Video: Here's How Much Those Data Packs for Xenoblade Chronicles X Speed Things Up

Well, the loading is pretty long in general so it won't hurt me too much to not have the space in my Wii U at current for the data packs.

That's cool, already saw it, does it include a Boob Slider pack?....No?...Ok. T.T

Do the data packs cost anything?

Note: I didn't watch the video yet, so if that info was revealed there please don't crucify me. I don't mind loading times, I'm more concered about being a cheap idiot. So whether or not I get the data packs is hinged entirely on their price.

I can't wait to see how the online multiplayer is.

It does seem to help somewhat.
Where are the data packs found? Are they in Australia yet?

I would like to see a data packs versus full digital install.

I will be transferring some stuff to my external hard drive so that I can fit the data packs on my system.

I guess this is mostly pointless for me since I have my digital copy sitting on the Wii U waiting to be unlocked. I have been waiting for this game since I managed to get ahold of and finish the last Xenoblade. I cannot wait to explore and wander in this world.

Wow - I didn't think the packs would make that big of a difference. It's by no means unplayable just off of the disc, but that last area took around 15 seconds longer to finish loading. Thank you, Monolith.

so exactly how big are these data packs? and are there multiple packs? is there a set number of them, or just one, or will there be more?

@ouroborous I think there are like four or five packs, like 2 or 3 gb each one. I don't think there'll be more.

ok thanks, well good thing i finally set up an external hard drive for fatal frame anyway

My only complaint is that the data packs haven't been made available on a separate "installation" disc, rather than having to download several gigs of data manually (which is a pain if you're living in out in the sticks, or in a country with appalling internet, like Oztopia).

@mjharper

Yeah, when I heard they were making these packs available I figured it'd be unplayable off disc, but that's not too horrible. That said, I'll at least download a few of the packs just for the sake of convenience. It's neat they provide it but don't require it.

Keep in mind guys that the video didn't show it affects the world in terms of pop ins and stuff

They only showed fast travel and loading screens. The ones I care about are the packs that help enemies and npcs and stuff like that load up and spawn. Are they going to do another comparison video for that stuff?

They had better enhance the experience because they took up freakin 15GB of space! Had to delete a BUTT LOAD of crap to make em fit!

@ouroborous Field/Basic Data Pack (Large effect): 2GB, just basic data
Enemy Data Pack (mid): 2.7GB, loading improved on the field
Player Data Pack (mid): 3.6GB, loading times improved while changing equipment
Doll Data Pack (mid): 1.7GB, shortens time for Dolls deployement
The basic data pack can be combined with the others, but you need to have that one first.

Are these just for those who buy the disc?Or are they optional for those buying it digitally also?

@OorWullie : Both. Nintendo aren't manufacturing 50GB dual layer discs for Wii U games, so developers are forced to squeeze their games onto 25GB discs.

@OorWullie yes, for the disk owners. They're included in the 22.7GB download version.

@SH007ME @sillygostly Cheers.I'll be buying it digitally but not directly through the eshop,I've seen it cheaper elsewhere.That means I won't get the option to pre-load it though,if that's an option.22.7 GB would take about 24 hours with my wifi ,if it lets me choose to download just the main game first and play for a while then download the rest of the packs when I'm sleeping I'll be happy.

@OorWullie If you get it as digital, you don't have to worry about downloading anything else. The packs are included in the big download size.

Suppose I will finally need to hook up the 2TB external hard drive.

@OorWullie "when I'm sleeping"
you'll be sleeping? I don't think so, lol...

@Olmectron Thanks,so it will just be a single download only then? I've waited long enough,I'm sure I can wait another 24 hours for it to download haha.The only annoying thing is,I can't turn my Wii U on when I'm downloading,every time if it's over 500MB ,I need to have it on stand by or I get the data corrupted message during installation. The wifi here sometimes flickers off for a second or 2 so I think that's what causes the problem.

@SH007ME Haha probably not.When I do I'll likely wake up with the controller still in my hand.

@Samurairu Yeah that's what Id like to know. I have a really old - about 8 years - external HDD, so it's probably the slower speed model, and Wii U is using USB 2.0. Internal should be faster.

And, 3 years into it's life and Nintendo still doesn't give us the option on where to DL stuff.

I would really LOVE to be given a CHOICE where to DL stuff to. Tiny eShop games I want to play right away internally, big stuff to the external.

I'm considering unhooking my external to DL to the internal, but knowing Nitneod once I hook the external back up it will ask me to redownload it again or just ignore it.

So many questions and variations to consider.

@sillygostly @OorWullie
You don't need to download these data packs if you're buying digitally since it said in the direct it's all included in the digital version. These data packs are for those who are buying the physical disc.

Buying download anyway, but it's a hint to the future. Optical isn't gonna cut it.

@SanderEvers
Missing the point. You are forced to download to the internal and must have enough space there or you won't be able to download, even if you do have enough space on the external.

I knew that external HD would help out in the end. I probably wouldn't have even had room for the MK8 DLC without it.

@PigmaskFan My games download to external when my hard drive is plugged in. Is this game special?

I'm glad that it really makes a difference. Fast travel is handy and those packs really seem to cut the loading times. I have plenty of space and decent wifi so downloading for sure.

There's not enough space on my Wii u for them, so hopefully the game won't be too slow for me.

