PlayStation Store Update for September 25th, The Big One.

[Pai Pai Master]

Just thought I'd point out some of the update's we're seeing this Thursday, as it's one of the biggest weeks ever for PSN.

The PlayStation Store will be updated with the following. The list is not yet final as there will be even more content available.

-MegaMan 9 ($9.99, less than 100mb)
-MegaMan 9 Protoman DLC ($1.99)
-WipEout HD ($19.99, roughly 950mb)
-Burnout Paradise ($29.99, roughly 3.2gb)
-Rush, "Moving Pictures" full album for Rock Band ($11, or $2 separately)

In addition, Bionic Commando Re-Armed should see an update enabling PSN Trophies (not yet confirmed). I don't think it's this week, but if it isn't, the MotorStorm Pacific Rift demo should be up for all PSN users next week. This week should also see another big expansion of beta testers for the Home closed beta. The open beta is rumoured to be arriving mid-October along with Firmware v2.5, but it is absolutely confirmed for distribution this autumn by Sony officials.

WipEout HD is my #1 most anticipated PSN game so far, so I'll definitely be picking that up. I'll also be buying MegaMan 9 of course, and I just sold my hard copy of Burnout to a friend, so I'll be buying the PSN version as well.

[Malacite]

Re: PlayStation Store Update for September 25th, The Big One.

I already got it for my Wii >_>


Sony fails for making us wait 3 days. I had to have it today and let me be the first to say GOOD JOB CACPOM!

MM9 is pure win.


Also, there's supposed to be DLC for all 3 platforms.

[Clever Ninja]

Re: PlayStation Store Update for September 25th, The Big One.

<- Expected Duke Nukem Forever.

[Yellow Mage]

Re: PlayStation Store Update for September 25th, The Big One.

^ Expected Duke Nukem Forever.

Your name deserved to be changed for that.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: PlayStation Store Update for September 25th, The Big One.

-Rush, "Moving Pictures" full album for Rock Band ($11, or $2 separately)

This makes me chuckle. Someone needs to hack that shit so you can use the music you already own (or can get cheaper).

[Feba]

Re: PlayStation Store Update for September 25th, The Big One.

This makes me chuckle. Someone needs to hack that shit so you can use the music you already own (or can get cheaper).

There's a helluva lot more work than that goes into it than the music.

Shit, at $11 for a full album, they're basically giving you the music for free.

Whenever you want to make a GOOD rhythm game, you have to have people MANUALLY create the patterns and notes. Rock Band, iirc, supports FOUR SEPARATE types of instruments (Drums, Guitar/Bass, Mic), all of which will need separate tracks and tweaking of gameplay. Then you also have to create multiple difficulty levels-- I don't know how many levels Rock Band supports, but DDR/ITG style games can have four or more per song.

That's a LOT of effort going into the simfiles. They probably don't make much of a profit on the audio at all, after licensing fees. They're not SELLING the audio.

EDIT: If an album is 30 minutes long, which is a very short album by most standards, that's thirty minutes of gameplay to create. One track for each instrument, at three difficulty levels each quickly explodes to six hours of gameplay track to create. Obviously these take time to create, test, tweak, retest, and so on. I'd be surprised if you're looking at less than 30 man hours per album. And then there's all the costs and labor involved in actually obtaining the tracks and preparing them for the game (formatting and such), promotion and so on.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: PlayStation Store Update for September 25th, The Big One.

I'm not going to argue with you Feba. You see it one way and I see it another. I stuck $150 into Rock Band and they've made a goddamn mint. $11 to import an album that I already own is bullshit. And they don't manually create shit, its done with a computer program and probably done in a day. Manually is quickly becoming a thing of the past in this day and age.

*end of discussion for me though I'm sure Feba will rant on*

[Icemage]

Re: PlayStation Store Update for September 25th, The Big One.

I'm not going to argue with you Feba. You see it one way and I see it another. I stuck $150 into Rock Band and they've made a goddamn mint. $11 to import an album that I already own is bullshit. And they don't manually create shit, its done with a computer program and probably done in a day. Manually is quickly becoming a thing of the past in this day and age.

*end of discussion for me though I'm sure Feba will rant on*

From what I understand Harmonix does use a program to analyze the various tracks, but they only set up the framework. They do a bunch of hand-tweaking and testing afterwards to make sure it plays right. You wouldn't want a machine doing 100% of the work, as it would make all sorts of weird mistakes, or make some notes incredibly difficult to hit due to them being off-timed by the performers.

Personally I don't find the cost onerous. I've made simfiles for other games before, and it's not as easy as you might think, so taking the tedium of that away is worth a buck or two.


