Will a Blu-Ray retail version of WipeoutHD be released?

[Linchpin]

Hey there :)
You're probably all asking why the hell would I want buy a physical disk version of the game when I can just buy it online and download it ? .
Well as you can see I'm from South Africa ,and we're living in the stone-age as far as internet connections are concerned . Our internet is also ridiculously expensive compared to most other countries in the world .

I have a 384 k adsl connection which I pay 600 rand a month for which equates to 45 Euros , which gives me around 30 - 40kb/s download speeds along with a 3gigabyte data cap per month(that's 3 gigs for uploads and downloads added together) . Once you reach your cap fyour internet is cut off completely for the rest of the month unless you top-up your cap , priced at 130 rand a gig , roughly 10 Euros .

Now WipeoutHD being a game with lots of High resolution content I can only imagine it will be at least a couple of gigs to download . Lets assume it were 4 gigs that would mean on top of the price I pay for it online I would end up spending an extra 40 - 60 euros .:dizzy

So does anyone know if a Blu-Ray version of the game will be sold , I know for GT5-prologue their is a Blu-Ray retail version .

[Lion]

wow, I feel much better about NZ internet pricing after reading that.
sorry, I don't mean to sound smug, but I honestly thought we were getting stung badly till reading your post.

I don't know whether there'll be a bluray version, but another annoying thing is you can't even download it to removable storage and transport the installer around (not being able to do this with demos has been annoying me for a while)
I wish you luck with finding a solution

[HISHO[JP]]

The annouced version is downloadable only...

But I want Blu-Ray retail version if it's available.

Because the region of US & JP Blu-Ray are same.
So if Blu-Ray version is released in US,
JP users may be able to play WOHD in JP PS3
　without download problem in PSN! :hyper

[Skvall]

All Ps3 games are playable on Ps3s all over the world. So it doesnt matter where you import it from.
And I would buy the BD-version of WOHD if it where available, I want my games on the wall, not on the HDD. There are lots of reasons why a disc is better imo. :P

(its the blu-ray movies that have regions, and there us and jap are the same yes..)

[stin]

Wow!, I didn`t know that but I knew they were extremes.

I`m using best connection available (turns out to be utter shite!), which I use unlimited connection.

Yes, I`m actually hoping for a Wipeout HD disc. So I can add to my collection.

stevie:?

[Rapier Racer]

lol stevie *cough its not unlimited either cough*

Doubt you will ever see it on Blu Ray it's got PSN exclusive plastered everywhere, remember the costs would increase if they slapped it on a disk, would that really be logical considering what the game is? Think about this from a causal gaming assholes perspective.

[lochiebrad]

ship ur ps3 over to me in aus and i'll dl it for you... and... give it back (maybe).


because it's downloaded and running off the hard-drive, do you think that it would run better than off a disc, as it doesn't have to cache the bluray disc onto the drive all the time?

[Frances_Penfold]

My sense has been that Wipeout HD is being positioned as the "crown jewel" of the PSN service-- and that as such, the game would probably end up being PSN exclusive (no blu-ray) for a long time, maybe forever.

My sense is also that a game that is downloaded to the hard-drive will (if anything) run more smoothly than a blu-ray-based game because the PS3 won't have to spin the disc and search/read information. On the other hand, downloads are a pain in the ass because of DRM issues and regional differences in release dates (see: extra tracks for Wipeout Pulse) so I'd personally rather own the game on blu-ray.

Anyway-- that's all just speculation-- not like I really know for sure! :p


Think about this from a causal gaming assholes perspective.

I think that most casual gamer's assholes see a lot of couch cushions and don't have strong feelings one way or the other :lol

[Sausehuhn]

People who buy online = People who play online
People who buy in a shop = People that may play online

Sony wants to push forward the PSN and its possibilities, focussing on online-play. An online-only game can easily achieve that.

