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Deleted member 5334

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Oct 25, 2017
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Ignoring games that obviously would've been on 32GB cards and force you to download a mandatory update, how many games have actually been released on actual 32GB game cards?

So far, as far as I am aware, the only one I've heard about is Dragon Quest Heroes I + II's port, which I've heard almost completely fills the card. But outside of that game, I haven't heard of any others. I know I heard some western developers discuss that the US branch hasn't made the cards available to them, so not sure what's going on there.

Either way, anyone heard of any other games using 32GB game cards? Japanese or not, curious.
 

Skittzo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
41,037
One that we know of so far.

We even had a rumor that at one point Nintendo stopped offering 32GB cards to some publishers.
 
Oct 27, 2017
20,745
One, probably since costs are so high. Devs already don't want to pay for the 16GB (reason for Switch tax) so I imagine 32GB is like $10 per copy. Makes Reggie's statement about RDR2 not on switch invalid because if it ran on switch the user would still need to DL 70GB+ even with a 32GB cart AND rockstar would be losing $10 vs a sale of the same game on PS4/Xbox

Anecdotal but I believe Apple pays 25 cents per GB in 2018 for flash memory, which I think differs but may have similar costs. Idk what Nintendo pays but it ain't cheap.

Going by the rough Apple rate of 25 cents per GB it would be 32GB=$8, 16GB =$4, 8GB =$2. All vs a Blu-ray Disc that costs less than $1
 

Django.Mango

Member
Jan 31, 2018
802
Its too expensive to distribute and a waste of plastics. Id only bring them limited editioned retailed.
 
Oct 27, 2017
42,700
Anecdotal but I believe Apple pays 25 cents per GB in 2018 for flash memory, which I think differs but may have similar costs. Idk what Nintendo pays but it ain't cheap.

Going by the rough Apple rate of 25 cents per GB it would be 32GB=$8, 16GB =$4, 8GB =$2. All vs a Blu-ray Disc that costs less than $1
I don't think you can do direct comparisons like that. For one, Nintendo's cards are read online memory so I assume they don't cost the same as those that allow read/write
 

justiceiro

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
6,664

Lyrick

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,818
One, probably since costs are so high. Devs already don't want to pay for the 16GB (reason for Switch tax) so I imagine 32GB is like $10 per copy. Makes Reggie's statement about RDR2 not on switch invalid because if it ran on switch the user would still need to DL 70GB+ even with a 32GB cart AND rockstar would be losing $10 vs a sale of the same game on PS4/Xbox

Anecdotal but I believe Apple pays 25 cents per GB in 2018 for flash memory, which I think differs but may have similar costs. Idk what Nintendo pays but it ain't cheap.

Going by the rough Apple rate of 25 cents per GB it would be 32GB=$8, 16GB =$4, 8GB =$2. All vs a Blu-ray Disc that costs less than $1

currently declining to $0.20/GB
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1333738 said:
Handy said that the goal would challenge the Taiwan company's business model that, to date, has focused more on high-mix, low-volume products. Success will also depend on the state of NAND ASPs, which have been declining from 27 cents/GByte to 20 cents/GB, noted Handy.
 
Oct 27, 2017
20,745
Da hell? So the developer that make the bigger games don't have access to bigger carts, this fits Nintendo so much...

Which statement?

He said they'd love to have it but that since the games development started before switch it wasn't possible. Which is a factor, sure but beyond the hardware requirements to make a port (they tested LA Noire last year so maybe it didn't do as well as they hoped or idk) they would need to find a solution to fitting a 100GB game on switch cart
 
Oct 27, 2017
20,745
I don't think you can do direct comparisons like that. For one, Nintendo's cards are read online memory so I assume they don't cost the same as those that allow read/write

Oh yeah for sure that's why I mentioned it not being the same and being anecdotal.

But seeing as devs are adding $10 to 16GB games, it does seem like 16GB costs close to $5ish per cart
 
Nov 2, 2017
6,790
Shibuya
Thanks for the info!

So if it's 20 cents then 32GB=$6.4, 16GB=$3.2, 8GB=$1.6

More or less.

So it's getting more affordable but 32 isn't quite at the price of a 16 cart yet. Maybe in 2020
Having seen the prices of Switch carts, those numbers are dramatically lower than reality. Switch carts still have a bespoke production process after materials are acquired so standard numbers for what the raw supplies cost Nintendo are really not very indicative of what the publisher pays (the proportions are kind of similar, though). The 32GB card cost is outrageous and it's not shocking to me that Square charged ÂĄ8800 for DQH 1+2.
 
Oct 27, 2017
20,745
Having seen the prices of Switch carts, those numbers are dramatically lower than reality. Switch carts still have a bespoke production process after materials are acquired so standard numbers for what the raw supplies cost Nintendo are really not very indicative of what the publisher pays (the proportions are kind of similar, though). The 32GB card cost is outrageous and it's not shocking to me that Square charged ÂĄ8800 for DQH 1+2.

Ah. I figured. Nintendo probably needs a profit on them too. Doesn't seem like 32 will become viable anytime soon for third parties then.
 
Nov 2, 2017
6,790
Shibuya
Ah. I figured. Nintendo probably needs a profit on them too. Doesn't seem like 32 will become viable anytime soon for third parties then.
It's honestly a real shame. I wish more games could use the 16GB and 32GB carts, but it's just... wild.

EDIT: It's honestly a really tricky situation for Nintendo as well. If they subsidize the carts too hard they'd end up cutting themselves out of making any real money from retail units, so I think the only viable solution is to persevere and keep working on ways to bring cart costs down. For the time being, publishers and consumers unfortunately just have to deal with being called cheap/having to download a certain amount of content. :(
 
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OP
OP

Deleted member 5334

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,815
Having seen the prices of Switch carts, those numbers are dramatically lower than reality. Switch carts still have a bespoke production process after materials are acquired so standard numbers for what the raw supplies cost Nintendo are really not very indicative of what the publisher pays (the proportions are kind of similar, though). The 32GB card cost is outrageous and it's not shocking to me that Square charged ÂĄ8800 for DQH 1+2.

