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[Mark Gonzales]

2 Articles. One Gamespot One IGN

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6153608.html

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/716/716890p1.html


Big names like Square Enix president Yoichi Wada and Bandai Namco Games' vice president Shin Unozawa shared thoughts on the future of gaming.


Wada then shared his insights into online-gaming payment structures. He proposed a scenario for "volume-controlled charges," in which online games would be divided into chapters. The first chapter could be offered free for evaluation, with subsequent chapters requiring payments to continue playing. He also thinks that with the growth in "always-on" Internet connections, the "huge cost of debugging" to developers will decrease, as regular software updates will become possible. Wada suggested that, thanks to the availability of software updates, developers won't have to work so hard to find the zaniest bugs. Wada didn't use the word "patch," strictly, but if he were a native English speaker, he might have.Wada also pointed out that the software updates would make it "easy to insert advertisements into games."

Unozawa then weighed in with his take on the impending battle between Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii. His opinion is that this purported clash of titans will actually be anticlimatic. "There will be no power struggle," he said.

Unozawa offered thoughts on next generation platforms from Nintendo and Sony. Regarding the Wii, he said, "There will be many people who play with friends and family. Nintendo DS connectivity is also interesting. It will probably become the Wii's touch screen controller."

Unozawa did mention some potential pitfalls with the Wii. "I'm unsure about its appeal to the main users, namely middle- and high-school students." and that third parties may have a harder time making games for it when compared to Nintendo. He noted, with a laugh, "With Nintendo hardware, your biggest rival is Nintendo."

On the other hand, he was bullish on the PSP and PS3, which in his view fill "the demand for game hardware that can be enjoyed by individuals." Despite concerns that the PS3's price would make it prohibitively expensive, Unozawa has no fears. He asserted "the PlayStation 3 will sell, without question."

 

[SolidSnakex]

""always-on" Internet connections, the "huge cost of debugging" to developers will decrease, as regular software updates will become possible."

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[jjasper]

""always-on" Internet connections, the "huge cost of debugging" to developers will decrease, as regular software updates will become possible."

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

That is probably the worst way to use it. And possibly the worst idea ever in the history of video games.

 

[masud]

A Japanese exec bullish on the PSP?
ooook...

 

[djkimothy]

Some pretty insightful commnents.

"With Nintendo hardware, your biggest rival is Nintendo."

I too hope that patches are not implemented. Either get it right the first time or throw it out.

 

[Wario64]

-More microtransactions....yay

Spoiler

not

-Buggier games will be released with future patches fixing them...ehhh
-PS3 is competing with Wii, not X360. lol.

 

[Kangu]

A Japanese exec bullish on the PSP?
ooook...

Namco: Sony:: Team Ninja: MS

 

[meltpotato]

He also thinks that with the growth in "always-on" Internet connections, the "huge cost of debugging" to developers will decrease, as regular software updates will become possible.

that is the worst news ive heard in a loooong time...

 

[RaijinFY]

I dont know why but I feel like I'm going to hate next-gen...

 

[Adent]

Why no mention of the 360?

 

[Mejilan]

Xbox?

 

[SnakeXs]

Patching games = GET HIM! BURN HIM AT THE STAKE!! HISSSSSSSSSSSSS.

DS Connectivity, being another way to control Wii games as I've said all along = YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Why no mention of the 360?

Because the system has been out for nearly 6 months and still hasn't sold more than the Xbox did in its first week?

 

[loosus]

Wow. I hated everything Wada said.

I know some people argue that if you can't patch a game, the bugs never get fixed, and in theory, patching is definitely a benefit, but we've seen time and again that, in practice, developers use patching as an excuse to get around to fixing bugs and glitches whenever they get the chance and see pre-release debugging less of an issue.

 

[My Arms Your Hearse]

Japanese Execs Talk Upcoming Console Wars

Of course Xbox isn't mentioned, as it is an absolute non-factor in Japan.

 

[RaijinFY]

Why no mention of the 360?

Noone cares...

 

[meltpotato]

Why no mention of the 360?

its Square and Namco-Bandai.

 

[jjasper]

Why no mention of the 360?

They are talking about Japan.

Wow. I hated everything Wada said.

I know some people argue that if you can't patch a game, the bugs never get fixed, and in theory, patching is definitely a benefit, but we've seen time and again that, in practice, developers use patching as an excuse to get around to fixing bugs and glitches whenever they get the chance and see pre-release debugging less of an issue.

Yeah I have no problem if a game goes through normal testing and something slips through and they fix it. But they are talking about saving money and doing less testing which sucks, for us.

 

[SolidSnakex]

The patching aspect is what worries me most. When you've got systems that are connected to the net like all the next gen systems will be that was going to be a possibility but I didn't think you'd have someone just come right out and say they'll be doing shit like that.

 

[Mark Gonzales]

I know some people argue that if you can't patch a game, the bugs never get fixed, and in theory, patching is definitely a benefit, but we've seen time and again that, in practice, developers use patching as an excuse to get around to fixing bugs and glitches whenever they get the chance and see pre-release debugging less of an issue.

Bullshit EA made BF2 bug free right out of the gate for PC

 

[Operations]

Namco: Sony:: Team Ninja: MS

Still wierd though, considering Bandai-Namco is the publisher of the best-selling third party DS game.

 

[Kangu]

as per usual, cheap ass last gen gamers FTW! you guys enjoy your sucky buggy games, i
ll be off playing tons of bug free current gen AAA games that cost me pennies, like Advent Rising and Miami takedown

 

[loosus]

One of the worst things about patches many times, I think, is that even when things get "fixed," it seems to introduce other bugs, and then you get into a cycle of never-ending patches.