[Lance]

: }looks at the present and into the future, then says} Blu-Ray is an already dead format pretending that it is and will continue to be the state-of-the-art thing for the foreseeable future. Flash memory, or something very like it will soon eliminate Blu-Ray from the market. Sony will never recoup the money they spent on Blu-Ray development, on defeating HD-DVD, and on marketing. {always close your hypertext tags{ :D

[infoxicated]

Do you really think that or have you just bought into the wishful thinking of MicroSoft & Apple?

If you've invested in an HD TV, have a quality surround sound set up and a good amplifier, the last thing you'll want to do is pay Steve Jobs through the arse for a 720p movie download from iTunes with a single audio track that's compressed to hell.

What you want is 1080p and high end uncompressed audio, and that's where Blu-Ray outstrips some mythical download service.

[mdhay]

Besides, Blu - Ray discs have a 50 GB Capacity IIRC, so there is a lot of space to work with compared to 2GB download that 'HD might be.(It could be larger, 2GB is a rough estimate).

[Lance]

Yes, I really think that, and it has nothing to do with MicroSoft or Apple or download; it has to do with an already available portable mass data storage form reaching moderately high capacity and reasonable cost per gigabyte plus natively greater speed of data access and transfer, hence reaching practicality and desirability, before Blu-Ray can ever pay for itself. The disc as a data storage form is doomed in the near future.

Maybe if they had started with UV wavelength lasers, they would have bought themselves enough time to stave off solid-state circuitry for long enough to make a profit.

[taqili]

Yes, it should run faster on the HD than the b-r disc, but not significantly.

Want proof, look at Devil May Cry 4.

[Colin Berry]

DVD will be the most popular format for a few more years, and Blu Ray will dominate for a decade at least.
Sure in the future downloads are the way but there are huge markets in developing countries that wont be ready for broadband explosion for decades as such dvd etc will be manufactured and be popular.
The ps2 continues to sell huge numbers, not in the uk but in eastern europe and asia and africa and the like - places that arent necessarily on the cutting edge so to speak cant afford ps3s but a ps2 for £60-80 and 6000+ games.. . so in 5-10 when the ps3 is on its way out in the 'rich countries' it will be around in the other countries and blu ray will be thriving there still

In 10yrs time, there might be dload services for some parts of europe and america and japan that are awesome for hd content, but many countries wont have that infrastructure as such dvds or blu rays or whatever you can buy in shops then, will remain popular

I think, anyway

[mdhay]

You've just hit the nail on the head there. I mean, I bought the original Half - Life (Pre - owned as Valve have discontinued it), for an insignificant £7. That £7 would be worth quite a bit to someone in an LEDC, whilst to us, it is nothing.

[Frances_Penfold]

I used to be more enthused about the prospects for digital downloading as a means of distributing media (movies, audio, whatever)-- before I noticed how much damn harddrive space it takes up!

Even for "gimped" quality stuff (e.g., iTunes video), it will fill your hard-drive in a hurry. Sure, you can delete stuff after watching, but there are no guarantees of being able to freely download it again in the future, even for free content (podcasts). Sure, you can archive the stuff, but using DVDs it is a real chore. (Ironically, blu-ray would be real help with that.)

There is also the issue of diminishing the "free" space on the hard-drive, and in fragmenting the hard-drive, such that overall performance of the computer is diminished.

So even for me, a hardcore Apple supporter and somebody that in general likes what iTunes offers to the consumer-- I have concluded that heavy reliance on digital downloads would require me to purchase a dedicated media hub mac, at a cost of >$1,500. It would also require considerable effort for maintenance and archiving material.

At the moment, it's not worth it to me-- and so I primarily use DVDs and CDs for media, and will be taking the plunge to blu-ray before too long.

Ten years out-- when some of the issues have been resolved-- I have no doubt that digital distribution will be the standard.

[Dogg Thang]

An interesting discussion. I come down on the download side I think. I think DVD isn't going anywhere soon. As pointed out, many countries won't be moving to Blu-Ray or anything else for quite some time. But I don't think the outcome of that will be that Blu-Ray dominates at that point. I think it will more likely be that Blu-Ray is bypassed and the huge move will be from DVD to downloads.

