Warning Rant about format quality. Sick of this stuff...

One little bit, and why I am waiting to buy from UK.

I hope the publishers read this. I bought Empires at War US version and it came on two CD. Then I find out the UK get the patched one DVD version.

Now I see FOC is coming on two CD for US and the UK gets it on one convienent DVD.

So WTF, I am tired of having to juggle FOUR CD's for back ups and installing. :firemad:

Why can you not get with it and release ONE fricking DVD that has both the original and the expansion as one. Yea, that is the Gold Version for Christmas.

Screw it, I am waiting for the gold version. I am not buying anymore stuff on multiple CD's. We are in the year 2000+ and unless you live in a cave, quit pushing the CD format on us.

Thanks (excuse me) for reading my rant.

This baffles me aswell really.

Though by not living in the US I can't really know the situation "over there" on the DVD drives, how common it is etc...

But I would think they arn't very far behind us Euros. :confused:

It's an interesting question really.
Why is it that the game isn't released in DVD aswell in the US?
Most people I know over there (although it's not many really) do have a DVD-ROM I believe.

Most surveys in the United States show that a majority of people still have CD-Rom's instead of DVD's. Obviously your hardcore gamers all have their DvD drives, but everyone else so far hasnt taken the time to upgrade to dvd. As a matter of fact, i myself still use CD-Rom, since when i tried to upgrade to DVD, i kept having problems with it.

hmm, thats strange, i remember over here when they came out, or rather when they became afordable, everyone got one, and you couldn't/can't buy a pc wothout one now, at least not a pre build anyways

I love the game :) please do not get me wrong, but I do want the DVD version. Luckily I found an importer, and Ebay.com will sell from UK the DVD versions, for a bit more money than retail.

A DVD optical device will read both DVD and CD. I would have thought everyone in the USA has a DVD-ROM by now, many games are DVD only....except here in USA.

I think the UK and US version are interchangable, there is only one patch for both.

Yes, I make back ups for my games, I really do not want to lose the originals to accidents. I like this series, so I want the best. I find it so much easier for archiving my huge collection to have the DVD versions (the 'gold version' is coming out soon next quarter with both original and expansion together as one on a single DVD).

Plus I like the thin DVD case the Euro version is in, compared to the large cardboard box US version. I do not care about size, I like the effeciency of the Euro style thin DVD case for saving space. As a hardcore player, I have a collection of about 200+ games. lol, I need to save space and keep track on them over the decades.

I remember buying Rome TW and the Barbarian expansion, seperately that had all three original CD plus the Barbarian expansion CD, and patches wrapped into the Gold Edition DVD. That was ALOT better, I hope you know what I mean.

Speaking as someone in Australia who only has a CD-RW drive, I am very happy that EaW came out here on CD's. There are a lot of great game I would like to buy, like GTA: San Andreas, but I'm not going to upgrade to a DVD-ROM just for that.

Yeah, that 20-40 at newegg.com really sets you back.

It could double the price of a game.

i dont wanna sound rude, but thats the most stupid posting i ever read in a thread about games.
take a look at hardware stores an tell me if dvd drives are expensive or not.... duh.. and same goes for production since u need less material cause of 4,7 or mor gigs on one disc instead of multiple 800mb discs..
there are a couple more pro's then con's when it comes to upgrade to dvd.
u dont have to juggle multiple cds, u can watch dvd movies, u get more space when it comes to backup your system etc etc etc
and since where in 2006 why are ppl still sticking to their cd drives? cds aint hightech anymore, got it? lol
sooner or later u gotta upgrade your system. hd-dvds and blueray are on the way to become a new standard and your still sticking with 800mb discs...
thats like sticking to the xbox when u can get the xbox360 for the same price o_O

Yeah realy im suprised that any one in the us doesnt have atleast 1 dvd drive on thier comp.

*shrug* A lot of gamers don't have a choice. Especially when you consider gamers under the age of 18 who may not own their own computer and thus rely on Dad's work computer to play. Also there hasn't been a great push to upgrade to DVD drives in terms of software because the industry hasn't changed over. You still buy Microsoft Office and get 4-5 discs, etc. The industry hasn't been actively pushing change over to DVDs in the software market, now in terms of movies that's a totally different story. That's mainly because America's philosophy is that we want to include as many people as possible. Fairness is paramount. It's also a healthy business strategy to enable as many people as possible to use your software.
So honestly it isn't even halfway a surprise, especially considering EAW's expansion isn't supposed to be a "must have" game like San Andreas.

I'm not saying I'm against selling DVD versions, in fact I think games that release both CD and DVD versions have it right. But I am not surprised in the least that FOC is being released in CD format.

Point being, they should consider selling both versions ... like selling a small batch of DVD versions. I am sure that would work well.

Well, the Windows Vista generation of computers require DVD drives because the OS can only be installed via a DVD-ROM, even on OEM machines. So wait a year or so, and all new games will have to be released on DVD unless they're intentionally making them for low spec machines.

