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News Virgin Media warns of digital distribution pitfalls

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Gareth Halfacree, 2 Dec 2013.

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  1. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Gareth Halfacree, 2 Dec 2013
    #1
  2. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

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    Do the new consoles allow pre-loading of games before release, like Steam does ?
     
    Corky42, 2 Dec 2013
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  3. dyzophoria

    dyzophoria Minimodder

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    quite frankly, though for now, this would be a pain for consumers, this on the other hand will really really push internet speeds further..
     
    dyzophoria, 2 Dec 2013
    #3
  4. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Not as far as I'm aware, although I think the Xbox One at least can receive install instructions remotely while in 'connected standby' (the default 'off') mode - so you can hit the Xbox Live Marketplace from work and have the game hopefully ready to play by the time you get home.
     
    Gareth Halfacree, 2 Dec 2013
    #4
  5. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

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    Not pre-loading games before release seems like its asking for trouble.
    I would be biting my nails if i was VM or any other ISP, as when a major game gets released everyone will starts downloading all at the same time.
     
    Corky42, 2 Dec 2013
    #5
  6. sub routine

    sub routine Archie Gemel

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    sigh i wish. I pay through the nose to not get throttled on a 7 meg with 700kbit download speeds
     
    sub routine, 2 Dec 2013
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  7. Anfield

    Anfield Multimodder

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    As if the ISPs could not have seen that coming, did they not notice the arrival of Steam, BBC iPlayer, Spotify, Itunes or Netflix to just name a tiny selection.

    Sorry but it was all too predictable that the Xbox One and the PS4 would demand a lot from internet connections.
     
    Anfield, 2 Dec 2013
    #7
  8. thogil

    thogil What's a Dremel?

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    Most new games take 20-40 mins to download on fibre, depending on their size and how good the download server is. You can multiply that by 3 or 4 if you are downloading through Steam, due to their often pathetic servers.
     
    thogil, 2 Dec 2013
    #8
  9. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

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    Doesn't that depend on the speed of your connection :confused:
    And if you think its bad downloading from Steams servers when often you can start pre-loading a game a week before release, imagine what it will be like when thousands, maybe millions of people all try to download the latest COD on release day.
     
    Corky42, 2 Dec 2013
    #9
  10. Woodspoon

    Woodspoon What's a Dremel?

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    So Virgin Media are saying download times are too high, or that peoples expectations are too high?
    Seems to me either way that since Virgin are one of the few remaining ISP's that throttle across their entire range they should sort that out first before making comments about download times.
     
    Woodspoon, 2 Dec 2013
    #10
  11. B1GBUD

    B1GBUD ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Accidentally Funny

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    B1GBUD, 2 Dec 2013
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  12. sandys

    sandys Multimodder

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    Yes there have been pre loads on PS3s PSN stuff for a long time as well as the ability to do what you mention above from the PSN store website to PS3.

    You can also get your PS3 to download stuff it thinks you might like and install them for you automagically, demos etc.

    I would imagine this would remain for PS4.
     
    sandys, 2 Dec 2013
    #12
  13. the-beast

    the-beast What's a Dremel?

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    50 GB! - That would take nearly 4 months on my current connection!
     
    the-beast, 2 Dec 2013
    #13
  14. jrs77

    jrs77 Modder

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    The problem isn't the games and it's digital distribution. The problem is the ISPs and the bad infrastructure in some regions.

    If Virgin has problems delivering the advertised speeds, then they simply need to invest some of their profits and build a better infrastructure instead of filling their bags with cash.
     
    jrs77, 2 Dec 2013
    #14
  15. Parge

    Parge the worst Super Moderator

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    VM customers - how do you find your connections? I'm thinking of getting the 'naked' 60mb service.

    I'd like to know

    1. How do you find general browsing and reliability
    2. What kind of speeds do you get on Steam/Origin]
    3. What are you pings like when gaming?
     
    Parge, 2 Dec 2013
    #15
  16. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

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    Other than 6 months of problems last year before they upgraded something, i find them good if you don't mind working around the odd web site that has been blocked by court orders.
    I only have the 30Mb line, and unless im getting throttled for breaking what they call a "fair use policy" i normaly max out my connection when downloading games from Steam (don't use Origin)
    Not sure how reliable the pings you get shown in games are, also about the only game i play online is TF2 so my experience maybe limited but i get around 15-20 ping on UK based servers.
    Low pings are the main reasons i stick with a cable connection versus ADSL.
     
    Corky42, 2 Dec 2013
    #16
  17. phuzz

    phuzz This is a title

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    We're on VM in our house, and I don't remember having to wait more than an hour or so for a game, it's wicked fast (on the 100Mb connection). Never noticed any throttling either, and that's with five of us all downloading a lot.

    Ok, it can slow down a bit at peak hours when everyone in the area wants to watch iPlayer at 6pm

    15MB/s is normal. Again, we're on the 100Mb connection. And yes, that is fifteen megabytes per second.

    Not sure to be honest, no complaints though.
     
    phuzz, 2 Dec 2013
    #17
  18. Combatus

    Combatus Bit-tech Modding + hardware reviews Lover of bit-tech Super Moderator

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    9 hours at the UK average maybe - a hell of a lot longer on Virgin if you do it in their 'peak' hours, which is pretty much ant time most of us are at home, and you get throttled :D
     
    Combatus, 2 Dec 2013
    #18
  19. GeorgeStorm

    GeorgeStorm Aggressive PC Builder

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    Well, half way maybe :p
     
    GeorgeStorm, 2 Dec 2013
    #19
  20. Zaim

    Zaim Minimodder

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    Not had any issue's this year tbh. I always get around 15.5MB/s when downloading through Origin/Steam.

    http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3139571729
     
    Zaim, 2 Dec 2013
    #20
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