The weird thing is, if iTunes and similar services (and even illegal torrents etc) has been any indicator, huge numbers of people will quite happily take reduced quality for ease of availability and use. The 1080p and uncompressed audio doesn't mean a huge amount to most people and the difference between DVD and Blu-Ray even on a ginormous great HD telly isn't anywhere near the previous jumps from VHS to DVD or even tape to CD. It's just not that much of a draw.

Where I'm really curious about the long-term effects is in the move to DRM-free audio downloads. I've you've bought a high-quality DRM-free audio track, there is no reason on the planet to buy it again. Up to now, music companies have been able to resell music on each move but I think that's going to come to an end as people build up their own libraries digitally in formats they can move to any new systems or players. They'll probably remaster loads in different formats like 5.1 or whatever as a new draw but I'd be amazed if that gets repeat sales in the way the move to CD did.

I see this happening with video too. Once you get to a certain resolution and audio quality, unless you own an actual cinema, there's nowhere to go. And once you've got those files, you've got them.

But anyway, yeah, I see the move to downloads as being the next big format. I have no doubt Blu-ray will do well but I think don't think it's the future of video.

[JABBERJAW]

Tech stupid question, but doesn't keeping the high video quality of a 1080p game take up a huge amount of space on memory, I know in music, CDs sound better than downloaded music(very small difference, but one just the same), maybe because they are compressed?
I like Dvds, looks cool on the shelf. If the downloading thing takes over, I'll have to put snow globes up there, please don't let it happen.

Lance did you buy an HD dvd player?

[infoxicated]

Yes, they do take up a lot of space.

However, as we know from our good friends Mr Jobs and Mr Gates, media hubs with over half a terrabyte of storage are so cheap and mass market that you'll be able to pay them so that you can store all ten of your favourite movies and a couple of seasons worth of your two favourite shows.

What? You have more than ten favourite movies? And more than two favourite shows?

[Lance]

Al, no, I didn't. I have just plain ol' DVD. I had no money before HD-DVD was officially discontinued [and my income is still fully committed to debts for a considerable time.] Even had I been able to afford it, I still would have waited till the question was settled of which standard would prevail, and in view of the rapid advance of non-moving non-disc media for portable storage [cards instead of DVD, etc.], I will still wait. I don't think Blu-Ray will be a long-term product, and I don't really need the modestly higher image quality, even if it were. If I were going to buy media off a shelf in a physical store, I'd rather it be on a pre-recorded memory card instead of a disc.

If Blu-Ray dOes last longer than I expect, it will be because the companies supporting it had successfully used every tool of economic and political pressure to stifle the adoption of a superior technology. Much as was done to win against a cheaper but only slightly less capable technology such as HD-DVD. Back in the VCR tape format war between Beta and VHS, Sony lost to a cheaper but only slightly inferior competitor. This time, they played the game better.

[Sausehuhn]

Yeah, I can imagine that BluRay may be the last disk format we will ever see. HDDs are cheaper and cheaper and you get 500GB for less than 100€ these days.
In about ten years I can easily imagine things being stored on HDDs or Flashh drives. Hell, I just saw an 8GB USB stick for 20€. 8GB!
Hah! I just remember how much I payed for my 512MB Memory Stick when I got my PSP less than three years back: a bit more than 40€ - and that was very, very cheap at these days.

Nonetheless I'm sure some formats will stay. Such as the CD. For music and stuff. Because the majority still prefers their music to have in their shelfs and not just on the HDD and the quality still is a lot better (a normal MP3 is around 4MB big, the uncompressed file on the CD is around 40MB)
I think it's different with games and alike, because you don't want to put a disk into the computer/console anyway.

I, for one, like both: having the original on CD/DVD/BluRay with a nice booklet etc. and then again the same stuff on my HDD.
Because at least I handle the things different: When I play a CD I listen to the music more consciously than to the MP3s on my HDD I just started with a few clicks.