I'd much prefer the game to be on a dvd, dunno why it isn't yet... DVD drives are cheap these days, surely almost every gamer has one?

take a look at hardware stores an tell me if dvd drives are expensive or not.... duh.. and same goes for production since u need less material cause of 4,7 or mor gigs on one disc instead of multiple 800mb discs..

It depends for who. It seems every likes to assume that the world is very rich, everyone is happy and lives in an era of abundance where nobody has money problems...
It's not expansive for some, but it can be for many. Keep that in mind.

About production cost, no, it doesn't cost less money to produce a DVD disc compared to a regular CD disc. You have to take into account many other variables, I do not know what they are, but it isn't as simple as that. In fact, check the price on writable DVDs and on CDs.

I'd much prefer the game to be on a dvd, dunno why it isn't yet... DVD drives are cheap these days, surely almost every gamer has one?

Surely, but E@W/FoC might want to attack the "regular" folks market too. None of us knows what their reasoning is. Releasing on both formats also means increased costs and in turn less profits. Some of you will say that it shouldn't be all about profits, but try to hammer that into LEC's marketing department and we'll see.


So yes, DVDs are convenient mostly for storage and backup purposes etc...though...can't you kids be a bit more patient? Patience is a virtue. Just relax and juggle the four CDs.

Yeah, that 20-40 at newegg.com really sets you back.
Yeah...the world doesn't revolve around the US. Prices are generally higher here in Australia.

i dont wanna sound rude, but thats the most stupid posting i ever read in a thread about games.
It is rude, and bite me.

Yeah realy im suprised that any one in the us doesnt have atleast 1 dvd drive on thier comp
Again, the world doesn't revolve around the US. Try and take into account that many of us here, including me, do not live in the US.

It depends for who. It seems every likes to assume that the world is very rich, everyone is happy and lives in an era of abundance where nobody has money problems...
It's not expansive for some, but it can be for many. Keep that in mind
Exactly. I am currently a...partially employed University student who earns $30 AUD per week. Yes, that is all. Aside from my general lack of money, I also have to pay for my car's upkeep, fuel, and mobile phone costs. That leaves me with a very small amount of money to work with. So if , for example, wanted to buy EaW for its original price ($90) it would take me at least a month to do so. Now when one takes into account that I have to upgrade my graphics card, and I need to expand my PC memory in order to do more research, and add to that the fact that none of my favourite games are on DVD, guess how high a priority a DVD drive is? That's right, it doesn't even make the list.

So people, try and keep in mind that there are people out there who have neither the time nor the money for such luxuries as a DVD drive. I understand why some folks want the game on DVD but honestly, it is a very minor issue and even if it was on DVD, that is no reason to not make it on CD as well.

Darth Windu: Ad contrario, amici mei--the title of the thread explicitly refers to the US edition of the game, which is a CD edition, as contrasted with the UK edition which is apparently on a DVD.

The US edition, as it happens, is intended for the US market. That would seem to be an exercise in tautology, but apparently it bears clarification. Consequently, the market for the US edition is those people in the US. With me so far? So, if the US edition of the game is intended for the US market which consists of people in the US, then it seems germane to suggest that in the United States, a DVD-ROM drive is not hard to come by.

Ergo, you are entirely off-base with your comments and unnecessarily criticizing people for thinking 'the world revolves around the US' when the subject of the thread is the US edition. :)

It depends for who. It seems every likes to assume that the world is very rich, everyone is happy and lives in an era of abundance where nobody has money problems...
It's not expansive for some, but it can be for many. Keep that in mind.

About production cost, no, it doesn't cost less money to produce a DVD disc compared to a regular CD disc. You have to take into account many other variables, I do not know what they are, but it isn't as simple as that. In fact, check the price on writable DVDs and on CDs.


i think u get things mixed up. we cant compare 1DVD to 1CD in the production. since its bout 6times (and more if u take duallayer dvds its bout 9gig instead of 4,7) space for data on dvds then on cds. i know cds are way cheaper, but the price for it is constantly dropping, so... i dunno. but u cant say that u dont buy a dvd drive for one game. take the money u would spend for one title and u get a dvd drive, maybe even one capable burning discs, dunno the actual prizes in the US stores, cause im in europe. but they cant be that expensive that everyone says "heeell noooo" o_O

Darth Windu: Ad contrario, amici mei--the title of the thread explicitly refers to the US edition of the game, which is a CD edition, as contrasted with the UK edition which is apparently on a DVD.

