L.A. Noire

[toblix]

Release is coming up, and Rockstar is releasing some short stories that I'm sure ties pretty directly into whatever cases you'll be facing in the game.

With all the GTA games (and RDR) having been better on the 360 than the PS3 I had already settled on getting it for the 360, but now that I've started reading about it, it's starting to seem like the PS3 version may be the way to go this time. First of all, it started off as a PS3 exclusive. Second of all, I hear they've only been showing PS3 shots so far, which might indicate it's their primary platform (or that Sony is paying them) and then there's the last thing with the 360 getting a 3-disc disc-swapping version, while the game fits neatly onto a Bluray. What do you guys think? I'd really like to make decision so I can preorder, but it looks like I'll have to wait for Digital Foundry to do their CSI thing first.

[Sno]

The 3 disc thing is brutal, but it's going to happen more and more with the 360. Rage is the next game that will ship on multiple discs for the 360. There was also Mass Effect 2 and Dead Space 2 at two discs, and then Lost Odyssey at four... I'm sure there were others. (There was that rumor about Microsoft testing a new DVD format for the 360, stripping out all the copy protection garbage data to free up a couple extra gigs, but...)

LA Noire though, this game sounds amazing.

I was reading there aren't just obvious game-over states, if you screw up an interrogation, you simply have to figure out the necessary information somewhere else. I'm sure there's narrow limits to how far that can go, but it all sounds very cool.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Wow. For some reason I didn't think the 360 could handle multiply disced games. Not sure why I thought that.

[Thompson]

I wish Microsoft™ could get over themselves and license Blu-Ray™, it's obviously the best format available today.

I half expect to see XBox™ 720™ NOW WITH Rd-Wave™!

[Sno]

I wish Microsoft™ could get over themselves and license Blu-Ray™, it's obviously the best format available today.

I half expect to see XBox™ 720™ NOW WITH Rd-Wave™!

Oh, i think they really have to, i don't think they have a choice.

The "720" will be a Blu-Ray system, it has to be.

I think Microsoft really wants to move to an all-digital distribution scheme, but for a number of reasons, that isn't going to pan out. The next console generation will still need physical media, and blu-ray is the only viable format right now.

The 360 though? The current 360 hardware is already too entrenched, they can't just slap a new disc drive on it and expect it to take. (Hey, remember when they totally already tried that? Yeah.)

[Patters]

I wish Microsoft™ could get over themselves and license Blu-Ray™, it's obviously the best format available today.

I half expect to see XBox™ 720™ NOW WITH Rd-Wave™!

Digital> Blu Ray. I would much prefer games to come on USB memory sticks than on discs. Discs need to die soon, really soon.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Digital> Blu Ray. I would much prefer games to come on USB memory sticks than on discs. Discs need to die soon, really soon.

Not for movies, though. Unless they're about to bring out a 50GB memory stick. I don't want a step backwards in terms of picture/audio quality.

[Kolzig]

32GB usb sticks are already like only 40 euros and will cost even less in the future.

[toblix]

If they decided on using USB sticks, price wouldn't at all be an issue. They would never ever decide to do that, though, because of many reasons, good and bad. I think the best we can hope for is that the next generation of consoles will allow for more digital distribution than today, and then maybe the generation after that will be all or mostly digital distribution. How cool would it be to have an optical drive be an accessory, like those external floppy disks you can buy for laptops.

[brkl]

32GB usb sticks are already like only 40 euros and will cost even less in the future.

I don't think I'd pay 40e extra for every game I buy just for the media.

[Thrik]

USB sticks/solid state media aren't particularly expensive but they're still infinitely more costly to produce than discs, especially if you go for larger sizes like 64GB+. If they're paying literally 10s of times more to produce each piece of media (even if it's a fraction of what consumers pay), you can bet your arse they'll find some evil way of recouping that. Another cost angle is that an incredible number of discs are produced, and to convert all those factories to being capable of producing solid state media is way more costly than it is adjusting them to being capable of producing different discs.

Don't forget it's games where console manufacturers make their money rather than hardware, and anything that eats into what are already slim margins for most games isn't going to go down well.

