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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Need help, trying to determine the size of games by generations or console - List Updated

Gilgamesh on 10 July 2012

So just did some averages, so far there's not really any patterns as to how much game sizes go up each gen, maybe with more info it may not be so random.



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Gluestickid on 10 July 2012

Can't really help you here but last week I downloaded inFamous 2 for the ps3 and it was a whopping 15gb! I wonder what the installed file size is.



TWRoO on 10 July 2012
MrT-Tar said:
Stefl1504 said:
TWRoO said:
Stefl1504 said:
well, I know N64 had 64 MB cartridges for some of the smallest games, also some PSone games surpassed one gigaByte (4 CDs is more than 1GB)

N64 carts were 64MB max.... early games were 4MB so N64 games were 4-64MB

CD-ROMs have 700MB of space... so 4CD games could theoretically be 2.8GB (of course that won't be the case, as each disc will have to have copy protection and other stuff on it, so I suspect any games that were large enough to warrant 4CDs were more like 1.5GB.

GC discs were 1.4GB limit... take out the extra stuff and I suspect the max limit for game content is a little over 1GB per disc.


I was under the impression that the biggest N64 cartridge was 512 MB... lol

I thought it would be at least 256MB to be honest.  I've done a little googling on the matter and it seems that the largest was indeed 64MB.  That means Capcom did one hell of a job getting Resident Evil 2 down from 2 CDs on the PSX to a 64MB cartridge for the N64.

Well it was 512 MBit...(which is 64MB) but not many games will have used that size cart, RE2 was one if them of course.

If RE2 really needed 2 discs on the PS1 then it is a particularly good example of how much space is wasted on discs... RE2 on N64 had superior sound quality among other improvements, and sound is usually one of the main differences when devs have lots of space compared to limited space to put their game.

From Wiki:
The Nintendo 64 version of Resident Evil 2 differs most from the other releases. Over the course of twelve months and with a budget of $1 million,[61]Resident Evil 2 was ported to the console by a staff of about 20 employees from Capcom Production Studio 3, Angel Studios and Factor 5.[1][62] This version offers features that were not included on any other system, such as alternate costumes, the ability to adjust the degree of violence and to change the blood color, a randomizer to place items differently during each playthrough, and a more responsive first-person control scheme.[11][62][63]Additionally, the port features 16 new in-game documents known as the "Ex Files",[11][63] written by Tetsuro Oyama.[64] Hidden throughout the four scenarios, they reveal new information about the series' lore and connect the story of Resident Evil 2 to those of the other installments.[11][63] The Nintendo 64 version adjusts its display resolution depending on the number of polygonal models currently on screen, and supports the console'sExpansion Pak accessory for a maximum resolution of 640×480 during gameplay.[65][66] Other visual enhancements include smoother character animations and sharper, perspective-corrected textures for the 3D models.[65] The music of the Nintendo 64 version utilizes Dolby Surround, and was converted by Chris Hülsbeck, Rudolf Stember and Thomas Engel.[62] The team reworked the sound set from the ground up to provide each instrument with a higher sample rate than on the PlayStation, thus resulting in higher-quality music.[67] Some features from the other enhanced ports based on the Dual Shock Ver. do not appear in the Nintendo 64 version, such as the "Extreme Battle" minigame.[68]

I didn't find any mention of the PS1 version needing 2 discs though... are you sure about that? (even if it didn't it probably took up at least 5 times the space the N64 version did, so still an impressive port)



Stefl1504 on 10 July 2012
TWRoO said:

Well it was 512 MBit...(which is 64MB) but not many games will have used that size cart, RE2 was one if them of course.

If RE2 really needed 2 discs on the PS1 then it is a particularly good example of how much space is wasted on discs... RE2 on N64 had superior sound quality among other improvements, and sound is usually one of the main differences when devs have lots of space compared to limited space to put their game.

