As if this game didn't look shaky enough. Not good new at at all.

They could start by not putting 5 languages on the same disc.

5 languages? Maybe slap in a "Learn English Quick" guide with each game?

I guess that is the balance right there.

PS3: Has tons of space from teh blu rayz!

PS3: Memory is a fucking asshole to format and deal with.

Done! :D

Maybe they'll move it to the Wii? Hahaha.

In all seriousness... hearing things like this so close to a release is always worrying. Sounds like they're going to be burning some midnight oil.

That's a fantastic screenshot, too.

Lol if he would have commented about not all 360's having hard drives and worry about sales on the PS3 due to the expensive console we would have had our own self contained flame war. On a serious not hope it gets figured out sufficiently as this game has potential.

Make different language versions?

Geez. Didn't they realize they were making a new-gen multiplatform game before they started the project? Why wait until right now to say that they don't know how to fit stuff on a DVD? That's just not right.

I originally had high hopes for this, but all I've heard is negativity... and after seeing that last video... this might end up in the bargain bin (If those still exist).

-=XBox 360=-

Option 1: Localized DVD

Option 2: Base Game on DVD, LAnguages d/l the languages to the HDD.

Option 3: USE THE FARKING HD-DVD

-=PlayStation 3=-

Option 1: Yep, You're Screwed.

Option 2: Page File; Ugh.

i really hope it doesn't get delayed

If this gets pushed back, then watch every other new release get pushed back also. SUCK.

@SidepocketPro: You dont know what you are talking about. It would be wise to keep your fucking fingers away from the keyboard, lest you look like a baffoon. There is a degree of anonymity on the internet but people will see your alias and sigh in advance.

@RageKage: I dont doubt that you are american. That or you are a hell of an ignorant brit/canuck. But something along the lines of what you could have meant was "release it for the US, Canada, England and Australia, then, do whatever it takes in countries like Germany and Spain. Especially since Germany bans everything to begin with.

They can suffer a little...

Sony doesn't look so stupid with it's Blu-Rayz now, does it?

didn't Insomniac give out a txt on their site to help with SPU memory handling? It's obviously not a big deal if some game companies can get it down (with some work) seems to be how long they get help with it

Dont worry, you can play the DS version, unless they have issues with that one to, and well if the problems are too big to overcome (or the budget its to short to overcome the issues) there is still the chance of Wii and PS2 ports :)...

I hope it gets delayed. Far too much out before Xmas anyway.

I'd imagine MS has a compression codec they could use on the audio in the 1st party tool set they would be willing to share. MS said all along they had some tricks up their sleeves to make up for using DVD9.

On the PS3 side you have to wonder if the original showing of this game really was on 360 as rumored. If it was for PS3 then the engine would have been designed for PS3 1st and therefore should in theory be running just fine with its memory architecture.

The main issue there is probably the PS3 just has less ram despite it having the same amount as 360. On 360 the ram is shared so whatever needs it more at any given time be it cpu or gpu it can just take it. On PS3 each has dedicated so each has potentially less in total to use at any given moment.

I wonder how this will turn out in the end?

@SolidFro: Yes it does. They're having problems with it too.

Solution to problem 1: DISC TWO.

Christ, this has been around since the motherf*@king PSOne. You guys aren't gonna lose that much money with a second disc.

I had a lot of hope for this game based on a lot of factors: Setting, premise, art direction, the free run function... all this went out the Window when I heard Ubisoft was heading it. They are alright when it comes to some things, but I have to say, I honestly think this is a project that is much too ambitious for them...

@SidepocketPro:

More likely they didn't break up the game well for use with SPEs. It's not the amount of RAM as much as how they use it for given tasks. You have to focus on the memory/controller aspect instead of a PC like design -- focused on caching segments from main memory on a typical multi-core processor architecture.

I leave for a day or two, and theres dumb comments abound? (Well I have no real control, so either way) I may not be a genius commenter like some of the others, but at least I remain a shred of intelligence.
Moving on,
What... No complaints about the DS version, well! Those Nintendo fanboys!
Now I shall never purchase it!

But honestly, horrible news, as a sign for the 360 and ps3. PS3 is showing yet another annoyance to developers, which is never welcomed. And 360 is not exactly having a problem, but having a minor nuisance that they wish they never had to deal with (the disc space), and makes me wonder about the future.

This coming to PC? I would like to play it, but numerous console complaints that accompany it don't bode well.

Can't they just stick it on 2 DVDs for the 360 version?

SolidFro Wrote:

"Sony doesn't look so stupid with it's Blu-Rayz now, does it?"

