I think MS/Sony should send you a little credit card with your account.  Go to Game, buy XBLA title, swipe card, and bingo, it's already downloaded by the time you're home.

Re: BC, on a slightly tangential code, apparently the Jak and Daxter HD collection was a total shit to convert because Naughty Dog had done some crazy stuff, including stuff Sony had forbid like using the PSone emulation hardware. Guess the moral of the story is you should be careful if you want to monetize your stuff into the far future.

They would.

Remember when they were going to sell advertising space in game and no one was interested.

I_R wrote:

Remember when they were going to sell advertising space in game and no one was interested.

Didn't Criterion have some sort of success with that?

Burnout did it really well, as did Crackdown. I've no idea if either made any money like.

The only way I think anyone would put up with that patent though is if a game were completely free, but funded by that. I think I could put up with playing a blockbuter game for nowt, being interrupted by ads every 15 mins. Although it would probably be better to go to an ad break at pre-scripted moments rather than interrupting play.

I don't tolerate ad breaks in movies, either.

What be the Gakai rumour?

Unlikely wrote:

I don't tolerate ad breaks in movies, either.

Nor I; but I'd find them much more tolerable than the same in games.

Well, I guess I won't be buying any more PlayStation consoles then if that lunacy is true.

I bet you could add an OnLive or Gaikai player to the existing PS3.

As I said in the other thread, it's kinda genius.

If you add it to this gen you can stream (rent) the back catalogue for a (I'm assuming) lowish monthly fee.

If that then becomes the main delivery method next gen you don't need top drawer hardware to run it, a cheap set-top box does for OnLive. You slice out the retail middle man, your games can use the latest hardware so never look dated, you get a nice regular income.

The only absolutely major sticking point is broadband speeds, but if your main markets are the developed countries and you can enjoy a nice low price tail on the PS3 in third worlds, why not?

It'd be the bravest boldest move from a console manufacturer since...well, forever. It's a big roll of the dice though and could go spectacularly well or spectacularly badly. I'm not sure how it would sit with the traditional engineers at Sony HQ, Kaz particularly.

I still can't see broadband speeds and allowances going up fast enough for this to really take off, even as just one way of playing a game on a console.

There's an ad-supported mobile network in the UK.

I_R wrote:

I still can't see broadband speeds and allowances going up fast enough for this to really take off, even as just one way of playing a game on a console.

That's when it starts becoming a numbers game. Is it worth leaving all the people that can't or don't want to stream games behind in exchange for the audience that will buy a $49 box and pay a monthly subscription.

I don't know what numbers OnLive are doing, but imagine what they could be with the Playstation name (and exclusives) attached.


They wouldn't even need to worry about trying to sell digitally and at retail and all the pitfalls that brings. They just say thanks for the good times guys, laterz.