Analyst: PS3 caused GTA IV delay

[Mithos]

I am not too shocked about it being delayed. Most of all the Big Hit Games have Been Delayed in the past and soon to end up as game of the year because the developers had extra time to work on game itself and add and take out suff that would maybe would or would not appear if released on the scheduled date. Games Like Legend of Zelda, Half Life, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Crysis.

[Isuck100%]

I am not too shocked about it being delayed. Most of all the Big Hit Games have Been Delayed in the past and soon to end up as game of the year because the developers had extra time to work on game itself and add and take out suff that would maybe would or would not appear if released on the scheduled date. Games Like Legend of Zelda, Half Life, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Crysis.

I have a feeling Halo 3 is going to be delayed now, too.

[Pokahontas.]

If PS3 sucks, try making a better one?

[azertyqsdfgwxcvb]

Gta IV > Game of the century

[Azil2fu]

Ok the PS3 caused GTA IV delay, and ? now everyone must wait

[Tonay_Montana]

I dont care whos fault it is. It will be amusing looking at all of this in hindsight early 08'. Just like San Andreas, its the same sh*t, this game is going to be boyond amazing, and everyone here knows it.

 

Think about it this way. What if rockstar decided not to even bother making a gta for next gen consoles, or if they rushed through it and made a piece of crap. A wait with the promise of the best game ever created for anything, EVER.. is better than those alternatives any day.

 

There is no game future or present/past that will compare to this one. cept a future gta of f*cking course.

[soleil]

 

If PS3 sucks, try making a better one?

Even if the PS3's difficulty in programming caused the delay, that doesn't mean it "sucks," as you so articulately stated. It means the PS3 is more customized for gaming (compared to the 360 being similar to certain Mac computers right off the shelf, the PS3 is like a Mac that is modified) and the software developers need to adjust to it. Some people go so far as to say that the PS3 is hard to program for simply because it is more advanced. That is probably fanboy talk, but some developers do say the PS3 has SLIGHTLY more potential, and we should see it with better graphics or performance in a couple years. I'll believe that when I see it, though, and my plan is to get both.

Edited August 6, 2007 by soleil

[Svip]

Hell. At least it is not going to be like Duke Nukem Forever.

 

Zing!

[dlx]

John mcCarmack also stated the ps3 is tough to develop for when he was displaying Tech 5 (seems very suited for gta style games), seems it runs out of memory pretty quick which is a problem for large environments and stuff. It's on gametrailers if you wanna check it out. I don't where he said it exactly, but there are 2 videos of the demonstration that are all pretty interesting if you have the patience to sit trough them (seems tech 5 can simultaniously output ps3, xbox and pc versions of the game and adding detail without slowdowns somehow).

 

So it's not just something xbox fanboys say. I don't know a lot about coding and the cpu's work and such, but the guys at id are some of the best in the business. I was surprised.

I don't know if that means the ps3 is less powerful, or that developers right now just don't know how to squeeze it out.

 

I think in GTA's case, they underestimated the differences between the two consoles, and they do have an agreement promising the same game experience or whatever on both. Maybe it's the ps3's memory, maybe it's the fact they couldn't use the harddrive on the xbox360, maybe it's a combination, like because of the lack of HDD support on xbox they had to make the game more reliant on memory, thus running into problems with the ps3. Maybe the Housers have a bad acid habit they want to kick.

 

It's probably all of that, with some cold financial business-reasoning, and the fact the actual sales of a game don't seem to be affected by delays. Either way, it's bad news for everyone, except the direct competition (the games people are going to buy instead of GTAIV.... we still need that fix). I suspect pandemic studios (mercenaries 2) have been on a champagne-binge ever since the delay was confirmed. That's gonna sell a lot better I think, just like assasin's creed (which was going to do well anyway).

 

 

 

 

 

 

[soleil]

 

Maybe it's the ps3's memory, maybe it's the fact they couldn't use the harddrive on the xbox360, maybe it's a combination, like because of the lack of HDD support on xbox they had to make the game more reliant on memory, thus running into problems with the ps3.

