Considering the purchase of Far Cry? Read here first....

[Kokopelli]

Found an interesting article here that might be of interest to anyone looking forward to this game.

Ubisoft has confirmed that its upcoming, Crytek developed, Far Cry game for the PC will only be released on DVD. This move marks a departure from the simultaneous multi-CD and DVD release which is currently practiced by most publishers.

Although most high-end PC's do carry a DVD-ROM there are still quite a few systems out there without such a drive. This would, for all intents and purposes, make the game unattainable for owners of such systems. In fact, it would seem that Ubisoft is using this move to indicate that if you have a medium to low-end PC you shouldn't even attempt to play Far Cry. DVD-ROMs have become very cheap however, so the actual prospect of playing the game should be reason enough for gamers to integrate a drive into their system.

With Far Cry becoming the biggest title this spring and with previews and reviews of the game claiming it's a must-have title, it would seem that Ubisoft are risking a lot. Adding a DVD to a system may be a simple task for most but many do not have the know-how to do so. If nothing else, this move by Ubisoft could prove annoying for a lot of potential Far Cry customers.

Me personally, I think it's pointless to have a DvD drive in the computer when I have a perfectly good DvD player in the living room. I was intending to purchase a DvD Burner as I knew companies were going to eventually go for this. Guess Ubi's going to loose out on my sale, as I'm the type of person that holds the belief of, "If i have upgrade my perfectly good system to play a single game, it's not worth that[i/] game..." But, that's just my MHO.

Thoughts, comments, etc.

 

[phnx]

Well luckily i have a DVD-rom but even on my geforce 4-ti4600 it doesnt run that smooth. I'll wait till i upgrade...

 

[Dracil]

Well, it's like the first game that skipped the floppy drives and came out only on a CD. It's a sign of the changing times.

 

[Kokopelli]

@phnx

Luckily, it won't be a problem for me to buy a DvD-Rom. I'm just agitated at the prospect of having to spend around $200.00 (US) for the drive and game.


@Dracil[/b]

I remember those times well. Back when games came with 10-20 floppies for the installation and usually lacked a "speech" pack. (My wife laughs at the idea of having to switch through a dozen or so floppies to install a game that's tiny by today's standards)

Ubi could've at least been nice to their faithful fans, (IMHO, they're one of the best game companies out there) and released a CD-Rom version too. It would've been like releasing the newest movie on DvD only, and disregarding the VCR owners.

 

[MediocrityInAction]

There is a valid reason for DVD drives to be included in PCs. Firstly, DVDs contain a great deal more information than a CD. Most new software will no longer fit onto one CD, so DVD games would remove a lot of the irritating switching of discs involved with installing and using the software. Secondly, I like the option of being able to use my computer to watch movies. It gives me a lot more latitude with regard to adjusting the image and sound qualities to my preference, and forgoes the hassle of having to deal with a separate DVD player. And seeing as most modern DVD drives are roughly comparable in price to CD drives, are capable of playing CDs as well, and are now included as-standard in new PCs, I see the days of the solo CD drive as being serverely numbered.

 

[weezerwannabe]

well I got a burner and players that I use because my dvd player is to annoying to fool with. resolution and picture are better on my pc anway. well I don't thing I'll be able to buy Far Cry anyway.

 

[CHR15T05]

$200??? Is it solid gold or something? Surley you can get one MUCH cheeper? Even a DVD-ROM / CDRW combo should be cheeper than that lol.

For me, I have a DVD ROM and a +/- DVDRW drive

....what is far cry anyway? lol

But back to the topic.. yes I agree with the whole "well games had to ditch Floppies at some point" line. Personally, with most consols using DVD technology for higher storage, I am supprised that it's taken this long for PC gaming to catch up. Hooray!!! No more "3 CD" installs.
Hey, I guess now PC games can start featuring some nice high quality DVD video cut scenes Good bye MPG1

 

[Kokopelli]

$200??? Is it solid gold or something? Surley you can get one MUCH cheeper? Even a DVD-ROM / CDRW combo should be cheeper than that lol.

For me, I have a DVD ROM and a +/- DVDRW drive

....what is far cry anyway? lol

But back to the topic.. yes I agree with the whole "well games had to ditch Floppies at some point" line. Personally, with most consols using DVD technology for higher storage, I am supprised that it's taken this long for PC gaming to catch up. Hooray!!! No more "3 CD" installs.
Hey, I guess now PC games can start featuring some nice high quality DVD video cut scenes Good bye MPG1

I was originally looking at a DVD+/-RW Drive on CompUSA's web site that was around $150.00. That with the $50.00 for the game is how I came to $200.00. I'm not going to buy DVD+/-RW Drive as I have little use to burn DvDs. (course I say that now and four months from now my daughter will decide that my extended versions of the LoTR make good frisbees)


:::Edit:::

Far Cry is Ubi's new shooter. Based on the screen shots, it has some beautiful scenery and is supposed to have real physics with it. The AI will hunt you do soemthing stupid, they'll use their environment to their benefit. I've also heard that float on water and not sink when they're shot. The demos out, but I haven't had a chance to play yet. But the reviews I've heard say it's going to be a pretty good game.