[Linchpin]

lol stevie *cough its not unlimited either cough*

Doubt you will ever see it on Blu Ray it's got PSN exclusive plastered everywhere, remember the costs would increase if they slapped it on a disk, would that really be logical considering what the game is? Think about this from a causal gaming assholes perspective.

Bah I was hoping that wipeoutHD would also be released on disk like GT5 prologue was , with both games being kind of demo games for the next big installment..

But I guess DLC only makes sense for wipeoutHD with it not being an over hyped game like GT5 prologue , it saves Sony a lot of money and the majority of people purchasing the game will be in first world countries with fully capable internet connections anyway .

I'll just wait and see what everyone here on the zone feels about the game after its released :rolleyes:..if everyone says it's "omg best wipeout game ever" and the gameplay outweighs that hud, then maybe I'll feel so inclined to pay triple the price of an ordinary game for wipeoutHD..

-- ----------



In about ten years I can easily imagine things being stored on HDDs or Flashh drives.

Haha or what about thinking ahead of that many years down the line , I see storage possibly going completely online , where you buy internet storage space , ofcourse our internet connection speeds would have to surpass that of SATA2 or firewire cables :dizzy

[lochiebrad]

yep! that's the future! I can also imagine... in many years, not just the HDD, but all of the components of your computer being run remotely. some kind of super computer up in the sky that everyone can access and pay to unlock software etc, and the software is streamed down to your monitor or ipod or whatever you have. this way, you'd never own any hardware apart from the receiver, monitor and keyboard/mouse; no actual computer.. as long as you had an amazingly fast internet connection.

imagine an ipod with no disk (hence absolutely tiny), that had unlimited storage space because it could access the HDD remotely, and stream down the content you had access too.

okay i'm getting carried away now..

[Lance]

Sounds like you're channelling Larry Ellison. :)

[Fascia]

remote computer in the sky? skynet? Judgement day - When WipEout HD is released.

[Lance]

Exactly.

I never want to see the time when every copy of everything I ever cared about is totally in someone else's possession and control or just plain bad luck or incompetence. I always want to have my own machine, my own copies of all software. Having said that, onweb search engines and online communal gameplay are fine. But I want the game itself in my possession.

[blixabargeld]

i agree with you lance, I want my copies too.. It happens for me with every format, from music to dvds; having something only on the HDD would make me feel as i haven't got it (or maybe just borrowed it)..
.. and just because I'd be glad to see HD disc near the other ones.. :nod

[mdhay]

That, plus a BD cannot corrupt / format itself.

[Lion]

but it can easily be scratched to a point where it becomes useless.
I would be quite surprised if flash takes over as a distribution medium as lance suggests, I can see how it would be a better choice, but I believe that by the time the difference is large enough to drive users to change format, online distribution will be substantially more feasible than it is today.
I think bluray will not only be the last disc media, but the last commercial physical media for content.

Will be interesting though.. that shift will mean the end for music stores, video stores, and game stores.

[Lance]

That would suck. And I mean that in a bad way. :D

And no libraries full of real books. I'm pretty sure I don't want a world where thAt happens.

[Lion]

I don't see libraries going away.. that's a different kettle of fish altogether.
while text can be digitally distributed, reading it off paper is more comfortable than off a screen.
By comparison... games, movies, and music are all sold as digital information on physical media anyway... so removing the media while keeping the same data is far more realistic
libraries will go away somewhat later than we achieve the paperless office.
do you see that happening any time soon?

[blixabargeld]

with everything on hard disk drives something like a "millenium bug" will sound far more menacing..

[Lance]

We've not lost libraries, yet, but we've pretty much lost vinyl. It's still around, but so much reduced that we can never have the same experience of it anymore. There was a rich tactile and visual and kinetic experience with vinyl records that you can't have with digital media. Same is true of books, and I think we will lose them, but don't know when.

edited to add: I happened to visit Ars Technica while ago and found that last night they had published this article relevant to that subject:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080401-why-authors-and-publishers-need-not-fear-online-piracy.html