Concluding remarks and qualifications
As I wrap up this editorial of sorts, there are two things to address. First, there's the issue of Blu-ray's added capacity, and how it plays into gaming on the PS3. When Microsoft decided not to go with HD DVD, there was plenty of teeth gnashing from people who feared that DVD9 (8.5GB) could not possibly hold enough gaming data to keep the console hot for more than a year or two. It could be argued that Sony's big advantage here is the ability to easily transcend the storage limits of DVD9 with Blu-ray.
There's no doubt that BD-ROM has more space than DVD9. There's also no doubt that several games that were once thought to be impossible to fit on DVD9 nonetheless fit (
Oblivion being a good example). To get a sense of the real situation, consider existing game sizes. Original Xbox 360 titles, for example, used an average of 3.2GB per disc in 2005, up some 77 percent from 2001. Meanwhile, existing games on the Xbox 360 use slightly more space, with
NBA Live 06 taking up 4.5GB, and
Condemned: Criminal Origins taking 3.9GB. That is, they're roughly at half capacity. Furthermore, the argument that
x times the resolution equals
x times the data is without merit as an objective rule. There's an
excellent article at GamesFirst dealing with this very topic. Our own coverage of
procedural synthesis is highly recommended, as well.
In short, Blu-ray is not necessary for gaming in HD, if by necessary you mean anything approaching the dictionary's definition of the word. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone used to playing games on a PC, either. PC gamers have been playing games at or very near "HD" resolutions for years (at least some of us have), and the console crossovers mostly consume very little space. Keep in mind that DVD9 discs can hold more than 10 CDs worth of content. Also keep in mind that the storage limitations of the Xbox 360 are likely to exercise a restraining effect on many PS3 crossover titles, as well.
Could there be games that pass over DVD9's limitations in this next generation? Perhaps, but they will be few and far between, most of them will be loaded with cinematic video (of dubious value), and nothing that could not be addressed by a download service in a pinch. Keep in mind that Xbox Live, for instance, hosts demo downloads sizing 800MB, and can serve them reliably well....snip...