 

[CHR15T05]

Aaaahhhh much better price. I was confused as your 1st quote was "Luckily, it won't be a problem for me to buy a DvD-Rom. I'm just agitated at the prospect of having to spend around $200.00 (US)" so from that I derived that you were only buying a DVD ROM and not a burner

Tell you what though.. if you have a Digital Video Camera.... a DVD Burner is a MUST! I will NEVER use VHS again (unless im sending a tape to someone who wants to have it on VHS)

Also, for backing up LOTR... I hear the DVD Videos from the shops contain more data than a DVD disk for a burner and hence you cant copy them. I'm sure there is a way round this, and then you get into the whole "Is this for Back-up or are you an evil pirate" debate.

But like i said.... for home videos... NICE!!!! (And there's the extensive data backup of course )

Anyway......

 

[Kokopelli]

I don't have a digital camera as of yet. Might look at getting one for my wife's b-day in october when they come down a bit more.

As for the DvD burner itself, I'm going to wait untill the price is right and the DvD write speeds are a bit faster.
I've heard that you can buy software that'll copy a DvD movie. An instructor was telling me about and as he went through and backed up his DvD movies. (he's got a three year old)

 

[seebs]

Most CD drives shipped in the last year or two play DVDs. I don't think this is a big deal.

 

[Kokopelli]

Most CD drives shipped in the last year or two play DVDs. I don't think this is a big deal.

I was bringing up a point about it and noted my agitation as I build my own systems. As I mentioned before, I didn't see a point installing a DvD player to my system when I have a standard one in the living room.

I've known for the past couple of months that games were going to be switching over to DvD format. I was also hoping it would be this soon. But, gives me a reason to get into the guts of the computer.

 

[CHR15T05]

I don't have a digital camera as of yet. Might look at getting one for my wife's b-day in october when they come down a bit more.

As for the DvD burner itself, I'm going to wait untill the price is right and the DvD write speeds are a bit faster.
I've heard that you can buy software that'll copy a DvD movie. An instructor was telling me about and as he went through and backed up his DvD movies. (he's got a three year old)

LOL yeah the write speeds could be a little faster, although buring 4.7 GB, I can't complain.

I had 3 DVD+R disks give me Buffer Underrun errors because I was low on Hard Drive Space.... I thought "Oh Buffer Under run... not seen that message for yeeeaaaars" lol.

The price of Burners AND the disks are still a little high but coming down all the time.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuut.... I also heard on the nEws the other day that Phillips are stopping making Video players for Australia because they believe VHS has had it's day and are concentrating on DVD-Recorders. By that I take it they mean, the easy to use, never gives you an error, plug into your TV type.... so the price of THOSE will probably PLUMIT over the next few years.

Not as flexible as a PC if you want to be creative (and I do) but soooo much easier Anyay......

 

[OceanAngel]

Far cry has some amazing AI, theres a demo out there of it, for the graphics card issue. it ran perfectly fine at medium setting on my radeon 9500 pro, but on a forum I heard some guy saying that it had problems on his 9800 on low settings, Its also one of the first to use the shadows in the bushes ie you see that shadows of the bushes on your P90 or whatever gun your using.

As for buying a DVD drive, mines going kinda wonky, I'm thinking about buying a cheap low speed DVD burner to replace it.

 

[Kokopelli]

Far cry has some amazing AI, theres a demo out there of it, for the graphics card issue. it ran perfectly fine at medium setting on my radeon 9500 pro, but on a forum I heard some guy saying that it had problems on his 9800 on low settings, Its also one of the first to use the shadows in the bushes ie you see that shadows of the bushes on your P90 or whatever gun or using.

As for buying a DVD drive, mines going kinda wonky, I'm thinking about buying a cheap low speed DVD burner to replace it.

I don't anticipate my system will have a problem with it. I have 9600 Pro and I keep everything patched up to date. It could use some horsepower under the "hood," as I'm only pushing 1600 ghrz. I'm just going to hit a computer show after I get some stuff paid off. (figures that there's one this weekend, the weekend I recieved the income tax refund and have to sink it in car repairs and paying off bills when my wife was out of work)

 

[seebs]

I don't look at the DVD drive primarily as a movie-playing device, but as a data reading device - but there's enough stuff on DVD for it to be useful. Of course, I do watch movies on the computer a fair bit.