I don't have any recollection at all of them saying everything was compressed.

Heavenly Sword "couldn't possibly be done on DVD" (despite the fact it was going to be multiplatform until Sony bought it) and yet the game was a little over 5 hours long. 

Heavenly Sword I guess was about 18GB uncompressed HD PS3 game

The main thing that needs to be compressed in 360 games is audio (which is a bitch the way it gobbles up space).  As such, the main thing to go when compression starts on the 360 is 7.1 Audio support.  The vast majority of people don't have a 5.1 sound system, let alone a 7.1.  But yes, if you believe 7.1 is neccessary you won't be completely satisfied with the use of compression on most 360 games.

But as to Lionhead specifically?  So far we have seen 360 games with as good or better graphics and longer play times than their PS3 counterparts.  What would validate Sony's claims (to an extent) would be Lionhead NOTICEABLY having to restrict game length or features for Fable 2.  Given it is going to be the first major RPG ever to have drop in, drop out co-op, not to mention interactivity with arcade games, that appears unlikely at this point. 

 Uncharted is a 9-10 hour game the first time through for people who are familiar with console shooters and platformers and on multiple play-throughs on harder difficulty levels, the play-times usually stay up there because you're hunting for treasures and trying to earn medals to unlock stuff. I just finished my third play-through of Uncharted and I've started a fourth on crushing difficulty. My save file is at around 31 hours right now. Yes, even with all of the others games I own, Uncharted is so good I've played through it three times already.

 As for the amount of data on the disc - a large part of that has to do with the fact that they essentially created a single disc for almost all of the territories - it has seven spoken languages for all of the dialog with DTS audio.

Given the amount of time that passed from GTA 3 to 4 I'd say there's no chance of 5 making it on the 360 no matter what. By the time they get it finished the next xbox, and possibly the next playstation will be out.

I have absolutely no respect for kombo now (I'd never heard of them before). They took his words completely out of context, and made it seem like he was badmouthing the 360 when he was absolutely not. -100 respect points.

Now, about the GTA V comment, it can be taken a few ways. Sure, it may require more than a DVD can handle. But what about all the GTAIV 'expansions/episodes' that will come in between? Those will take up the dev. time for the next few years, meaning that, at the earliest, a properly-done GTAV would be out in about four years.

By that time, I'd say it's foolish to think Microsoft would not have come up with some kind of storage solution (being that this guy already knows some things they could easily do now, and lots of devs are complaining about it). Hell, I can think of something they can do right off the top of my head: If the game is bigger than a DVD, the 360 version can come with an uncopiable Flash drive containing a nice extra chunk of the game. They put the disc in the DVD drive, plug the Flash into USB, and they can EITHER install it to a hard drive or run it from there. If the USB wasn't inserted, the player would only be able to drive around the city (maybe toss in some multiplayer), and all the other data wouldn't be available. There are tons of things that could happen in the next four or so years between now and the full-on GTAV.


One other thing I have to wonder is exactly how much space they are expecting to need with GTAV. On the PS3, GTAIV has a mandatory 4gb install. Assuming that the entire game is installed to the drive, and the disc is used as a key in order to play it, that would be less than half of a DVD-9. As someone with infinitely more experience than me, I'm sure Houser knows what he's talking about. But if they were truly pushing the limits of DVD with IV, shouldn't the game take up closer to 8.5-9 gigabytes?

There you go using common sense. Its not allowed didnt you get the memo. Besides now the naysayers will come in and tell you its impossible to make a sandbox free roaming game on 2 discs because its not linear. Never mind that there are work arounds. ;P

Your talking about the 5th of the series? I was just talking about a GTA game in general. Like a GTA:Dallas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_(series)#History
^Check out this link full history on GTA series.
Title Release year
GTA = 1997
GTA 2 = 1999
GTA 3 = Oct. 2001
Various GTA spin off games.
GTA 4 = April 29th 2008.
GTA 5 = ? Take your pick your guess is as good as mine.

If we were talking about the fifth game in the series, we'd be talking about San Andreas