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Soxfan

Member
Oct 27, 2017
42
Not really for me. I always try to keep a good amount of space on the hd free so when a new game comes out I can throw it in and not worry about it.
 

MisterDodo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
142
United States
Depends on the game and the amount of storage I have. If I'm feeling lazy and unwilling to get more storage space for my console, then having a big file size will worry me. Outside of that instance, no.
 

julia crawford

Took the red AND the blue pills
Member
Oct 27, 2017
35,135
Yes. I don't have a good internet connection and i don't want to have to spend three days with even worse internet to play a game.
 

Tagyhag

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,472
No, I'm lucky enough to have high speed internet and no data caps. I really feel for those have who don't have both.

Although if they start to get insane like 200gb it means that I'll have to look for a new SSD.
 

xillyriax

Game Test Analyst
Verified
Oct 27, 2017
773
California, USA
Nope, storage is cheap at the moment. For some PS4 games, you can even decide what to install first (the SP or MP portion) with the rest being a background download.
 

Kaeden

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,898
US
This reminds of how I bought a 4TB external for my XB1 and shortly after stopped playing it. Have like 3.2TB free.

On PC though, this is a concern. I have two SSDs and still find myself running low because I can't focus on one game at a time. I frequently shuffle games to a HDD that I don't play as much for newer games. Does it affect my desire to buy a new game, nah, I adapt.
 

ZugZug123

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,412
Not much, but I wish all companies did put some effort in compressing files and making the super-duper texture and sound files optional downloads. Shows at least some concern to people who might have download caps and such.
 

Absoludacrous

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
3,182
Not on console, but sometimes on PC where I tend to impulse buy more. 50-100gb install sizes can kill that impluse pretty quickly.

Though really I should probably just buy more storage.
 

Cleve

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,022
Not at all, storage isn't a problem for me on PC, or PS4 since I added an external drive
 
Oct 27, 2017
2,172
United States
Yes. It didnt used to. For the past few years, i have been going all pc (It just makes sense for backwards compatibility in my eyes. I buy games to play forever, not just a year or four) but, recently, i acquired a data cap and have been begrudgingly buying physical console games again if the file size is over 50 gb since most of the install is read off the disc (aside for some odd cases). I honestly kinda hate it but i do what i have to to play my games.
 

X1 Two

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
3,023
Now that it's common for games to be well over 50gb in size, it seems to me as though we've passed a critical threshold in the ratio between game sizes and common hard drive sizes. On numerous occasions now I've thought about downloading a game I either uninstalled previously, or have in my untouched Steam backlog. But then I look at the game's size, consider the amount of space I have left on my hard drive, and promptly change my mind about it.

I like to keep every game I have installed. When I run out of space I buy a new external HDD.

Then there's a secondary factor in all of this which is internet bandwidth. Particularly in the stunted American telecom market with their bandwidth caps, I imagine you might think twice about downloading a game that's 70gb big if you've started to reach the cap from all the other downloading and streaming you usually do throughout a month.

I think there is a big disconnect. Not wanting to install a 50 GB game that you play for 20 hours because you need your bandwidth to stream Netflix, which requires 6.5 GB per hour. Yet games take the blame every single time.

It seems as though after game sizes skyrocketed, developers and publishers don't really care about these issues. Do you think these problems exist on a big enough scale that it actually might make a dent in consumer habits? Enough for it to make developers consider optimizing their game sizes better?
In my personal cases, those were of course games I had already bought so they already got my money. But consider the current monetization climate we're moving into where publishers care more about player retention and getting hooked on their microtransaction services.

But that's the thing, games didn't skyrocket in size. It's always been like this. An 8x increase in hardware power (aka generational leap) allows for eight times as many polygons. A 3D model with eight times as many polygons needs more space - not eight times as much, but still much more space. A 4x increase in resolution requires assets that are built for that. These textures require 4x as much space. Going from 360 to One X is basically a 9x leap in resolution. Of course game sizes increase accordingly.

You can't optimize for size like you seem to believe. It's physically impossible. Games are not the problem, deal with your ISPs. It's only going to get worse, for next gen we will see an average AAA game size around 100 GB with many exceeding 150 GB.
 
Oct 25, 2017
183
Upstate NY
Install sizes haven't really affected my decision to buy any game. I do think about it more since I know I have to delete games off my consoles to make room for new ones, but since my saves don't go anywhere, it doesn't really bother me.
 

Monorojo

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,673
To answer the op, nope.

What decides my purchase is the quality of game. I dont ever have more than onr game installed at a time so i am indifferent to file size.
 

mnemonicj

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,641
Honduras
Luckily, I live in a country where I have a fiber optic connection at home so it does not affect me. If I was back in my home country, where a 2Mbps connection is around USD$30, then yes I would mind.
 

HellofaMouse

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,157
i alternate between 2 places, one with unlimited fiber, the other with terrible data caps.

i think twice about playing anything over 3-4 gbs on steam.
 

Ferrio

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,046
Nope, even though I have a small SSD drive that's the only place I install games through. The amount of games I concurrently play is never huge (is it for anyone?) and I can easily just download/install a game if I feel like I need to play it.
 

Aftermath

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,756
I got a 4tb WD external HDD fory PS4 for this very purpose, it is annoying for the time to download the games, but No i wouldn't not buy the games
 

Atolm

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,826
No, in the grand scheme of things they don't since I have a 350mbps connection with no cap.

