Team Sonic Racing Drops Opening Cutscene On Switch Due To "Cartridge Size Restrictions"

Sigh, I hope SEGA eventually realizes that Mr. Krabs level penny pinching only gets you frustrated facepalms and a lazy reputation.

@BlueRobin04 It's a cutscene. I agree it should be included, but one cutscene really does not ruin everything by mot being there.

Or they could bite the bullet and I don't know, compress the video to make it magically fit in that 8 GB window. Many other devs do that, not that I agree with it under most circumstances but they still had room to use so why not?

I understand not putting it on the cartridge, but it doesn’t make any sense to not put it out as a patch.

Who cares. Would rather SEGA be profitable to keep releasing games than some stupid cutscene which id be trying to skip anyway

If they could compress those cutscenes on Lost World 3DS down to potato resolution, I’m sure they could have done something here

ah yes, a video file that is surely not even 1GB large couldn't fit on the cartridge

and there is no plans to add it back

what a shame we live in a universe where compression algorithms don't exist

@telepathy2000 sometimes I think Sega should be sold off... sometimes...

Does that two-minute cutscene really use up 1.4 GB? What about games that have more than one cutscene?

They made the right decision to fit the game on the cartridge. As @telepathy2000 says, i would have skipped it as well. They could have compressed it to a blurry mess but i would still perfer it out and all the game on the cart.

@Borngis, Of course, it doesn't ruin the entire game. It is a minor thing, and that is why SEGA is looking lazy here (at least in my opinion).

@ALinkttPresent I don't want to defend Sega, but I think flash memory takes a performance hit when filled to the brim. I think they like to leave a headroom on carts.

@BacklogBlues You are right that the news of the cutscene's absence was yesterday. This article is SEGA's response.

SEGA didn't maximize the potential from file compression. 🙄
Nintendo is the master of compression. 😏

They couldn't fit an under 2 minute video in 1.4 GBs of space?

I just downloaded this youtube video to my computer and it comes out at a whopping 68 megabytes.

I can agree with most opinions here however those complaining about the cutscene, were you actually going to buy the game? Has this changed things for you?

If the game is only 6.6GB, and the cart size is 8GB... surely they don't really need 1.4GB for a 2 minute long video. 200MB max.

"According to the Nintendo website, the file size for Team Sonic Racing is 6.6GB. Keeping the game under 8GB meant Sega didn't have to fork out the extra coin for a bigger game card. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense to leave the opening cutscene out and save on space."

No. It's Sega being cheap.

@TuxDC probably a no win situation. People would lose their minds over a blurry video as many already feel Switch is scrutinised for being the “inferior” console when it comes to graphics. Just another example, cmon SEGA you are making MY console look bad. Nintendo wouldn’t do that to us! You suck Sega!

@jswhitfield8 Yep, I watch an intro sequence once, maybe twice to show someone else. People just need a reason to complain about basically everything.

@telepathy2000

No, I downloaded the video at the maximum resolution (1080p). It doesn't look blurry. It looks fine and is 68 megabytes.

Cutscenes is the reason I completely dismissed the PlayStation 1 generation and beyond. I hated when games became movies, as an arcade gamer I completely dismissed it and never bought into Sony, gaming changed in my eyes and not for the better.

I’m more moderate in my views now but I still hate cutscenes and skip at the nearest opportunity (usually but not always the + or - button on my switch)

It's not a big deal, but even the DS Version of the first Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing has the same Intro Video that's used in the HD Versions.

I'm still enjoying Team Sonic Racing, but this feels somewhat weird and lazy to me.

This...is a dumb fake excuse. A video file can be compressed like crazy nowadays! Another example of how Team Sonic does not care

Because we all know that SEGA is a small indie company with highly limited resources!

Yet another 3rd party releasing an inferior product on the Switch when they don't have to. How long before they point to it not selling as well on the platform and using it as an excuse to not release more games on it?

I'll take it that they're not bothered about compressing the videos into smaller chunks. For me, it is fine but for others, there are players who loves watching cut scenes.
Above all, since they removed it, the game should be SLIGHTLY cheaper then, shouldn't it? Because they exclude the cut scenes.

So...why not compress it, or something?