^ This part of your post is part of my theory. I really think that Rockstar saw the announcement of the "Hard Disk Required" label for 360 games that need a hard disk, and decided that they would do that instead of making the game playable without a hard disk. It would explain the comment some Rockstar or Take Two made about not giving Microsoft money back (since MS wouldn't be happy about anything that will prevent the rest of the Core systems from selling).

[Bruinfany2k]

MS is not losing alot of money anyways, like 90 percent of the consoles sold was probably un core systems such as elite or preieum

[soleil]

 

MS is not losing alot of money anyways, like 90 percent of the consoles sold was probably un core systems such as elite or preieum

That means that a lot of Core systems are still on the shelves, and Microsoft wants those to sell and get off the shelves so they make money off of them.

 

If GTA IV is announced as Hard Disk Required before the Cores are sold out, then that is one more reason why people will not buy the 360 Core sitting on the shelf. If GTA IV is announced as Hard Disk Required AFTER the Core sells out, then I doubt Microsoft would care.

[Bruinfany2k]

MS is not losing alot of money anyways, like 90 percent of the consoles sold was probably un core systems such as elite or preieum

That means that a lot of Core systems are still on the shelves, and Microsoft wants those to sell and get off the shelves so they make money off of them.

 

If GTA IV is announced as Hard Disk Required before the Cores are sold out, then that is one more reason why people will not buy the 360 Core sitting on the shelf. If GTA IV is announced as Hard Disk Required AFTER the Core sells out, then I doubt Microsoft would care.

simple solution for that then, take the 20 GB hard drives off the market, stick them on a core 360 and sell them for 350, that way you can still have the hard drive and still save 50 bucks

[soleil]

MS is not losing alot of money anyways, like 90 percent of the consoles sold was probably un core systems such as elite or preieum

That means that a lot of Core systems are still on the shelves, and Microsoft wants those to sell and get off the shelves so they make money off of them.

 

If GTA IV is announced as Hard Disk Required before the Cores are sold out, then that is one more reason why people will not buy the 360 Core sitting on the shelf. If GTA IV is announced as Hard Disk Required AFTER the Core sells out, then I doubt Microsoft would care.

simple solution for that then, take the 20 GB hard drives off the market, stick them on a core 360 and sell them for 350, that way you can still have the hard drive and still save 50 bucks

Hmm... but then the consoles that you took the 20GB hard drives off of will now be without a Hard drive, so they will become Cores...

[Gouveia]

So much bullsh*t.

[Bruinfany2k]

MS is not losing alot of money anyways, like 90 percent of the consoles sold was probably un core systems such as elite or preieum

That means that a lot of Core systems are still on the shelves, and Microsoft wants those to sell and get off the shelves so they make money off of them.

 

If GTA IV is announced as Hard Disk Required before the Cores are sold out, then that is one more reason why people will not buy the 360 Core sitting on the shelf. If GTA IV is announced as Hard Disk Required AFTER the Core sells out, then I doubt Microsoft would care.

simple solution for that then, take the 20 GB hard drives off the market, stick them on a core 360 and sell them for 350, that way you can still have the hard drive and still save 50 bucks

Hmm... but then the consoles that you took the 20GB hard drives off of will now be without a Hard drive, so they will become Cores...

No you can buy 20 GB hard drives seperatly and put them on your 360, I say you take those overpriced 20gb hard drives and stick them on the Core packages and sell them with a wired controller, and an eternet cable that way you can make a lesser expensive package that is fully funtional.

[soleil]

No you can buy 20 GB hard drives seperatly and put them on your 360, I say you take those overpriced 20gb hard drives and stick them on the Core packages and sell them with a wired controller, and an eternet cable that way you can make a lesser expensive package that is fully funtional.

Ohhh I see what you're saying. Ya maybe they should do that.

