Cartridges or optical discs?

[SvennoJ]

Another notch against cartridges
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2017-rayman-legends-definitive-edition-isnt-definitive

Longest loading times of all versions

For some stages we're looking at upwards of 16 seconds, and although others can load faster, the reality is that the Wii U - a system notorious for extending loading times - manages to load up the same levels 50 per cent faster than the Switch - and that's from the disc version of the game. Meanwhile, PS4 and Xbox One have no loading screens whatsoever. The PS Vita version was the previous record holder for the longest loads, but the Switch version manages to surpass it.


It seems the devs have compressed the game as much as possible to fit on a cheaper card

We can't say for certain why this is happening, but one theory suggests that it is tied to file sizes and compression. On Wii U, the game weighs in at 6.7GB, but on Switch it's been reduced to just 2.9GB. It's even larger on PS4 and Xbox One, clocking in at around 9GB, as those versions make use of uncompressed art assets. Switch's reduced storage footprint is great for saving space but that extra compression might be connected to the extra loading - it may be the case that the CPU is kept busy unpacking the data.

The extra compression also results in a very subtle degradation in asset quality too, which would make sense considering the reduction in file size. The experience isn't impacted much at all, but when the camera zooms in during certain scenes, you can spot the difference. Is it really an issue? Possibly not, but should the problem manifest at all in a game dubbed the Definitive Edition?


I'll stick to the WiiU version, 5 player goodness.