Ah well

Look on the brighter side of things. Sega didn't make 75% of the game a mandatory download and managed to fit it all on the cart, minus the opening that would be most likely skipped every time anyway. I'm very happy it's a complete game, this doesn't bother me personally.

I have the digital version on Switch but can't remember if that opening cutscene is present.
If not, then what would be the excuse then. lol

@GeeEmm Why would the retail version be any different from the digital version? Buying the digital version on Switch of Wolfenstein II doesn’t magically make the textures higher res. than the retail release.

Why not patch it in after the fact? Developers have day one patches that have been much larger in size (Doom & Wolfenstein). Its really not a big issue for me but I bought the game for my 5 & 8 yr old kids and they would have loved it and watched it multiple times.

Eh, not that big of a deal really. I'm sure someone will write the usual hyperbole and pretend the Switch version is unplayable because of this, but yeah, it's an opening cutscene.

So I guess you could say that the opening scene was cut to cut down costs?

Don't be surprise if not many buy your game Sega. If Mortal freaking Kombat 11 (which is the best selling game on all platforms in April) was able to include a whole story mode worth of movie cutscenes there's no reason you aren't able to include just one in Team Sonic Racing for Switch.

@retro_player_22 And MK 11 costs $20 more and comes on the same size cartridge (8 GB) with MK11 having a more than 13 GB day 1 update, TSR (other than a minor day one patch) is entirely on cartridge.
EDIT: I should also mention that character lessons, alternative announcers, and the ability to connect to the mobile game were all missing in the Switch version day 1.

A 1 minute, 50 second video... could not fit in 1.4 GB.

Hell, even if we're being generous with SEGA and the 8GB card only really fits 7.4 GB, We're still talking about 800 MB of free space.

But wait, we can be even MORE generous! What if Nintendo is forcing all current Switch games to have some space reserved for system updates over the card or some other stuff? Honestly, I wouldn't see them hogging more than 200 MB for that. That still leaves SEGA with 600 MB.

less than 2 minutes of 1080p video can cetainly fit within 600 MB. And considering that TSR is probably not 1080p, they could shrink it down further to match the game resolution, making the video file smaller.

In short, no excuse from SEGA here. The only viable explanation would be that they ran out of time and could not put the video in on time, or had to choose between working the video in or doing some bug testing or polish or something like that.

@retro_player_22 why would people not buy the Switch version because of 1 opening cutscene that you can just watch on Youtube?

This is surely a poor excuse. There must be another reason that the video was not included. It could be a silly one too.
It's also funny to read author's words "Therefore, it makes a lot of sense to leave the opening cutscene out and save on space". With so much space left it really does not make any sense. I suspect that videos + megabytes are unknown fields for the author.

@Borngis One cutscene can fit on the space that is left on the cartridge. Seems suspicious to me.

The cutscene is 1.4+ GB??

I_don't_believe_you.gif

@HammerKirby Firstly I am not one of those people, ‘however’ I can understand it - because it’s almost a running joke that things are being left out of the Switch versions based on ‘cost’ alone (Which is what this issue is according to Sega themselves). So by leaving out parts of the game, even if minor, it’s annoying people.

It’s a ‘principal of the thing’ type reason... if we let them get away with it, they just keep doing it and it escalates (think of day one patches / unfinished games because they can get away with dlc later).. and the only way people can vote, is with their wallets.

@westman98 See my comment above which agrees with you, however, it won’t be 8GB of useable space... but still it surely would have fit.

What about those of us that buy digital? Why must we be punished because of cartridge size?

@FTL Exactly.

I never play games for the story but there’s admittedly a feeling of FOMO here. I’m more disappointed that this game wasn’t the continuation of Transformed that I was hoping for (please, keep up the video reviews, by the way).

The opening video not being there is all fine and dandy BUT NOT BEING ABLE TO PARTY WITH FRIENDS IN MATCHMAKING IS NOT.
Two of the four platforms can't queue with friends at all! What the actual heck* is wrong with them thinking thats ok??

I honestly think it's a stupid and greedy move to save them what about ten cents?

@telepathy2000 if I bought the game,which is a huge if,I’d never see the cutscene anyway

@BacklogBlues lol yeah they would look like fools to the 6 people that care about a Sonic the Hedgehog kart racing game in 2019 having a cut scene

@NinChocolate I love your avatar

You guys also know how a hard drive works? When 1TB HDD says, it has 1 Tb, you're getting maybe 850GB to use. There is always room, which is not usable!