[Bruinfany2k]

Seems like a cusumer friendly package

[vettefan88]

Maybe it's the ps3's memory, maybe it's the fact they couldn't use the harddrive on the xbox360, maybe it's a combination, like because of the lack of HDD support on xbox they had to make the game more reliant on memory, thus running into problems with the ps3.

^ This part of your post is part of my theory. I really think that Rockstar saw the announcement of the "Hard Disk Required" label for 360 games that need a hard disk, and decided that they would do that instead of making the game playable without a hard disk. It would explain the comment some Rockstar or Take Two made about not giving Microsoft money back (since MS wouldn't be happy about anything that will prevent the rest of the Core systems from selling).

I think. if they already had a working, playable game going on the 360 then they shouldn't try to change it just to use the hard drive. all screens and videos so far have come from the 360 version. the 360 version of the game was running, yet nothign from the ps3 has been shown. Although I believe some smaller magazine had labeled screens as "ps3' I don't believe they actually were from the ps3.

 

And also, how smart would it be cost wise to delay a game past the holiday season, only to make it hard drive required? and would that also effect sales? people without the hard drive would have to buy the game AND a hard drive. and a casual gamer not familiar to the series would see the hard drive required label, and disregard the game. Certainly not a good move if they already have a working game.

 

And can somebody honestly think of a reason to why a hdd would be required? and not just optional? it won't make the game run any better in general, and I can only see optional features such as something like a replay mode or somethign requireing a hard drive, but no critical gameplay options.

 

I think the hdd is completely ruled out as far as the delay goes.

[fitbikesbmx]

If you were stupid enough to buy a core and not get a HDD, then you are not mentally capible of playing a gta game, these are the people who go bannanas because of what they do in video games. I really have no idea why everyone thinks that this game is held back by the lack of HDD in core systems, it is just a f*cking idiotic concept to consider.

[Snake Without a Tongue]

I know nothing of core systems, so maybe this is a dumb question -- but couldn't someone without a hard drive buy one? Is that like not possible on a core system or something?

 

I mean, first off, who cares if not everyone has a hard drive, but if those self same people have the option of getting one then... I care even less.

 

Edit: Oops, already had that question answered a couple of posts up. Sorry bout that.

[soleil]

 

Maybe it's the ps3's memory, maybe it's the fact they couldn't use the harddrive on the xbox360, maybe it's a combination, like because of the lack of HDD support on xbox they had to make the game more reliant on memory, thus running into problems with the ps3.

^ This part of your post is part of my theory. I really think that Rockstar saw the announcement of the "Hard Disk Required" label for 360 games that need a hard disk, and decided that they would do that instead of making the game playable without a hard disk. It would explain the comment some Rockstar or Take Two made about not giving Microsoft money back (since MS wouldn't be happy about anything that will prevent the rest of the Core systems from selling).

I think. if they already had a working, playable game going on the 360 then they shouldn't try to change it just to use the hard drive. all screens and videos so far have come from the 360 version. the 360 version of the game was running, yet nothign from the ps3 has been shown. Although I believe some smaller magazine had labeled screens as "ps3' I don't believe they actually were from the ps3.

 

And also, how smart would it be cost wise to delay a game past the holiday season, only to make it hard drive required? and would that also effect sales? people without the hard drive would have to buy the game AND a hard drive. and a casual gamer not familiar to the series would see the hard drive required label, and disregard the game. Certainly not a good move if they already have a working game.

 

And can somebody honestly think of a reason to why a hdd would be required? and not just optional? it won't make the game run any better in general, and I can only see optional features such as something like a replay mode or somethign requireing a hard drive, but no critical gameplay options.

 

I think the hdd is completely ruled out as far as the delay goes.

Well people cite loading times as the main reason why ANY developer wants to make their games HDD required. If you unload the data onto the HDD, it apparently reads faster than if you read it from the CD. Don't know the mechanics of why, but that is apparently a big deal to developers trying to make a game with no loading times.