 

[jjasper]

Won't these patches fill up hard drives too? That just adds to the suckiness of it all.

 

[Krypton Zod]

Wada suggested that, thanks to the availability of software updates, developers won't have to work so hard to find the zaniest bugs. Wada didn't use the word "patch," strictly, but if he were a native English speaker, he might have.

Oh joy...

 

[Y2Kev]

I doubt patching will be that big of a deal. It's been an "oh noes" for us since Xbox Live launched four years ago and I can only think of one or two games with huge problems...like Wrestlemania on Xbox or something.

I think developers won't "not debug."

 

[MassiveAttack]

It's going to be awfully quiet here in November.

 

[RaijinFY]

It's going to be awfully quiet here in November.

Why?

 

[SolidSnakex]

I doubt patching will be that big of a deal.

Just hearing a dev basically say they won't be looking after their game as closely as they once did because they can just fix them later is never a good. And that's whats scary about it.

 

[fse]

bug patches?
brilliant idea from japan :|
lol

 

[loosus]

I doubt patching will be that big of a deal. It's been an "oh noes" for us since Xbox Live launched four years ago and I can only think of one or two games with huge problems...like Wrestlemania on Xbox or something.

I think developers won't "not debug."

I think they'll debug, but this guy came right out and plainly SAID that it'll cut on debugging costs. To me, that certainly means "less debugging," when their games area already not perfect.

 

[fse]

less or no debugging = bad

 

[MassiveAttack]

Why?

The all-consuming Sony hate is going to be silenced in one giant smackdown. What will be left of GAF?

 

[yoopoo]

The all-consuming Sony hate is going to be silenced in one giant smackdown. What will be left of GAF?

PS3 price drop in November? Sweet!

 

[fse]

what if its a price jump

 

[SolidSnakex]

The all-consuming Sony hate is going to be silenced in one giant smackdown. What will be left of GAF?

No ones hating Sony, atleast in this thread, we're hating that we might be having to play buggier games next generation because devs aren't going to be checking for them as much.

 

[yoopoo]

what if its a price jump

They might've included rumble!

 

[X26]

releasing games flawed and patching them up later is what turned me away from PC gaming, seeing this crap (potentially) invade consoles is depressing

 

[Kangu]

what if its a price jump

that means its a better value! its win/win

 

[fse]

No ones hating Sony, atleast in this thread, we're hating that we might be having to play buggier games next generation because devs aren't going to be checking for them as much.

for once i agree with you

:wub:

 

[meltpotato]

what if its a price jump

Jump In? heh.. j/k

if this whole patching trend continues, just wait and see what its like if their digital distribution dream ever manifests itself. seems like third-parties have the least to lose with it as well. hopefully Nin/Sony/MS implement some QA on them.

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

I love it when Xbots walk in front of this train, like a doe eye fawn questioning that huge thing bearing down on them two seconds before it splatters their uncomprehending brains across the countryside.

Japan does not care about Xbox. Nor will they ever care.

 

[Razoric]

I love it when Xbots walk in front of this train, like a doe eye fawn questioning that huge thing bearing down on them two seconds before it splatters their uncomprehending brains across the countryside.

Japan does not care about Xbox. Nor will they ever care.

bu bu bu blue dragon? ;o

 

[DCharlie]

i think this is getting blown out of context - a lot of crazy bugs still make it through and i'd assume that Sony will not reverse policy and say "well, now you don't have to pass our golive standards!"

i actually like the fact that console stuff can be patched - comparisons are drawn to the PC equivalent, but most patching there is due to the almost infinite number of possible configurations. Patching is a good thing - if i buy a $60 game and a problem has snuck through the gaps, then it's just a case of getting the fix.

Japan does not care about Xbox. Nor will they ever care.

it's depressing, i know that i can't enjoy any Xbox/X360 games until i know our Japanese cousins also approve.

 

[loosus]

Sure, in a perfect world, patching would be a great solution, assuming that plenty of work was done pre-release. In that situation, no common, fatal bugs would exist at release, and only those pesky, rare bugs that nobody gets anyway would be patched.

But that is not reality. Look, the guy already said that it would reduce debugging costs. If patching made things better for the customer, then wouldn't debugging costs actually go UP? Because they'd be patching as much before release and then continuing AFTERWARDS.

 

[meltpotato]

i actually like the fact that console stuff can be patched - comparisons are drawn to the PC equivalent, but most patching there is due to the almost infinite number of possible configurations. Patching is a good thing - if i buy a $60 game and a problem has snuck through the gaps, then it's just a case of getting the fix.

to be against getitng free patches to iron shit out is ridiculous. but that really isnt what i got from that statement. hopefully its in part due to a shit translation :/

 

[loosus]

If I were to really read into it, I would get something along the lines of this: "Well, we'll debug it before release but not nearly as much as in the past. Then, we'll see how things go with the users and patch only the common bugs, whereas we would've tried to fix everything in the past, because we couldn't predict the most common bugs."

 

[DCharlie]

If I were to really read into it, I would get something along the lines of this: "Well, we'll debug it before release but not nearly as much as in the paste.

yeah, that could definitely lead to a sticky situation....
[damn, you edited!]

Then, we'll see how things go with the users and patch only the common bugs, whereas we would've tried to fix everything in the past, because we couldn't predict the most common bugs."

in the end , unless sony alters their TRC, then all this really means little.

 

[norinrad21]

Stop the whinning krazy ken already said the PS3 is a high end PC

 

[SnakeXs]

What the hell is the issue here?

Testing a game as well as you possibly could, something slipping by, and fixing that issue = totally fine.

Slacking on QA and using "Oh, we'll just patch it later" as a cover up = badbadbadbad.