May is a pretty big month for gamers but the single game people seem to be looking forward to the most is L.A. Noire. Publisher and co-developer, Rockstar Games, recently spoke with Kotaku about a couple of things we hadn’t heard about L.A. Noire until now.
For starters, the Xbox version of the game comes on 3 discs. Why? Because it’s huge. So huge that it original filled up entire single-layer bluray disc. Here’s what Rockstar employee Jeronimo Barrera, who was the coolest first name ever, had to say about the size of the game.
“L.A. Noire was always going to be a massive game, from the size and detail of the world to the length of the cases, and of course, the sheer amount of MotionScan data required for the faces of over 400 actors in-game. To tell the story and make the game we wanted to make, we knew that it was going to take an entire single layer Blu-ray disc and three Xbox discs.”
While a lot of gamers will certainly see the multi-disc solution as a minus, Jeronimo was very assuring that it wouldn’t interrupt gameplay.
“Since the game is built around the concept of progressing through individual cases from desk to desk, players on Xbox will find disc-swapping is hassle-free. In fact, players will only need to swap discs twice at natural breaks between cases without interrupting the flow of the game.”
In case you’re a PS3er wondering why this showed up in the PlayStation feed, Jeronimo is about to tell you.
“Throughout development, we created lots of great cases, the bulk of which were central to the main story of Cole Phelps and his rise through the ranks of the LAPD, alongside other cases that felt more like strong stand-alone episodes. This gave us a powerful main story, and left us with quality extra content that we wanted to put out as DLC, that would slot seamlessly into the existing game.”
So hold the phone here; does that mean they already have DLC lined up for a post-launch release? Because if so, that would be pretty sweet. And, for once, the developer would actually have a legitimate reason for cutting it out of the main game, rather than just to gouge us for more money… although, without knowing whether or not they plan to make us pay for whatever they cut out of the original game due to size restrictions, maybe we should curb our enthusiasm for the time being.
Source: Kotaku
tonycawley
So, the dlc is already on the disc(s) and people will just buy an unlock code? That’s how it sounds, and if true is a disgusting money grabbing horrible nasty thing to do!
DeathlyCrane
nah its not horrible they want to make money and DLC is an extra they just include on the disc to save us downloading a stupidly big file =)
MadBoJangles
I didn’t read it like that.
I read it like – they have cut some cases from the game due to size restrictions of the storage media.
Meaning they actually have a reason for day one dlc as opposed to some developers that release a 6 hour game and have dlc available on the store/MP before the game is actually released :P
KeRaSh
The way I read it:
They produced more content than they needed and instead of forcing it into the story or discarding it entirely they give us the choice to still enjoy the content.
m61726b
I’m sure I heard id Software mention they wanted Rage on 3 discs.
The Lone Steven
I heard aboout this on twitter from Rockstar’s twitter account.
I won’t mind a forced install of the ps3 as the bluray drive can be a bit slow to read it.I wonder how many people are going to overract to this and say that they are canceling their preorder?
I think they may release some of the DLC for free. 50GB of code.:O I just hope it won’t have bugs.
Gaztee
I thought a single layer bd was 25gb? Hence xbox has 3 x 9gb DVDs ??
BrainDiver
The ps3 uses dual layer blu-rays which takes it up to fifty last I heard.
beeje13
Yes Gaztee you’re right, the article say a full layer of blu ray, which is 25GB, although as they CAN use the 50 GB disc, they might do things like uncompressed sound etc.. on the PS3 version.
Tienpawa
Even if it is 3 discs, the Xbox version will still outsell the PS3 version anyway. Still, I do look forward to the game, I already pre-ordered at Best Buy.
GTRsannin
Well for me the 3 discs isn’t a problem since i’m buying the PS3 version anyways
jayjay119
3 disks? Hoe quaint, it’s like being back on the PS1 or Gamecube again. I’ll be getting the PS3 version. The fact they already have DLC lined up doesn’t bother me in the slightest as the main game itself sounds mammoth!
jayjay119
how*
SpikeyMikey23
Looking forward to playing this game!
BIGAL-1992
Damn! Sounds like its going take over my months off college.
rht992
Damn! i need to take time off my job hunt! jokes jokes
toutski
Rockstar had an install for GTV4 on the PS3, so I would expect similar for this. Swings and roundabouts I guess.
Youles
I hope the install data isn’t too big….will need another hard drive soon – 250gb not enough :(
I hope they keep Game Install Data and DLC as seperate files, that way I can just delete the Install Data for some other games. Since the PSN has been down I stand by my decision to keep any DLC for games installed on my Hard Drive….people have paid for additional content etc but can’t access or re-download it during the PSN downtime.
AegonV
I have 80gb and 40 games… I REALLY hope the install data is not like, say, ME2.