Rare Gambles On Dark Discs 87
Next Generation reports on the risky choices Rare made with Perfect Dark Zero. They actually began stamping the discs before the game was certified so that they could make the Nov. 22nd launch date. From the article: "The certification process is the final stage a game goes through before manufacture. Microsoft's team picks through the game making sure there are no bugs, that menus all work correctly, and that there are no compatibility issues. Games that fail, even in the smallest detail, are sent back to publishers and developers for changes. The process can take days, or even weeks."
This is about gameplay and interface, not content (Score:5, Interesting)
Xbox Technical Certification Requirements (TCRs) are no joke. They specify exactly what every Xbox game must and must not do. Some of my (least) favorite:
* If a controler becomes unplugged during play, the game has to pause and accept a replacement controler on ANY port.
* at the initial menu, if there is no interaction for some amount of time (between 15 and 30 second if I remember right) the game must play an "attract" video suitable for in-store display.
* various in-game messages regarding system events (memory unit access, network connectivity, error states) must use a specific vocabulary (they're blocks, profiles and System Link, not kB, save games, and LAN) and in some cases specific wording of messages, particularily error messages.
* The game must use a reasonably consistent menu selection look & feel that provides clear indication of the selected item in cases of a two-item menu.
Re:Yeah.. sure (Score:3, Interesting)
Hold on a second - Rare can sign their own discs? (Score:3, Interesting)
1 developer prepares disc image, sends to certification
2 certification responds with TCR violations
3 goto 1 unless no TCR violations
4 certification sends image to Great Disc Signing Machine in the Sky
5 Great Disc Signing Machine in the Sky sends signed image to developer and Xbox Disc Fabiration
6 Profit, if you're lucky.
This would indicate that Rare managed to get to step 4 without going through 2 and 3. And indicates that for the 360 each developer might have their own private key for signing. This could be excelent news for modders given that there may be private keys wafting around the world instead of being locked in a room in Redmond.
Re:Rare? (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course it should pack a punch considering it's less than 10 hours long and was originally going to be made for (this is true) the Nintendo 64. I mean, they spent over 6 months of development for each hour of gameplay (assuming you do one quick playthrough and throw it away).
Meanwhile, the reviews for Ghoulies were pretty low, but reviews for Conker were pretty high. I can tell you Star Fox Adventures wasn't their best. And PDZero is coming out soon too. Five console games in five years, that's not as many as there used to be.
So has Rare lost it, or do they still have it? Well. Sorta. Maybe. Partly. I'm excited to see what they do this generation.
But I'm not buying a 360 just for Rare games.