Icemage

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: PlayStation Store Update for September 25th, The Big One.

I seriously doubt that at this point, tracks from games like Rock Band or Guitar Hero are so complicated that they couldn't be done a little cheaper or integrated into future installments with a little forethought by the programmers.

The "album" is a microtransaction, which are rip-offs by design.

More or less, these games have inherited the mantle of the Madden games. Same shit, different installment. You could just go out and download new tracks for Guitar Hero or Rock Band and they let you, but for a sequel oh we need to shell out more cash at the store and a microtransaction to import old songs into the newest game.

Spare me the BS about how much work goes into each track, they could have thought about these things in earlier installments, they just didn't want to.

Madden used to just be a roster update each year and people would pay for that shit. EA decided this year to get thier shit together, though conviently they suddenly innovate when they have the market to themselves. Still I don't see how they justify next years installment when you could just make a Madden game based on the 09 engine and have every roster change and upgrade to the game downloadable for the rest of this generation.

But then, they want more money for what little work they'll actually do and people will remain stupid enough to give it to them.

[Feba]

Re: PlayStation Store Update for September 25th, The Big One.

And they don't manually create shit, its done with a computer program and probably done in a day. Manually is quickly becoming a thing of the past in this day and age.

As Icemage said, this stuff requires hand tweaking. Seriously, take that album, and try to import it into Stepmania using one of the automated programs available. If you're lucky, it's playable. But playable isn't good. And you won't get lucky nearly often enough.

The "album" is a microtransaction, which are rip-offs by design.

Bullshit. Microtransactions in the case of "pay for shiny new horse armor" or "pay for higher difficulty", things that add nothing or should've been programmed into the game, sure, maybe I agree that that's retarded. Adding new content into the game which could not have been there before (and many of these couldn't, licensing and such takes time to sort out and so on) is especially not a ripoff, paying to add more music is certainly not.

You could just go out and download new tracks for Guitar Hero or Rock Band and they let you, but for a sequel oh we need to shell out more cash at the store and a microtransaction to import old songs into the newest game.

Or you could just keep the old version. It's not like you're never going to need to swap disks with these anyway, what with track packs on the RB side, and Aerosmith and whoever else Guitar Hero is coming out with. You might as well complain about anything else with a sequel. "Oh, sure, they COULD just add new areas in a patch, but SE has to release expansion packs to get money! MICROTRANSACTION BULLSHIT!" "Oh, sure, they COULD just add Half Life episodes whenever they get done with them, but no, they have to make you buy ANOTHER GAME. MICROTRANSACTION BULLSHIT!" "Oh, sure, they COULD just give me free tickets to The Dark Knight, since I saw Batman Begins, but they're just ripping me off! MICROTRANSACTION BULLSHIT." Do you also complain when you go to restaurants that you have to pay more when you order a side with your meal?

they could have thought about these things in earlier installments,

What? They did think about it. That doesn't make the work go away.

BBQ, what do you do for a living that thinking about it makes it go away?

Even the most menial desk job doesn't let you take out the work ahead of time through the power of thought. You might be able to think of a way to make it quicker, easier, more efficient, or dodge it altogether, but the work doesn't just go away.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: PlayStation Store Update for September 25th, The Big One.

BBQ, what do you do for a living that thinking about it makes it go away?

Thinking, planning and doing are involved with, oh, only every job I've ever done. Improving the situation with existing tools or technology isn't a speciality I chose for myself, but its honestly not that hard.

In any sort of production, there are companies that look for better ways to do things more efficiently to save money and then there are companies that find ways to bullshit you and make more money.

You clearly prefer the latter. Its what makes you the ideal Sony customer.

[Feba]

Re: PlayStation Store Update for September 25th, The Big One.

Thinking, planning and doing are involved with, oh, only every job I've ever done.

Apparently one thing none of your jobs involve is literacy!

I clearly said that ALL THE THINKING AND PLANNING IN THE WORLD DOESN'T MAKE THE WORK GO AWAY. And yet thinking and planning is your argument!

You clearly prefer the latter. Its what makes you the ideal Sony customer.

Or an attention span of any sort!

I've been one of the most vocal around here about how much Sony is screwing over consumers and making ass backwards decisions in regards to the PS3!


BBQ, do you want to act like someone I can actually believe is old enough to have a job of any sort, and try again?

[Susurrus]

Re: PlayStation Store Update for September 25th, The Big One.

Mega Man 9 will be mine when I get back home in January. :3 What's this DLC for it already?

[Malacite]

Re: PlayStation Store Update for September 25th, The Big One.

It's an option to play as Proto Man (who can slide and use his shield to block some attacks)