This rant might be dated, but it still pisses me off...

Submitted by Alric_Rahl t3_10oa60z in gaming

I just passed a post asking preference of physical and digital game copies, and it reminded me why I barely ever play my PS4.

I greatly prefer physical game copies. I grew up in the 80's and started gaming about the time the NES made its debut. For the longest time, physical copies were all that we had. I suppose looking over and seeing my game library on a shelf was a sort of comfort.

Last year, I bought a PS4 from a guy at work. The system is solid, no problems with performance. With it he threw in his stack of games. In my town, there's a resale shop that carries games for almost every major console back to the 2600. I went in and dropped an extra $100 or so and came out with 7 or 8 games. Nice little collection to start with, I thought.

Then I got the system set up, wiped it, and got myself set up. Put the disc in the drive... and had to wait for it to install.

Why the hell do I have to install my games onto the HD when I have the disc right here?

Now, I have games I can't even play because I don't have any space left on the HD to install the software. It seems like I'm being forced to buy an external to have space to play games I already own.

This is why I've only played my PS4 a handful of times since I bought it.

What the fuck, Sony?

End rant.

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WindUpShoe t1_j6ddjes wrote

I figure reading from an optical drive becomes a chokepoint once a game has too many assets, or higher quality assets. It just becomes easier to dump it into a nice, fast SSD where it can be loaded into memory immediately without having to constantly seek data off the disc first.

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NoMoreGoldPlz t1_j6dcfi5 wrote

Games are bigger than before.

And they probably don't even fit on a disk if not compressed.

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Alric_Rahl OP t1_j6dgard wrote

So they can't do like the big PS rpgs and put it on multiple discs?

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NoMoreGoldPlz t1_j6dirxb wrote

They might be able to? I'm not too tech savy, hahaha.

But I'm pretty sure the majority of the gamers isn't really excited to swap disks during gameplay.

I never liked it, not even back when it was somewhat normal.

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Siukslinis_acc t1_j6doqgt wrote

Imagine you manage to find a very comfy position just to have to get up to change disc.

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chad4359 t1_j6dmb0z wrote

Oh boy, wait until you get a game that is so large it has a second install disc to go along with it's play disc

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bakagir t1_j6dpsoi wrote

Or a game case that's only a digital download code lol

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NoMoreGoldPlz t1_j6ddgnq wrote

It works the exact same way on Xbox by the way, just in case you were thinking of changing platform.

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Alric_Rahl OP t1_j6dghnh wrote

I've been a Big N guy from the beginning. I had a PlayStation and PS2, but that's it outside Nintendo

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Sweatty-LittleFatty t1_j6h71a4 wrote

It is the same on the Nintendo Switch as well. Games theses days are just bigger, and after the instalation, the loads are pretty Quick.

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Alric_Rahl OP t1_j6k96mu wrote

I have 32 games installed on my Switch and 19 of them are digital, but I still have plenty of space. I only have 12 PS4 games, all physical.

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Sweatty-LittleFatty t1_j6lvfnj wrote

Look at the size of a Switch game and then look at the size of a PS4 game. You got your awnser there.

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lapqmzlapqmzala t1_j6ddl2p wrote

Installing onto a hard drive means that you don't have to wait for the game to load from the disc. The way that a lot of games work these days, you be constantly stopping for loading if you had to load from the disc.

It's also a copy protection method.

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whereisfishman t1_j6dfyzy wrote

It's because the information on the disc is compressed. It isn't a Sony thing it is the games themselves. They are too big to just be run off of the disc.

As for space. Delete the games you aren't playing off of your hard drive. Your saves are stored separately so if you reinstall you won't lose your progress.

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Alric_Rahl OP t1_j6dher7 wrote

I had a PlayStation and remember 3 discs for FF7, 4 for FF8 and 9. Couldn't they do that?

>Delete the games you aren't playing off of your hard drive.

Then when I have time to play something if it isn't already installed I'd have to wait for the install and updates. I work and have 4 kids. Dedicated game time is super rare, and I don't like only being able to choose from less than half the games I own.

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whereisfishman t1_j6dhr8c wrote

Yes but no one wants to switch a disc for every chapter of a game. It would be like 20 discs, instead they compress it onto a blu ray. Your console decompresses it and stores the info on the hard drive.

Then buy an external hard drive or only have the games installed that you are currently playing.

You are making a mountain out of a molehill.

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Recreatee t1_j6dhrvx wrote

no, having several discs for a single game would be way more of a hassle than just an install

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Junkered t1_j6difo7 wrote

...somebody has never gamed on a PC.

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Alric_Rahl OP t1_j6dj8dh wrote

I have but it's been over 20 years, so I didn't have this problem then either

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RaltarArianrhod t1_j6de6id wrote

Why do you need so many different games installed at once? Play the games one at a time and you won't have to worry about space on your hard drive.

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Alric_Rahl OP t1_j6dguws wrote

I don't get a lot of dedicated game time between work and 4 kids. I couldn't even try the games out without installing and updating them. By the time I get to do anything, I don't have time to do anything.

Edit: also, all the games are physical copies, so why should I not be able to play whichever game, at will?

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Waste-Reception5297 t1_j6e2aou wrote

Because if it read the data directly off the disc we'd be sitting at a black loading screen for ages. That's why SSDs have been such a good thing, fast as hell drives. The difference in load times between PS4 and 5 is insane

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fefsgdsgsgddsvsdv t1_j6fnrxf wrote

Physical copies suck. I’m so happy the is now digital only.

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Sweatty-LittleFatty t1_j6h78n6 wrote

Two questions:

1- what games have you purchased?

2- what is the HD size of your PS4?

Because I have a 1tb PS4 and I have over 20 games installed right now, the storage space was never a problem.

What I do is: keep the games I like to constantly play (like a online multiplayer one or a party game) and Just uninstall a game after beating/platinum or doing everything I wanted to.

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Alric_Rahl OP t1_j6k6w0d wrote

Resident Evil Origins Collection, Arkham Knight, Monster Hunter: World, Kingdom Hearts 3, God of War, Dragon Quest 11, Days Gone, CoD: Cold War, Borderlands 3, Warhammer: Chaosbane, Cyberpunk 2077, and Star Wars: Battlefront 2

Mine is also a 1TB.

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Sweatty-LittleFatty t1_j6lvapk wrote

Star Wars and COD is enought to take almost half your HD, both are filled with useless files that the company refuses to delete after an update, you can check their storage comsumption, it should be somewhere between 300-450gb.

The other games are mostly fine (I believe Cyberpunk is pretty big, and so is MH World), but you still have a lot of games installed, so, what exatcly are the complains?

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Riovas t1_j6dwi95 wrote

This started even with the PS3/360 and is meant to cut down load times by saving common files on the HDD. Graphic and audio fidelity has greatly surpassed optical drive technology (more specifically read time and disc speed). You're complaining about an ideal solution that's been in effect for 15+ years.

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Alric_Rahl OP t1_j6dzs6m wrote

I've never owned any model of XBOX and the last Sony console I had was a PS2. Thanks for making me feel old and out the loop. Huzzah!

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