Ergo, you are entirely off-base with your comments and unnecessarily criticizing people for thinking 'the world revolves around the US' when the subject of the thread is the US edition. :)
No, I'm not. I would suggest that you read posts before replying to them. As I stated previously, I specifically mentioned that

Speaking as someone in Australia who only has a CD-RW drive, I am very happy that EaW came out here on CD's. There are a lot of great game I would like to buy, like GTA: San Andreas, but I'm not going to upgrade to a DVD-ROM just for that.
I then proceeded to respond to replies to my statement. Sure, the topic was about someone whinging about having to get CD's instead of DVD's, I was simply making the point that not everyone has a DVD drive. Whilst I am an Australian, the situation is likely to be similar in the US, where many people simply cannot afford a DVD drive.

What surprises me is that the game isn't launched in the US both on CD and DVD.

But I guess it comes down to what fergie said, that the industri hasn't pushed more for it yet 'over there'.
I mean, if the option isn't there, then there's no "urge" for the lack of a better term to get a DVD-drive.

Here in Norway DVD titles has been available for years, and I assume it's the same for UK. My neighbouring countries, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, prolly is in the same boat as Norway. As for the rest of Europe, I'm not sure.

But it's not only games.
PC's have also come with DVD-ROM as the standard disc drive for years too, and today it would be unthinkable to buy a new PC with a CD drive, unless it's a CD-burner and also comes with a DVD-ROM drive installed.

I agree atleast in the us im suprised that any one can play eaw with a computer that doesnt have a dvd drive.

i think u get things mixed up.

No, I didn't mix anything up. You were talking about production cost being lower for DVDs which I don't think is true considering the evidence. That's it.

i think u get things mixed up. we cant compare 1DVD to 1CD in the production. since its bout 6 times (and more if u take duallayer dvds its bout 9gig instead of 4,7) space for data on dvds then on cds. i know cds are way cheaper, but the price for it is constantly dropping, so... i dunno. but u cant say that u dont buy a dvd drive for one game. take the money u would spend for one title and u get a dvd drive, maybe even one capable burning discs, dunno the actual prizes in the US stores, cause im in europe. but they cant be that expensive that everyone says "heeell noooo" o_O


ahh , lol, just signed up on these forums just to correct yah...lol


anywho, 3 cds (and the larger box to put it in) is more expensive then 1 dvd.
a dvd cost lost 28ish cents (yes thats PENNIES) to produce while a cd takes like 22-20ish. Now remember u get 6-12 times more data on a dvd and now you can see , that a cd set of the game is less profitable.


And while were on the topic, dvd drives are so cheap these days that if u cant afford one (i mean cmon the really cheap ones are like 20 bucks, thats like 2 hours of overtime pay) then maybe u shouldnt be playing video games. . . .

anywho, 3 cds (and the larger box to put it in) is more expensive then 1 dvd.
a dvd cost lost 28ish cents (yes thats PENNIES) to produce while a cd takes like 22-20ish. Now remember u get 6-12 times more data on a dvd and now you can see , that a cd set of the game is less profitable.

Actually, I've seen CDs that cost less then 14 cents and the bigger case should not increase the cost by that much. DVDs would go around 30 cents so in that you are right.
Since the market is getting smaller for CDs, it might not be unlikely that CD prices dropped because the companies are starting to sell them under production price.
There's more though. As a company, they don't buy these things from the local shop. They can get better deals. It could be entirely plausible that their deal with whoever makes their CDs is more profitable and they haven't found anyone that can sell them DVDs for a lesser price.

I've been in economics for 2 years and am still in social science and I've learn that what is "logical" might not always be true. Whatever their reasoning is, they decided that it was better to release a CD set in the US and Canada at the risk of pissing off those too lazy to do some CD swapping.


And while were on the topic, dvd drives are so cheap these days that if u cant afford one (i mean cmon the really cheap ones are like 20 bucks, thats like 2 hours of overtime pay) then maybe u shouldnt be playing video games. . . .

Maybe you shouldn't be playing video games...
They might be poor but that doesn't mean they can't have hobbies and lighten up once in a while.



Seriously though, on another note, I live in what is considered one of the poorest neighborhoods in Canada. Though I'm not doing bad myself, I've grown up within this environment and it sickens me all the time when the upper-middle class assumes that the world is beautiful and full of abundance for everyone. I'm no raging socialist, but I do find the ignorance apalling.
Even for someone who is not particularly poor, it might be going over their budget if they spend an extra 20$.

I live in the UK. I bought a laptop last Christmas that had a DVD-RAM drive. These drives will soon be a standard component of new computers and laptops over here. So the games industry has kept up with (And quite rightly taken full advantage of) the updates in computer technology over here. Almost all the new pc games here are released on DVD.

Now don't get me wrong I'm not saying that the US is behind Europe in terms of technology, it's just that the US is a hell of a lot larger than the UK, so selling the game on DVD only is quite obviously a big mistake. The US is the major market for PC games since most of the major games companies are based there, and it has a much bigger population (Approx. 300million US, compared to approx. 60million UK). So when releasing the game here in the UK on DVD it has less of an overall impact on the game sales than a DVD release for the US.

Basically, the games companies can take a bit more of a risk for the sales here than in the USA.