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The physical edition of Modern Warfare 2 only has 72 MB on disc

supernova8

Banned
What? The game is too big to fit on the disc, simple really.

People need to chill with constantly trying to pin some kind of “angle” on things, I have no idea what this particular angle would even be! 😅

Not everyone has a super fast internet connection and 130gb can take fucking ages to download. Part of the benefit (or really the whole point) of going out and buying the game physical is that you can (usually) play the game straight out of the box (maybe like a 1GB day one patch, which I call stealth DRM but whatever).

I cannot find a double-sided scan of the game case but it seems to only say "requires content download" on the front which is intentionally vague. Consumers should see clearly (without having to search) that this is not really a physical copy and that you will have download the entire game (before going to the store).

It's just a dick move because Activision knows that once gamers get to the store, they will just buy it anyway because they're already there (sunk cost of going to the store).
 
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NinjaBoiX

Member
They could put it on 3 discs (50GB per dual-layer disc, like they used to).

I think what's annoying is that we hear "oh yeah digital will just be another option, you can still get physical, everyone likes options, right?" but in the end it will all be a lie, evidenced by this case where the physical version isn't really physical.
Meh, games are a digital medium now.

I’ve acquiesced.

🤷🏼‍♂️
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
What? The game is too big to fit on the disc, simple really.

People need to chill with constantly trying to pin some kind of “angle” on things, I have no idea what this particular angle would even be! 😅
A year back I think the latest Crash game couldnt be played until gamers downloaded the rest of the content not on the disc. And that game wasnt maxing out a BR disc.
 

BadBurger

Is 'That Pure Potato'
What? The game is too big to fit on the disc, simple really.

People need to chill with constantly trying to pin some kind of “angle” on things, I have no idea what this particular angle would even be! 😅

brace yourself.... but, there's a concept known as "multiple discs". Meaning that if one disc cannot contain the required amount of data, a manufacturer could extend the data over a number of discs.

Wild right
 

Drew1440

Member
I get the games code will change with updates, but why not include the assets like the textures, music and voice on the disk? That's unlikely to change via updates and saves having to download an extra 50GB.

Oh Jesus, please dont give the Twitter mob anymore ammo.
Vice's next headline, the gaming digital future is a product of white supremacy, and the patriarchy.
 

NinjaBoiX

Member
brace yourself.... but, there's a concept known as "multiple discs". Meaning that if one disc cannot contain the required amount of data, a manufacturer could extend the data over a number of discs.

Wild right
So…print and ship two discs, in a special box with an extra spindle, even though there’s already a download there that most people are already going to use? They obviously aren’t going to do that.

Just move on man, the boxed dream is over.
You guys need to invest in some calendars man. It's 2022.
lol, exactly.
 

supernova8

Banned
brace yourself.... but, there's a concept known as "multiple discs". Meaning that if one disc cannot contain the required amount of data, a manufacturer could extend the data over a number of discs.

Wild right
Basically the disc is just an authentication key now. Not the end of the world (for long-term ownership, used purchasing etc.) as long as the download files are on the servers forever but we all know they won't be.
 

BadBurger

Is 'That Pure Potato'
Basically the disc is just an authentication key now. Not the end of the world (for long-term ownership, used purchasing etc.) as long as the download files are on the servers forever but we all know they won't be.

Yes, I agree, the disc appears to contain nothing more than a license for some games. I'm just saying that I don't think that people still buying physical discs should have to then download their games anyways. The whole scenario is so anti consumer it's kind of shocking.
 

RyanEvans21

Member
Purpose of discs in 2022:

1. Collecting
2. People with slow/no internet can install from the disc
3. Play and resell

That second group is really getting the short end of the stick.

And it's get cheaper or lot of discount compare to digital game. plus Black Friday is coming so many games getting discount New/Old.
 

nikos

Member
This may have been a problem in 1997. It's a multiplayer game, nobody with horrible internet should be playing it.

