optional
until very recently. So now we're going to get games that will support
custom soundtracks (if MS still has that as a requirement) but maybe not
much else since why bother coding for something that may not even be there?

>> The bigger and fancier the games are the more
>> it take to develop them in the first place.
>
>That's true. MS has made an attempt to address this with the idea of
>"player created content" but my experience with player created content
>(mods, skins, on line MMO's like "Second Life") is that it's hit or
>miss, with very poor quality control. And with all the anti-hack,
>anti-piracy restrictions MS is going to put into the 360, such content
>would have to be extremely limited in scope anyway.
>
It's an interesting idea but MS is probably more interested in whatever
percentage they get out of the microtransactions. They're really going for
a a "must make profits on hardware ASAP" philosophy. I think it's going to
end up biting them in the arse. Just my opinion of course.

>> The game producers will program their games for the lowest common
>> hardware
>
>That is what has made me reconsider my initial plans to buy a 360 at
>launch. With the hard drive coming non-standard, I've decided to wait
>and see how the developers approach it and how the games actually play.
>With multiple configurations and hints of future improved versions, MS
>has essentially created its own internal format war. So I'm going to
>wait a while and see who wins that war before I buy.
>
I'll wait until there's an exclusive game I can't live without and then
think about buying one.

--
Scott

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