Assassin's Creed Devs Struggling With Xbox 360 Disc Size
PS3 version facing its own problems
Ubisoft is having trouble fitting Assassin's Creed onto a DVD for the Xbox 360, according to the game's creative director, Patrice Desilets.
Speaking in an interview Desilets said, "Both have their own challenges. Right now we have a big challenge on the 360 to make it fit on a DVD, to put five languages, to put all the data on eight gigs."
That's not to say, however, that the PS3 version isn't also being problematic. "On the Blu-ray side we're really good, but then the memory is quite different. How we handle memory is really different between the two machines and we're struggling right now on the PS3. But we have people who are really dedicated and we're having help from Microsoft on one side and Sony on the other side to have the same quality on both systems. It really depends on the week basically as to who's best."
SPOnG's concerned that Desilets' might start to get a sore bum from all the fence-sitting he's doing. But wait! There's more! "The PS3 version is as good as the 360 version. We've been showing the PS3 version at E3 this year, but we've done a lot of events and it's just easier for us and for people from the press to have a 360. But the versions are the same, basically", Desilets said.
Mark Rein has made similar complaints about 360 disc space relating to Unreal Tournament 3, while Bizarre also reported problems with Project Gotham Racing 4.
One potential solution would be to put the language tracks onto a seperate disc. Owners of a game could then save the relevant track to their hard drive and stream it from there. That would, however, leave Core owners out in the cold. Since audio tracks themselves can be pretty big, however (Heavenly Sword apparently has a whopping 10GB of sound, more than would fit onto a DVD - we're assuming that's before compression though) that solution wouldn't be ideal for 20GB 360 owners, either.
Source: Pro-G
Speaking in an interview Desilets said, "Both have their own challenges. Right now we have a big challenge on the 360 to make it fit on a DVD, to put five languages, to put all the data on eight gigs."
That's not to say, however, that the PS3 version isn't also being problematic. "On the Blu-ray side we're really good, but then the memory is quite different. How we handle memory is really different between the two machines and we're struggling right now on the PS3. But we have people who are really dedicated and we're having help from Microsoft on one side and Sony on the other side to have the same quality on both systems. It really depends on the week basically as to who's best."
SPOnG's concerned that Desilets' might start to get a sore bum from all the fence-sitting he's doing. But wait! There's more! "The PS3 version is as good as the 360 version. We've been showing the PS3 version at E3 this year, but we've done a lot of events and it's just easier for us and for people from the press to have a 360. But the versions are the same, basically", Desilets said.
Mark Rein has made similar complaints about 360 disc space relating to Unreal Tournament 3, while Bizarre also reported problems with Project Gotham Racing 4.
One potential solution would be to put the language tracks onto a seperate disc. Owners of a game could then save the relevant track to their hard drive and stream it from there. That would, however, leave Core owners out in the cold. Since audio tracks themselves can be pretty big, however (Heavenly Sword apparently has a whopping 10GB of sound, more than would fit onto a DVD - we're assuming that's before compression though) that solution wouldn't be ideal for 20GB 360 owners, either.
Source: Pro-G
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Comments
DJ DaveLee 12 Oct 2007 15:50
1/10
That's what they get for not staying with Sony. More of this is going to happen with developers like Rocketstar that makes these big games, but can't fit them on dvd. M$ messed the generation up by supplying the DVD format. That's why every M$ game that is good is also short because of a lack of disk space. If the games are going to be short at least go charge $50 buck for the short game. Blue-Ray should be the only format for these large titles. Keeping these great games on a Dvd limits the greatness of the title.
Next generation Micorsoft needs to make a smarter decision on the format So the industry want suffer.
Next generation Micorsoft needs to make a smarter decision on the format So the industry want suffer.
bertybassett 12 Oct 2007 16:50
2/10
@ DJ DaveLee
Hum all that sounds like junk fanboyism. Zelda Twlight princess is only 4GB in size and longer than 99% all PS3 games to date, so that blows your theory out of the water.
Hum all that sounds like junk fanboyism. Zelda Twlight princess is only 4GB in size and longer than 99% all PS3 games to date, so that blows your theory out of the water.
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saurian 12 Oct 2007 17:18
3/10
They have to print something to get the game in the news. Basically, On one hand, there is this BluRay player with loads of extra storage, then a bottleneck when the data gets to the machine, and on the other side, less storage meaning programmers need to compress better and then no problems with the 360 handling the data. The comment that the PS3 version is as good as the 360 means that in the end the consumer will notice no difference. On another note, Heavenly Sword has 10Gb of music?? My 4Gb Ipod stores 1,000 songs, so there are 2,500 on the game?? No this is the uncompressed figure. Probably 1 Gb is more on the mark. As far as staying with Sony, this game has cost loads in development. Sonys small userbase could not on its own generate enough return on the investment. Therefore they needed to cross platform to maximise sales.
ajmetz 12 Oct 2007 18:50
4/10
If there's a problem putting it on one DVD, put it on two DVDs. *Yawn*
Joji 12 Oct 2007 20:05
5/10
That's what I was thnking, use two or three dvds. I heard Lost Odyssey is gonna be on four dvds. Use what ever dvds you need to and just get the game out.
So like a sony fanboy. When will you get it through your skull, that it matters not how good PS3 is, if it isn't shifting to enough customers, Ubi can't justify sticking it on Blu Ray exclusively. Just because Blu Ray has more space, doesn't mean it all gets used, just see how short Heavenly Sword is in play time. Twilight Princess does indeed beat HS's ass on that front.
