Downloadable PS3 games get size limit

Newly published interview with Sony developer says the publisher has a 500MB limit on digitally distributed titles.

One of the challenges for developers working on Xbox Live Arcade games is the 50MB size limit Microsoft has mandated for the Xbox 360's digitally distributed titles. Size won't be quite as big a concern for developers of PlayStation 3 downloadable games, as Sony Computer Entertainment Santa Monica director John Hight told Firing Squad in an interview.

"We've arbitrarily set a limit of 500MB to keep download times reasonable," Hight is quoted as saying. "Since we've got plenty of HD space we can accommodate even bigger games and a lot of them."

While Sony hasn't announced an upper limit for its downloadable games before, it's been clear for some time that it would allow larger digitally distributed games on the PS3. The company had promised that it would be releasing original PlayStation games--which can be hundreds of megabytes--on the service.

451 Comments

  • Kane04

    Posted Dec 3, 2006 12:30 pm PT

    skemaal wrote:
    "It`s going to be a small catalogue thats for sure. Sony only has their PS1 line. Most PS2 games are still available on the market."

    yes right, PS1+PS2= more than 7100 games (run a search)

    i guess i'm gonna buy a couple of PS1 games i miss back in the day, i stil have a working PS1 but finding games is hard.

    i hope they increase the 500MB limit to make good use of the 60MB HDD

    2005 - 2012:

    23 million Nintendo Wii

    60 million Xbox 360

    120 million PlayStaion 3 * http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/7253/127/

  • angelwing

    Posted Dec 1, 2006 2:47 am PT

    Kutaragi wasnt "demoted" or "asked to step down". He was actually given another position...an higher one. Hirai(the ex-head of SCEA) took over Kutaragi's position.

  • pondarosa

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 10:31 pm PT

    "sort of makes u think y da ps2 came out wit da dvd player rite... (dat time da dvd player was just like wat da blu-ray is today) "

    If i can even understand what you are trying to say, no, it dosen't make me think of that time. While DVDs were not nearly as popular then as they are now, there was no deabte as to whether they were the next step in home entertainment at that time. It was a wise move on Sony's part, as it gave people more of an incentive to buy, and also allowed them to sell their games on discs that could hold a larger amount of data.



    With Blu-Ray, they gain the advantage to hold more data, and that's it at this point. The next dominant format has not been declared, and there are two potential victors. If Blu-Ray dosen't win the war, then all that drive in your PS3 will be good for will be playing PS3 games. That's it. Given Sony's track record when it comes to them putting their money on the "next big thing", as well as the fact that their "innovation" put them hundreds of dollars over the competition, it isn't a similar situation at all.


    The people on here that are already calling the victory for Blu-Ray are doing so because it can hold more than an HD-DVD can. If winning markets was based purely based on specs, then it would win outright at this point. But if you understood anything about consumer science or how these things really go down, you would see that it isn't a clear cut decsion at all.


    I'm taking into account the history, as well as how consumers think to predict which format will win, and HD-DVD has the edge on both of those accounts. Ultimately, the consumers decide who wins, and history tends to repeat itself.


    And next time you call someone a "dumb***" maybe you should try and type something halfway intelligent and legible afterwards.

  • Runningflame570

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 4:20 pm PT

    Is it just me or was Gamespot behind by days again?

  • Itsdewdewbabiee

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 4:01 pm PT

    Dude, for those who are not ready to embrace the PS3 thats fine... It doesn't really matter what you have to say. The PS3 is worth the price of admission. You get more bang for your buck... The premium system for xbox360 was tagged at 499... Cool you get a wireless controller 10gig HDD, and a head set, awsome... But you have to pay for a wireless adapter $100 bucks, plus if you want HD DVD you have to pay for a HD $200 bucks... Which brings the xbox360 at a much higher price range. And last time I checked blu ray players were going for $1000, not to mention the many USB ports, plus WIFI already included... I understand yes maybe you can't afford it, and all you have to do is talk smack about the system... But in the end PS3 will be a much better system... Look at the track record.... Sony already has a big chunk of market share, its been around longer than Microsoft. Sony's PS2 practically took out the dreamcast and not to mention sold more units and games than the xbox... If it hadnt been for Halo, I dont think I would of picked up a xbox... And not to mention Sony wont charge you to play online... Im not choosing sides with any system, I have a 360 right now, but there are really no good games except a few... So if you cant buy one than thats on you, but it is very early call sony out of the game... Come next year you ll see.. just wait... Im sure you'll have one too...