From Wiki:
The Nintendo 64 version of Resident Evil 2 differs most from the other releases. Over the course of twelve months and with a budget of $1 million,[61]Resident Evil 2 was ported to the console by a staff of about 20 employees from Capcom Production Studio 3, Angel Studios and Factor 5.[1][62] This version offers features that were not included on any other system, such as alternate costumes, the ability to adjust the degree of violence and to change the blood color, a randomizer to place items differently during each playthrough, and a more responsive first-person control scheme.[11][62][63]Additionally, the port features 16 new in-game documents known as the "Ex Files",[11][63] written by Tetsuro Oyama.[64] Hidden throughout the four scenarios, they reveal new information about the series' lore and connect the story of Resident Evil 2 to those of the other installments.[11][63] The Nintendo 64 version adjusts its display resolution depending on the number of polygonal models currently on screen, and supports the console'sExpansion Pak accessory for a maximum resolution of 640×480 during gameplay.[65][66] Other visual enhancements include smoother character animations and sharper, perspective-corrected textures for the 3D models.[65] The music of the Nintendo 64 version utilizes Dolby Surround, and was converted by Chris Hülsbeck, Rudolf Stember and Thomas Engel.[62] The team reworked the sound set from the ground up to provide each instrument with a higher sample rate than on the PlayStation, thus resulting in higher-quality music.[67] Some features from the other enhanced ports based on the Dual Shock Ver. do not appear in the Nintendo 64 version, such as the "Extreme Battle" minigame.[68]

I didn't find any mention of the PS1 version needing 2 discs though... are you sure about that? (even if it didn't it probably took up at least 5 times the space the N64 version did, so still an impressive port)

I have to say, that with how little space was available on N64, I am impressed... I never suspected it to be so little... and yes, I probably thought that it was 512 MB because a lot of people do not label the difference between byte and bit enough... (i prefer MB. vs Mb or MB vs. Mbit) but I am lazy myself and forget to label them accordingly myself...



Currently Streaming: Tales of Xillia & Best Doto - My DotA 2 stats

Stefl1504 on 10 July 2012

FF IX has 1526 MB on the PS3, I think it had about the same on PS1



Currently Streaming: Tales of Xillia & Best Doto - My DotA 2 stats

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masschamber on 10 July 2012
Gilgamesh said:
masschamber said:
no nes games were ever 4KiB, the smallest, Galaxian, was 8 KiB
2600 2KiB to 32 KiB average was probably 8 KiB maybe 4 KiB
5200 8 KiB to 48 KiB (bounty bob strikes back is the 48 KiB game) average game was probably 16 KiB
colecovision 8Kib to 32 KiB again average was probably 16 KiB
Atari 7800 32KiB to 144 KiB (only Alien Brigade and Crossbow (I think) were 144KiB)
(I use mode for averages in this case, think it is the best measure of central tendency)
Neo Geo 2.75 MiB to 89.5 MiB, not sure about the average size.

According to Wikipedia:

The size of NES games varies from 4 KiB (Space Invaders) to 1 MiB (Metal Slader Glory), but 128 to 384 KiB was the most common.

no source probably just assuming off the 4KiB atari image, every space invaders image I've seen is 24KiB,



I HAVE A DOUBLE DRAGON CAB IN MY KITCHEN!!!!!!

NOW A PUNISHER CAB!!!!!!!!!!!!!

foxtail on 10 July 2012
Gilgamesh said:

Sixth Generation

DreamCast: ? - 3GB, Average: 500MB

GameCube: ? - 1.2GB, Avergae: 750MB

PS2: 700MB - 8 GB, Average: 2GB?

Average for gen: 1GB

The Dreamcast's GD-ROM format was 1.2 GB in max capacity, but there were also many multi disc games (ie Shenmue, Code Veronica, etc).

The Gamecube's Mini Optical Disc was 1.5 GB in max capacity, but there were also many multi disc games (ie Twin Snakes, REmake, Tales, etc).



Chris Hu on 10 July 2012

You forgot to include the original X-Box in 6th generation which had almost the same stats as the PS2 but unlike the PS2 all its games came on DVD's while some of the early PS2 games still used CD-Roms. Also for the fifth generation you forgot the Sega Saturn which also used CD-Roms but has a smaller average game size since it almost had no multiple disc games.