I can't see any other real obstacles, as so long as the console were designed to use USB3 (USB2 struggles to match even half of Blu-ray's read speed) we could still enjoy the same quality. It wouldn't surprise me if we see solid state used for delivering extremely large sizes in the future, although they'd need to come up with robust ways of protecting the data so people can't start writing to them for cheating/piracy/etc.

For now Blu-ray is a lovely solution. Discs aren't exactly big, they're durable, and their capacity is superb.

[Kolzig]

I don't think I'd pay 40e extra for every game I buy just for the media.

Yeah, my comment was basically just a sidenote, I'm not really wanting to have games on usb sticks.

I was in Helsinki and I was checking the prices at verkkokauppa.com and those have come way down recently.

[ThunderPeel2001]

32GB usb sticks are already like only 40 euros and will cost even less in the future.

Hmm. Well a BD50 Bluray costs about $2 to manufacture. Seems like a colossal waste of time, money and resources to change that to a USB stick for the benefit of...? (I know you're not saying we should, it's just what strikes me when I hear the price.)

[Patters]

My actual view is that I detest having boxes, unless they are special editions, I will buy discs is they are cheaper and especially if they register on Steam. There's a reason I buy games on PC, so I don't have to add to my massive collection of physical media. I've only bought one Xbox retail game this year, well since Reach came out. Cases have so much dead space that I don't see the need to have them, particularly with manuals decreasing in size and relevancy. Discs are awkward, If I want to change the game I am playing I have to go and find the case for the current game, the one for the next game I want to play change the discs and wait for the game to load; whereas if I play a game on a harddrive I can have a disc in the drive go through the dashboard and find the game in seconds. Living in the age of digital gratification which we do, streamed and downloaded film and TV winning out is all but guaranteed. Blu Ray is slower than downloading a film from Apple TV, discounting the time required to go and buy/rent the disc. Of the few TV shows I still watch I subscribe through Itunes, I don't have to have the channel it is on, I don't have to watch adverts, I can re-watch it as many times as I want, I can back it up, DRM can easily be bypassed.

Steam is the ideal solution, with HDD space being so incredibly cheap, one can store incredible amounts of content, for little cost. I can delete things to make space and re-download them at will. Zune is the closest thing to this currently for video, though purchasing options could be drastically improved.

My ideal model would include everything digitally, but the option to buy games in store, Via a USB (or similar) drive, which would install the game to the consoles HDD, The drive could be reused, possibly giving a small discount opposed to having to get a new one.

Also certain ways that Blu Ray releases are processed ruins films: http://www.tested.com/news/why-not-all-blu-ray-movies-are-created-equal/85/

[ThunderPeel2001]

My actual view is that I detest having boxes, unless they are special editions, I will buy discs is they are cheaper and especially if they register on Steam. There's a reason I buy games on PC, so I don't have to add to my massive collection of physical media. I've only bought one Xbox retail game this year, well since Reach came out. Cases have so much dead space that I don't see the need to have them, particularly with manuals decreasing in size and relevancy.

I moved all my PC games into a big CD/DVD storage case years ago.

http://www.amazon.com/Case-Logic-BKB-128-binder/dp/B000OTIUQS/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1304981766&sr=1-4

Also certain ways that Blu Ray releases are processed ruins films: http://www.tested.com/news/why-not-all-blu-ray-movies-are-created-equal/85/

Some Blurays are processed badly. Just like some DVDs were. It's got nothing to do with the medium, and no medium is immune to it. Thanks to backlashes spearheaded by sites like The Digital Bits, bad mastering tends to get fixed quickly, and stupid trends like Edge Enhancement and DNR get bad publicity. If they were stored on USB sticks, they'd still be over-processed by idiots in Hollywood.

Also, Streamed HD picture/audio quality does not equal Bluray HD quality, sadly. If it did, I'd be all for it. Until it does, give me discs, and the mild inconvenience of looking for them.

[Thrik]

Yeah, to be fair this exact problem has always plagued any release of any film on any medium. Usually the cut of the film gets better with each subsequent release on a new medium as new techniques allow for better preservation of the original cinematic version, but countless complications can cause problems.