  • pwnr

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 3:07 pm PT

    I don't think 500MB is enough.

  • HarakoMeshi

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 2:05 pm PT

    There are thousands of PS1 games. Worldwide almost 8000 titles. You'll be able to download and play them on both PSP and PS3.

  • RiceCake

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 1:41 pm PT

    skemaal: You obviously have no idea what your talking about and dont have any PS systems. if you did you would know that there are more PS1 titles than microsofts entire library of Xbox games. Ken Kutaragi was not told/asked to step down. he's shifting to Chairman of the board which means he will be overseeing the company's big decisions as opposed to directly interacting with the departments in the company. AceCometh, Check your stats again and try to find the stat that Sony is losing money. Sony is taking some hits, but its not going down. Why do fanboys think that they can pull facts out of their butt and everyone else will listen to it? strange...

  • masterofTS

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 1:07 pm PT

    There is easily a thousand PS1 games out there.

  • skemaal

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 12:51 pm PT

    Compared to Nintendo who has the rights to thousands of games to put on the VC.

  • AceCometh

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 12:44 pm PT

    I will agree that the Xbox 360 needs a bigger HDD. Though the ability to download 500MB of data isn't enought to warrent dishing out that much money for a PS3. If Microsoft can grab Metal Gear Solid 4 and have it released the same day it's out on the PS3, then Sony will have a hard time trying to make a profit. Hard to believe that the company responsible for the PS2 is in financial peril.

  • estebanhi

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 10:19 am PT

    skemaal
    It`s going to be a small catalogue thats for sure. Sony only has their PS1 line. Most PS2 games are still available on the market.

    small catalogue?? ps1 has hundreds of games, how is that going to be a small catalogue?

  • Zeroni76ers2131

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 9:30 am PT

    Even if microsoft drop the limit the 20gd hdd is not big enough

  • skemaal

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 8:46 am PT

    It`s going to be a small catalogue thats for sure. Sony only has their PS1 line. Most PS2 games are still available on the market.

    And for all you PS3 is god and nothing else matters. Here is a a good one for you.

    Ken Kutaragi, father of the PS1 was told to step down today from his position to be replaced with someone, who`s name I forget (you can look it up) at the moment. Sony is completely disconnected from reality and the reliability of their products has gone down the drain. Hopefully the new head will see the light. Ken Kutaragi isn`t fired but assigned elsewhere which is usually a sign that his resignation will be asked eventually.

    This isn`t a fanboy of any system, as I have them all except for a PS3. I was actually looking forward to the system, but with all the BS and the ridiculus price, my money will go elsewhere thank you very much.

    Finally, to those who only think graphics make a game. You have no friggin idea what you are talking about and frankly not a real gamer at heart.

  • dark-zazo

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 8:15 am PT

    I'm really sorry for Nintendo. NES and SNES have been the best consoles of their generation and watching this generation’s Wii makes me puke. It's not even comparable with its competitors. Microsoft console sucks. Does Bill Gates have an obsession to become the god of everything that has chips in it? Sony is the best. It has the most successful console of them all. In the 7th gen, PS3 will totally rock. In the future I’m sure my son will love playing Playstation 7, the only surviving console of that generation!

  • Dr_Yassam

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 7:42 am PT

    "...360 has been out for a year. How many "memorable" games are out for it?"

    The PS3 was delayed by 6-9 months (should have been out in the spring). Sony insisted the delayed had nothing to so with the software/games, so where are all the memorable games that the extra time should have allowed to be completed by now? Personally, I wouldn't expect it because it takes time to create great games. Even the PS2 took until 15 months after the launch in Japan to have it's first AAA next-gen game, which was GT3 A-spec.

    Also, the PS3 delay means the first gen arguement is now rather meaningless, since games like Resistance on the PS3 have been in developement for about the same length of time as Gears of War on the 360, and multi-console games like CoD3 and Tony Hawk about the same amount of time on each console.

    BOTH consoles have a lot of room for improvement, and we will see this as developers learn to harness more of each console's power over the years.

