Gaming why are modern games (even the short ones with low-res graphics) so size-bloated compared to the 1st-gen consoles?

[Sheogorath]

320kb for SMB1 and 3000kb (3 Mb is 3/8 of a MegaByte, less than half) for SMB3
The 1st Metroid game by comparison used 556.5 kb only slightly more than SMB1

for comparison something like this is 70 megabytes (560 megabits) in size


View: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1865440/Cave_Crawler/




I just don't understand it at all

Not sure about file size for SNES successors like Super Mario World or Super Metroid but I'm betting even they were smaller than 70 MB in size.

Where is all this data going? Would be cool to see a list of all the kb/kB/mb/mB sizes of games tbh

Nowadays all the top games seem to be "dozens of gigabytes" it's kinda overwhelming. I'm not actually sure the gameplay is getting that much better, most of it just seems like eye porn

 

[TheProphetMuscle]

Yeah

 

[racoon4]

idk kikes probably fucking with everyone for profit

 

[crestfallencel]

in the days of cartridges you had to optimize for every byte, nowadays with large hard drives and fast Internet connections being standard it's probably considered a waste of time

 

[AnotherInsertCel1]

Different software.

 

[mentally lost cel 1]

idk kikes probably fucking with everyone for profit

This

 

[Sheogorath]

Different software.

also wondering if a lot of the data was built into the actual console engine and reused by diff games whereas stuff like steam they need to have it included separately in each game? not sure

 

[AnotherInsertCel1]

also wondering if a lot of the data was built into the actual console engine and reused by diff games whereas stuff like steam they need to have it included separately in each game? not sure

It's like the OS already being installed taking up memory.

 

[Reprisial]

Shit optimization means less space for other games and faster updates. It also gives people a reason to buy more storage. It’s 100% intentional. Single player games don’t pull this shit because they don’t benefit and are more competently put together.

 

[Sheogorath]

Shit optimization means less space for other games and faster updates. It also gives people a reason to buy more storage. It’s 100% intentional. Single player games don’t pull this shit because they don’t benefit and are more competently put together.

why would game devs care about making people buy more storage space though, do they own stock in external HD makers?

also how does bigger file size lead to faster updates

 

[Deleted member 17235]

Uncompressed music vs MIDI-esque sounds is one of the biggest culprits of modern bloat

 

[TheDarkEnigma]

Probably because no one codes in assembly anymore, they most likely use game engines or frameworks to code their games plus they don't care about optimizing their code since they don't have to worry about the size limitations physical media brought. Even modern game consoles don't allow direct hardware access I think.