Morning Discussion

March 25, 2008 5:55 AM

2247

Morning Shackers, let's begin the cycle once again. It looks like Rock Band Wii is finally happening, though with lots of caveats about what "they could most effectively do at this time". Is the Wii's online functionality becoming a more endemic issue than any amount of polygons? On the other hand, how do you feel about the fact that EA is using the online services to facilitate selling an arguably game play incomplete version?

In community news, Shacker Lowpoly shares his entry for a TIGSource game creation competition. The MMO-loving Tolkien fans in the crowd are taking another stab at LotRO, so if that's your thing then get together with them.

Jeff "geedeck" Gondek

From The Chatty

Refresh Go To Thread

redfive

 reply
March 25, 2008 6:01 AM

EA just wants the game shipped. They are such a shit publisher. Harmonix, you are really shooting yourself in the foot with no DLC for Rock Band for the Wii. Wait, harmonix probably wants it in there but the wrestling between Nintendo and EA is gumming the whole thing up.
- geedeck
  
   reply
  March 25, 2008 6:02 AM
  
  I would imagine it's more Nintendo. I mean, it's not like the game won't be fun but... Oh and word is that GH3 guitars _won't_ work. :\
  - redfive
    
     reply
    March 25, 2008 6:07 AM
    
    that kind of stuff is horrible. I honestly believe they would sell more units if they included things like that. Save the customer money wherever possible and they will reward you with repeat sales.
    - geedeck
      
       reply
      March 25, 2008 6:17 AM
      
      It's not EA/Harmonix's call. It's Activision and their threat of lawsuit.
      - redfive
        
         reply
        March 25, 2008 6:20 AM
        
        oh right, Activision bought all rights to GH3. Part of me says you can't blame them for protecting their IP but on the other hand you could think that people would buy more units of GH3 if they knew they could also use the guitars on Rockband.
- jbury
  
   reply
  March 25, 2008 6:02 AM
  
  I currently only own a PC and a Wii and would have picked up Rockband for the Wii if the DLC was there (I'm not too bothered about the online modes though) but now I'll be buying a 360 when rockband comes out in the UK so I can play it :(
- gummijoh
  
   reply
  March 25, 2008 6:10 AM
  
  I have been waiting patiently for them to announce Rock Band for the Wii and when it finally happens I am utterly dissapointed. DLC for the WII would be a great thing and is something Nintendo should embrace, its not like the console cant do this either with the 512mb internal memory or the SD memory card slot.
  
  WTF EA !
  WTF Harmonix !
  WTF Nintendo !
- MoreVespeneGas
  
   reply
  March 25, 2008 6:15 AM
  
  I would imagine it's more EA. Ship it asap rather than wait for the WiiWare service to launch.
  - MoreVespeneGas
    
     reply
    March 25, 2008 6:20 AM
    
    Also the Wii version looks like it's just a a PS2 port. Adding online func would delay things quite a bit as they couldn't just copy what they did on the PS2 for insta-$$
- avatar_58
  
   reply
  March 25, 2008 6:18 AM
  
  Well what do you expect really - with the Wii the online functionality is an afterthought. I would be amazed if *any* game ever gets DLC for the Wii. In fact I would bet against it. The harddrive isn't big enough and the WiiWare store just isn't designed for that kind of thing.
  
  The way I see it if you want DLC you basically need a 360 or PS3.
  - geedeck
    
     reply
    March 25, 2008 6:22 AM
    
    Actually, you're incorrect. it's already confirmed for some WiiWare games, including the Square: FF:CC game
- Deathlove
  
   reply
  March 25, 2008 6:20 AM
  
  I can't imagine the clusterfuck that Rock Band DLC on the Wii would involve. Hundreds of SD cards!
  - MoreVespeneGas
    
     reply
    March 25, 2008 6:21 AM
    
    How big do you think song packs are exactly?
    - avatar_58
      
       reply
      March 25, 2008 6:23 AM
      
      Doesn't matter. If you are like me you probably already bought a dozen or so VC games, own games like Smash Bros that eat quite a bit of space, and have the internet channel. Together these basically fill the entire drive. Once Mario Kart gets here I don't know if the HD will hold anything more.
      
      Unless we get an HD I cannot see DLC working.
      - MoreVespeneGas
        
         reply
        March 25, 2008 6:26 AM
        
        I don't see how you will have hundreds of SD cards. That is just ridiculous. One, sure. Hundreds? No.
    - Deathlove
      
       reply
      March 25, 2008 6:29 AM
      
      The songs are about 25-30MB each on 360. There are currently 70-ish songs on DLC right now, for almost 2GB right there. With the amount of DLC Harmonix throws, with full albums coming, and the game only been out four months, you're talking about a new card just for DLC every year. Can the Wii handle high-capacity SD cards?
      - MoreVespeneGas
        
         reply
        March 25, 2008 6:34 AM
        
        The Wii can handle SD-HC, which I think has a 8gb max? I honestly don't know.
        
        If you download each and every song available you're going to have space issues regardless of your chosen console platform after a year or two. And personally have a new 2gb SD card every year for a Rock Band doesn't sound like a big deal at all to me, but perhaps it does to you.
        
        Also when WiiWare hits, there will be a new uber compression format for many items on the Wii that will save you from having to delete/redownload or recopy from a SD card.
        
        Jonathan
        
         reply
        March 25, 2008 6:44 AM
        
        SDHC currently goes up to 32GB.
  - losimagic
    
     reply
    March 25, 2008 6:23 AM
    
    SD cards are pretty big you know
    - hirosushima
      
       reply
      March 25, 2008 6:28 AM
      
      Yeah but I hate having to remember what is on what card and putting them in to see how much I filled them. Logically just having one main HD is the easiest way to do things. Not downplaying the Wii, maybe they could come out with an external HD for it?
      - marmite
        
         reply
        March 25, 2008 6:30 AM
        
        so just buy 1 16gb card...
        
        hirosushima
        
         reply
        March 25, 2008 6:31 AM
        
        Well i do not own a wii so it is no big deal to me, but I honestly did not know they had 16gb SD cards. My bad.
      - MoreVespeneGas
        
         reply
        March 25, 2008 6:30 AM
        
        You have multiple unlabeled SD cards for your Wii???!?
  - Neech
    
     reply
    March 25, 2008 6:31 AM
    
    For 30 bucks you get SD cards the size of the original XBOX harddrive
- marmite
  
   reply
  March 25, 2008 6:29 AM
  
  Just out of interest, why were so many people waiting for the Wii version? Had they announced it having something better than the other versions or is it just because they don't have a 360 or what?
- Carnivac
  
   reply
  March 25, 2008 6:31 AM
  
  Isn't it MTV publishing and EA essentially just distributing?
  - Jonathan
    
     reply
    March 25, 2008 6:32 AM
    
    I'm pretty sure certain games journalists have muttered complaints about us missing that point before.