# Why do current video game consoles come with big hard drives? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 23, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680 "2015-01-23T15:30:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![HeXen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@HeXen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeXen)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/21 "2015-01-24T22:39:15Z")
I have a PS4 but rarely play it. Last game I got on that was DriveClub and has literally been THE worst release day experience ever…heck release month. It’s like the features was a lie, weather effects, online clubs. I think it was over a month until I had connection to servers but by then I didn’t care and quit playing it long before the weather effects patch came out. Anyway, I mostly buy games on Steam. The whole console experience is starting to feel a bit dated and stale and I’m sick of having massive giant tiles advertising some indie game shoved in my face every time I visit the store page. At least Steam’s store front is better organized without having to see the same game on the first tile for every category. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/22 "2015-01-25T00:35:19Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I’ll be shocked if the next generation of consoles even has optical drives. They’ve been unnecessary on PCs for years; you buy your games on Steam or another service and download them. Yeah, it leaves people with 1 Mb/s connections out in the cold, but that’s an increasingly shrinking market. Physical media is dead. Obviously this means that you’ll want a large hard drive on the system; some games are \>50 GB and so even 500 GB can feel tight. But hard drives are cheap. MS’s original vision for the Xbox One was essentially this: it was functionally all digital delivery, the optical drive was just there to “bridge the gap” by allowing quicker installs and Blu Ray playing. I understood the backlash at the time, but I still wish they’d stuck to their guns, fixed their messaging, and released the system they described. I essentially only buy games digitally already, and I think their model would have incentivized more price competition. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/23 "2015-01-25T01:24:43Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > How viable is it to use a modern console like PS4 without an internet connection? Just play games out of the box with no updates, patches, etc? > > I have satellite internet with lousy download speeds at home, so online gaming really isn’t possible unless I take the machine to my office, which has cable access… Very risky. Firmware updates and OS updates if not installed can cause issues with games, and won’t give you the full feature set they could be providing. In terms of games, even riskier. Many of the most marketed console games last year were hot messes of 20 FPS, bug ridden crap, and that’s AFTER a few patches. Things have changed since the SNES. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/24 "2015-01-25T04:28:49Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > Things have changed since the SNES. They have, but SNES games were hardly bug-free. Check out [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRMGXHYciko&t=7m48s). The guy pulls of a record speedrun by exploiting a serious bug in Super Mario World. Specifically, the game has a glitch that can start code execution at the beginning of the sprite position table. The guy moves around game objects to fill the table with executable code that triggers the game end sequence, and then triggers the glitch to jump to that code. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/25 "2015-01-25T04:36:44Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > _Stores_? What is this, the 90’s? But yeah, why not? I’ve already bought games that, alongside the disc, had a Steam code. I entered the code, downloaded the game, and never touched the disc. Next logical step is to get rid of the disc, and the box too for that matter. Make it like a gift card: a piece of cardboard with the key under a scratchable box. Steam and the whole digital download thing haven’t really taken off in Japan to the same extent they have in the West. So maybe Microsoft will ditch discs, but I’d expect it to take longer for Sony and Nintendo. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/26 "2015-01-25T04:39:49Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > Steam and the whole digital download thing haven’t really taken off in Japan to the same extent they have in the West. Weird. They have tiny houses and really fast broadband. You’d think that download-only games would be a perfect fit. Any idea why it’s been unpopular? ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/27 "2015-01-26T02:37:53Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Weird. They have tiny houses and really fast broadband. You’d think that download-only games would be a perfect fit. Any idea why it’s been unpopular? Japan is ditching the traditional console market and moving on to mobile platforms. PC was never very popular there as a gaming platform - that market tends to not like Western games (PC’s bread and butter), also probably why the Xbox never did well there either. No China and Korea, are a different story. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/28 "2015-01-26T20:36:56Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Weird. They have tiny houses and really fast broadband. You’d think that download-only games would be a perfect fit. Any idea why it’s been unpopular? Computers are too large? Seriously though, as cited, they’ve mosted ditched even traditional consoles for handhelds and phones. They seem to accept digital downloads on handhelds, at least. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/29 "2015-01-27T01:08:13Z")
Wii U is a current video game console and it doesn’t come with a big hard drive. It doesn’t have a hard drive at all. Just 32GB (or 8GB if you were a sucker and bought the cheap version at launch) of on board flash memory. You can connect usb drives to it for more storage though. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/30 "2015-01-27T23:36:10Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > I essentially only buy games digitally already, and I think their model would have incentivized more price competition. Why would having Microsoft as the sole source of games increase price competition? If Steam wasn’t constantly having huge discounts, other digital distribution sites would (and do). And there can be sales in the retail space for competition (although usually more for unloading old stock). But if Microsoft was the sole source of games, they have little incentive to discount their games for reasons of competition. ---
**Author:** ![FieryXBow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@FieryXBow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FieryXBow)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/31 "2015-01-28T01:10:45Z")
What’s frustrating is how they don’t want to be able to simply add external hard drives. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/32 "2015-01-28T01:17:44Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Why would having Microsoft as the sole source of games increase price competition? If Steam wasn’t constantly having huge discounts, other digital distribution sites would (and do). And there can be sales in the retail space for competition (although usually more for unloading old stock). But if Microsoft was the sole source of games, they have little incentive to discount their games for reasons of competition. Because they’re still competing with Steam and PSN _and_ trying to move more system units so having a good ecosystem is significant. By eliminating used game swaps, they ensure that publishers will always get at least some cut, so there’s more incentive/leverage to publishers to adjust prices. As I understand it, this was a big part of their plan in the first place – publishers see used games as their big enemy and eliminating that would possibly knock them away from the existing $60 price point. I mean, this is _already_ happening to a degree. The Xbox One store already offers weekly sales, and I don’t think they’re doing so purely out of price competition with Gamestop (doubly since a lot of the sale stuff has been on digital-only titles or bundles already). ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/33 "2015-01-28T01:20:26Z")
