XBLA Size Limit Causing Problems for Capcom
By Chris on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 10:52 PM PST In Game Companies, Game Consoles, Game Platforms, Games, Microsoft, Microsoft, Sony
Problems like this were inevitable – Xbox Live Arcade’s cap on file sizes was bound to restrain developers, or at the very least cause them some headaches. Riley Cooper, who works at Crystal Dynamics, made a specific point earlier this month in saying that he preferred PlayStation Network to Xbox Live Arcade thanks to PSN’s restriction-free environment.
Right now, Capcom’s David Sirlin is probably in agreement.
Speaking with VideoGamer.com, Sirlin revealed that Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo: HD Remix developer Backbone is finding it difficult to cram the new HD graphics into the 150MB limit. It’s also making it “difficult or impossible” to include both the original music in addition to the remixed music.
VideoGamer.com: Does the 360 download limit cause any problems?
DS: Yes, it’s difficult to store so many 1080p graphics in such a small download size. A lot depends on the specific shading that the final art will have, and how well that shading compresses. It also makes it difficult or impossible to include all the original game’s music AND all remixed set of music. We’re still doing our best to fit within the limit we’ve been given.
You have to wonder if Microsoft will ever lift this silly limit. With it in place, will developers in the future simply ignore the XBLA and release only on the PSN so as to avoid the problems that are being encountered?
This is just a theory, but perhaps Microsoft does this to encourage developers to create downloadable content from the things they can’t fit into the game that they can charge gamers for. I don’t know. That’s just the first thought that popped into my head after reading this.
“…will developers in the future simply ignore the XBLA and release only on the PSN so as to avoid the problems that are being encountered?”
Hopefully… DOWN WITH M$!
I know originally the size limitation was due to the size of the memory cards Microsoft had for the XBox 360. The though was that any single Xbox Live Arcade game needed to be able to fit on the memory card. I believe the limit at that time on the memory cards was 64 MB. But since that time Microsoft has released larger memory cards that total I think about 512 MB. I really don’t understand why Microsoft imposes a 150 MB limit now. It doesn’t make any sense to me.
I would just port the frigging game to the PSN and forget about XBL. The 360’s game pad has the crappiest D-pad in this generation’s game pads and for this type of game you have to have a good d-pad to control with. Did you hear that Capcom!?