Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[HeavyHitter]

Jeff,

Do you happen to know any of the remastering work being done for SW episodes 4-6? I mean how good are these likely to look?

[MerrickG]

Well Jeff,

Hell has frozen over and Mass Effect 2 is finally coming to the PS3. I don't know whether to feel good for them (I own a PS3, but have the series on 360) or feel sorry for them because they won't be able to get close to the full ME experience since its only ME2 that is coming to PS3 and not ME1.

Back to Star Wars talk...

[Q?]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Well Jeff,

Hell has frozen over and Mass Effect 2 is finally coming to the PS3. I don't know whether to feel good for them (I own a PS3, but have the series on 360) or feel sorry for them because they won't be able to get close to the full ME experience since its only ME2 that is coming to PS3 and not ME1.

Back to Star Wars talk...

That sounds great, or half great. I'm guessing the first is also required in order to understand everything?

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Q!

That sounds great, or half great. I'm guessing the first is also required in order to understand everything?

You can certainly play ME2 without experiencing the first one, since it is a self contained story, but the main thing is that a lot of the decisions you make in the first game can have an affect on what happens in the 2nd game. Although the decisions you make from the first dont seem (and I stress seem) to force you to make similar decisions in the 2nd game. For example, I'm sure you can play the first game as a cold hearted jerk (or *****) and if you import your character you would still have freewil to play as the warm hearted gentleman or women in the 2nd one and still have free will for most of the 2nd games decisions. Does that make sense? I chose to play boths games as the mega nice guy. My crew loved me for it.

But yes, to get the full experience of the 2nd game you really need to have played through the first game which is a great game in its own right, but not as polished or streamlined in the 2nd one.

ME2 is pretty much the best 360 exclusive there is, and now that the PS3 gets I'd say that the PS3 now (by a long shot) has the best exclusives.

[Q?]

Ok thanks, you've helped me just to get the second as I'm not a hardcore gamer anyways. Always wanted to experience it, so this is great news.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Q!

Ok thanks, you've helped me just to get the second as I'm not a hardcore gamer anyways. Always wanted to experience it, so this is great news.

If you can you really need to play the first one. Its got a GREAT story and is fun to play even if the combat and inventory system are a little quirky you will appreciate the story.

[Jeff Kleist]

Do you happen to know any of the remastering work being done for SW episodes 4-6? I mean how good are these likely to look?

Based on foreign HD broadcasts, ANH and Empire look pretty damn good

Hell has frozen over and Mass Effect 2 is finally coming to the PS3. I don't know whether to feel good for them (I own a PS3, but have the series on 360) or feel sorry for them because they won't be able to get close to the full ME experience since its only ME2 that is coming to PS3 and not ME1.

Not a shock at all. When MS agreed to sell the brand to EA, it was a given that they'd have a good long exclusive window and then it'd go multiplatform. Indeed it is sad that they won't get the full experience. I guess the ME1 port was canned. An exclusive is really only good for 6-10 months in terms of boosting sales. After that, everyone who's going to buy a system for it already has

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Not a shock at all. When MS agreed to sell the brand to EA, it was a given that they'd have a good long exclusive window and then it'd go multiplatform. Indeed it is sad that they won't get the full experience. I guess the ME1 port was canned. An exclusive is really only good for 6-10 months in terms of boosting sales. After that, everyone who's going to buy a system for it already has

The Left for Dead games are probably now coming to PS3, too.

Did you play ME2 without importing. How is the experience different vs. importing? I do think the ME2 is good enough to be self contained.

Either way PS3 users are going to enjoy what is (possibly) the best game released on 360.

When I get ME3 it will be the 360 version since I have two games worth of character built up on that system.

MS probably still retains the rights to the first ME, which is probably why its not going to PS3.

[Jeff Kleist]

The Left for Dead games are probably now coming to PS3, too.

Did you play ME2 without importing. How is the experience different vs. importing? I do think the ME2 is good enough to be self contained.

I'm sure Sony's made it worthwhile to Gabe Newell to include them in all of Valve's future plans.

The game is the same if you import or not. The difference is in who is alive and who's dead and how characters react to you based on what you did in the first game, and obviously you have a lot of points of reference from playing the first game. So the game will just play at whatever the default is.

MS probably still retains the rights to the first ME, which is probably why its not going to PS3.

No, the amount of money it'd generate at this point is too small to be worth the effort of porting it. I'm sure they'll include a long-winded recap movie to hit all the important parts

[aygie]

New Ratchet & Clank game announced, Merrick's gonna be pi**sed at no Resistance 3

(It might still be announced...)

[aygie]

Scratch that, Resistance 3 is coming!!

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I'm sure Sony's made it worthwhile to Gabe Newell to include them in all of Valve's future plans.

The game is the same if you import or not. The difference is in who is alive and who's dead and how characters react to you based on what you did in the first game, and obviously you have a lot of points of reference from playing the first game. So the game will just play at whatever the default is.



No, the amount of money it'd generate at this point is too small to be worth the effort of porting it. I'm sure they'll include a long-winded recap movie to hit all the important parts

Well they could have released a two pack similar to what Rockstar Games did when GTA3 and GTA Vice City came to the original xbox and just release a two pack, but I do hope they include someway to get the players from the first up to speed. Something that will have meaning.