  • FallenOneX

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 7:32 am PT

    HarakoMeshi

    Nintendo would never release the Wii if it had PS2 graphics. In case you didn't know, the graphis were actually better on the GC than the PS2. Since you and others probably won't belive me, just go to google and start looking up RE4 on both systems. And for the love of god, don't start crying about the Madden games. The GC got those just so EA could say they supported the system. Even then, the GC looked better than the PS2 most years, even if it didn't go online. The PSP may not be a failure, but it sure as hell ain't a success. Just because $ony has enough money to keep the system on the shelves doesn't mean a thing. Hell, you can go out right now and find Minidisc players at some stores. That might make you right then, because all it did was supplement PS2 sales, for about a year. It also cost studios money on those crappy overpriced UMD movies. Now, is there any question why more studios didn't side with $ony when it came to Blu-Ray? I thought not.

  • angelwing

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 3:39 am PT

    This is good news, though right now I'm more worried about getting a PS3 than what content I'll be able to download for it. Maybe I'll get lucky and have one late Dec. or mid Jan...hopefully.

    Anyway, there are a few things in the article about the download limit that could mean something that its not. Like, "size wont be quite as big a concern for developers of Playstation 3 downloadable games." After reading through the posts, it seems most iterpreted it as "any playable software that'll be downloadable will have a 500mb limit." I interpret is as "Playstation 3 exclusive games available for digital distribution will have a 500mb limit." If that's the case, then PS2 or PS1 games, even if exceeding that limit, would still be downloadable. And like someone else said, maybe big games, i.e FF7, will be distributed via multiple files.

    Someone else said something else I agree with, regarding the Wii. Right now it's so widely talked about, but I cant help but feel that it'll die off before any of the other systems. Though, I must admit, Wii sports is definitely fun, and the controller technology is definitely innovative. I could bowl for hours! However, even with the success of the PSP, and the going-to-be-a-failure handheld that MS is working on being in production, I think Nintendo will continue to rule the world of handhelds.

    Someone else mentioned something about PS3 just copying things from older systems; honestly the same thing could be said of any system being released. However when it comes to "new" features, the Wii and the PS3 definitely surpass the 360, even if only due to what the controllers can do. People talk about the library of games available for the PS3, and the Wii for that matter, and compare it to that of the 360. The 360 has been out for a year now...People also compare the graphics...Though so far the Wii's graphics are distinctively less "pretty", the PS3 games' graphics are already matching, and honestly in some cases maybe even surpassing, those of the 360. Keep in mind that the Wii and PS3 were just released, and are in the 1st generation of games. They still have a lot of room for improvement and what not.

    And speaking of PS3 only being in its first generation of games...360 has been out for a year. How many "memorable" games are out for it? Hmm...Halo2, which is out for XBox...and Gears of War...and that's it really. Oh and DoA maybe. This comment will probably make people accuse me of fanboyism (which is fine, I may be a fanboy ) so I'll just end my long post here.

    Sorry for the long post. Play on, folks.

  • idealbasher

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 2:27 am PT

    HarakoMeshi: What's your point? PSX was just a luxury PS2 with more media capabilities. The PS3's XMB interface features in a lot of Sony products like PSP and TVs. My point is the PSX is almost like the PS3 but what killed the the PSX is the is the price and my second point is the PS3 was made at the last minute because microsoft and Nintendo where coming out with there new systems so why are the PSX and the PS3 are almost are the same

  • HarakoMeshi

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 2:05 am PT

    "DRUNK_CANADIAN
    God Nintendo gamers are ******* I cant believe I was one of them.....PS3 will be the most successful in the long run assuming Sony supports it and keeps good titles coming.....unlike what they did with the PSP, Wii...is just crap....i am sorry but giving you a motion sensing controller and PS2 graphics....it seems like a doawngrade really ince the controls are poor, Xbox 360 is a good system and will be #1 if Sony messes up, and whos to say, it could happen "...........................

    You're so right. And the trouble with PSP is developers just being lazy doing nothing but PS2 ports, something Sony tried to prevent but they lost control because there were not enough original things being proposed. But don't think PSP is a failure cause it is not, PSP did its job of supplementing declining PS2 sales while Sony was busy cooking up the PS3.

    It's just not the whiz bang crazy blind success DS has had selling "Brain age" "Mind workout" or whatever lame "sudoku" and "pokemon" games it has. Touch screen was always there on PDAs... it just looks like half the planet only now realised what it is thanks to DS.