 

In a horse barning game like GTA IV, eliminating loading times is even more important... imagine walking into a building and there is no loading time. Big difference than in SA when it loaded every time. Rockstar SPECIFICALLY stated how they want to make the experience "seamless" which means no loading times. Also, earlier in the year when ask if the lack of guaranteed HDD on the 360 Core presented a problem, Houser said yes. So that shows that Rockstar WOULD definitely want the game to unload data onto a hard drive.

[GTAVier]

Hi!

 

Well, its f*cking sh*t that R* delayed it! But i thinkt that the PS3 caused this, too! Or why did ever magazines only see the X360 Version? In a Preview from the 29th July, i rode that there were many mistakes in the game, like popups and textures. But i dont understand why R* said this so early to us. Maybe they get ready earlier. Only predictions. The PS3 is not the best console, but not the worst, tooo!

 

 

[Isuck100%]

In a horse barning game like GTA IV

horse barning???

[soleil]

In a horse barning game like GTA IV

horse barning???

aka pony farming

[b4rtsimps0n]

Maybe it's the ps3's memory, maybe it's the fact they couldn't use the harddrive on the xbox360, maybe it's a combination, like because of the lack of HDD support on xbox they had to make the game more reliant on memory, thus running into problems with the ps3.

^ This part of your post is part of my theory. I really think that Rockstar saw the announcement of the "Hard Disk Required" label for 360 games that need a hard disk, and decided that they would do that instead of making the game playable without a hard disk. It would explain the comment some Rockstar or Take Two made about not giving Microsoft money back (since MS wouldn't be happy about anything that will prevent the rest of the Core systems from selling).

I think. if they already had a working, playable game going on the 360 then they shouldn't try to change it just to use the hard drive. all screens and videos so far have come from the 360 version. the 360 version of the game was running, yet nothign from the ps3 has been shown. Although I believe some smaller magazine had labeled screens as "ps3' I don't believe they actually were from the ps3.

 

And also, how smart would it be cost wise to delay a game past the holiday season, only to make it hard drive required? and would that also effect sales? people without the hard drive would have to buy the game AND a hard drive. and a casual gamer not familiar to the series would see the hard drive required label, and disregard the game. Certainly not a good move if they already have a working game.

 

And can somebody honestly think of a reason to why a hdd would be required? and not just optional? it won't make the game run any better in general, and I can only see optional features such as something like a replay mode or somethign requireing a hard drive, but no critical gameplay options.

 

I think the hdd is completely ruled out as far as the delay goes.

Well people cite loading times as the main reason why ANY developer wants to make their games HDD required. If you unload the data onto the HDD, it apparently reads faster than if you read it from the CD. Don't know the mechanics of why, but that is apparently a big deal to developers trying to make a game with no loading times.

 

In a horse barning game like GTA IV, eliminating loading times is even more important... imagine walking into a building and there is no loading time. Big difference than in SA when it loaded every time. Rockstar SPECIFICALLY stated how they want to make the experience "seamless" which means no loading times. Also, earlier in the year when ask if the lack of guaranteed HDD on the 360 Core presented a problem, Houser said yes. So that shows that Rockstar WOULD definitely want the game to unload data onto a hard drive.

yeah they said no loading times, except one big loading time in the beginning, that's it.

and about the hdd for the 360 thing, i read somewhere that microsoft is going to allow 'hdd required' labels on games, so that would solve the whole problem. and i believe some games already need a hdd. so why not make gta a hdd required game.

[tommy vs. claude]

sorry to sound like a dumbass(arse). but can i get a hdd in best buy?

[Supernautus]

I'm pretty sure no new core systems are being produced, and they'll be off sale by the end of the year if there are any even in stores anymore. MS realised pretty quickly that the core was pointless and removed it. Not as many people as you may think have core systems, especially not without buying a hard drive later. I can't think of any game that "Needs" a Hard Drive on any system yet aside from that fact that without one, you can't go online with your 360, or store downloaded content..

[vettefan88]

Maybe it's the ps3's memory, maybe it's the fact they couldn't use the harddrive on the xbox360, maybe it's a combination, like because of the lack of HDD support on xbox they had to make the game more reliant on memory, thus running into problems with the ps3.

