If there is, it must be pretty high.
(with R&C's Quest for Booty weighing in at 3GB or something, Burnout being available as a full download at 3GB, etc.)
*spin-off* XBLA/PSN Games Size Limit Discussion
- Thread starter Arwin
- Start date
If there is, it must be pretty high.
(with R&C's Quest for Booty weighing in at 3GB or something, Burnout being available as a full download at 3GB, etc.)
DuckThor Evil
Legend
If there is, it must be pretty high.
Well the 350MB limit is for the Live arcade titles not Live altogether. Demos, expansion packs, or Xbox originals are much larger than 350MB.
I know that, obviously. But there isn't a category for '360 games that are not demos, expansion packs, xbox originals" other than Arcade, so every 'normal' game falls under the Arcade limit currently. What do you think is more likely to happen ... the Arcade limit to fall away altogether, or for Microsoft to introduce a new category next to Arcade?
DuckThor Evil
Legend
Can't say I have the answer for that. The 350MB limit is there for a reason. Arcade games are not meant to be full blown state of the art games, but on the other hand there could be lots of content that would exceed that 350MB. I'd probably go for a new category.
Microsoft has data that shows what percentage of users cancel a download due to file size, in other words, the user getting impatient and canceling a download. We had similar data when I worked at an online web game company ages ago. The file size limit gets chosen to fall into the range where the user will most likely wait for it to finish.
Mm... an interesting metric.
What I was originally alluding towards was that the XBLA limit might be tied with the current maximum memory unit offered while also taking into account the NXE requirement with respect to the HDD-less SKU. I think they'll increase the limit as they introduce larger flash cards.
But at the same time, they may approach devs with statistical data such as joker describes in the same vein that while devs could have retail games require an HDD, they would be reducing their potential pool of buyers.
i.e. XBLA title could be big, but face reduced sales due to users not wanting to wait.
Retail game could require HDD, but face reduced sales due to not all users having an HDD.
What I was originally alluding towards was that the XBLA limit might be tied with the current maximum memory unit offered while also taking into account the NXE requirement with respect to the HDD-less SKU. I think they'll increase the limit as they introduce larger flash cards.
But at the same time, they may approach devs with statistical data such as joker describes in the same vein that while devs could have retail games require an HDD, they would be reducing their potential pool of buyers.
i.e. XBLA title could be big, but face reduced sales due to users not wanting to wait.
Retail game could require HDD, but face reduced sales due to not all users having an HDD.
XBLA download limit started off mostly to cater for the original memory card size of the HDD less 360s. What was the size of the first memory card, 64MB? As popularity of Live grew (and perhaps a little bit of PSN competition factors in also) demand for larger downloads also grew, and larger memory card sizes allowed for it. After all, demos for retail games can be up to 1.5GB, Xbox Originals can be up to 6GB, so why not? And now even the NXE requires more space than that original memory space. But notice how the maximum download size still fits within the memory card requirements, now including the NXE (someone else made that point).
However, I personally think that Microsoft simply never envisioned selling large games over the 360, and overthought the whole Live Arcade thing to such an extent that they also didn't leave much room for something else, and now they'll want Arcade to stay within the reach of their Arcade unit, for obvious reasons. What joker describes could fit into it, but I doubt that really counts all that much, witnessing the size of the demos and xbox originals, to be honest.
However, I personally think that Microsoft simply never envisioned selling large games over the 360, and overthought the whole Live Arcade thing to such an extent that they also didn't leave much room for something else, and now they'll want Arcade to stay within the reach of their Arcade unit, for obvious reasons.
What joker describes could fit into it, but I doubt that really counts all that much, witnessing the size of the demos and xbox originals, to be honest.XBlive games are all priced in impulse range, with just a single button click needed to buy them. When someone sees a game they like and start to download it, they are more likely to actually play the demo and buy it if it downloads really fast (hence a 50mb original size), and are less likely to buy it if they put the download in the background and forget about it. In other words, if it takes too long to download and they put it in the background, it's documented that they are now:
A) a certain percentage less likely to actually play the demo at all
B) have lost some of the initial excitement
Both factors affect the sales completion % which in the end is all this is all about. This is all documented and taken into account. I'm sure hardware restrictions came into play as well, but you are also forgetting that broadband speeds are taken into account also. Broadband in the US is kinda crappy, some being only 768kbps download speed even to this day. A 1gb XBLive demo is less likely to be played and bought under these circumstances.