But until I can afford a 1TB SSD, they sure give me a ton of headache trying to get enough space for them on my tiny 250GB one.
 

Reinhard

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,590
It mostly influences me on finally finishing games that have been sitting on my 2 SSDs. That way I have the disk space for new games! However, I would say it would be influential if a game is > 100 GB. I wont get any game that large because that is 1/10th of my data allocation per month via Comcast. Rather download 2-4 games instead. All the large sized games this month (~30-60 GB each) and I'm at 800 out of 1000 this month, good thing October is almost over.
 
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Sprat

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,684
England
Nope not a problem for me I've got a 2tb internal and it takes me about 1-2 hours to download any game and patches most days.

That and I get most games physically so I'm not too worried about reinstalling games.

There's the fact that I've only just filled the 2tb for the first time since installing it and I just deleted f2p games and feels and I've got a few hundred gb free again.

I guess I will need to plug in my 4tb external one I get vr.
 

Inuhanyou

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,214
New Jersey
This seems like craziness to me. Do you need every game installed?

of course not, but i only have the base 500GB launch ps4 i started with, and its already a pain switching out games. I try to avoid deleting games i've downloaded from PSN because its a pain to redownload them.

and before you ask, i don't have the money to actually get an external HDD right now, although i'd be fine with a 1TB if i could get one
 

Musou Tensei

Guest
Unless it would somehow be bigger than what my HDDs in an empty state would allow (which is of course ridiculous... well except for the Switch and Wii U) no, not in the slightest.
 

pixelation

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
3,548
It affects my decision making when i'm gonna purchase a game, i'd rather install a humongous game off a disk than download.
 

teflontactics

Member
Oct 25, 2017
314
Ontario, Canada
Sometimes.

If the game is crazy big or I don't have enough space I definitely think twice about an immediate purchase - though I never write them off for that. I simply use that information to plan ahead and then get the game later. With bandwidth caps being a thing here in Canada, and our ISPs fucking us left and right, plus the cost of internet in general being high, and money being low at the moment, I can't help it.

Would be nice not to have to worry about it, but unfortunately it's become a factor.
 

TheBeardedOne

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
22,189
Derry
The biggest problem I have, outside of awful downloads, is not knowing what will get DLC. Sometimes I keep games just because I think they'll maybe get future DLC, and I don't want to spend a day re-downloading them just to play it. File size is a burden, but I guess it's here to stay.
 

Seraphis Cain

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,453
If it's a larger game I'm more likely to buy it physical, since that way I won't have to worry about re-downloading the bulk of the game if I ever delete it then decide I want to play it again.
 

usagi704

Member
Oct 27, 2017
224
Install sizes do not affect my decisions, but they're are out of control compared to what the common HDD sizes are right now. I have upgraded my PS4 hard drive two times, the first being to 1TB on an original PS4 and then getting a PS4 Pro and soon after upgrading it to 2TB.
 

H.I.V.E.

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
281
Never did until I started to play more and more on laptops and now also with the Switch. If I have a big game installed I have yet to finish or want to stop playing I have often in recent year decided against buying a new game where it takes too much space.

I could work around it but I can't be bothered and I feel more like I am saving money than missing out on a great game.
 

Neo0mj

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,273
At least on 3DS, Vita, and Switch I prefer physical since I don't have much space on the external memory.
 

texhnolyze

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,153
Indonesia
This is why the best way to play games is by finishing them one by one before jumping to another one.

Install size is only a problem of the lack of self-control.
 

score01

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,699
If it's a game I'm unsure of - absolutely. There have been some great deals on Doom but the download size has put me off pulling the trigger, especially as I very rarely play online.

Some options to only download/install SP content would be welcome.
 

ranmafan

Member
Oct 27, 2017
313
The install size never effects my purchasing a game but it's getting really tough managing games on my PS4 to be able to play them do to the storage issues I'm having with the games I want to play. Really frustrating having to uninstall and reinstall games and redownload patches all the time. One day I'll upgrade my hard drive but that takes away money I could spend on games. So for now I just have to deal with it.
 

Vexxan

Member
Oct 28, 2017
115
Not really, I rarely return to games I've already played through so I have no problem uninstalling older games.
 

Robin

Restless Insomniac
Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,502
My internet is pretty good so it's never entered the equation before, I feel bad for people with data caps though.
 

Deleted member 15476

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,268
I currently have 4TB available space in my PC and a pretty decent internet connection, so it isn't a big problem. Nevertheless, i would like to have more options when downloading a game (mp component, languages, texture/sound quality, etc )
 
Oct 27, 2017
202
Budapest
Well, I have a general rule for gaming that makes any issues with the sizes of games non-existent: 'Don't enjoy more than one Single Player experience at a time'. This way one Single Player game plus three or four Multiplayer games can be easily installed on a 1TB hard drive. When I bought my PS4 Pro I immediately upgraded the HDD to a 2TB one and honestly I'm not even close to running out of disk space, I'm usually hanging around the 1TB mark.

Also I live in a smaller country in Eastern Europe and fortunately my internet is pretty fast and stable, so PSN / XBL download speeds generally don't screw me over.

One thing for certain, with the arrival of the Xbox One X and it's 4K assets I'm sure we're gonna see more and more games going over the 100GB size and that's when things will get interesting. I really hope they will release a One X model with 2TB storage down the line.