But still, it's a total d**k move. How can they not put it on? I'm glad, I bought the Xbox One version. It's not just a great intro movie, it features a new Crush 40 song, which is heaven to Sonic Fans. Omg!!! I also think they could at least have compressed the file.

This is bad. If Nintendo does it in their games it’s ok. Nintendo the masters of compression.
If sega does the same and sells the game for half the price. Sega is lazy and should of used 16gb carts.

Most of the people complaining have not bought the game

@rxchrisg I think there are (gladly) a way more than 6 Sonic Fans in this world. Why are you even in this chat, if you don't care!

Funny thing is, an approximately 100 minute movie on iTunes is around 4,5 GB. But Sega can't put a 2 minute intro movie on (give or take) 1 GB. Seems very odd.😒

(I still don't care, but I'm fed up with all those lame excuses.)

@telepathy2000 I do know what you mean but an intr video is hardly a metal gear theatre production.

Pac-man had some pretty nice cut scenes.

Why is the Switch physical copy £5 more than the PS4 or Xbox. I thought that was to cover the cost of the card, or are Switch owners just an easy target.

This is why digital is better. In this day and age we shouldn’t have to be worried about media limitations. When the software starts to suffer because of media limitations, it’s time to move on from it and look to the future- which is digital! I’m going to blame this on the physical community. Y’all need to adapt, I’m not ok with being shorted because of your OCD ways of wanting boxes and cartridges for a mostly portable system.

@Galarian_Lassie The thing is we shouldn't had to tell Sega about it, MK11 came with all the same contents on all platforms day one, whether they are on the cart/disc or not doesn't matter. When I boot up Team Sonic Racing, if it's the same game like the other versions that Sega claim it to be then it should had all the same contents (regardless of quality or performance) as the other versions. The only reason to not include said content is if the content is exclusive to those platforms for example the two extra levels in Crash N.Sane Trilogy on Switch which were added later on for being release late after the PS4 version or the two bosses like Shao Kahn and Goro being added to the GameCube version of MK Deception for the lacking online and also being release late but to completely take out something that could hype the game is just wrong.

This gen it seems Sega always tend to screw things up and those were minor things too something that could had easily being fix but it kept happening. There's the Denuvo DRM situation with the PC version of Sonic Mania (not sure if they fix that or not), the Super Sonic DLC on Sonic Forces which was going to cost money to download which they fix, then there's the refusal to release the Switch port of the Sega Genesis Classic Collection on the same month as the other two platforms but then when they do release it purposely took out 2 games on there, then they completely ruin Sonic's look in the upcoming Sonic film (which they plan to fix though this is more the fault of the director and not Sega), and finally this bs with Team Sonic Racing happen.

Sega really needs to watch what they're offering and make sure not to piss the fans cause every one of those negatives could add up very quickly and eventually turn into a big problem in the end. I'm not saying they should worry yet but keep on doing it and it will happen. I'm still keeping my finger cross about the Sega Genesis Mini, hoping they don't screw that one up too as I gave them a pass for including the 3 button controllers.

One missing cutscene is hardly something to get worked up about. It doesn’t take away from the overall gameplay experience. I watched the cutscene on YouTube pre-launch anyway, but whatever.

Off topic, I know there are currently no plans for DLC, but since Mighty and Ray were brought back, I’ve been hoping to see Fang, Bean, and Bark make some kind of comeback as well. This could’ve been a good opportunity for them. They would make sense as a team. Fang could be a speed type, Bean can be technique, Bark is a power type.
Plus, Fang is no stranger to cart racing. Anyone else play Sonic Drift?

Not mad. I could care less because the game is beautiful and runs great. Look at Grip. It is honestly kind of ugly on switch compared to other versions. I dont have that problem with this game and I wish more developers used switches potential more. I have over 150+ games and this game is one of the best looking ones.

I don’t give a flying crap about this cutscene. I’m the type of person who skips like 90% of the cutscenes I encounter. But come on, this is just weak. As a (web, not game) developer, I would be embarrassed to tell people that I couldn’t figure out how to fit a two-minute video into a >1GB slot.

