loves2splooge said:
TWRoO said:
loves2splooge said:
Flash memory is just way to expensive. Even if you consider the fact that 6.8 GB is all most games need at this point (usually games that require more than 6.8 GB these days have excessive cinematics. If game developers weren't obsessed with creating hollywood blockbusters or J-soap operas, we wouldn't need multiple DL DVD discs. Call me an old fart but I'm not impressed by "cinematic experiences" anymore like I was when I was a teenager and the whole FF7 and MGS thing felt new to me. I just want to play the freakin' game.), by the next Gen that won't be enough. So even 8 GB flash memory cards wouldn't be enough to house games and 8 GB flash memory is pretty darn expensive. A lot cheaper OEM than buying from a store but still very cost prohibitive I'm sure. Game prices would have to go up.
Now for stuff like DS, flash memory works for them but their capacity is tiny. Only 256 MB max. Now seeing that the DS has been out since 2004, the Next Gen DS flash cards will have a good deal more capacity. But I bet it won't be all that much. Maybe the cards will hold like 1 GB this time. But I think it'll be a long time before you could feasibly release games on a 8 GB flash card at a reasonable price to the publishers for home console releases. And by Next Gen, 8 GB won't be enough anyway I'm sure since games will become more graphically intensive and thus require more capacity (even without the cinematics).
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I believe some DS flash carts are 512MB already (4Gbit) and the maximum is still unknown.
The DS successor will probably use at least 2GB to start with, and will only increase from there as the system ages (assuming the next handheld uses carts... which it probably will)
An advantage handhelds have over home consoles is that they use their own speakers and screen, which naturally don't need to have huge sound files or huge FMV files for cutscenes, which is really what takes up most of the space on the PS3 games that supposedly take up 25GB (for instance MGS4 supposedly took up the whole disc, but I bet half of it was for music and sound, which could have been compressed to half it's size and no one but those with uber sound set ups would have noticed any difference)
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Out of curiosity, which DS games have hit the 512 MB (4Gbit) mark? The biggest game I've seen thus far was ASH (from Mistwalker) and that was 256 MB. Very rarely do DS games go above 128 MB. Even FF4 with all its fancy cutscenes was 128 MB (like you said, FMVs don't take up much space when you are designing them with a 3 inch low res screen with low quality internal stereo speakers in mind).
If Next Gen DS starts off with 2 GB, that'll be nice. That's more than the PSP's dual-layered UMDs (which they used for Crisis Core and some other big games).
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Yes, right now flash memery is expensive, but I'm talking about 10 years from now when it's gonna be chaeper, and larger in calacity.
TWRoO said:
Bamboleo said:
Mario Galaxy runs on a disk.
Not a single loading in that game.
your theory is broken :p |
Of course there is... Nintendo just happens to be one of the best at hiding loading times.... if you put your ear next to your Wii while playing the game (or if you have dropped it like I have it might be loud enough to hear from further away) you will be able to hear it reading the disc, which is when it is loading.
An example of hiding loading times is in Twilight Princess, the connections between two parts of Hyrule field with thin twisty pathways before you get to the open field are there to disguise the loading time.
@voty2000. Loading times are only one disadvantage of discs... but the actual price difference would not be anywhere near enough for publishers to put prices up by more than maybe $5 (and that is pushing it, I imagine printing the disc costs the publisher maybe 50p/30cents for each game for single layer DVD, while making a cartridge might bump that up to £1)
What is making game prices go up is the graphic whoreiness of the developers (and the consumers they feed) so yes, should consoles use carts prices would go up, but publishers would blame it on carts as an excuse, when the real cost inflation is coming from having to pay for more artists and spending more time making things look realistic.
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I love Mario Galaxy, but it does have loading time. The times I do remember when it loads is when you choose a Galaxy, and you see Mario flying to the new Galaxy? That's a hidden load screen. My saying is (might not always be true) If you can't skip it, then then it's loading. like in Rogue Galaxy when you can't skip movies sometimes, cause it's loading the next part, then it gives you the option to skip. If you read my movie skipping thread then you know how that annoys me :D
