It’s 2023 – having a 160 gigabyte download for a game you have an install disc for (that you just spent 45 minute installing,) is not unheard of. Update downloads of 20+ gigabytes are also fairly standard. All of that and storage space is fairly limited (500-825 gigs depending on platform). You’re also not allowed to play a large number of these games without an update.
One solution is to kill off some of the games you’re not playing… which is horrible. Another is for these companies to get their act together and actually get it right when they release the game… not going to happen. Another suggestion is playing via streaming so that all the updates are server side… not happening for many.
What I’m proposing is in these linier progression games maybe only download the chapters and gameplay as you near that point in the game. Have the game itself responsible for downloading content rather than the system update service. Save petabytes of unused update data by only downloading the current update and media.
In the past I would probably have been against this, but with every game out there now requiring a constant internet connection and updates 4,000 times the size of my first hard drive, I think it’s time.
Rather than the push for larger expandable hard drives, just a push for smarter data and media management. Player isn’t near the end? No need to have that data on deck.
The one problem I can see here is if the game doesn’t require an internet connecting managing to get near the end and not being able to complete it without a download, or nearing the end and realizing you need to clear up some space to get that final mission, although maybe we could just remove some of the game we’ve already played and are not going back for.
Or you know, we could just keep pushing storage upgrades.
