I'll play WOHD during several months, then I prefer to use my HDD instead of my BRD...
I prefer the BRD, just to have all the Wipeout versions next to each other on my bookshelf. It is just to make the collection complete!
I would prefer the BRD because I don't trust DLC in general, and DLC + DRM in particular. It's too easy to imagine being shut out of one's 100% legit and purchased copy of WOHD (or any other digitally distributed piece of software or add-on content) because of hardware problems, pulling of software from the online distribution system, or digital rights managements SNAFUs.
Even in the recent history of Wipeout games-- the DLC for Wipeout Pure was pulled from official channels fairly early on-- but how much could it possibly cost to host those files for user download? And for Wipeout Pulse, the DLC was never released in North America, and there have been assorted problems for Europeans in getting access to their legitimately purchased DLC. Craziness.
I like the convenience of digital distribution, and the potential for digitally-distributed software to have a longer "shelf-life" than software distributed by brick/mortar stores. And I favor any mechanism that allows software to break from the stupid holiday retail schedule that so strongly dictates game release dates. But I really worry about purchasing ENTIRE GAMES as digital distribution when one wants the game to be a permanent part of their collection. Smaller games, cell phone games, adventure games that one plays only once-- that doesn't worry me so much
Edit-- release of Wipeout HD on both BRD and as DLC would be perfect-- or else allowing BRD versions to be fully installed on the PS3 hard-drive. Best of both worlds
Do it like Warhawk. That's fine for me.
agreed, warhawk approach is the best idea.
Yeah they should sell a boxed copy with a revised neGcon style controller
I would love a boxed version .
Would save me going through the painfull download times or download failures with our terrible South African internet .
Any internet things locally is fast , but our international bandwidth is incredibly slow and expensive .
I PREFER Dowloadable games for one BIG reason: I don't have to get my lazy butt off the couch to change games! I can download my favorite games to my hard drive, any time I want to play, I simply turn on the PS3, go into the menu and select what I want. No more digging through a pile of loose (scratched) discs to find the one I want, no more unplayable discs, no danger of loss or theft!
Its also nice that Sony keeps track of all of my downloaded content. If I delete the game for space reasons, I can always just log back on and download it again...no sweat!
To date I have only purchased THREE current gen games: Halo 3(Xbox of course), GTA 4 (Xbox version), and Soul Calibur 4 (PS3 version). I have spent WAYYYY more cash on XBLA and PSN games, simply for the convienence and of course, the lower price points!
Selling my used games has never been an issue as I generally find the credit that GameNazi gives for used games is not worth the effort of hauling them to the store.
They should at least have a paper instruction manual for sale. Though I do like the digital download format provided Sony doesn't go apeshit with DRM "protection".
So what happens if your PS3 dies? Or if you need to change your PSN account for some reason? I know the for the Wii, you will in general loose all of your DLC if your console dies, unless you make special arrangements with Nintendo to have your console repaired and restored with the DLC that you had previously.
But hey, that's Nintendo, hopefully Sony's rules are more generous in this regard
Backup the stuff on your PS3 hard drive to your PC, alternatively if it dies and you haven't done so you could always take the drive out, oooor you can download your game again, free of charge. Change your PSN account? Well why..
No need to panic really.
Just to reassure all of you:
You can login back into your PSN account and re-download most of your DLC an infinite number of times on up to five different PS3 systems.
Why do I say: <most> ? Because that's not the case for Warhawk.
So you can freely backup the PS3's content to a HD? That's cool! Does a repaired PS3 still harbor the same "identity" as an old one, so that you can then reinstall it without it using one of the five unique PS3 install opportunities?
How does Warhawk work differently than other DLC?
I say BRD, how can you trust downloading it after all of the problems with pulse, even when you paid for it, the download packs were a Huge problem, and we haven't even gotten the packs yet
Your games can be backed up to an external HDD, even Warhawk, and will be restored onto your new system.
However, if you don't back up Warhawk (Or other games that work like it, I don't know any though), you will not be able to redownload it on the new system, as it is tied to the hardware and to the account it is downloaded from and on to (i.e., you can't play with another PSN account than the owner, and a new PS3 will not be able to DL Warhawk from that account).
And a new PS3 has a new "identity" if you don't restore the backed up content. I don't know when you do restore it though.
That's a pretty even-handed approach by Sony with DRM.
I still think that it will always be preferable to have a physical game copy though. I mean, people are still playing (and setting records for) the original Wipeout on original PS1 hardware. I remain skeptical that will be possible with a DL only version of Wipeout on the PS3.
I think you'd have problems taking the the hard disk and copying the data - the PS3 encrypts it and has a key known only to itself iirc. Best to back it up before it fails.
I'd like a disc version for the main reason being that I could easily take it to another PS3 owner who might be totally oblivious to the WO games [Hard to imagine I know,but their are a few out there]Trigger happy mutant shooters would be my first port of call....and there are heaps of them.
I think that a "Greatest Hits - Special Edition" is Wipeout HD's best chance at a blue-ray release. Currently 500000 units in 11 months is the milestone for a disk-based PS3 title to become a (voluntary) "Greatest Hits" release. With those kind of sales numbers development of additional DLC would be attractive and that DLC could be included in a later disk-based release. As an additional enticement Sony could throw in the PSOne Wipeout versions (Wipeout 3 Special Edition would be nice). However it may take 24 months for such an edition to appear as Sony wouldn't want to release it until DLC sales start flagging. Lets face it, the target audience of such a release wouldn't be the new Wipeout Player but the fan who already owns most/all of the previous Wipeout versions on disk (like yet another Collector's Edition of your favorite movie that the studio releases to squeeze another buck out of you).
So with that in mind everybody better encourage lots of download purchases of Wipeout HD and any potential future DLC in the coming months - anybody simply waiting for "the BR release" may at best be waiting for a long time, at worst actually reduce Wipeout HD's chances of getting a BR release.