Disc installs take forever anyway. I made the mistake of buying discs when the PS5 launched and couldn't believe how long it took to install a game. Horrible experience coming from PC with good internet. Never again.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
And it's get cheaper or lot of discount compare to digital game. plus Black Friday is coming so many games getting discount New/Old.
Digital games get cheaper too. And when it's on deal, you can always buy it. Disc discounts are fine too, but the store has to have it in stock.

Also, most console games are frontloaded with day one or month one sales. Most of these games are sold at full price.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
This is how it started on PC, and within a couple of years physical was dead.
And remember way back?

"Console games dont need patches as they are more polished than PC games"
"Console games dont have giant bloated files"

That was due to consoles historically never having HDD (or it was modest in size with 360 and PS3) and the systems read the games straight off the disc.

The second consoles got good sized storage across all models (Xbox One and PS4 started at 500gb standard, then models came with 1TB), the endless giant patches and huge installed files came about.

The best one was Dead Rising 3 with I think a 13 gb patch. How the hell a patch could be bigger than two entire Xbox 360 games on DVD who knows.
 
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Rykan

Member
brace yourself.... but, there's a concept known as "multiple discs". Meaning that if one disc cannot contain the required amount of data, a manufacturer could extend the data over a number of discs.

Wild right
Publishers have to pay licensing fees per disk. This is probably why they opted for a download only approach instead.

The other benefit is that it guarantees players have the latest version.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Guy, guys, think of the millisecond this must save per printed disc.

I know you're joking, but I don't think it makes any difference in production time how much data is on the disc. Retail discs aren't "burned" sequentially like you would at home, they are pressed, so all the data is created at once.
 

Drizzlehell

Banned
Roses are red, Santa has elves

All I have to say is…
Melissa Gorga Housewives GIF by Slice
182053.gif
 

anthony2690

Banned
I really hope retail copies of games don't disappear as I like having them on the shelf, I enjoy collecting and owning the games I love.

Anyway in other news semi related to this, EA won't be releasing boxed games in German territories anymore.
 
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Xeaker

Member
Even if you buy the game on disc, the entire game must be downloaded lol. The game is currently 130 GB on PS5 with everything installed. 72 MB is about 0.05% of 130 GB. So the other 99.5% is a download. Even tho a PS5 disc can hold 100 GB. The era of physical games is coming to a close.

giphy.gif


First 20 GB Day 1 Patches and now this? "Modern Gaming" LOL
 

jigglet

Banned
Yeah imagine if you buy the physical game used a few years from now but they've already wiped the install files from their server. You're basically fucked.

How is that any different from being sold a game cartridge in the shape of a cactus but you were too stupid to notice it wasn't even a cactus but a bag of dutch potatoes?
 

Esppiral

Member
Ok bought vanguard just wanting to play the campaign (fuck online) and to my surprise I had to download a "free DLC" to play it, and even then the high resolution textures are streamed from the cloud while you play leading to some areas looking like a N64 game until they are loaded never again NEVER
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
I mean, breaking this down further…

Digital = $70, less frequent discounts and you get nothing at all.

Physical = $70, reserve from GameStop and help brick and mortar jobs survive, more frequent discounts (will be $65 at Walmart launch day), and you get a steelbook if you pre-order at GameStop for free.

Physical still a better deal though. Make me pay $70 and I will take all its worth.
Digital = you don’t have to go in to Game/GameStop and deal with some belligerent rep trying trying to upswell you. Plus, I don’t care if Game survive. Supermarkets do games much cheaper and Game engage in anti consumer practices like selling used games as new (for real) and forcing bundles for LE consoles. Fuck them.
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
Doesn't Activision have to pay Sony for massive bandwidth hog that is 130GB of pushed data per each copy sold? I cannot imagine this is not charged by Sony.

Why even bothering printing a disc might as well just include a piece of paper with code for digital redemption.
People are stupid - codes will get lost, people won't know where to input them, etc.
 
