XBox 360 Core edition - the fun is already starting

[MKJ]

for those who dont know, the Xbox360 will be sold in two different packages; the Core edition which is just the console and a controller, and the Ultimate Mega SuperDeluxe Pay-us-More Edition, which will contain the console, controller, HD cables and a HDD.

the problem with this is obviously that games cannot be built with a HDD in mind - the Core users won't be able to run these games

MS assured us that this wouldnt be a problem though, since the HDD will be used for storage of savegames, profiles and media primarily.

Well, here's the first game that proves this indeed is a problem:

Last but not least, after we were told that there was no ability to fly aircrafts in the game due to the DVD drive’s inability to stream the environment fast enough in full 720p resolution. We asked Jacques Hennequet (Producer for Saint’s Row), “If the Xbox 360 Hard Drive was standard across both SKU’s, would flying aircrafts in the game have been a reality?”, Jacques simply answered “Yes”. While he completely understands why MS made the decision to not include a hard drive in the Core System, I think he felt somewhat disappointed, as it could have opened up much more possibilities within the gameplay for Volition's first Xbox 360 title.

Saint Row is a sort of GTA type game, a free roaming vehicle jacking game where crime is what makes the world go round.
(brighter note; it may include co-op play :icon14: )

http://www.aussiexbox.com.au/template_s ... e_id=11003

[o'dium]

Aye. Its fucking retarded is what it is. Its obvious that M$ want the cheaper SKU to sell to mommies at christmas and shit so it looks like they are selling more, but FFS, that really downgrades what we can do in the long run.

[+JuggerNaut+]

the problem with this is obviously that games cannot be built with a HDD in mind - the Core users won't be able to run these games

way to go. yes, these systems are expensive, but older systems weren't exactly cheap. Saturn anyone?

[SOAPboy]

its 100 fucking dollars more..

Cant afford it? Dont buy one... Or cry about it on a message board..

babies

[MKJ]

as usual, soap missed the point :icon14:

[mjrpes]

Cant afford it? Dont buy one...

That's exactly why MS is doing this.

[Foo]

Soap utterly misses the point.

On the subject... couldn't the game makers have just set the aircraft as a feature which only works if you have the hard drive?

[glossy]

Soap utterly misses the point.

On the subject... couldn't the game makers have just set the aircraft as a feature which only works if you have the hard drive?

that's like saying "Couldn't Rockstar had made the third part of GTA:SA as a feature which only works if you have the hard drive?"

[Foo]

Not quite.

For limitation purposes, you would only need to detect whether the game is running from the CD or the HD, then turn on or off the ability to enter planes.

Then if the console has a HD, have the content needed run from HD instead of CD.

Not trivial, but it's not like splitting the game in half or doubling the line count.

[SOAPboy]

No you idiots miss the point..

Core system = Poor people
Normal System = Normal People

OH NOES MS IS FUCKING PEOPLE OUT OF MONEY..

No all they did was make a CHEAPER system for people that couldnt afford the uber price at launch..

Cheaper comes at a higher cost, not being able to do certain things..

Get the fuck over it..

[Foo]

Still missing the point.

It's stated quite clearly at the top of the thread soap, MS assured people that the lack of HD in the core version would not impact game features, and now it's come to light that it is doing.

Seriously, you're fucking slow or something.

[MKJ]

Cheaper comes at a higher cost, not being able to do certain things..

see thats the point. even if you do buy the better version, you still get a downgraded game.
its not like these 'certain things' you talk about suddenly get added to the game if you spent an extra 100.

ofcourse every gamer that axtually wants something out of his machine gets the uber version. too bad the gamedev gets halted and features get scrapped for everybody because of the core version.

[SOAPboy]

Cheaper comes at a higher cost, not being able to do certain things..

see thats the point. even if you do buy the better version, you still get a downgraded game.
its not like these 'certain things' you talk about suddenly get added to the game if you spent an extra 100.

ofcourse every gamer that axtually wants something out of his machine gets the uber version. too bad the gamedev gets halted and features get scrapped for everybody because of the core version.

