Capcom struggling with XBLA file size limit

NewsPosted 22/02/2008 - 1:16pm GMT

Says X360 downloadable Bionic Commando game will use lower resolution textures than PS3 version.

The Xbox 360's LIVE Arcade service has come under fire from Capcom, publisher of hit next-gen titles Dead Rising and Lost Planet. The Japanese giant is having to cut corners in its Xbox LIVE Arcade title Bionic Commando: Rearmed.

Speaking to 1UP, Capcom producer Ben Judd revealed that Bionic Commando: Rearmed for PlayStation 3 and PC will sport higher resolution textures than the Xbox 360 version. This is because Capcom is having problems fitting the larger textures inside the 150MB LIVE Arcade file limit.

1UP also quizzed John Schappert, Microsoft's corporate VP of Xbox Live, Software, and Services about the problems Capcom is experiencing.

"That's surprising to hear," said Schappert. "Last I checked it was Capcom that had an exception to our file size with Street Fighter II [Hyper Fighting].... We raised our limit to 150 megs, which seems pretty darn great.... I don't think it has limited our games in any way. Look at Rez HD. Look at Poker Smash. Look at Undertow. These are very, very, very good games."

Last month Capcom revealed exclusively to VideoGamer.com that it was having similar problems with its Xbox LIVE Arcade version of SSF2T:HD Remix. Director David Sirlin revealed that developer Backbone is struggling to fit the new HD graphics into the Xbox LIVE download limit and admitted that including remixed music as well as the original music was proving "difficult or impossible".

Microsoft has stated it has no plans to increase the XBLA file size limit. Are Xbox 360 gamers concerned about the problems Capcom is experiencing and do you think Microsoft should increase the file size limit to ensure released games are not inferior to the PSN versions? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Maphisto2000

Capcom are just lazy if they can't be bothered to compress their data to acoomdate the the 150MB XBOX limit.

It's been a similar story with many other developers - give them a flopy disc and they will fit all their content on to it, give them a cd-rom, DVD, blue-ray etc.... and compression takes a back seat.

STOP TAKING THE EASY ROUTE AND PUT A BIT OF EFFORT INTO COMPRESSING THE GAME!

Posted 01:54 on 23 February 2008

DvsDevise

It does seem like a problem for both MS and Capcom. You have a major publisher that wants to continuely increase the size threshold, when arcade is all about small bite size mini games developed by small teams of developers. Indie developers and soon XNA developers. But now you have these major publishers increasing their budgets and trying to make these bit size games into more complex and advanced games. MS needs to draw a line somewhere. How much extra space does Capcom need? 50mb, 100mb, 400mb, 1gb?

Prince Of Persia had similar style of graphics to Bionic Commando. Maybe MS need to get some of their men over to Capcom and help them with their compression.

I'm looking forward to BC Rearmed and not because of it's graphics, but because of it's awesome gameplay. I think that's the real beauty of arcade. And after playing the XNA games, I have an even deeper appreciation style and creativity over graphics. If MS lets the big publishers take over arcade, it will make it harder for those indie and xna developers to get a chance to shine in an industry full of publishers with multi million dollar game budgets, armies of developers and cutting edge game engines and tools at thier finger tips.

Posted 13:57 on 22 February 2008