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HoodWinked

Member
Activision is incredibly shrewd in maximizing profits. It's probably a deliberate thing to incentivize people to buy it digitally by making the disc appear pointless and worthless. Since digital copies can't be resold. And considering the campaign is so expensive to produce they'd especially want to be the benefactor for any copy sold.
 

nkarafo

Member
and we`d only have to either overcome the speed of light or have cloud computing centers in every neighbourhood for that.......

You think the general public cares about input lag? Only a bunch of gamer nerds like me and you do that. That would be what, 1% of the whole market?

People have accepted the continuous regression of input lag since the CRTs were abandoned. Nowadays, games have a lot more lag than 20 years ago. And yet, the gaming market has become even bigger.

Nobody gives a shit. Everyone just wants to see the sights or the next cut-scene to advance the story. That's what gaming becoming mainstream gets you.

Multiplayer twitch shooters? Sure. Maybe those will continue to exist as local files on local machines since they do require internet/servers to function regardless. But single player games will become cloud only because this way publishers will have full control over ownership. And nobody will give a shit about a few additional frames of input lag as long as playing games becomes more convenient. Do i like it? Of course not. But it benefits the publishers so it will become a thing and nothing, not even physics will stop it.
 
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Rockondevil

Member
They should've had at least some base assets on the disc for those in less fortunate countries when it comes to internet speeds.

Should be digital only then. There’s no point to a physical disc with nothing on it.

Yeah. I can't see any reason why trading in games or giving them away could be useful.
 
why did they create the Series X and standard PS5 then?

this is also not just an issue with disc based games, day 1 versions also often suck ass, and with strickt restrictions on patches and day 1 downloads/discs this would change, and if developers wouldn't adapt then they would get blasted by refunds and shitstorms online, which is what they deserve
I myself hate to say this. But the digital future is inevitable. Even when you have disc based games you can't play them unless you download the patches. When you reset the console after the patch server is gone then your game is gone too.
 
I own Vanguard, and will probably get MW2.

If I keep Caldera after Warzone 2 comes out, all that content, which is the two games and two versions of Warzone, is going to need an absurd amount of storage.

250gb, maybe?
 
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Haggard

Banned
You think the general public cares about input lag? Only a bunch of gamer nerds like me and you do that. That would be what, 1% of the whole market?

People have accepted the continuous regression of input lag since the CRTs were abandoned. Nowadays, games have a lot more lag than 20 years ago. And yet, the gaming market has become even bigger.

Nobody gives a shit. Everyone just wants to see the sights or the next cut-scene to advance the story. That's what gaming becoming mainstream gets you.

Multiplayer twitch shooters? Sure. Maybe those will continue to exist as local files on local machines since they do require internet/servers to function regardless. But single player games will become cloud only because this way publishers will have full control over ownership. And nobody will give a shit about a few additional frames of input lag as long as playing games becomes more convenient. Do i like it? Of course not. But it benefits the publishers so it will become a thing and nothing, not even physics will stop it.

Most of the biggest games in the world are esport titles and the race for the lowest possible latency and input lag has been in full swing there, ever since that market came into existence. Tell a LoL, Overwatch, CoD, CSGO player to go live with cloud latencies........You wanna call that market "1% gamer nerds"? Don´t be ridiculous....
Cloud will surely become a solid option for certain playertypes, but it is not a valid solution for the 99% and probably never will be.
 
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Nitty_Grimes

Made a crappy phPBB forum once ... once.
I want to see someone unplug their ethernet or disable their wifi and press start then see what happens.
 

nkarafo

Member
Most of the biggest games in the world are esport titles and the race for the lowest possible latency and input lag has been in full swing there, ever since that market came into existence. Tell a LoL, Overwatch, CoD, CSGO player to go live with cloud latencies........You wanna call that market "1% gamer nerds"? Don´t be ridiculous....
These are all multiplayer titles. It makes no difference for the publishers to offer them as local files or cloud. They can't be pirated, resold, etc. They can't be played offline. Publishers have control over them regardless.

I'm talking about the rest of gaming, which is single player games mostly.
 
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