Yeah it does. Maybe you should pay attention to the remark of "fitting all 5 languages." Personally, I think 5 languages on a single disk is excessive unless you are distributing to European provinces and even then... they could have saved a freakin' ton of money by just using subtitles instead... or hell, had different disks for sale in different countries.

@Bleentastic: Insomniac has been working solely with Sony since its inseption. Sony would know to keep close to them and nurture their efforts, being the exclusives that they are. The developpers at Ubisoft probably had it all running mostly on PC, for the probable exception of preview builds on xbox 360. Thats not something you can just copy paste onto dvd9 for the case of the 360 and onto a system with a different architecture like the PS3.

Well, the game is supposed to include a variety of different cultures in it. Maybe the 5 languages aren't for different regions but for different characters in the crowds? It seems possible.

@DimensionWarped: I read what you wrote 3 times and it still makes no sense. The blu-ray would help in the fitting of 5 languages on one disc. How wouldnt it?

If the game was going to release when they said... they wouldn't have gone anywhere near saying 'we're having problems'. If you can do it, but are having some issues... you say nothing. If you can't, you warn ahead of time so when the delay comes, we can't say it was out of the blue.

It looks like the worse problem is on PS3 though... bad memory management could break it on that platform. It'll get the Madden treatment.

@DimensionWarped:

Not everybody like subtitles man. Part of the experience is making you feel like you're in it and there are a ton of people who would be upset if their's suffered because they were in the minority language-wise. I know I'd be pissed.

As for multiple discs, not all problems can be erased by just adding another disc, especially in free roamers such as this. Blu-ray seemed excessive at first but developers are taking advantage of it and creating even more vast worlds for us to experience.

Seriously, 5 languages?

Localized DVD's, anyone?

@Sparx88: Exibit A: The first level in Killzone 2 was said to weigh in at around 2 gigs.
(German Games Convention Video)

Exibit B: Sound desingers dont compress their sounds as much.
(Insomniac Podcast, #12 if I remember correctly)

We will probably never know why Sony architectured the Cell thy way they did or how beneficial it could end up being. Most developpers who have dealt with both consoles usually just port from one to they other. And being relatively early in the console's life cycle, I dont think we have yet to see a developper do an exclusive title for each console.

Gee Ubisoft, you'd think noone ever released a game on more than one disc in the past...

Of course localized versions work... you only need
three languages for North America..

What about DLC? Why can't they just place a hook in the code that streams the DLC languages into the game?

@RageKage: Maybe "Learn French Quick"? It would make much more sense.

Why can't they just put it on two DVDs for the 360 version?

@SXGlory: im guessing theyre trying to save on production/packaging? could be an angle.

we taking bets on this one joining pretty much everything else in '08 yet? cause this is usually the first step of that announcement if i recall right.

I wouldn't be concern about PS3 memory they didn't mention that it wasn't enough, but difficult to use it.

As for the 360 they can just put it on Multiple disk and that will resolve their problems.

OMG i swear you would think they would have thought about this waaaayy before. I mean its seriously less than a month away they haven`t even gone GOLD yet.Hopefully they`ll get there stuff together.

@SXGlory: Remember Final Fantasy 7? Remember how by disk 3 you had lost access to certain parts of a few towns?

About the only things that could go from disk to disk were most of the character models and related fx (visual and audio). Forget having all the cinematics available on all disks.

How broken would GTA: San Andreas have been if you had to put in a new disk whenever you finished all the missions in a particular city? How dense are you?!

@NumberONE:

true, but that is why we are seeing new games emerge like LA Noire being exclusive to Sony simply because of the free roaming aspect. R* didn't want to tackle that problem any more than they had to. It's like I've said for the longest time... a system's job is to express a developers vision to the best of its ability. Limited disc space only says to the developer "hey, there's a limit so some of those cool ideas you have better get cut or put on hold." That's why theres an excessive amount of dlc emerging on all sides.

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the game utilizes multiple languages. Like the characters in the game itself, depending on where you are in the game, will speak a different language at times. But I'm not 100% sure. Guess I'll double check it on the net now.

Still not getting the need for 5 voice tracks on the american release.

And that is the biggest problem facing multiplatform games. The Xbox 360's limitation of space will definitely rear its ugly head as games become more "next gen". Obviously developers aren't having a picnic making games for the PS3 either, but to be limited by space is worse in my opinion. Games like Gears of War would have been longer for sure if it weren't for the space limitation.

Well... Oh well. Looks like its up to porn to make me feel better.

Sigh.