^ This part of your post is part of my theory. I really think that Rockstar saw the announcement of the "Hard Disk Required" label for 360 games that need a hard disk, and decided that they would do that instead of making the game playable without a hard disk. It would explain the comment some Rockstar or Take Two made about not giving Microsoft money back (since MS wouldn't be happy about anything that will prevent the rest of the Core systems from selling).

I think. if they already had a working, playable game going on the 360 then they shouldn't try to change it just to use the hard drive. all screens and videos so far have come from the 360 version. the 360 version of the game was running, yet nothign from the ps3 has been shown. Although I believe some smaller magazine had labeled screens as "ps3' I don't believe they actually were from the ps3.

 

And also, how smart would it be cost wise to delay a game past the holiday season, only to make it hard drive required? and would that also effect sales? people without the hard drive would have to buy the game AND a hard drive. and a casual gamer not familiar to the series would see the hard drive required label, and disregard the game. Certainly not a good move if they already have a working game.

 

And can somebody honestly think of a reason to why a hdd would be required? and not just optional? it won't make the game run any better in general, and I can only see optional features such as something like a replay mode or somethign requireing a hard drive, but no critical gameplay options.

 

I think the hdd is completely ruled out as far as the delay goes.

Well people cite loading times as the main reason why ANY developer wants to make their games HDD required. If you unload the data onto the HDD, it apparently reads faster than if you read it from the CD. Don't know the mechanics of why, but that is apparently a big deal to developers trying to make a game with no loading times.

 

In a horse barning game like GTA IV, eliminating loading times is even more important... imagine walking into a building and there is no loading time. Big difference than in SA when it loaded every time. Rockstar SPECIFICALLY stated how they want to make the experience "seamless" which means no loading times. Also, earlier in the year when ask if the lack of guaranteed HDD on the 360 Core presented a problem, Houser said yes. So that shows that Rockstar WOULD definitely want the game to unload data onto a hard drive.

I figured it would of been loading related, but I can't imagine the hdd loading much faster than the disc, and what happens if you happen to have your hdd pretty filled? the premium only has 20gb I believe, and loading a majority of the game at the start would demand lots of space, would it not?

 

I personally think the hdd should only be used for optional feature, like episodic content, a replay feature, screen captures, and maybe additional saving options. I think making it a requirement, and one that could possibly demand lots of memory would be a mistake.

 

I do plan on getting a 360 for gta, since I don't have a next gen console yet (never felt I needed one, gta is really all I play) and I will probably go elite, or atleast premium. but for the people who got the core package will probably feel shafted. And it would come across as too much of a scheme to get more hdd's sold, and less core's purchased.

 

I do consider the hdd a possible reason to the delay now, but I really think it's an unlikely one.

[soleil]

I figured it would of been loading related, but I can't imagine the hdd loading much faster than the disc, and what happens if you happen to have your hdd pretty filled? the premium only has 20gb I believe, and loading a majority of the game at the start would demand lots of space, would it not?

 

I personally think the hdd should only be used for optional feature, like episodic content, a replay feature, screen captures, and maybe additional saving options. I think making it a requirement, and one that could possibly demand lots of memory would be a mistake.

 

I do plan on getting a 360 for gta, since I don't have a next gen console yet (never felt I needed one, gta is really all I play) and I will probably go elite, or atleast premium. but for the people who got the core package will probably feel shafted. And it would come across as too much of a scheme to get more hdd's sold, and less core's purchased.

 

I do consider the hdd a possible reason to the delay now, but I really think it's an unlikely one.

I don't really know how much faster it is, or how much memory would be loaded onto the HDD, but game developers seem to want to go the route of using the HDD. Note the recent news of games for the 360 coming out with a label that says it requires a hard disk drive... they never seem to be concerned that the 20 GB isn't enough, though. And they do seem confident that the loading is noticeably different when reading from the hard disk instead.