Really interesting to hear that.

Question: There's been a couple developers that have chosen to go with 8GB versus 16GB, and those have a mandatory download. Is the cost difference between the two worth the amount they'd save by instead using a 8GB card size with a mandatory download? If you can't answer (either fully or not), that's okay. Just curious.

EDIT: Corrected a mistake.
 

Evergarden

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,408
This isn't how it works.

Nintendo charge a combined fee for the cart, the packaging and distribution on the Switch platform.

32GB carts are more than 3x the cost you posted above.

What, nearly $20 for a 32 GB cart ? No wonder why they don't use it. They definitely make something to reduce its price.
 
Nov 2, 2017
6,790
Shibuya
Really interesting to hear that.

Question: There's been a couple developers that have chosen to go with 8GB versus 16GB, and those have a mandatory download. Is the cost difference between the two worth the amount they'd save by instead using a 8GB card size with a mandatory download? If you can't answer (either fully or not), that's okay. Just curious.

EDIT: Corrected a mistake.
The costs of the 16GB and 32GB are where the numbers get scary, basically. I'd say it's unfortunately warranted. 4GB is already a bit more than 3DS and Vita 4GBs afaik. It's basically the exact same situation as Vita memory cards (minus the consumer-side costs on the Vita cards lol); it's real darn expensive to make proprietary flash memory, and until you're making it in huge quantities it doesn't really get cheap.
 

Evergarden

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,408
I did say more than 3x. So your assumption it's exactly 3x as much would be incorrect here.
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OP
OP

Deleted member 5334

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,815
The costs of the 16GB and 32GB are where the numbers get scary, basically. I'd say it's unfortunately warranted. 4GB is already a bit more than 3DS and Vita 4GBs afaik.

Gotcha, that makes sense then.

What's kinda interesting though is I know at one point, Sony had intended to make larger cartridge sizes available for the Vita, but I know that ultimately didn't end up happening. I assume due to sales overall and costs at the time, which speaking of which...

It's basically the exact same situation as Vita memory cards (minus the consumer-side costs on the Vita cards lol); it's real darn expensive to make proprietary flash memory, and until you're making it in huge quantities it doesn't really get cheap.

Yeah. I always assumed that was the reason why the costs were so much higher there. I realize it was meant to curve piracy (since I know this was a huge problem for the PSP in the west), but at the same time, really made a lot of people I''ve either talked with or seen responses for, hesitate to buy a Vita. Shame, as there was a lot of good games that came out for it, and it was clear Western third parties wanted to give it a chance.

Anyways, thank you so much for your responses.
 
Nov 2, 2017
6,790
Shibuya
Gotcha, that makes sense then.

What's kinda interesting though is I know at one point, Sony had intended to make larger cartridge sizes available for the Vita, but I know that ultimately didn't end up happening. I assume due to sales overall and costs at the time, which speaking of which...



Yeah. I always assumed that was the reason why the costs were so much higher there. I realize it was meant to curve piracy (since I know this was a huge problem for the PSP in the west), but at the same time, really made a lot of people I''ve either talked with or seen responses for, hesitate to buy a Vita. Shame, as there was a lot of good games that came out for it, and it was clear Western third parties wanted to give it a chance.

Anyways, thank you so much for your responses.
No prob, dude.

Also since I have nobody to talk to about this I will just complain into the ether that it's a shame the 32GB Vita cards did eventually hit ÂĄ6500 MSRP but it was years to late to undo the damage.
 

Instro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,996
This isn't how it works.

Nintendo charge a combined fee for the cart, the packaging and distribution on the Switch platform.

32GB carts are more than 3x the cost you posted above.

Oof. That's like N64 level cartridge costs. Explains some of the comments and rumors stating that this is an issue holding back 3rd party support.
 

justiceiro

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
6,664
Makes me wonder: who the hell where "disappointed" when Nintendo delayed the production of 64GB cart to next year? Like, dude, you are not even using the 32gb for being too expensive, how are you planning to pay for the 64gb ones?
 

Falcato

Member
Nov 2, 2017
239
Makes me wonder: who the hell where "disappointed" when Nintendo delayed the production of 64GB cart to next year? Like, dude, you are not even using the 32gb for being too expensive, how are you planning to pay for the 64gb ones?

It's because the price of the cards is tiered.
The introduction of the 64gb cards means the other cards' price goes down.

For example (numbers are invented by me):
Prices now:
  • 32gb = $20+
  • 16gb = $12
  • 8gb = $7
  • 4gb = $4
Prices when 64gb cards launch:
  • 64gb = $20+
  • 32gb = $12
  • 16gb = $7
  • 8gb = $4
  • 4gb = $2
Basically, it's the old joke "I can't wait for the iPhone 7 to come out so the 6 goes down in price so I can afford the 5".
 

justiceiro

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
6,664
It's because the price of the cards is tiered.
The introduction of the 64gb cards means the other cards' price goes down.

For example (numbers are invented by me):
Prices now:
  • 32gb = $20+
  • 16gb = $12
  • 8gb = $7
  • 4gb = $4
Prices when 64gb cards launch:
  • 64gb = $20+
  • 32gb = $12
  • 16gb = $7
  • 8gb = $4
  • 4gb = $2
Basically, it's the old joke "I can't wait for the iPhone 7 to come out so the 6 goes down in price so I can afford the 5".
Lets just hope nintendo don't delay the carts yet again.