People who say just add another disc aren't thinking about it. You can't just add another disc, especially for a game like this and especially when the amount is just enough that you need more space but not enough to make the amount of content on the second disc practical. Also, does this just mean for the PAL version since you don't really need 5 languages on the American disc? Also, honestly, if Mass Effect can do it, these guys certainly oughta be able to do it.

On the bright side, this will save me some money in november, because let's face it, they might as well say 'DELAYED' at this point. More time for COD4, Rock Band and whatever else.. barring any delays on those :\

@vizion: Actually, I think Gears had plenty of space on it, it was just a time issue I'm pretty sure.

@NumberONE:

the fact that you compare AC's open-endedness to GTA proves you know nothing about the game, The whole game isn't open-ended, you pick one city section (for the mission you're doing) and then it loads, and that section is open for you to explore. Now, having the first few missions on one disc and the last few on another wouldn't have been a problem...

The solution: do what everyone has always done. Localized versions (or subtitles if you're that fucking lazy)

@Tenth: If it were just different languages of people in the crowd, it wouldn't cause a disk space issue since it wouldn't really increase the size of the audio files. Having multiple audio files plus text subtitles (one set for each language) would cause the problem.

Wait, I'm reconsidering this comment. Until an Ivy League research group proves that one language does not take up more audio file space than another... who knows, those dang europeans and their accent marks! *shakes fist in air* ~that looked really stupid since I'm alone~

I really can't understand why the North American version needs 5 language tracks. Everyone here has said it. English and French is all North America needs.

It's fucking GameCube Prince of Persia all over again. All the sound is going to be fucking borked and sound like it's streaming back in the 56k RealPlayer days.

Augh, this is ass news. I saw and played Assassins Creed during the GameStop conference, it's running fine. We don't need this stupidity to stop or slow it down!

People, the 5 languages is for the EU version.

NA version is probably mighty fine.

@NUMBERONE

Careful with the comment about "sound designers don't compress their sounds as much." You'd be surprised how much we do squash things (often between 5-10:1, depending on the content), and how limited our memory budget is to begin with (we get the smallest piece of the pie by far).

As far as content on discs is concerned, we do take up a bit, but we're still not the largest offenders unless you're cramming all of the dialog in the game onto a single disc in multiple languages. Then it does start to take up some serious space.

But at the end of the day, it's very simple to say "Sony has more space so they're the winner!" when you don't understand what's going on behind the scenes. Each console has its challenges and benefits. Yeah, Blu Ray is great for space, but the seek time isn't what it could be and the memory situation on the PS3 is difficult to deal with (among other things). Despite the disc size limitations, my best experiences have been with the 360.

And, disclosure, I do not work for Ubisoft, nor am I working on Assassin's Creed. So I have no clue what their challenges are here (short of what was said in this posting). I just wanted to clear some of this up before people started screaming "those damn audio people take up all the space." Trust me, we don't.

@RageKage:
LOL! or wwwwwww

@lotkrota: The comparison doesnt come from the games open-endedness or its mission structure. It comes strictly from a data issue. I doubt that missions in and out of themselves take up that much space on disk because I would imagine they would mostly made of ran scripts that, being just text, wouldnt take up that much space. What does take up space is assets like character models and evironment models and their associated textures. Higher up on the space ladder comes sound then, knowing Ubisoft, pre-rendered videos of hi-res CG cut-scenes. All this shit if left uncompressed will take up a lot of space on disk.

San Andreas didnt have CG cutscenes (that I can remember anyway), but if it did, I imagine that fitting those in at a watchable compression level with all the audio thats found in that game along with all the assets you see in it would be a technical nightmare.

The xbox problem seems lazy..why not just do separate discs for different regions. I know I know..money. But I would rather have that disc problem then the memory one anyday.

@introvert: I'll clear up a bit more as well then. I dont claim to know anything about sound design. A sound designer was interviewed on the Insomniac podcast in their "I want your Job" segment. And what I relayed here was what I understood from one of his answers. Thats why I put that sort of a reference there the way its done in Wikipedia. Maybe what he said was PR, who knows? Well you would, actually.

@SolidFro: If they dont look stupid can you explain the memory problem then?

@NumberONE: yea but Sony can't be blamed for them doing it mostly on PC then reworking it to the PS3's arch. Instead of starting it off on the PS3 dev kit and 360 dev kit and build to the same end.

But all of this is just how it is when your a 3rd party can get all the benefits of 1st party and remain 3rd party (unless your Bungie now) If all else fails just get bought by EA and when it gets alot of problems with it just blame them instead