    And don't get me started on the Wii... it's going to get both these titles "Most successful console in 1st year" and "shortest lived console ever". Watch it grow big then fade away very soon.

  • HarakoMeshi

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 1:58 am PT

    idealbasher: What's your point? PSX was just a luxury PS2 with more media capabilities. The PS3's XMB interface features in a lot of Sony products like PSP and TVs.

  • jedijr88

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 11:04 pm PT

    Just wanted to let you know that Okami195 is correct with the Xbox360 prices. Core is $299 and Premium is $399.

  • okami195

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 10:29 pm PT

    "Its still $399 for the core and $499 for the premium..."

    Those prices are actually $100 off - the core is going for $299 and the premium is going for $399. True as to the price dropping, though - don't expect prices for any of these things to be dropping any time soon. Your best bet is probably picking up some used hardware and games from a local GameStop or EB if you don't want to shell out the full amount.

  • mack10

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 10:19 pm PT

    Guys I have a question please...the one who answers it will receive a PS3,Xbox360 and Wii from his neighbour...Just answer PLS

    HOW MUCH DOES THE XBOX 360 COST IN U.S.A NOW ? AND IF IT IS STILL 399$ CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHEN THE PRICE WOULD GO DOWN.

    Its still $399 for the core and $499 for the premium and I don't expect to go down anytime soon considering its still less costly than the PS3...so I'd say around the same time the PS3 drops its price, the 360 will drops its and maybe only $50 on both bundles.

  • funnymario

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 10:14 pm PT

    Cool.

  • lowmank79

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 10:12 pm PT

    Makes sense. Now they can say "Our Arcade tiles are ten times bigger than Microsofts." 50mb on the 360 is for max circulation. I don't really care, I like simple old school arcade games anyway, they remind me of when I was a kid. This is a war of words though, and expect microsoft to up the ante soon.

  • jedijr88

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 10:07 pm PT

    Microsoft COULD in theory release Vista on nothing but HD-DVD. But, they are 100% most definitely not doing that, so talking about it is silly.

    And I really couldn't care less about most of the stupid arguments because I have all of the systems, but the people that do nothing but complain about the Wii being garbage are the people that either actually haven't played it yet, or will be the people that won't know what to do with themselves after the PS5, because once there is no such thing as better graphics anymore, innovation for controls and user input will be all that's left. And they don't seem to value that too much.

    My two cents.

  • khaledkk

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 10:03 pm PT

    Guys I have a question please...the one who answers it will receive a PS3,Xbox360 and Wii from his neighbour...Just answer PLS

    HOW MUCH DOES THE XBOX 360 COST IN U.S.A NOW ? AND IF IT IS STILL 399$ CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHEN THE PRICE WOULD GO DOWN.

  • GranTurismo_559

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 9:43 pm PT

    Great news, I love my PS3

  • NaturalBornGamR

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 9:20 pm PT

    this is the first good news I've heard about the PS3. Hopefully Xbox 360 will drop their 50 mb limit now.

  • idealbasher

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 9:19 pm PT

    Do you guys remeber the PSX that had a 120 gigabyte hard disk and same dashboard as the PS3 if you cant remeber its because it sucked http://ps2.ign.com/articles/421/421027p1.html

  • SpeedyEddy

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 9:15 pm PT

    wures7
    "MS can release Windows Vista on nothing but HD-DVD. Billions of computers would be flooded with HD-DVD drives from manufactures and Blu-ray would be totally owned. Owned in a three-way kind of owned. And there would be nothing Sony can do about it but run to the law and cry monopoly even though HD-DVD. "But mommy, Billy boy won't put his OS in my Blu-ray. Wahhh!" Tough! Make your own OS, Sony. Inside the PS3 or not. Vista will kill Blu-ray."

    Excellent point man i woulda never thought of that, looks like MS has an ace up their sleeve.

  • InsaneGuyX2

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 9:04 pm PT

    the key "your agruing with yourself, because my brain is the size of a ping pong ball"
    wait huh? Your trying to insult me?

  • thekey

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 8:45 pm PT

    InsaneGuyX2

    Your arguing with your self.
    Nody cares weather or not the PS3 stinks or not, were talking about the Wii and there success.

    standcm12
    "...i never knew 360 had a limit. especially such a small one like 50mb. "
    Some 360 demos are 1 GB.

