A Shorter, But Cheaper Software Future for Gamers?

hokiebonoz - 525 days 12 hours ago

episodes ftw!

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beavis4play - 525 days 11 hours ago

it ended on a cliff-hanger. i wasn't happy i'd probably have to wait at least 1.5 yrs. to find out more of the story.
now, with this short psn game, i'll have my answers and hopefully a set-up for the next game. it can work in situations like this. and i'm sure there are other examples. but, to just say all games are going this route i don't think makes a lot of sense right now.(at least until much larger storage options become much cheaper)

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Wildarmsjecht - 525 days 10 hours ago

It's one game. Not the standarad point in which all games will be. They decided to give fans something to hold them over until thy can work on the next full fledged title. It involves the story, but also brings in something fresh.

sometimes I wonder if people will always take one game and use it as an example for all other titles.

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rockleex - 525 days 10 hours ago

Some people say digital distribution will take over physical distribution.

Not likely. Like what the 'counterpoint dude' said, it probably will NEVER overthrow physical distribution.

Just look at the music industry. Why is it that artists are still releasing albums on CDs? There has only been a one or two kind of successful artists that released an album solely through digital distribution.

Hard drive space is MORE than enough to store tons of albums, but yet people still prefer buying a disc based album.

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Shankle - 525 days 10 hours ago

My hope is that with episodic content like this, the emphasis will start to go on story instead of just gameplay. Games are starting to become a great medium for storytelling, but high production costs mean the game has to be long and expensive, which makes it harder to tell a compelling and cohesive story. Hopefully if developers get their engines sorted out, they can then go and make shorter, cheaper and more frequent stories without having to spend resources improving the graphics.
Valve has been doing this of course but they take fecking ages to make games so they don't get the more frequent part right, but Insomniac will have made Resistance, Ratchet TOD, Resistance 2 and Ratchet QFB within 3 years! They're the perfect company to spearhead episodic content. It's just a shame that they're not the greatest story tellers...

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Yi-Long - 525 days 10 hours ago

... I just wanna buy a complete game and be done with it. No DLC milking, no episode-crap, etc etc.

If the gaming-industry really is going in that direction, then that's a shame...

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jkhan - 525 days 10 hours ago

Well the gameplay time of games are getting shorter. I mean a shooter is considered 8-10 hours long. While RPGs like MassEffect and BioShock had around 12-20 hours of gameplay. I think if we can get a quality time for less money then I am all in favor for it.

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name - 525 days 9 hours ago

I f'ng love ratchet and clank so I'm obviously buying the QFB. I'd love an uncharted version of this too.

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blindfromthesun - 525 days 3 hours ago

Ratchet and Clank Future was an excellent game that ended with a cliff hanger. Pay $60 game and wait 2 years to have your answers answered... or wait 6 months and receive a value. Granted they are probrably releasing a true sequel in a couple years anyway. I don't think cheaper, and shorter software is the future of disc based content. I think its an aspect we should look forward to in downloadable content. Technically, the developers save money as they don't have to start from scratch and bypass retail. Everyone (usually) gets a good deal on shorter, cheaper downloadable games.

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FlyWestbrook - 525 days 11 hours ago

Makes sense on paper.

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Makidian - 525 days 10 hours ago

I think Insomniac needs to clarify what this game means to the Ratchet universe of games. They said it picks up where ToD left off so it's a continuation, but Clank isn't in it because Ratchet is still looking and probably will still be by the end. If they release new 'episodes' like this every few months until the next game releases I will be more than happy to pay, Ratchet and Clank games hold endless re-playability for me and my kids. But if I have to wait a year between episodes I won't be so keen on the whole episodes thing, by that time they could have a new game out that's full lenght

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eagle21 - 525 days 6 hours ago

I wish Uncharted gets this awesome idea next. PSN rocks!

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