Disk Swapping on Xbox 360 a Problem?

Andrew Weymes of The Nightly Gamer writes: The DVD9 is certainly starting to show its age when compared to the Blu Ray. Even the smallest Blu Ray offers roughly twice the storage space as a DVD9 and the bigger Blu Rays can offer up to ten times the storage space. It's clear that Blu Ray is superior to DVD9 in almost every way, but the question is about Blu Rays relevance in this gaming generation. As it stands right now, the DVD9 is holding up reasonably well only forcing a few multi-disk games on the Xbox 360.
 

The Playstation 3 is certainly a well manufactured console and may be a little too ahead of its time. In case gamers haven't noticed, Sony likes to be the first to brandish new technology in their consoles. They did it with the Playstation 1 with CDs, they did it with the Playstation 2 with DVDs and they're trying to mirror the same success with the Playstation 3 by pioneering the Blu Ray. So far in this generation, Blu Ray has mainly shown its use in terms of movies, but apart from a couple of standouts such as Metal Gear Solid 4, it hasn't really shown its necessity as a video game medium.
 
For the most part, the only time the Playstation 3 is allowed to take advantage of the extra storage space on a Blu Ray is with games exclusive to the Playstation 3. Even though it's likely that the Playstation 3 versions of multiplatform games could handle a bunch of extras such as missions, costumes and voice tracks, they're rarely included. For the most part, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 multiplatform games are identical. What Sony should do in order to showcase the superiority of Blu Ray over DVD is to pay development studios for exclusive content that could easily be stored on the same Blu Ray disk as the game. If the tables were turned and Microsoft had the console with an edge like Blu Ray, they would undoubtedly make public knowledge of this superiority, but Sony doesn't seem motivated enough to do so.
 
The recent release of Star Ocean: The Last Hope has arrived on the Xbox 360 in the form of three DVDs. This doesn't cause too much of a problem but the entire game could undoubtedly fit on one 50GB Blu Ray. Problems that Star Ocean: The Last Hope on the 360 does have is poor packaging and an odd or forced choice of Tri-Ace to reinsert earlier disks in order to backtrack through areas. Regarding the packaging, it's nowhere near the quality of old Final Fantasy games on the Playstation 1. Rather than having individual disk holders and a larger package overall, you are faced with three disks stacked on top of each other. The problem with this is that more often than not, the top disk will come loose while opening the game and may result in scratches on the disk. For people who like to keep their games in excellent condition, it will be somewhat upsetting. On top of a top disk that loves to propel itself at you, since each disk is stacked on top of each other, the likelihood of scratching any disk while attempting to get another is greater than it would be with individual holders. These problems may seem minimal, but much like Lost Odyssey, the poor choice of packaging for these multi-disked games may result in one or more disks not working. This is quite annoying when you're halfway through or further in a game.
 
Sony seems to have made a fine choice by including Blu Ray in all of their Playstation 3 consoles, but this generation of gaming is already 3-4 years in and Blu Ray isn't showing itself to be a necessity in gaming as of yet. Although Metal Gear Solid 4 is a gorgeous game, it's not something so utterly fantastic that it ruins the visual appeal of anything on the Xbox 360. As of right now, Sony seems to be promoting the Blu Ray as the necessity for films rather than video games. However, it's still early in this generation of gaming and it's quite possible that gamers will see the gap between the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 widen, but no one is able to predict the future.
 
It's a shame for Sony that the Xbox 360 seems to be the console to get for JRPG gamers this generation so far, because the Playstation 3 could be the perfect console for hardcore JRPG support. Anyone who dislikes english voice acting in their JRPGs is going to be quite upset with their copy of Star Ocean: The Last Hope for the Xbox 360. There is no option for japanese voice acting and it's likely due to the size of the DVD9. There is tons of spoken dialogue in Star Ocean: The Last Hope and it may have resulted in another disk being needed to include the japanese voice track as well. This isn't a tiny gripe at all, because when you're expected to play a game for upwards of fifty hours and you're being forced to listen to aggravating english voice actors that you've heard a thousand times, it's enough to make you want to lose your damn mind. A character named Lymel has quite an annoying voice actor in Star Ocean: The Last Hope and she is particularly aggravating as she says "kay" after almost every sentence. The Nightly Gamer hasn't heard the japanese voice acting for Lymel, but it can't be any worse than it is in english.
 