Honestly I really dislike when such trivial, yet cool things are removed from a game. It sparks two, radical viewpoints. You have people on one side saying its no big deal and just accept it. Which isn't cool because a simple video file shouldn't be that hard to patch into a game. And the other side are demonizing them and saying they're lazy and the worst company ever etc. Personally I don't agree with this. But the fact that the Switch version is 30fps AND lacks the opening cutscene is a major turnoff. Especially when they claimed the game's experience would be "the same on all platforms."

Not to mention games like Mortal Kombat 11, which is much more demanding runs at 60fps on Switch. Paladins, which is a 5v5 hero shooter runs at 60fps on Switch. And Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, despite being slightly older as a Wii U port, it's actually almost the same size as TSR, weighing in at 6.8GB while TSR is 7.0 GB. And yet MK8D runs at a consistent 60fps. So it really does confuse me. And if Crash Team Racing runs at 60fps on Switch, it will really make these developers look bad. Because if the game ran at a full 60fps like the other versions, no one would mind that the movie is missing, I guarantee it.

Overall, this just sucks as a situation. But I suppose it came down to the fact that they wanted to cheapen out on the cart sizes. Oh well. Hopefully other devs treat the Switch with more respect. (Spoiler alert: they have.)

I just hope by 2020 16 gb carts are more dev friendly

Not surprising, Nintendo's pretty much doing what they did in the N64 era but with digital technology now there's 4 options rather than the N64's 3 options:
1. 3rd party doesn't release the game on the Nintendo platform because of cartridge restrictions.

2. Nintendo platform has stuff missing compared with other versions so game fits on the cartridge.

3. Suffer the cost of using an expensive cartridge.

(Switch only) 4. Use digital means to release any stuff that would otherwise be missing from Nintendo platform whether that is the entire game or just parts of it.

In the N64 era, 1 and 2 were extremely common meanwhile nowadays in the Switch era the most common is 4.

@JR150 It's extremely likely that CTR will be 30fps on all platforms.

@rxchrisg haha thanks! Love the Yogi

@Grumblevolcano spot on

Bit lazy but its only an intro scene before the menu. Who watches them more than once

I would understand the lack of patch plans in general (if they could save the money and get away with it why not) but after people have questioned them they should patch it in to save face. The denial makes it worse because now it looks like they are punishing all Switch gamers. I have no hat in this race but it seems an odd stance to hold out on. Gamers can have long memories as consumers and this obviously means something to someone otherwise SEGA would have gotten away with it. Eat the cost for the goodwill SEGA. Don’t pick something small as your hill to die on.

While I understand the reason Sega used a less expensive cartridge; Nintendo should make the 16Gb less expensive for the 3rd party developers. As well and IF possible; 16Gb should be the minimum size cartridge kept in their inventory...or better yet make the 32Gb as standard and everybody will be happy.

That's a big game if they cannot squeeze the cut scene in there. I don't see why they don't use a higher capacity cartridge. Surely going to the next size up isn't cost prohibitive for a game they'll charge $60 for. I guess they've done the math though.

Bethesda got all of Skyrim on a cartridge, so I don’t wanna hear it.

@Brady1138

Hi there; I agree. With Skyrim, Bethesda allowed the download of your preferred language (english was standard in the cartridge). That is very smart; because having all languages would require a bigger size.

@electrolite77 People like nothing more than complaining about things they don't understand.

I think you need to read about bits and bytes. 1TB equals exactly 8Tb. However, 1TB is about 900 GiB. You mix b with B and decimal with binary. So the room/space to which you are referring is definitely usable.

@Nintendo4Sonic
“You guys also know how a hard drive works? When 1TB HDD says, it has 1 Tb, you're getting maybe 850GB to use. There is always room, which is not usable!”

@retro_player_22 “The thing is we shouldn't had to tell Sega about it, MK11 came with all the same contents on all platforms day one,“
Did you even read the edited part of my comment? The Switch version of MK11 was missing quite a few features on day 1. (Such as character lessons, alternative announcers, and the ability to connect to the mobile game)

@Tendogamerxxx
I think you got it wrong. I personnal prefer physical, but it's not because I want boxes or cartridges. It's because this gives me CONTROL over what I bought and own. With digital, you actually give up that control, and trust companies to honor your purchases forever, which they won't. At some point, you won't be able to re-download the games you paid for. It's ok if you buy only a few games and keep them on whatever storage the console has (and hope the HDD or SD memory doesn't fail), but with the space some games are taking nowadays, it's not uncommon to see people running out of space.