So like a sony fanboy. When will you get it through your skull, that it matters not how good PS3 is, if it isn't shifting to enough customers, Ubi can't justify sticking it on Blu Ray exclusively. Just because Blu Ray has more space, doesn't mean it all gets used, just see how short Heavenly Sword is in play time. Twilight Princess does indeed beat HS's ass on that front.
deleted 12 Oct 2007 21:05
6/10
Why dont microsoft just release the long rumored, Cassette Tape Add-On with storage of 90 mins (45 a side) and we can all listen to Assassins Creed loading in glourios Screech, Ping PIng, Bong Screech!!!, Problem solved Ubi!
chuckyj 13 Oct 2007 04:01
7/10
I would rather have a company complain about disc space.... you can always make it multi-disc, then to complain about programming for the system.
What like maybe 3% of games are multi-disc so thats not too much of a problem. however, developer pains of programing for a system. Well now that may not be too forgetable.
Sony messed up this generation by sticking un-needed technology into their system developer Vavle creator of half-lfe:the orange box flat out called Sonys cell processor a peice of crap and a waste of time to develop for.
Didn't complain about the 360 though.
What like maybe 3% of games are multi-disc so thats not too much of a problem. however, developer pains of programing for a system. Well now that may not be too forgetable.
Sony messed up this generation by sticking un-needed technology into their system developer Vavle creator of half-lfe:the orange box flat out called Sonys cell processor a peice of crap and a waste of time to develop for.
Didn't complain about the 360 though.
realvictory 13 Oct 2007 11:30
8/10
Disc size, nor game length is a limitation in terms of the actual game - if you make a good game, then that's nothing to do with its length. You can have a good short game, or a good long game, except the longer it is, the more boring it's likely to get before the end!
The limitation is the entire system itself - you can only work with what there is. In most cases, I would say that making a game too big to fit on the disc is simply stupid, because you knew what size the disc was in the first place. Consoles - in fact most computers - are limited and underpowered (it's nothing new). The reason it's a problem is because they want to make the same game on the XBox 360 and the PS3, even though they're different machines. It's good from a customer point of view and a business point of view (assuming its not rediculously difficult), but excluding money, I would say that making the same game on two different machines is a bad idea. Then again, they could make it different per system, and just say "tough, you should have bigger discs, or unified memory," or something.
If Microsoft felt extravagant, though, they could bundle the HD-DVD drive with the XBox and then use that as an excuse to put games on HD-DVDs...
The only other solution I suppose is to make the games more efficient!
The limitation is the entire system itself - you can only work with what there is. In most cases, I would say that making a game too big to fit on the disc is simply stupid, because you knew what size the disc was in the first place. Consoles - in fact most computers - are limited and underpowered (it's nothing new). The reason it's a problem is because they want to make the same game on the XBox 360 and the PS3, even though they're different machines. It's good from a customer point of view and a business point of view (assuming its not rediculously difficult), but excluding money, I would say that making the same game on two different machines is a bad idea. Then again, they could make it different per system, and just say "tough, you should have bigger discs, or unified memory," or something.
If Microsoft felt extravagant, though, they could bundle the HD-DVD drive with the XBox and then use that as an excuse to put games on HD-DVDs...
The only other solution I suppose is to make the games more efficient!
alex 1163 Best Buy 14 Oct 2007 02:30
9/10
WHAT THE ><? THIS IS NOT A PROBLEM JUST SEND THE GAME IN 2 OR 4 DVD LIKE RE4 ON CUBE
WII FOR EVER
WII FOR EVER
Bentley 15 Oct 2007 11:47
10/10
Not one of these comments shows an ounce of brain. Not an ounce! It's not as simple as "oh, just make the game on four discs, what's the problem?". Maybe Zelda is 4GB and long but if we are talking hi-def textures and sound on a massive scale, it's going to take up a lot of disc space. This new generation is supposed to be about getting the best quality of graphics and sound for the latest equipment which is capable of amazing performance. And an Ipod played over a top-of-the-range stereo system is never going to sound amazing unless the songs have been ripped at an incredibly high bit-rate- you can't compare "the amount of songs on my Ipod" to "the amount of high-quality definition audio files on a Blu-ray disc" because they are different kettles of fish entirely.
Back to the multi-disc issue. Sure, some games like Resident Evil suit a multi-disc format as you are going along a set path, and there is no need to go back to an early area due to the nature of the game, therefore disc-swap points are predetermined and inobtrusive.
Now compare that to a free-roaming game, such as GTA:San Andreas or (as far as we know) Assassins Creed. If I was driving around San Andreas and kept getting messages like "You are now entering Las Venturas... please insert Disc 4", I personally would find it incredibly frustrating. My point is that not all games suit the multi-disc format and anyone who cannot see that blatantly has not been playing games long enough, or is maybe just a little bit short-sighted.
Back to the multi-disc issue. Sure, some games like Resident Evil suit a multi-disc format as you are going along a set path, and there is no need to go back to an early area due to the nature of the game, therefore disc-swap points are predetermined and inobtrusive.
Now compare that to a free-roaming game, such as GTA:San Andreas or (as far as we know) Assassins Creed. If I was driving around San Andreas and kept getting messages like "You are now entering Las Venturas... please insert Disc 4", I personally would find it incredibly frustrating. My point is that not all games suit the multi-disc format and anyone who cannot see that blatantly has not been playing games long enough, or is maybe just a little bit short-sighted.