If Star Ocean: The Last Hope would have appeared on the Playstation 3 as well as the Xbox 360, hardcore fans of JRPGs would have undoubtedly gone with the Playstation 3 version because the Blu Ray disk could easily accommodate the japanese voice track. The DVD9 is holding up considerably well among most genres besides the RPG. However, many RPGs on the Xbox 360 need multiple disks and lack the much appreciated japanese voice tracks with english subtitles. For this reason, it's nice to see the JRPG support on the Playstation 3 growing with Demon's Souls and White Knight Chronicles, but there has to be many more to come.
 
For now, The Nightly Gamer is undecided as to whether the DVD9 is too outdated to compete with Blu Ray. On one hand, Xbox 360 exclusives in most genres look and play almost identically to what you would expect from a Playstation 3 exclusive. On the other hand, RPG fans are getting shafted by Xbox 360 exclusives not including the japanese voice tracks and being forced to reinsert earlier disks in order backtrack through areas. A topic concerning this article will be made in the forums and there will also be a poll. The Nightly Gamer welcomes reasonable debate and the insight of others, so don't be shy.
 
Written by Andrew Patrick Weymes
 
Posted: 03/07/2009

Source: http://www.thenightlygamer.com/diskswappingxbox360.html

Man if the 360 had Bluray I would jump ship in a heartbeat. You know there's only one reason that Bluray versions of games don't come with a crapload of extras- Because -$ony isn't willing or cannot shell out the extra dough. M$oft would be going nuts with exclusives if it was the other way around.

HDD installs is a pretty cool feature, but it doesn't do away with the disc swapping if you need to backtrack in certain games. 360 games should incorporate full installs as an option, if it's a multi-disc game.

Also regular games should include an optional full install to get rid of the dummy tracks on the DVD, so it takes up less space.

Funny how games coming on multiple cds or dvds weren't a problem for the vast majority of people who owned a the PS1 and PS2 but suddenly it's a big deal now for some. Also it's funny how suddenly for some of those people technology is everything yet when the PS1 and PS2 were weaker but suddenly it's very important to them now.

Also as for the added content, it's a pipe dream since some companies are already having financial problems with current HD development. The thought of even a few more companies making HD games and spending a lot more on development to fill up a Blu-Ray disc is ridiculous.

I would be most concerned with the packaging. There is nothing worse than getting the discs scratched due to crappy packaging and then not being able to finish the game as a result.

I do think that this will be a non issue for FF XIII as they do not want to garner any negative feedback for the 360 version.

I dunno, multiple discs never bothered me. It's nice not having to worry about it, but I didn't really care when my friend had to get up to switch out the GT disc on the PS1. (I never had a game that came on multiple discs, but I did play a lot of GT on my friend's PS1).

As for that extra content, I don't really care much if I don't get some extra voice acting. All I want is a good game, and I've seen many good games on the 360 that were only on one DVD.

@megadude
why does everyone assume that microsoft buys and bribes developers. More often then not they dont. Am i the only one getting tired of this. While im sure M$ would market their product better but thats it

kind of an interesting article. I couldn't tell where the writer was coming from. Was this supposed to be an article discussing the limits of dvd9 or was it an attempt to promote the ps3? If it was the latter why not just discuss the benefits of the ps3, talking down the 360 just makes your argument look slanted.

Yes, in actual fact, Square Enix wants their game to sell badly.

Of course Microsoft paid them! White Knight Chronicles, a new IP, did more on PS3 than an established franchise did on 360!

The game would have sold best on PS3, and if they wanted maximum sales, they would have made it multiplat.

holy shit was I pissed when I was only like 20 hours in SO4 when I had to switch discs. I almost threw my controller at my plasma. I'm still sore from getting up and switching discs