DVD Games

[Mr5oh]

Now that DVD and DVD-RW drives are coming very common. Why don't we have more games on DVDs? Like why is FarCry 5 cds, when it could be a single DVD.

I would guess the majority of people have some sort of DVD drive in their computer and you can't really find a new computer without one.

Just seems like we would have seen games on DVD slowly starting to creep into the market place.

Any Insights?

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[Dax]

Maybe in couple of years? Aren't CDs way cheaper than DVDs?

 

[Spitfire_x86]

IIRC, FarCry also has DVD version

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[pauldh]

So I hear. Unfortunately I got the 5 CD's. Installing from them blows.


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[gobeavers]

Re: Cost
Well, with one DVD you would only pay the cost of one DVD, and not 5 CD's. Plus, the packaging would only be for one disc, not 5. And even if the DVD is still more expensive, I would pay an extra buck (can't be more than that) for the DVD version.

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[dmoritz]

I've heard estimates that Everquest II could ship on as many as 9 cd's. I think DVD's are definitely the wave of the future but like anything else it will take time for them to be recognized as the industry standard.

 

[Coyote]

I think the reason the stick with cd's in not so much the cost of the dvd, as pointed out above that w/b offset to some extent by the savings a single dvd offers over multiple cds.

I think the reason has to do with the difficulties of predicting how many units s/b shipped in dvd v cd. Some segment of the population just doesn't have dvds. Thus some disks will have to be cds. How to predict the split between cd v dvd.

Then if dvd users pick up the cd version by mistake, it blows the calc.

Further, you really have two products. That means more shelf space, which is very expensive.

Its just too difficult logistically, and is inefficient to sell the same game in two flavors.

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[BigMac]

I understand your logic, but do you have any idea how many PC's still don't have a DVD player in them? And on how many of those machines without DVD are owned by avid gamers? I cannot imagine you would loose a lot of sales on a DVD only game. Feels like the publishers are (overly) cautious here, and assume that owners of a DVD reader will just be annoyed but will buy the game anyway (and it looks like they're right too) as too any sale lost due to the lack of a DVD reader is a sale lost.


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[Mr5oh]

Yeah but with a lot of high end games, people have high end machines. Generally today you can't find a computer without a DVD drive. Also anymore a CD drive, and CDRW, and a DVD-rom, are all the same price. Now the big thing is DVD-RW drives, it seems logical to assume that a big chunk of users playing stuff like Doom3, Far Cry, etc., are very likely to have a DVD drive.

I can understanding not selling stuff like MathBlaster on DVD, as this stuff is likely to be run on old machines, but today people who play the newer games are likely to have a DVD drive.

Maybe we should start a poll? It would be interesting to see just what the mix is?

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[miahallen]

I think you're all off the mark. The issue is money of course. But DVD is cheaper to produce...that's not the problem. Most gamers have DVD plavers, yes...more than that, most gamers have DVD burners. This is the problem. Publishers know they can copy write CDs, but not DVDs yet. They would lose tremendous amounts of profit from people pirating their software. This is why they do not do more with the DVDs just yet. But as soon at they work in some security, things will shift to DVD very rapidly.

 

[goloap]

I don't think it's a question of piracy. You can find pirated versions of any games, and they all are on CD. So I don't think that is the question. Maybe DVD will have better security but it will still be crackable, it's just a matter of time.

I beleive that the reason that we are not seeing more DVD is just a question of manufacturing. The majority of machines that manufacter games are for CDs, since that is what they have been manufacturing for the past 5 years. Therefore, companies have to upgrade their equipment which takes time and money. For now, they can only produce a relatively small amount of DVD compared to CDs. But with time the manufacturing will switch to DVDs and CDs will joint the 3,5" disk in the history books.

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[Esso]

Yup, it's just a cost thing...
It's less than a penny to print out a cd, and heck of a lot more for a dvd.. I'm not sure where they meet, but I would guess somewhere around 6-8 CDs to a DVD.

 

[dhlucke]

Although in your group of friends (and mine) it's very common to have a dvd player most computers are still many many years behind this.

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[Mr5oh]

I can see not publishing certain things on DVD, or releasing a mix of DVD and CD. I was mainly thinking high end stuff like Doom3, FarCry, Half Life2 (The stuff that takes up several CDs), yes this stuff is capable of running on older machines, but realistically it needs a decent machine (read newer) to run them. Seems like on games like this, DVD:CD ratio would be much closer.

As far as priacy, I don't think that it has nothing to do with it. EVERY, and I mean EVERY, CD out there can be copied. Every DVD can be copied. No matter what protection methods they put on the discs, you can always duplicate the disc. It just a matter of being resourceful enough to find out how. There are some discs that can be a little more difficult to copy, but there is nothing that is copy-proof.

I know someone said CDs can cost as little as a penny to print, however I don't ever remember seeing costs that low, even when purchased by the thousands, however I was pricing a place that did low quanity producing (which would make them higher). Anyone have an actual ideal of how much a CD vs DVD is to produce? (Obvisuly you would be produce several CDs vs. a single DVD.)

I think someone hit the nail on the head up there earlier. The industry is still setup to produce CDs, and just needs to update.


Probably a mood point though, this time next year, Doom4 will probably be out on three DVDs, and I'll be complaining becuase it didn't come on some other new type of disk.

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[BigMac]

After re reading this, I had a funny experience.

I did not really notice while installing Thief3, but the installation was a breeze indeed. Amazing what a compression they can achieve on a CD nowadays I was thinking. Then looking at the disc again, it was a DVD with 1.9Gb of data on it. Really hope this will pick up more. Thief3 is from Eidos so good chance that they will start publishing more on DVD soon.



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[arkus]

I have Farcry on 1 DVD, why buy it on CD?

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[Mr5oh]

Well I actually got my version of FarCry with my video card, however even when I was looking at purchasing it in the store, I was looking at the CD version as they didn't have a DVD version there.

I just burned my CD copy to a DVD, this has since simplfied my install process. Did the same for Doom3 too, I hate installing and switching discs, especially if it not necessary.

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