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"Length of games"

There seem to be an aweful lot of topics in the forums about the size of games discs, and comparisons between them. Why?

People are saying that the GC disc holds less information than the PS2 DVDs, and hence games will be smaller- far from it.

Think about it- the PS2 DVDs are a dozen times bigger than the PS1 discs. Are games any bigger? If anything, I've found they've been smaller so far- FF7 on the PSX is far bigger than any PS2 game.

So why is it that people think that GC games will be smaller than PS2 games because of the size of the disc capacity. It's pure non-sense... games can just be put on more than one disc!

Sonic

MikeAll wrote:
> Compare the space on a N64 cartridge (8-64mb) to the space on the GC's disc
> thing 1.5Gb. Does anyone honestly need all that space. If they did decide to
> use all that space imagine how long it would take to make the game.


ahhh... good point, BUT, with CD based games you get more games useing FMV sequences, and better sounds. As a result the games, although nothing more spectacular that a Cart based game, take far more space.

For that reason Zelda OOT could fit onto a cart no problem, but the next Zelda, even though it's meant to be far shorter, won't.

Sonic

Compare the space on a N64 cartridge (8-64mb) to the space on the GC's disc thing 1.5Gb. Does anyone honestly need all that space. If they did decide to use all that space imagine how long it would take to make the game.

Changing CDs CAN be annoying, eg Baldurs Gate, but on consoles, usually they make sure that you change disc at a decent time, not when in the middle of something. Ie it'd be after a big boss, or after a level or whatever. Anyway, the only thing I find annoying about changing disc is the load times but GC, PS2, etc. loading times are minimal, so it's not much of an issue. Also, if you had 3CD tray the console would be bigger and cost more. Hardly a worthwhile trade off just cos some people can't be bothered to get their lazy *ss' off the couch!

===SONICRAV---> wrote:
"You have obvioously never actually played a game through that has multiple disc. Not only do games like Final Fantasy and Shenmue take about 10 hours gameplay before you actually need to change the disc, but this usually occurs just after you've killed some mamoth boss (like Code Veronica). Which'll be when you want a coffe break anyway..."

Sonic

Actually I have! I've played 'Under A Killing Moon' on the PC, great game, bit of a classic now, and it had 4 CD's. And you usually had to change them before and after cut-scenes, and after you've completed a few tasks. I also find things like Encarta annoying when you have to change to get a bigger picture, but then again that's not a game.
And who likes coffee anyway??? EUGH!!

BearPaw wrote:
> 1.5 gig is a lot of space you could really fit a lot on if you optimise it
> properly. unlike other consoles which don't care about optimisation and just
> span a 1 cd game on 3.


You seem to think that Ninty games will have more optimised code than other consoles... which is pure rubbish. It'll be no better or worse than the others.

Sonic

Solskjær_24 wrote:
> But having to change discs during a game can really annoy people, including
> myself. Especially when you're well into a game, and don't wanna stop for even a
> single second. So multiple discs would really be annoying, and it's more of a
> Microsoft or Sony thing. Maybe it'll happen with the X-box, and we'll see it
> fail due to that??


You have obvioously never actually played a game through that has multiple disc. Not only do games like Final Fantasy and Shenmue take about 10 hours gameplay before you actually need to change the disc, but this usually occurs just after you've killed some mamoth boss (like Code Veronica). Which'll be when you want a coffe break anyway...

Sonic

1.5 gig is a lot of space you could really fit a lot on if you optimise it properly. unlike other consoles which don't care about optimisation and just span a 1 cd game on 3.

If they had the 3 CD disc change...then rather than have the dics space making the console wider, they could have them stored on trays on top of each other *if you know what I mean...it would be slightly taller*

I think that if multiple discs for one game are gunna be common in the future, then maybe consoles should be considered to have space to insert 3 CD's at a time, like what you can get with hi-fi's. Then you could instantly press 1, for disc 1, 2 for 2, and 3 for 3. But the consoles would probably need to be a bit bigger, maybe the X-box would be big enough??

Solskjær_24 wrote:
> But having to change discs during a game can really annoy people, including
> myself. Especially when you're well into a game, and don't wanna stop for even a
> single second. So multiple discs would really be annoying...


Ah, but if you use the handle, you can carry the gamecube to you, so it'll be right next to you to change the disks. They think of everything!? : P