> [@FieryXBow](#): > > What’s frustrating is how they don’t want to be able to simply add external hard drives. ☹ Xbox One supports standard external hard drives. One of the more surprisingly open decisions they made. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/34 "2015-01-28T03:43:32Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > Xbox One supports standard external hard drives. One of the more surprisingly open decisions they made. Yeah. All you do is plug in a hard drive with a minimum of 500 gigs and USB 3.0, format it, and you’re good to go. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/35 "2015-01-28T04:37:04Z")
OK, I’ve got my PS4 now, so I see what people are talking about. > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I _always_ correctly distinguish between bits and bytes :). But it wasn’t meant as a hard cutoff, just an indicator of patience. At 1 MB/s, a 50 GB game will take 14 hours to download. A bit slow but not too bad. At 1 Mb/s, it takes 4.6 days. Pretty rough. > > FWIW, the FCC [plans to redefine your internet plan](http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/01/fcc-chair-broadband-must-be-25mbps-and-isps-are-failing-to-deliver/) as “not broadband.” 25 Mb/s is the minimum. I was wrong. I did a speed test, and I’m getting about 16 Mb/s. > [@typoink](#): > > Because they’re still competing with Steam and PSN _and_ trying to move more system units so having a good ecosystem is significant. > > By eliminating used game swaps, they ensure that publishers will always get at least some cut, so there’s more incentive/leverage to publishers to adjust prices. As I understand it, this was a big part of their plan in the first place – publishers see used games as their big enemy and eliminating that would possibly knock them away from the existing $60 price point. > > I mean, this is _already_ happening to a degree. The Xbox One store already offers weekly sales, and I don’t think they’re doing so purely out of price competition with Gamestop (doubly since a lot of the sale stuff has been on digital-only titles or bundles already). Now that I’m shopping for games, I’m noticing that deals can often be had by ordering the physical copy online cheaper than the download. For example, I was able to order Watch Dogs from Amazon for $32, while the current price for download on the Playstation Network is $50. I don’t see how online distribution is going to replace physical media if the former is more expensive. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/36 "2015-01-28T05:13:56Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > Now that I’m shopping for games, I’m noticing that deals can often be had by ordering the physical copy online cheaper than the download. For example, I was able to order Watch Dogs from Amazon for $32, while the current price for download on the Playstation Network is $50. I don’t see how online distribution is going to replace physical media if the former is more expensive. I don’t know how Sony does it, but in Xbox-land, MS curates a round of deals every week. Usually it’s 2-3 titles per week ranging from something like 40-75% off full retail. This week, it’s almost every title EA has on the system, including Dragon Age for $35 (it’s still $40 preowned at Amazon), Titanfall for $10 ($11 used on Amazon), Madden 15 for $24 ($31 on Amazon not including the included DLC) and several of downloadable games for half price or less. So, games that aren’t on sale are usually more expensive than used copies (although I think a few have received permanent price cuts), but if you keep an eye on the sales, you’re coming out ahead. It’s also notable that physical copies mean you have to switch discs; with the downloads, I can switch freely between games. I find that pretty significant, especially for certain genres like racing games which I really like but only in small doses. I almost never played my racers last gen because it wasn’t worth finding and swapping the discs knowing I’d only want to play a race or two. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/37 "2015-01-28T09:36:14Z")
I find it interesting that someone who hadn’t gamed since the SNES days and wanted to get back into gaming would choose a PS4 over a Wii U. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/38 "2015-01-28T15:13:50Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I find it interesting that someone who hadn’t gamed since the SNES days and wanted to get back into gaming would choose a PS4 over a Wii U. Why? It’s got a decent library of games one year in, it gets most current games that are being released, and a combination of PS+ and PSNow would provide plenty of cheap (albeit subscription-based) smaller games. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/39 "2015-01-28T17:54:00Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Wii U is a current video game console and it doesn’t come with a big hard drive. It doesn’t have a hard drive at all. Just 32GB (or 8GB if you were a sucker and bought the cheap version at launch) of on board flash memory. You can connect usb drives to it for more storage though. So, does Wii U just load games off the disc every time? If so, what does it need 32GB internal storage for? > [@drewtwo99](#): > > I find it interesting that someone who hadn’t gamed since the SNES days and wanted to get back into gaming would choose a PS4 over a Wii U. Yes, why? The one draw for the Wii U for me would be that since most of my gaming “nostalgia” is for Nintendo games, it would be fun to catch up on all the Mario and Zelda games I’ve missed. But my understanding is that since the Wii U came out a full year earlier, its hardware is much less powerful, and thus it won’t have as long a life or be supported as much by game developers. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680/40 "2015-01-28T18:17:53Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > So, does Wii U just load games off the disc every time? If so, what does it need 32GB internal storage for? > Yes, why? The one draw for the Wii U for me would be that since most of my gaming “nostalgia” is for Nintendo games, it would be fun to catch up on all the Mario and Zelda games I’ve missed. But my understanding is that since the Wii U came out a full year earlier, its hardware is much less powerful, and thus it won’t have as long a life or be supported as much by game developers. The Wii U loads games off discs. The internal storage is for downloadable titles and game saves. Yeah, I agree that a PS4 is perfectly reasonable, especially since it doubles as a very good DVD/BluRay player (which the Wii U is not capable of). Perfectly solid game lineup, and substantially more powerful and capable than the Wii U. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-current-video-game-consoles-come-with-big-hard-drives/710680.md?page=3)