A particularly prominent example is Aliens, which was filmed on an experimental kind of film which degraded particularly quickly — meaning that the later Laserdisc release, DVD release, etc got increasingly washed out and lost that original quality. With the new Blu-ray release they finally sorted it out with advanced techniques overseen by the original director:

http://www.tribalwar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=619550

But then some might say the Blu-ray remaster looks wrong because they've only ever seen the compromised VHS-onwards releases.

Basically just know what you're buying — read reviews on informed sites. Some Blu-ray releases aren't HD at all, and are simply upscaled DVDs with minor post-production to try and make them look a bit better. TV shows are commonly like this because a HD-suited version was never produced in the first place.

[Thompson]

I for one do not want an all digital future.

As someone who knows exactly how bad the internet is if you live in a country that doesn't gives a shit about it's medieval internet systems i'm extremely worried about what a digital future will do to the people who can't reasonably access content.

You might be saying "Well that's not MY fault, why should I be deprived of digital distribution because you live in an area where the internet is horrible?", the answer is that you shouldn't, but neither should I. That's why a combination of digital distribution for those who can use it, and the old fashioned brick and mortar stores is the ideal solution.

Maybe one day the Australian government will decide to do something positive about the internet, but right now they're only making things worse. Somehow.

(I swear to god, if I hear one more person get all righteous about what almost happened in Canada I will go postal.)

[Erkki]

Eurogamer thinks it's good. Is it out for PS3? Is there a PC version coming? I haven't payed much attention to it.

[subbes]

I watched someone streaming a couple of cases from Disc 1 over the weekend - the Red Lipstick Murders was one of them, IIRC. It looked great, and while it wasn't incredibly fun to watch, the streamer insisted that it was fun to play.

[Murdoc]

Tomorrow... waiting... hope it can help with my disspointing brink purchase, lol.

[twmac]

Every review I have read so far seems to follow the lines of:

'Very linear and transparently hand holding, great presentation though so we give it 8-10 out of 10'

I am sick of these types of games all style and no substance. Enough is e-f*****g-nough.

[Murdoc]

EIGHT OUT OF TEN?

F@#$ that, no buy.

[Jake]

Every review I have read so far seems to follow the lines of:

'Very linear and transparently hand holding, great presentation though so we give it 8-10 out of 10'

I am sick of these types of games all style and no substance. Enough is e-fucking-nough.

This game has been presented as "this is a modern police procedural/investigation-style adventure game with a Rockstar Games level of fit and finish" for months and months. I'm the opposite of surprised by those reviews. And I'm excited. I like adventure games (even modern hand holdey ones when the stories are good) and I like police procedurals and I like noir and hard boiled crime fiction and I like when people spend inordinate amounts of money on those things, so I will probably eat this game up. I have no expectations (or desires) for an open world, reactive, systemic experience with this game. I just want to wander through a lot of immaculately produced period LA crime fiction at my own pace, fucking around with the world and cast a bit along the way. Maybe that makes me horrible or whatever, but probably not.

[mikemariano]

Chris Kohler's Wired review makes this seem like something I won't want to play.

Combing a crime scene for clues is not a difficult thing for naturally OCD gamers such as myself; all it takes is to cover every square inch of the territory available to you (a roped-off area of a public park; a suspect’s filthy apartment). Just rub Cole up against every surface and press the X button whenever the controller helpfully vibrates and you’ll eventually have an evidence notebook full of clues.

PRESS X TO EVIDENCE

I thought this was going to be more Mass Effect-y in the "guns and conversation" genre. I don't know if I want to Professor Layton my way through the underbelly of Los Angeles.

[Jake]

Chris Kohler's Wired review makes this seem like something I won't want to play.

PRESS X TO EVIDENCE

I thought this was going to be more Mass Effect-y in the "guns and conversation" genre. I don't know if I want to Professor Layton my way through the underbelly of Los Angeles.

It's seemed like its Phoenix Wright With Walking (and interrogation sequences) from the onset. Definitely not what everyone wants. I dont mind it though. I think I will turn off "vibrate controller near evidence hotspots," even.