Reading gamers.com I came across an article about Xbox Live. Andre Vrignaud, Director of Technical Strategy for Xbox Live, said this:
It's not possible to add Xbox Live support to a title that didn't support it when initially released. The ability to update a title at all is something that comes with Live enabling.
He made this comment in response to rumors of an online version of Halo being made.
I'm not clear on this. He's wrong about the first part, isn't he? MotoGP shipped with no online support but you can play all the modes and use all the tracks and bikes with the online demo. Couldn't they just make an add-on disc that would let you play a game online like they did with MotoGP?
a remote controlled dandy
Just playing online and playing Xbox live are two different things. Xbox live contains a lot of extra baggage that needs to be programmed into the game from the get go, like voice support. Any system linked Xbox game can be brought online, but that's not the same as Xbox live. They could reprogram Halo a bit to make it Xbox live compatiable, but it would be a replacement and not an add-on.
can't wake up
My guess is that MotoGP was from the beginning designed around Xbox Live. Im not quite sure how this works (can you just turn on the full version and get into the Xbox Live from there? Or is it just for the demo?).
I can account for either scenario:
01. If you can go directly into Xbox Live from the full version, then the game has obviously had full support but it was locked until you had Xbox Live on your HD.
02. If you need the online demo, then the full version of MotoGP "unlocks" tracks and puts them on the hard drive for you to use with the demo.
In either scenario, its obvious that the game was designed for Xbox Live. Halo was not.
"If you need the online demo, then the full version of MotoGP "unlocks" tracks and puts them on the hard drive for you to use with the demo"
Yep, that's how it works. you need the full version to unlock everything. You can then use your save in the demo.
can't wake up
Okay, then its obvious that the developer set it up like that with the knowledge that you can play the game online in the future. All of the Xbox Live engine stuff is on the demo, and the demo "talks" to the hard drive.
Halo could probably support Xbox Live in the same way, but since maps and shit arent stored on the HD, the demo would need all the maps. Or they could just re-release the entire game with Xbox Live support. But that would amount to a lot of code and a lot of effort. With Halo 2 coming out this year, its probably not worth the trouble.
I guess MotoGP had a tight deadline or something and that's why it isn't Live-compatible right out of the box. I may be mistaken though.
can't wake up
It was probably because the Xbox Live APIs weren't finished yet. MotoGP came out in the summer, so the APIs were probably finished enough that developers could see how they worked and shit, but not finished enough that you'd want to put them on a disc.
Dirty Hands - I Demand!
Apologies if you already knew and I'm just reading this wrong, but the tracks aren't copied from the full version to the hdd. All the tracks are included in the demo, cuz you can play on them as a ghost racer if you don't have the full version. The Frequency Online demo that comes with the PS2 Network Adaptor works the same way - uses save data from the full game to unlock extra features in the demo.Originally posted by diffusionx
02. If you need the online demo, then the full version of MotoGP "unlocks" tracks and puts them on the hard drive for you to use with the demo.
I think when the MS guy says "update" he means "patch". Seems like you can add Live functionality to an old game if you just release an add on disc. Isn't that what they're supposed to do with Phantom Crash?
a remote controlled dandy
You can patch an xbox game only if the game was already set up to recieve patches, but I'm pretty sure there's a limitation there since you can not patch the executable.
For instance, the DOA3 patch adds costumes featured in non-US versions of the game, but it does not add the 50 moves that were added to those versions. The unofficial reason for this, I don't think there is an official one, is adding those moves as a patch is simply not possible.
Considering the developers are already working on Phantom Crash 2, I doubt the first one, already down to $30, is going to be patched.
The way they could do it for Halo would be some sort of saved game from the original is needed to play the online version or something to make sure you bought it, but seems like a lot of trouble.
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