6 months of pure goodness eh?

[Axel]

http://www.gamespot.com/psp/driving/...s_6119837.html

Hmmm so it looks as if we might have to purchase a bigger memory stick, dammit!

[G'Kyl]

I already figured that 32MB would be far too little space to store updates and additional content over time. Mind you, there's not only Pure that will have downloadable stuff.

What I was wondering when I read the gamespot article was for how long Sony is planning to release new content. Is it only going to be these six months to make the internet-capable PSP worth its money or will there be constant support for games as long as they are selling good units? Will modders be invited to offer content as well?
I know most of these questions have been asked before and nobody here will be able to answer any of them, probably not even Sony themselves. :) It just crossed my mind. I don't want to be ripped of with some tracks and ships that have basically been held back so you could make use of the download feature, but do not fall under the category of _extra_ value.

Ben

[Salt|Ultra]

I think Sony is using Pure as a test to see how consumers react to the downloadable content. I'm pretty sure you will see more games in the future feature the ability to extend the gaming experience via updates. The only two things I would worry about are how long will the content remain free and how many developers/publishers would rather spend their time working on new games than giving away free upgrades to games they have already sold.

On the other hand I could also be convinced that Pure was unique in that Sony wanted it out for US launch (and UK/EU launch at the time they were doing the scheduling), but that compressed time frame meant some of the goodies that would have been on the Pure UMD anyway became the downloadable content (just trickled out over time).

As for the downloadable content for Pure, I wouldn't count on anything more that the 6 months worth we have been promised (which is a lot already). Unless we hear something from Sony or the Pure team.

[Chill]

Get constant updates and start to be charged, or a free six month update. Who's gonna decide? What do you all want?

[G'Kyl]

I'd pay for the extras if they were more than the trickling out Salt describes. Not that I am saying this is what they do with Pure, I'm speaking generally.

Ben

[Deadly Diabetic]

This thread reminds me of what they were talking about at GDC with Xbox's "micropayment" paradigm.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/03...s_6120586.html

It's an interesting idea, maybe foxy or Colin can talk about it more since they are in the industry but from what the article says, the financial analysts love the idea. I'm not sure how it would play out in PurE. Maybe pay $.99 for a different color scheme or logo or something. Or maybe you could purchase upgraded parts for the ship? Although I think that would take all the skill out of it.

[Axel]

hmmm, I say they should keep it free for the first 6 months because they promised us. But afterwards, they could start charging for special extras. But that will depend if the game sells really well on the psp. I hope it does because I want a wipeout on a console dammit!!!!

[Chill]

As long as I can hook the PSP up to the screen, I'm happy!! :wink: That's a good idea, the first 6 months free, and the rest could be charged, ya!!!

[Salt|Ultra]

I would be willing to pay, but it would really depend on what they were offering. It also would really depend on what else I could buy with the same amount of money. Sort of like what I said for the developers/publishers, do I want to spend money on a game I already have or put that money towards a new game.

[Chill]

And that is a good statement, some common sense I lack every once in a while. :wink: Well, It can be determined by how many hardcore fans of Wipeout (like us) are out their. My favorite game is Wipeout, so I'd buy downloads and upgrades of Wipeout Pure definately before a new game, but not many people are like me. Hopefully their will be better security on this content than MP3 music (where so many people get music for free). I don't, I believe in paying the artists for their work, it's just common respect (that may not be so common after all). So before actually selling the stuff, the security would need to be acceptable. Mabye this is one of the reasons they were to give it out free in the first place, because of these problems, and the cost to put into it. We'll just have to see how well the free downloadable content goes, and how many people buy Wipeout Pure, and play it often (as in online). I think this is all just a test, but who's to know?

[BenjaminBirdie]

It would be very very hard to manage micropayments for something that could potentially be so easily traded other online or adhoc (as in, here's my duo, lets hook it up to your pc and swap). It's different with the X-Box as everything takes place (and can only take place) within the confines of the console. Like you said, I know I'd pay for it, but I can see very few people resisting the urge to, you know, not.

[Dimension]

Wait, wait, wait!

While the hovercraft and the songs will only require a few kilobytes on the Memory Stick

What kind of compression are we talking about here to make these songs "a few kilobytes"? And if they can compress audio to be that small then why not the track?

[G'Kyl]

Benjamin (strange to write your own name when addressing someone ;) ): I'd say the contrary is the fact. As long as additional content was cheap, I believe people were willing to get it the easy way and thus pay for it via PSPs own online capabilities.

Dimension: Probably no compression but mod-file format then. ;-) Yet maybe KILObytes really should have been MEGAbyte?

Ben

[eretsua]

I'm a bit worried about this micro-payment idea... will it in the end boil down to who's got the most money gets the best gear inside games? Like the person who's got the most financial means free in the real world will have the better ships, weapons, protection and what else in the game?

And I am even more worried that it will inevitably change from "buying goods to renting goods". That you micro-pay a license and that you can use the item you bought only as long as you pay for that license.

As for the wipeout pure content... I reckon I will be willing to pay for it after the initial 6 months if the purchased content is worth the price. I can very much imagine that the developers will get lazy and just start releasing more of the same with perhaps a slightly different coat.

[eLhabib]

have faith.

they pulled off Pure. they will not fail the rest.

[Deadly Diabetic]

Just want to make sure that everyone knows that they (reps from Studio Liverpool) have never mentioned having to pay for downloadable content (at least that I've seen). I was just trying to point out that the conversation reminded me of something that Microsoft was talking about implementing. It was more a philosophical discussion that anything else. In other words, I wouldn't worry about it, the developers seem to have everything well under control.

-DD

[Salt|Ultra]

On security.

It would be very easy to make pay content only function on the PSP of the person that paid for it. Trading would be very difficult (if not impossible). The PSP uses 128bit AES encryption (crypto good enough it is cleared to be used for US government top secret data), it would be a simple matter to encrypt and sign the data so that only the PSP that was used to purchase the data would be able to decrypt and use it. You would be able to back that data up to your PC, but if you sent it to me it would be worthless.

On fairness.

I can't say I like the idea of having your ingame ability tied to how much real money you are willing to spend on the ingame upgrades. I personally would most likely stop playing (never purchase) any game with that kind of system.

On downloadable content size.

I think they said song when they meant skin. I could see a UI skin being a few kilobytes and a track and song together being 6MB.

[Chill]

On fairness.

I can't say I like the idea of having your ingame ability tied to how much real money you are willing to spend on the ingame upgrades. I personally would most likely stop playing (never purchase) any game with that kind of system.

The game would still be playable even if downloads are available, but download of better ships wouldn't exist, just different designs and paint jobs/logos. Also, the expansion on music and tracks, and skin. These couln't be used to be better, just makes the game more fun, so no rich be is gonna always win, if u-no what i mean. :wink:

[Axel]

what would be really nice if they could do a league table through time trials. You upload your times from the psp to the internet website. That would have been a neat feature like the one they had for F-Zero.

[Hellfire_WZ]

You mean like the leagues they had for Fusion, but with a direct upload rather than a code system? Sounds like a good idea to me.