@Spoony_Tech
The difference is that with the N64 there was an actual technical limitation there. The biggest game on the N64, late in the console's life, was still about 1/10th of the size of a CD. Following Moore's law that 64MB cartridge would be like selling a 128GB card on the Switch. Blu-Rays are only 50GB, 25GB for single layer. In 2017 8GB should be approximately cost-equivalent to the premium you would have paid for the smallest N64 games. In other words, not much of a premium at all.
Could Nintendo be holding those higher capacity cartridges at ransom? Possibly. But I don't see how it would be in their interests to do so. If something along those lines is happening it would be more of a supply issue. The Switch comes to market and all of a sudden they're expected to mass produce 8GB+ ROM chips when they've spent the last five years producing ones for the 3DS at closer to 2GB. That's possible. I'm not entirely convinced that that's the case either though.....
Well all of this is REALLY strange, especially on a number basis like @BLP_Software is saying. What is going on here? Unless Nintendo or developers don't say anything about it, i think we have to wait for launch, even if it is not that far
As a bit of an idea for how much this shouldn't matter anymore. And why I'm fairly confident that we're being taken for a bit of a ride here. This is what the gap has been between the biggest cartridges and what Sony had in their home console at the time......
1994: Biggest SNES game 45x smaller than CD
1999: Biggest N64 game 11x smaller than CD
2000: Biggest N64 game 130x smaller than DVD
2008 Biggest DS game 100x smaller than BluRay
2013: Biggest 3DS game 6x smaller than BluRay
2017: Biggest Switch game 1.5x smaller than BluRay
2017: Biggest Switch game 3x smaller than BluRay XL (which the PS4 doesn't support)
The highest capacity Switch Game Card is 32GB - so, if a game is under 32GB in size, you should be getting the full game (minus DLC) on the cart if you buy the physical release. This is poor.
If the reason is because Nintendo are charging an unreasonably high price for 32GB Game Cards - then this is poor by Nintendo.
If the reason is because smaller carts are cheaper, so putting the game on a smaller cart and asking the consumer to download the rest would lead to an increased profit margin - then this is poor by the third-party (WB Games).
If the reason is to improve load times in the game, then they should have taken the cart out of the equation all together and made it a digital only release.
Maybe I'm old fashioned - but if I buy an album from a record shop...I don't expect to be told that the CD is unplayable until I download the other two thirds of the album from iTunes!
This is one game you're talking about, and the facts aren't clear yet. Until this becomes a definite issue with the Switch in general, rather than just Lego City speculation, do you think you could take this chat to the Lego City thread?
If the reason is to improve load times in the game, then they should have taken the cart out of the equation all together and made it a digital only release.
There have been some tests that suggest Switch cartridges are probably slower than flash both internal and external. Not by a large margin but there is definitely a gap there. But even then it's still going to be easily 2x as fast as the maximum speeds of the PS4/XBOne optical drive. And without the need to spin-up.
Installing games on the PS4/XBOne/Wii U? That's how you get load times to approach what the Switch can do by default. Installing games on the Switch? At best you'll get marginal improvements and only if you install to the internal flash. There's no reason to do it unless the issue is cartridge capacity rather than load times.
If the reason is to improve load times in the game, then they should have taken the cart out of the equation all together and made it a digital only release.
Bingo. This should actually be the case for any reason whatsoever. If you're going to offer 33% of a game, just don't. Make it download only. People either want the authenticity of their game being on a cartridge or don't want to buy MicroSD cards, and if you can't get around a 13GB download, don't bother! It defeats the purpose of both.
It's better than confusing retail consumers who don't read the fine print as to why they can't "download" games anymore, when they just got done purchasing them all on cartridges.
I think an important thing to see will be how PS4/XB1 physical handles LCU. There is of course a difference between installing to a hard drive when the full game is on the disc and installing to a hard drive when only some of the game is on the disc.
If the whole game is on the PS4 and XB1 discs then this is clearly a cartridge only issue and if that's the case then Nintendo should be eating the cost that it requires for these 3rd parties to get the whole game on the cartridge if the 3rd parties won't do it themselves.
@Whitewatermoose I'm pretty sure we've had a Direct in the past on April 1st,either that or one was announced as coming on that date.
Just had a look there,2013 and 2015 had an April 1st Direct.April seems to be a pretty safe bet for a Direct actually,there has been one then every year since it started except for last year.2013 and 2014 each had 3,while 2015 had 2,although some of these have been focused on the one game.
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If the whole game is on the PS4 and XB1 discs then this is clearly a cartridge only issue and if that's the case then Nintendo should be eating the cost that it requires for these 3rd parties to get the whole game on the cartridge if the 3rd parties won't do it themselves.
Seems unlikely given it's an 8.2GB game according to the eShop. Looking at a list of switch game download sizes thus far this is what card sizes games should be using.... with corresponding Aussie RRP...
1GB card:
Puyo Puyo Tetris ($59AU)
2GB card:
1-2 Switch ($69AU)
Super Bomberman R ($89AU)
8GB card:
Lego City Undercover ($79AU)
Mario Kart 8 ($79AU)
Disgaea 5 ($89AU)
16GB card:
Zelda: Breath of the Wild ($79AU)
Just Dance 2017 ($89AU)
Now my question is, if the issue is the cost of larger cartridges why wasn't it Just Dance and BotW? Why is it supposedly Lego City Undercover? And if it's an issue of cost then why don't the game prices line up with the card sizes? None of this seems to add up. So I'm putting my money on either internet hoax or mix up in printing amplified by people's assumptions about cartridges and hunger for Switch news.
@Eric258@zitpig It's got some big shoes to fill. The 3DS is apparently so stable that it's used to prevent nuclear fission and keeps your drinks level on an airplane, all while holding a 9-5 job with benefits and housing a herd of horses. The Switch, which according to some can't even hold a charge or a bluetooth signal, has years before it catches up.
@Skywake, I wouldn't expect them to add up. I would expect video games to be priced based on market value first, and if the costs catch up too much, corners are cut, or projects are cancelled. Also, if LCU is a 20GB game like on other platforms, it's larger game than Breath, and apparently just barely can't fit in that 16GB cartridge. Sucks.
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