@zionich This is what I'd like to see

@sillygostly I'm pretty sure they could have dual-layer discs if they wanted. It's just that would be a lot of empty space if your data filled just a little above the single-layer maximum. Multi-layer discs are more expensive than single-layer, so it would add up in manufacturing costs.

I don't have any external memory so will have to cope without the data packs for now. Though the pack-less loading times seem quicker than Lego City Undercover, Watch_Dogs or Splinter Cell so I'm not that fussed; compared to those games, XCX will be a joy to play.

@Discostew there was an article up a while ago about how they wanted to use dual layer disks but were unable. There was a phase of development when they thought the game would release spread across 2 disks!! Can you imagine having to change disk mid game

I'm glad they have the option for this! Wish more games had this option....

@ULTRA-64 Thought for sure it was because they didn't want to use dual-layer, considering reading from a dual-layer disc is slower than from a single-layer disc, and that would have just caused even longer loading and delayed pop-up. Double-disc could have worked, but it would require that they duplicate everything except the main story elements to both discs.

Are these available in Europe? Only heard them mentioned in the American direct and I couldn't find them on eshop.

I am not sure why these data packs are such a big deal, considering PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners have to install much larger data bases for some of their newer games on the consoles' native hard disks. And although these consoles offer so much space in comparison, they sorta use it up so quickly!

One of the strengths of the Wii U, Nintendo's eight generation console, is that people can still play games directly from disc-reading rather than installing huge chunks of base data, and of course, as useful as those data packs are for Xenoblade Chronicles X, they are still completely optional!

@Samurairu It's really not that much faster http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xw9533_peformance-comparison-of-wii-u-media_videogames

10-15 secs shaved off on fast travel, not too shabby.

@sillygostly Even if you have crap internet, it's pretty much irrelevant when all the data packs are available for download so far ahead of release.

@HopeNForever except for wii u owners like me who spent about $100 on a 1 terabit hard drive and with about 800 gb still free I'm going to gladly speed up my game.
I love to have discs. But it's so nice having hundreds of games already installed on my wii u right now.

@Discostew Yeah I must be off the mark on this one. I tried to look up the original article and it says less than I thought it did.... https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/01/xenoblade_chronicles_x_is_so_sizeable_that_it_almost_needed_more_than_one_disc
Maybe I read something somewhere else but no mention of possible use of multiple layers in this article. Maybe it's in the chat feed or something

@erv Single-layered discs aren't going to cut it. They could've easily fit this on a dual-layered disc if they really wanted. And this isn't a frequent problem, only with games that are pushing the world size just because they can.

Do you guys think I'll be alright without the data packs? if it's just a change to loading times it won't fuss me too much.

I just downloaded the basic pack. The others didn't seem necessary.

@Splatburst Cheers for pointing that out. It makes sense for the digital version to have the data packs built-in.

Are they available now?

The start up doesn't look too different (it's still really long anyway) but everything else it looks to be worth the extra speed.

@SanderEvers Thanks. I know I can do that, I've done it several times in the past. BUT, emphasis on but, once you move it over to the internal, if you are playing on a save on the external it won't acknowledge what is on the internal, you have to download it again to the external. I've had this happen w/ both Hyrule Warriors DLC and an update on another game.

So that is kind of what I was asking. If I download it to the external drive and then move it to the internal will the game disc read it from the internal storage if I am playing the disc and my saves are on the eternal HDD? I won't be playing until Christmas so I'm hoping somebody runs a lot of different configuration tests between release and then. Internal, external HDD, external thumbdrive.

Startup seems slow no matter what you choose, but the loading of sections is clearly worth getting the packs. there's no doubt there would be loading times given the sheer size of the game, so that is to be expected. What I do want to say is that I've probably played one of the funnest games on Wii U with the most horrendous load times ever! But even without the packs, Xenoblade Chronicles X still loads faster than Lego City Undercover. I never let the load times hamper my fun with Lego City tho...

Do the objects on the horizon load in farther away with the data packs?

Want this ga~ame.

@invictus4000

BUY A HARD DRIVE.

About 5 seconds vs. 15 seconds for "fast" travel. Definitely worth downloading the packs.

@SH007ME AH! Now I get it. Thanks for claring that up. Upon reading the article, I didn't understand how these data packs are supposed to work/ what they're supposed to accomplish.
But why on earth would anyone get the disc version and then download these packs? Why not just buy the game digitally? That's the only way to go if you ask me. Loading 25GB from a super-slow disc(!) is totally crazy! The video is a good proof of that. The difference with/without the packs is really huge.

They say no skimpy outfit, but I still see a bikini outfit at 1:58? Or it is just Lynn that got censored? Damn I'm confused.

The article doesn't say but I'm assuming the data packs are on the internal ssd and not an external mechanical drive? I downloaded the packs and I assume the Wii u put them on my external. Should I move them to internal or is that going to make much difference?

@LaVelle Nope. Data packs are probably up so early in America to benefit US reviewers.

Speaking of which I pity European reviewers at this point because they don't have access to the packs. Will be interesting to see if the reviews themselves differ on loading time complaints due to this.

@shani I think its that it loads simultaneously from both your hard-drive and the disc rather than just one of them, so makes it run faster. (Correct me if I'm wrong, just a theory.) And also the fact that some people may not be able to fit the entire game on their Hard-drive, thus got the disc and some if not all of the data packs.

it's just one second. not worth to do it

Its a game with big loading-times, that's for sure! Some things loaded quite quicker with the packs, other things weren't much of a difference.