Four Player Co-Op 10.26.09: Blu Ray, Burn While U Wait, and Buyer Rewards

Posted by Rod Oracheski on 10.27.2009

Is Left 4 Dead 2 on your "must play" list? Would you be on board with another Elder Scrolls game? Does the 360 need Blu Ray? Does having a game created while you wait appeal to you? Should consoles have buyer reward programs? 411's Todd Vote, Sean Garmer, Ramon Aranda, and Rod Oracheski tackle these questions and more in this week's Four Player Co-Op!

Todd Vote has joined the game.
Sean Garmer has joined the game.
Ramon Aranda has joined the game.
Rod Oracheski has joined the game.

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Question One: First there are plans for a blu Ray add-on for the Xbox 360, then there aren't... Does it matter to you at this point if the 360 gets Blu Ray or not?

Todd Vote

Not in the least bit. To be 100% honest, I have no desire to have Blu Ray on the 360 ever. It's not like they can use the external Blu Ray drive to make games better, can they? The Blu Ray add-on will go over about as well as the HD-DVD drive went. There is no reason for it. Microsoft would be better served to focus on making great games at this time. If Blu Ray sticks around, there is no reason they can't use it on a future console.

Sean Garmer

Only if the 360 decided to start using Blu-Ray discs to make games would I care. At this point Blu-Ray is not the standard yet for watching films and if I really want a Blu-Ray player I'll just go buy a PS3 (plus I get some nice games too). Besides, with the way Microsoft tends to overpice things I wouldn't be surprised if it would have been around $200 to $250 dollars. They seem commited to making sure things download in 1080P and the HD format. So they don't seem to care for Blu-Ray, besides if they aren't going to use it to make games, why bother with it.

Ramon Aranda

Honestly I don't really care if the 360 gets Blu-Ray support. I already have a Blu-Ray player and can stream HD content via Neflix on the console so in terms of playing movies, I'm pretty much set.

As it pertains to having games be in Blu-Ray format, you'd basically be forcing gamers to upgrade their consoles and that wouldn't make anyone happy so let's just keep things the way they are.

Rod Oracheski

I don't think adding Blu Ray to the 360 would really mean much at this point. There's no way they'd use it for games, as that would split the userbase, and the movie side of things is already covered by Netflix or Video Marketplace. With the price drops to the PS3 and continued drops to standalone players, why bother with an add-on? If it was really cheap, then maybe - but otherwise it's just not much of a value add anymore.

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Question Two: Microsoft opened their own line of specialty stores, similar to the Apple store, that deal in Microsoft products. At these stores you can buy PC games, but they don't stock any. When you buy one everything from the game disc to the instruction manual is fabricated on site and done inside four minutes. Would you like to see this for all games?

Todd Vote

Why? Why do I need to see every game fabricated right in front of me? This sounds like something that would be a special treat for visiting the Microsoft Store, rather than standard practice. Wouldn't it get pretty expensive if made to order became the way of making games? I mean, pressing all that stuff on site can't be cheap, can it?

Sean Garmer

As long as I get an official looking box with the cover art I'd be fine with it. This would be a cool idea for the growing digital age and I would hope make games more cost effective. This is great for PC games because stores like Gamestop often run out of big PC titles and this way that is never a problem. Also, its easy for old PC games to flourish eventually because all they have to do is provide the data to be copied on a disc. This is probably easy for PC's, but I bet it is a bit more difficult to do with games. We are essentially copying data onto a disc and then a game system would have to be programmed to have a chip to read stuff like that. Stuff that is done now, albeit illegally, but can be done.

The issue I see why this wouldn't take off in the game industry is the issue of pirating. If gaming has problems with pirates now, imagine what would happen if this was around. You'd have online shops doing this, or online places just giving people games for free. I see it as a good thing for older games like anything from the PS1, PS2, Gamecube, maybe even downloadable XBLA, PSN, and Virtual Console stuff. Because you could walk into your local gamestop or Best Buy and maybe eventually buy any game you wanted no matter how old it is.

I see this as a viable option only if they are going to lower the price of the new games. Because what's the point of not just doing it the old-fashioned way if we are just waiting for someone to print stuff off a computer? This actually might be a better idea than making everything digital, because stores like Gamestop could still remain in business. I just hope this wouldn't mean that we could no longer receive store credit for used games, because then I'd have trouble buying games.

Ramon Aranda

No. Though I like being able to get content online, I'm still very much for hard copies. I don't like the idea of sites crashing, or somehow losing track of your items. I'd much rather have a DVD in hand so I can stash it on my computer desk.

I do like being able to download game and all but I prefer that for smaller titles such as what we see on XBLA, WiiWare/VC and PSN.

Rod Oracheski

I'm all for it. Get these suckers into Wal-Marts ASAP, so there's never a 'oh, we didn't get that in yet' answer and a slack-mouthed look when you ask about a game that's sitting RIGHT THERE but hasn't been put out yet. This would mean never having to pre-order again, and never having to worry that Atlus only decided to put out 40 copies of their new niche title. There'd be no more shipping costs to deal with as well, though I doubt we'd ever see the benefits of those potential cost savings.

As for piracy, I honestly hadn't considered it until Sean's answer, but I don't think it outweighs the benefits. Piracy is going to be around until the day we go digital distribution only, and probably won't be stopped even then.