OH NOES! NO PLANES!
:icon23: :icon23: :icon23: :icon23: :icon23: :icon23: :icon23:


The games going to suck, who fucking cares?

[MKJ]

[Foo]

Lol, soap's ego surpasses even my own.

[SOAPboy]

Lol, soap's ego surpasses even my own.

Im just sick of the 360/MS bashing and crying.. its old and played out already..

[Eraser]

lol what a retard

[bitWISE]

// Extremely simple code sample...but you get my point
if (DetectHardDrive()) {
enableFlying = true;
}

GG Volition...take the easy way out.

[MKJ]

// Extremely simple code sample...but you get my point
if (DetectHardDrive()) {
enableFlying = true;
}

GG Rockstar...take the easy way out.

its not rockstar doing this. its Volition's game


also, what if they have missions and/or places you can only go by plane? unable to 100% the game unless you have a hdd is quite a drag innit

[Foo]

Lol, soap's ego surpasses even my own.

Im just sick of the 360/MS bashing and crying.. its old and played out already..

Man you are a fucking idiot. The console isn't even out yet, of course there's a lot of discussion surrounding it, both positive and negative.

If you don't want to take part, common sense dictates you just fuck off.

At the very least, if you're going to be a little baby in a thread, understand what's being discussed first.

[bitWISE]

// Extremely simple code sample...but you get my point
if (DetectHardDrive()) {
enableFlying = true;
}

GG Rockstar...take the easy way out.

its not rockstar doing this. its Volition's game


also, what if they have missions and/or places you can only go by plane? unable to 100% the game unless you have a hdd is quite a drag innit

That's why you set a boolean flag that can be checked often and quickly. Team Arena is nothing more than a set of conditional statements that add functionality to baseq3 when enabled.

[Eraser]

// Extremely simple code sample...but you get my point
if (DetectHardDrive()) {
enableFlying = true;
}

GG Volition...take the easy way out.

It's probably the "DetectHardDrive()" bit that's being a bitch

[SOAPboy]

Lol, soap's ego surpasses even my own.

Im just sick of the 360/MS bashing and crying.. its old and played out already..

Man you are a fucking idiot. The console isn't even out yet, of course there's a lot of discussion surrounding it, both positive and negative.

If you don't want to take part, common sense dictates you just fuck off.

At the very least, if you're going to be a little baby in a thread, understand what's being discussed first.

How about blow me..

Game is shit, Fuck it

[bitWISE]

// Extremely simple code sample...but you get my point
if (DetectHardDrive()) {
enableFlying = true;
}

GG Volition...take the easy way out.

It's probably the "DetectHardDrive()" bit that's being a bitch

It shouldn't be. While the game is booting up all it needs to do is open a save file off the hdd or create a new one. I suppose it's possible that MS hid the hdd code within its own storage access library but that would be a pretty retarded design.

[Eraser]

// Extremely simple code sample...but you get my point
if (DetectHardDrive()) {
enableFlying = true;
}

GG Volition...take the easy way out.

It's probably the "DetectHardDrive()" bit that's being a bitch

It shouldn't be. While the game is booting up all it needs to do is open a save file off the hdd or create a new one. I suppose it's possible that MS hid the hdd code within its own storage access library but that would be a pretty retarded design.

Well there's two issues.

First is that hardware interaction probably goes through MS' XBox 360 API. It could be that the location to which the savegame is written is completely transparant to the developers. They could just call somekind of save game function. The developer might in fact never be aware of the fact that there is a harddrive or not. It might sound illogical, but it's not that strange. After all, all developers have to assume that there's no harddrive present.

Second issue is, just like MKJ sketched before, that if you make hardware dependant features in the game, the lack of hardware might make such an impact on gameplay that it's too much work.