Wierd advertising ploy?

Loading screens can be a big deal for some people.

Just look at Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. It was rather frustrating to finish the game when you had to wait 10 minutes every time you died.

Loading screens rendered Burnout Takedown unplayable.

Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex was going to have a minigame to play on the load screen, but they took it out at the last minute.

To be quite honest with regards to console gaming, it was annoying to go from cartridge games in the 80s and early 90s with zero loading time to CD games with this new "loading screen" thing. I'm happy to see it go away.

As for the ad: Eh, it's kinda clever for what it's worth. I wouldn't buy the game anyway, so it wouldn't matter what the ad was about.

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Original post by Asheh Does this turn anyone on?

yes.

It has to load at some point, but perhaps they mean no pretty pictures to look at while it loads?

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Original post by ScottC It has to load at some point, but perhaps they mean no pretty pictures to look at while it loads?

haha, it would be awesome to have a totaly black screen for like 30 seconds. See ? no loading screen !

I actually found the idea rather appealing, if not outstanding. It's a huge world without the traditional "levels" (a portion of SoCal IIRC). Basically it loads your surroundings once when you start the game, then spools data in and out of memory as necessary, as you approach different areas. The technique's been around for some time.

If its true, thats pretty cool. Nothing makes a game worse for casual play (i.e. quick game before something else, quick time waster, etc.) than long loading screens. The worst offenders I can think of have been Neverwinter Nights, Half Life 2, and Battlefield 2. I would have played those games 10x more at least if it weren't for the unbearably long load times. As for Tony Hawk, I'll pass.

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Original post by ScottC It has to load at some point, but perhaps they mean no pretty pictures to look at while it loads?

Have a little of that, and a bit of threading (or something) for streaming and maybe some generation.

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Original post by flangazor Loading screens rendered Burnout Takedown unplayable.

Really? Damn. I was hoping they might have fixed it from Burnout 3... two loading screens between ending an event and starting a retry [sad]

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Original post by superpig Quote: Original post by flangazor Loading screens rendered Burnout Takedown unplayable. Really? Damn. I was hoping they might have fixed it from Burnout 3... two loading screens between ending an event and starting a retry [sad]

Oh, no way.

Loading screen for car selection, then a loading screen for the menu. Then a loading screen for the pre-race replay, then a loading screen for the race. Then a loading screen for your post-race replay. Want to "Retry" the current race? Guess what?

It starts over at "Loading screen for pre-race replay"

God I love that game, but it makes me want to hold it on a hot stove.

I've always wondered why I don't play Burnout 3 that much, despite it being fun, but never really thought about it. Loading screens. 'Splains a lot.

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Original post by Asheh "Tony hawks: wasteland...

Hmm, they call it Tony Hawk's American Wasteland over here (THAW for short, much like Tony Hawk's Underground became THUG). Regional marketing?

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Does this turn anyone on?

I've never played a Tony Hawk game. People say it's great fun, but it doesn't appeal to me at all - and I actually watch X-Games and stuff, so it's not because I dislike skating. *shrug* The new game seems to be more of the aimless adolescent fodder, which I presume doesn't appeal to me because I've always been one to require near-constant intellectual stimulation. Or something equally self-serving.

In summary: meh.

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Original post by superpig Quote: Original post by flangazor Loading screens rendered Burnout Takedown unplayable. Really? Damn. I was hoping they might have fixed it from Burnout 3... two loading screens between ending an event and starting a retry [sad]

Burnout 3 == Burnout Takedown. The fourth one is Revenge, and isn't out yet if thats what you were talking about.

Anyways, the only Tony Hawk game i've played was the first one. I think it might have been on N64 because I don't seem to remmember long loading times...

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Original post by Oluseyi I've never played a Tony Hawk game. People say it's great fun, but it doesn't appeal to me at all

What are you talking about? There's nothing better than forcing a punk to face-plant smack on concrete and smear his nose across the pavement resulting in a bloody stump and an unusually shaped blood smear. Yum.

Oh, and I never minded loading screens. They usually had hot chicks on them, didn't they? Or am I thinking about something else again? O_o

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Original post by programwizard Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex was going to have a minigame to play on the load screen, but they took it out at the last minute.

Namco has a patent on having mini games during loading screens [ source]. So unless you're Namco, you're not allowed.

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Original post by programwizard Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex was going to have a minigame to play on the load screen, but they took it out at the last minute.

hehehe, maybe it's not Namco's patent that's the problem. Maybe the minigame needed its own loading screen too.

'GTA3 : San Andreas' does well to avoid having to go to loading screens. I remember the two previous GTA3 games needed to stop part way through to load occassionally (GTA3 I think loaded once for each island with 3 islands, Vice City only had 2 locations that needed loading), but San Andreas seemed to have fixed all that.

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Original post by jClardy Quote: Original post by superpig Quote: Original post by flangazor Loading screens rendered Burnout Takedown unplayable. Really? Damn. I was hoping they might have fixed it from Burnout 3... two loading screens between ending an event and starting a retry [sad] Burnout 3 == Burnout Takedown. The fourth one is Revenge, and isn't out yet if thats what you were talking about.

Durrr. I had indeed confused Burnout Revenge and Burnout Takedown, thank you. But you're wrong about it not being out - came out in September in the US and UK, according to MobyGames. Are the loading screens better in Revenge?