A huge reveal occurred during the IT Month Fair at Taipei last night: gigantic Blu-ray discs.
Created by Pioneer, the new “super multi-layer read-only optical disc” will feature 16 separate layers on a single side, with 25GB storage capacity on each layer for an astounding total capacity of 400GB. Oh, and guess what? It’s based on Blu-ray, and will be fully playable in Blu-ray players.
According to Pioneer, they plan to release the discs in read-only format between 2008-2010, and rewritable format between 2010-2012. After that, we’ll see 1TB discs in 2013.
The implications of such a disc are astounding. Essentially, in the next two years it may be fully possible we’ll see developers being able to utilize discs with 400GB of space. (For the PS3. Sorry, 360.) Games will be able to include full high-def audio and video with no compression, publishers could release entire series of games on a single disc, and the PS3’s longevity could last well into the late 2010s or early 2020s.
I know, I know—Sony could still improve the PS3’s hardware and make it more powerful. But honestly, with what the machine is already capable of and with the promise of 400GB+ Blu-ray discs in the near future, I wouldn’t be surprised if they stuck with the PS3 longer than intended. Already we’re nearing the point of lower returns on game development, and a more powerful machine will mean more money invested into the development cycle, and more time spent creating games. Look at the final games on the PS2 and compare them to the launch titles. Now imagine four years from now what PS3 developers with years of experience under their belt could accomplish with at least eight times the room to work with on each disc.
Obviously the movie industry would also benefit from this. With 400GB-1TB of space, I find it hard to believe that there will ever need to be a new physical format to get better picture quality, and Blu-ray will be the format of choice in terms of best quality for quite some time — until the world is finally ready for regular high-def digital distribution, at least. Given the way US and UK IPs treat bandwidth, though, I don’t expect that day anytime soon.
Of course, I could be wrong and look like an idiot ten years from now, but hey, it’s just what I think. If Pioneer can truly develop their 16-layer Blu-ray discs as stated, gaming and movies will forever be changed.
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