hey: how important is a DVD drive these days?

[Apos]

I haven't bought a new, huge game in quite a while. But I was wondering: do games get sold on DVDs these days? Or will Half life 2's install require multiple cds (since most games apparently tap out at more than a single Cd)

Should I spend the extra 200$ to get a new DVD/Cd capable drive if I'm not all that interested in DVD playback aside form games?

 

[Jagermeister]

Most likely HL2 will ship with mulitple CDs. IMO, you should get a DVD drive anway. They really don't cost much, I got an OEM Pioneer DVD116 for around $60 about a year and a half ago and it's still works like new and I abuse the hell out of it - installing, watching, ripping and encoding.

There's no such thing as a $200 DVD drive, I think you've mistaken it for a DVD burner. You can get an OEM Pioneer DVD drive for $39, $42 for slot load version at newegg.com

 

[righte0us]

dude, 200$ for a dvd drive? what the **** are you on?
a good dvd drive can cost about 80$ these days.

 

[$pazmatazz]

He could be talking about a DVD burner, or a DVD/CD-RW combo drive.

 

[Apos]

I was talking about a DVD/CD drive. I couldn't find any that weren't also burners, and cost around 300$

 

[RoyalEF]

I haven't heard of any games or software taking the plunge and issuing software on DVD yet. There may not be enough market saturation yet for them to do that. The first ones will be tempted to release two versions a single DVD and a multi-CD version. That may increase the cost for the company and deter it happening. A DVD_only game would cut down on piracy for a short while since much fewer people have the ability to copy a DVD.

 

[Apos]

I guess I wont waste money on DVD then, unless I really need a DVD burner for some reason.

 

[EVIL]

I have black & white on DVD

 

[Jagermeister]

Originally posted by EVIL
I have black & white on DVD

Really? That only came out on 1 CD though. Is that a limited edition version, what else is on that DVD?

 

[ComradeBadger]

Well..... I Really don't like multi-disk games.... cos I have only 1 drive .... I am considering investing in a DVD (nuffin else) drive too...

 

[simmo]

I really want a DVD drive for Metal Gear Solid 2 for pc since it only came out on DVD rom;( , do you think its worth spending £29 on a dvd just for one game ?

 

[EVIL]

I think that there are alot of games in the future that are going to be released on DVD. because games are getting bigger and 4+ cd's are annoying and clumsy and you would need a bigger cd case for it so if they want to save money then i think they are releasing it on DVD.

 

[EVIL]

and Black and white was on CD-ROM but in a DVD case. srry bout that

 

[ComradeBadger]

Simmo, PCGamer reckons MGS 2 aint that good.... so I don't know... their usuallly very accurate with their reviews.... but a DVD drive is a worthwhile investmant.... 'in the future' (what a great slogan)

 

[simmo]

Ive played it on ps2, and its one of the best games IMO, remember its my opinion I could be wrong

 

[EVIL]

I think personal oppignion about a game is more important then a review in a magazine

 

[RoyalEF]

DVD drives only have one advantage--they play DVD formats and really nothing else. Also early models and some current ones may be limited in their ability to play the newer writables (DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RAM, DVD-Make-Me-More-Confused)

You could hold off on the plain DVD drive and invest in a DVD-writer down the line. This would give you a player and a high-volume writable format in one.

All depends upon if you need/want to play DVDs on your current machine. I did, until I got a standalone player for my TV. Now I almost never use the DVD drive, except as a second CD-ROM drive.

 

[ComradeBadger]

Originally posted by EVIL
I think personal oppignion about a game is more important then a review in a magazine

Yeah... but I tend to go by a review I trust... if I havn't played a demo of sorts... sometimes I disagree

 

[simmo]

Well, i'm gettin a DVD for my TV, so its no point gettin it just to play 1 game, seems stupid , ill think ill downloa...urmmm...*cough*