The Video Game Critic

[QUOTE=Leo Ames]

If a game requires a update, that patch is on the cd and isn't going anywhere. Not everyone even today has their systems online.

[/QUOTE]

Again, that is assuming that they will be put on the disc.  It assumes that a problem related to the system update, which may not have been caught in QA, is corrected in time to include on a disc and not through an online update.  It also doesn't answer to the concerns about patch updates for such games.

I think that given that the concept of system updates and game patches are new in the console market, its presence could easily be abused by developers to meet release dates without having to go through the trouble of another build and QA cycle.  And in the future, when those systems are no longer supported and the servers are no longer available, coming by those updates would be difficult in every case where online is the only option, possibly compromising the longeavity of those consoles.

I am not suggesting that online gaming isn't a good thing in many ways or that digital distribution or system updates are absolutely terrible.  But trends could develop which could hurt the long-term use of a console, especially for those acquiring those consoles at a post-support date.  I am not convinced that updates will always be included on the discs, and given the nature of updates to fix specific games, I am *sure* that such patches won't be.

When I saw how many horrendous bugs KOTOR II had when it was released on the XBOX, I had actually WISHED that the developer would have enabled the danged thing for online updates so they could fix some of them.  But that kind of update would have led to exactly the kind of thing I am talking about -- problematic games that can't be fixed in the future, because the discs don't represent the actual playable game.  Since Obsidian was so used to releasing PC games that had such updates, I can't help but think that they were used to that kind of release schedule for PC games and just repeated it for their XBOX experience.  Sure I would have liked to have had an update, but I'd like it even more if they would have made the game play right the first time.  That would make the hard copy all the more worth having.

Critic,

It's probably a good thing you've never tried halo 2 on the 360.  The last time I gave it a shot between the xbox live updates, downloading maps, and updates to halo 2 we're talking a good 15 minutes wasted.

<i kid>

The 360 has similar updates for games online all the time.  They're quick and painless and if it improves the online experience and cuts down the cheaters then by all means it's well worth it.

Bud