The best scenario to complete the sale is simple. The user seems something they like, they get hyped and start the download. The download progress bar moves really fast so they wait for it to finish and play it on the spot. That's the best scenario, and the original 50mb size catered to that.
Does the 360 have a publication featuring a demo disc?
I understand what you're saying, obviously. It's just that it is all valid for Arcade, but not for something that you could easily consider to fall under another category. Burnout Paradise isn't just scaled down for Arcade or something, it's just simply not there. On PSN on the other hand it is. Etc.
Anyway, I just impulse bought Loco Roco 2 online ... for PSP. 1.6GB :S Lol! That's a fully filled UMD image - that's pushing it a little even for me, on a handheld! It's still cool though, fortunately, but it makes me want to put an 8GB card in there (I bought a 4GB card for it a while ago, but switched that with the camera's 2GB card because I needed it more in the camera - well, those days are over! Lol). Wasn't the original Loco Roco 64MB or something? Also bought Super Stardust Portable, through PSN, that one while I was at work using the PSP's own PSN store, which worked great - fortunately this game was a little more reasonable 74MB.
I understand what you're saying, obviously. It's just that it is all valid for Arcade, but not for something that you could easily consider to fall under another category. Burnout Paradise isn't just scaled down for Arcade or something, it's just simply not there. On PSN on the other hand it is. Etc.
Anyway, I just impulse bought Loco Roco 2 online ... for PSP. 1.6GB :S Lol! That's a fully filled UMD image - that's pushing it a little even for me, on a handheld! It's still cool though, fortunately, but it makes me want to put an 8GB card in there (I bought a 4GB card for it a while ago, but switched that with the camera's 2GB card because I needed it more in the camera - well, those days are over! Lol). Wasn't the original Loco Roco 64MB or something? Also bought Super Stardust Portable, through PSN, that one while I was at work using the PSP's own PSN store, which worked great - fortunately this game was a little more reasonable 74MB.
If there is, it must be pretty high.
No limit for PS3, 1.8GB for PSP...
Yes, Official Xbox Magazine. In the US it's $30 for 12 monthly issues + 1 Holiday Bonus Issue.
They always have Live Arcade demos on there, but most of the time they are about 1 month behind. Not sure what would happen if you actually bought one of them. Would you have to always use the disc to play it or could you copy it to the hard drive? I'm thinking it's the former and not the latter.
Tommy McClain
Yes, but it was an exception to the rule. Next to Braid, the best game I bought on XBLA.
Tommy McClain
No more restrictions on size limit for XBLA anymore. However, there is a technical limit of 2gb due to file structure. Games on Demand doesn't have this limit but it uses a different file structure.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=224158
Tommy McClain
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=224158
Tommy McClain
ShadowRunner
Veteran
If those statistics are valid and having smaller downloads leads to more sales than a bigger, and thus potentially different/better game, wouldnt it be best to leave the devs with the descision on file size rather than forcing a limit? If it really was set in stone that a small download sells more then surely thats what the devs would strive for anyhow, and would still leave options for games that require a larger size.
I'd like to see Microsoft get back to the quick to download & play Live Arcade games. In a way, they have done it with Indie Games, but they don't have achievements & high production values of XBLA. What would be interesting is for Microsoft to implement an Instant Play mechanism just liket the upcoming 1080p video streaming. You hit "Play Trial" with no download & you're able to start playing immediately, but all the while the full game is downloading in the background un-noticed. By the time you finish playing the trial it would be nice that the download is finished and you're able to buy & unlock the full version with no waiting or downloading.
Tommy McClain
Tommy McClain
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