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Question Three: Microsoft is apparently working on an Xbox Live Rewards program, though there aren't many details as to what it would entail. Nintendo has had one in Europe for quite some time, recently brought to North America. Sony trademarked Sony Thanks, which appears to lay the foundation for their own program as well. Should every console have a rewards program and, if so, what should they entail?

Todd Vote

I'm not sure how this will play out, but if it is anything like the Avatar Awards that were supposed to be there after the last update, count me out. I've yet to see any sort of avatar award, and I'd expect this to play out much the same way. They will announce this thing, and then it will fall silent for the next six months before someone at Microsoft remembers that they were working on it. I don't think we need a rewards program. Yeah free stuff is nice, but not a necessity.

Sean Garmer

Sure they should, Especially Microsoft because they charge for XBOX Live. Free XBLA games to download or 10 bucks off a game of my choosing would be good. I wouldn't be surprised if it winds up being free themes or avatar stuff though instead. I think the things I mentioned before would be nice for a rewards program to have because people pay money to play these games and for 360 owners even to play them online. They should be rewarded for spending that cash. I think even giving people that buy certain games, free DLC for said game (if it has any) would be good too.

Ramon Aranda

Absolutely. What better way to thank your loyal fanbase than by giving them rewards! I was always jealous of Club Nintendo in Japan and am glad that it was essentially brought over to the U.S. Really, it makes everyone happy as gamers get something in return while the Big 3 will likely see bigger sales from there end.

Rod Oracheski

I think rewards programs are a good idea for building brand loyalty, something Microsoft's done pretty well with Achievements and Xbox Live, so chances are good that this initiative will be decent. Make it something good like buying XBLA games and being rewarded with a rebate, like the Summer of Arcade deal, so you can get something else as well. If they've locked down Gamerscore to their satisfaction, why not use Gamerscore for something as well?

Not only should every console have a rewards program, it wouldn't hurt for major publishers to think about it as well. EA could reward gamers who buy their sports titles every year - a mini-Stanley Cup for someone who bought every NHL title for five straight years, for example, or Sega could send a handwritten apology to people who buy Sonic titles.

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Question Four: Though Bethesda has said they don't have any immediate
plans for a new Elder Scrolls game, the listing for a novel based on the intellectual property seems to indicate otherwise. Would you be onboard for another Elder Scrolls game, and why/why not?

Todd Vote

Meh, RPG. Pass. Next question.

Sean Garmer

I don't like RPG's like the Elder Scrolls series or Fable as I've said before, because I like my fantasy stories to have a point and let me follow it. Now if we are talking about another kind of game, I don't mind a little creativity. The series overall has been a good one and all have been well received by fans, so I wouldn't have a problem with it.

Ramon Aranda

I'd be onboard as long as it didn't come out until 2011 or so. I have so many games on my plate to beat that it's not even funny. That of course includes Elder Scrolls IV which is a sweet game. Still, I don't want to have to deal with another game with so much content until I've had enough time to play a few other titles.

The franchise however rocks hard so I'd be happy if a new game eventually came out.

Rod Oracheski

I'd love to see another Elder Scrolls game, even though I know already that I'd never finish it. I didn't finish Morrowind, I didn't finish Oblivion, and I won't finish (on a related side-note) Fallout 3 either. Bethesda's open world games always tend to leave me too distracted to finish them, diverging from the quest I'm on to go do something random instead. I don't doubt the next Elder Scrolls game will be the same way, but I'd still love to find out.

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Bonus Question: Left 4 Dead 2's trailer 'leaked' early, which made it even more popular than it would have been otherwise, if that's possible. What did you think of it, and is L4D2 on your 'must play this holiday' list?

Todd Vote

Without question, Left 4 Dead is in my top 2 holiday titles, right next to Modern Warfare. The great thing is, I'm honestly not sure which game I want to play more, as it seems to flip each time they reveal something new about either game. So yeah, definitely a must play, I can't wait. Especially after seeing the leaked trailer. In closing, I just want to say "Kill all sunsabitches!"

Sean Garmer

I played L4D2 at E3 for a little while and I enjoyed it. I've actually never played the first game so because of that, I don't think its on my must play list. But I totally understand why it has won awards at gameshows and what not, because it is a great game that I'm sure will sell big time for the holidays. "Who the hell puts an evac station at the top of 30 flights of stairs" well said by one of the characters. Because wouldn't you want to get out as soon as possible? It looks pretty awesome and I can't wait to "Kill All Sons of Bitches" eventually.

Ramon Aranda

YES YES and YES. I loved L4D and I still play it pretty frequently. I had a chance to try it out at E3, which earned our best multiplayer award by the way and had an absolute blast. L4D2 and Modern Warfare 2 are my two most anticipated multiplayer titles this holiday season.

So yeah, bring that shit on!

Rod Oracheski

I'm really excited for Left 4 Dead 2, but I don't know that it's on my holiday list anymore. A group that I game online with regularly is seriously pondering holding off on Left 4 Dead 2 until January/February so we can go through it together. We already know that the Fall belongs to Modern Warfare 2, so why buy a game we're not going to be playing?

That said, impulse control isn't a strong point in this group...

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That's it for another week of Four Player Co-Op. If you have any questions you'd like to ask or if you want to be part of the panel, drop me a line via e-mail or in the comments.