If you're the type of gamer that play a game for some time and then never replay it again, ever, then fine, digital may be ok for you, but for anyone considering that maybe they'll want to replay this game, let's say, in 10 years (hey, I still play PS1 games! And always have some old consoles around in the house) then the ONLY way to be sure they'll be able to play the game they bought is to buy it physical. If you take care of your physical games and consoles, they'll last forever. Or about.

With digital, your purchases last for as long as the platform holder decides.

To me, it's not about boxes or cartridges or discs. It's about me having control over my game library.

@Nintendo4Sonic The new song kind of sucks (if it’s the same one that plays in Garage and Time Attack). Gets very repetitive and is like a poor man’s Live and Learn.

@Realnoize There’s always emulators

Nintendo really needs to reduce the price on carts considerably.
I don't really care about a missing video, but developers with physical releases are being forced to overly compress causing longer load times and possibly lower performance , reduce texture sizes and all manner of things to fit their games onto the smallest card possible to save costs.

@Nintendo4Sonic yeah there’s more than 6 Sonic fans in the world. But the vast majority of them won’t know or care about cartridge memory sizes,or that a cutscene is missing.
These games are made for young kids and a dwindling group of older people like myself who remember the genesis.

Eh... it's only a cut scene and nothing to do with gameplay. Kinda funny though that Sega was so proud of themselves fitting the cut scene into Sonic 3D Blast on Genesis back in the day.

Cut scene's have been here since the mega cd. There is no excuse for it not to be on switch by a patch or something. But at least you can watch the cut scence on you tube on your switch lol.

@Antraxx777
I was talking about LEGAL ways of playing the games you bought.

@graysoncharles Really? Didn't know that.

@telepathy2000 Actually, yes. I was on the fence about whether to get the Switch or PS4 version, but the fact that Sega confirmed they won't patch in the cutscene has finally convinced me to go PS4 instead.

Who cares? i have bought the game 3 times, switch, xbox and pc. and on xbox and pc i always skip the intro as fast as possible. just annoying.

the game on switch is awesome! who cares about a stupid video? graphics are absolutely great on switch, best racing game graphics so far (besides the framerate, absolutely no difference between xbox one) - the visuals just looking awesome on switch and the game is hella fun!

cya online gotta race fast

I'm surprised how many people are upset by this, I would of just skipped it anyway, really isn't a huge deal imo

I'd much rather NOT have to download a patch just for a 30 second cutscene

@Nintendo4Sonic THIS
I'm not gonna lie, for some of us a good opening theme gets us pumped. Sonic Heroes? I wasn't sold on the concept but the opening got me excited. Hearing Crush 40 return for this is exciting... And the Switch version cuts it lol. Jun Senoue's involvement with the game in general is a major selling point, and its feeling as a "budget" release is a common criticism I'm seeing. So this move... Kinda feeds into that even more.

Is it a HUGE issue? Nah. But seems needles in a world where day 1 patches exist. Every other company brazenly patches, releases digital only, or puts out compilations half physical/half digital. This really feels like "we didnt have time to compress the file, so lets try to sell its absence like a feature." And look how many right in this thread are patting them on the back for it lol. Personally, I'm not a Switch-only gamer. Honestly, I could get it on PS4 and use Remote Play, or get it on Steam. I can play it on my GPD Win or use Steam Link or Shadow to stream it to my GPD XD or my phone. So portability isn't a problem... Why would I buy an inferior version? Especially when it feeds into a bigger issue here. This game is all about cooperative teams. And Switch is the least chat-friendly platform out there.

That said- if you're a Nintendo only household, this really isn't so big a deal that I would shun the game. I'm just saying for people with options, this move isn't doing them favors. This is generating negative press. A 500mb patch would not have. Which means, they aren't projecting this to be a big seller for them. If THEY lack faith in the product, it hurts a bit.

Ahh justifying cut content from the Nintendo version. Brings me back to the Wii U days

I guess application linking isnt a thing on Switch?! Sega could have easily uploaded the cut scenes to YouTube and pointed the game to those scene when needed.

@kmclaire couldnt you watch it on YouTube?

I can't imagine this small cutscene being the dealbreaker, size-wise! They could just have put it in.