[Mr. Cinema]

Here's part of an interview James Cameron gave to comingsoon.net regarding the upcoming Aliens BD.

Interviewer: Do you have anything to do with the new Aliens stuff they are putting out?

Cameron: I just did a complete remaster of Aliens personally, uh, with the same colorist I worked with from Avatar and it's spectacular. We went in and completely denoised and degrained it, up-rezzed it, color corrected it from end to end, every frame and it looks amazing. It looks better than it did in theaters, originally, because it was shot on a high speed negative, a new negative that didn't pan out too well and got replaced the following year so it was pretty grainy...we got rid of all the grain and it's sharper and clearer and more beautiful than it's ever looked and we did that to the long version.

[Nick Graham]

Originally Posted by Mr. Cinema

Here's part of an interview James Cameron gave to comingsoon.net regarding the upcoming Aliens BD.

I was hoping he would get involved with the transfer this go-around. I now fear another $***storm online, though.

[Jeff Kleist]

Well they could have released a two pack similar to what Rockstar Games did when GTA3 and GTA Vice City came to the original xbox and just release a two pack

Two games, one port. It's the same engine and the only difference is the scripting files and graphics assetts.

Here's part of an interview James Cameron gave to comingsoon.net regarding the upcoming Aliens BD.

Yeah, we're aware of it, sorry I can't say anything more at this time, and that the hope is we'll have something more official soon.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Two games, one port. It's the same engine and the only difference is the scripting files and graphics assetts.



Yeah, we're aware of it, sorry I can't say anything more at this time, and that the hope is we'll have something more official soon.

Robert Harris has already told me that his sources say it looks fabulous. If James Cameron is happy how do we really have anything to discuss?

I am going to politely ask people to please please please not let this thread degenerate into another DNR/directors intent debate.

The Alien Anthology thread has been trashed to hell because of it.

Seriously, if Cameron is happy with the look and claims that its the look he wanted all along then that for one is what I WANT TO HEAR. How this is not music to everyone's ears is beyond me.

You just watch, Fox and Cameron are now in a no-win situation and Aliens is going to get dissected and every frame is going to be scrutinized to find even the smallest HINT that DNR has ruined the image.

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Robert Harris has already told me that his sources say it looks fabulous. If James Cameron is happy how do we really have anything to discuss?

I am going to politely ask people to please please please not let this thread degenerate into another DNR/directors intent debate.

The Alien Anthology thread has been trashed to hell because of it.

Seriously, if Cameron is happy with the look and claims that its the look he wanted all along then that for one is what I WANT TO HEAR. How this is not music to everyone's ears is beyond me.

You just watch, Fox and Cameron are now in a no-win situation and Aliens is going to get dissected and every frame is going to be scrutinized to find even the smallest HINT that DNR has ruined the image.

I'm finding that all the endless DNR debates are not only pointless but nasty and mean-spirited-- this website is losing it's appeal because of the way people are acting

[Nick Graham]

LOL, there is already a debate stirring up? I have no doubt it looks great. I somehow doubt a tech nut like Cameron was watching the new transfer on a 30" monitor.

[Oliver K]

Originally Posted by Bobby Henderson

Yes. And this is part of why I am so often annoyed by Warner Brothers' "let's squeeze the living crap out of the bit rate just to see how low we can go" policy of video encoding.

The freaking director's cut versions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies were divided between 2 DVD discs -and those movies had shorter running times than Branagh's Hamlet. Some other notably long movies have been divided across 2 discs. The DTS DVD version of Dances With Wolves, Once Upon A Time In The West 2-disc DVD and The Godfather Part II DVD are a few that immediately come to mind.

Also, look at the target audience of Hamlet. Fans of Shakespeare are probably going to be much more tolerant of an intermission and break across 2-discs than the action movie fan who insists everything be stupidly crammed into one platter.

BTW, movies with long running times are forced at a certain point to have an intermission. Standard 35mm projection platters can hold around 3.5 hours worth of film. The theatrical DTS system is limited to roughly 200 minutes (100 minutes worth of audio per CD-ROM) without changing any discs. DTS' newest systems, particularly the hard disc equipped XD-10 and XD-20 processors, don't have those limits. Digital cinema doesn't either. However, the human bladder absolutely does have a limit. Most people need some sort of break after about 2.5 hours. That break could be urgently needed if the viewer drank one of those tanker trunk sized drinks from the snack counter.

I always enjoy the intermission at 70mm festivals that I am attending so you're preaching to the choir here. Of course an intermission is even more welcome when it helps to maximize picture quality.

There is one movie on Blu-Ray that I know of that has a break between two discs. It is Alexander revisited the final cut - ironically a Warner title and even more ironically Warner apparently did it because Oliver Stone wanted to have two parts in order to force the viewer to have an intermission at the correct time. The bitrate is so low however that Alexander would have easily fitted on one BD50 disc!

[Braktastic]

Originally Posted by AKORIS

I'm finding that all the endless DNR debates are not only pointless but nasty and mean-spirited-- this website is losing it's appeal because of the way people are acting

I'd really like to know how you can find any DNR discussion in this thread between all the video game posts. Kudos to you!