  • Iriseon

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 8:40 pm PT

    Developers can make games that are as big as GTA: San Andreas or as long as Final Fantasy XII, provided that they use procedural textures. Ever heard Will Wright talk about Spore? It's prudent and wise to have mb limits for downloading console games especially considering how Sony's online network is setup. Here's a good article on Procedural Texturing: http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2006/11/09/Procedural_Textures_Future_Gam/1.html

  • InsaneGuyX2

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 8:40 pm PT

    The xbox360 owns the ps3.

    The ps3 owns the wii.

    The wii owns xbox360.

    The ps3 owns the xbox360.

    The xbox360 owns the wii. The wii owns the ps3.

    The xbox360 owns the xbox360, while the ps3 owns the ps3 and the wii owns the wii and the pc owns itself to. Now can we all stop arguing and go back to eating pie with kirby/solid snake/sam fisher?

  • InsaneGuyX2

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 8:34 pm PT

    All I see here (95% of all recent posts) is a bunch of crybaby or arguing fanboys and/or people who have no idea what there talking about in terms of 500mb for downloadable games (and its not complicated). So I'm asking all the fanboys and less intelligent people to go back to spaming the system wars board and let us good gamespots talk in peace and intelligence, (as if it could happen any time soon). I hate console launchs because: A) It cost me money to buy all the new games and

    B) Idiot fanboys argue (with usually inaccurate or made up facts) with each other about with systems/games are better xbox/playstation/wii/pc, while I just enjoy them all.

    and C) I'm am sick of fanboyssssssssssss x1000000 (and I will keep saying this until 80% percent of them die back into there holes. We need to open up hunting season on them again because it hasn't been this bad since the first next gen launch. (I think there's many more now actually since games are more popular now

    and D) Gamespot needs a abuse option that includes the word "Fanboy"

  • DRUNK_CANADIAN

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 8:31 pm PT

    God Nintendo gamers are ******* I cant believe I was one of them.....PS3 will be the most successful in the long run assuming Sony supports it and keeps good titles coming.....unlike what they did with the PSP, Wii...is just crap....i am sorry but giving you a motion sensing controller and PS2 graphics....it seems like a doawngrade really ince the controls are poor, Xbox 360 is a good system and will be #1 if Sony messes up, and whos to say, it could happen

  • thekey

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 8:30 pm PT

    Not good. This "free online" gaming is begining to take shape.
    Ps3 is not faring well right now.(there's a reason why its free.)

    And this is coming from some one who can afford the PS3.

    alireyaz

    "ps3 is the greatest console and will conquer the market and games soon. it take time (more than 6 months) then it will knockout and blow a punch into wii and xbox 360 faces." Your dreaming, if you think the PS3 is just going to come in and knock the 360 and the Wii out of the box. If anything the Wii is going to embarass the PS3 in pure popularity and sales. Never mind the 360.

    The Wii is fun and unique, the PS3 is just a Blu-ray launching device, the 360 is fun and has the graphics and games to go with it.(Where's PS3's games at?)

  • fathed102

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 8:28 pm PT

    Just a heads up guys. Using the word "owned" scores you less poosie points.

  • alireyaz

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 8:14 pm PT

    willawallo if u dont like ps3 please dont say a word about ps3. and shut ur bad and F****** mouth shut and leave ps3 alone u have to play nintendo ds, because u cant afford ps3.
    ps3 is the greatest console and will conquer the market and games soon. it take time (more than 6 months) then it will knockout and blow a punch into wii and xbox 360 faces.

  • sinceps1

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 7:50 pm PT

    Yay?
    Yaaaaaaay! Less restrictions on game makers is a good thing, xbox should follow suit for once. Ussually I would be against sony, but I guess I sorta still am if the downloads would take forever. Should be worth it though for some playstation games if they don't cost too much.

  • VietN1nja

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 7:46 pm PT

    cool, i hope they release MGS or the Tekken 3.

  • GAMEGEEK1

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 7:38 pm PT

    hrm i guess that's nice to have if u like that kinda thing

  • Fauij

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 7:36 pm PT

    looks like its gonna take alot of memory tho

  • standcm12

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 7:32 pm PT

    ...i never knew 360 had a limit. especially such a small one like 50mb.

  • pomonamonkey

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 7:29 pm PT

    i wish there was no limit!!!!!!!!!!

  • jmangafan

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 7:24 pm PT

    mikekare79 - "Let's all pay $600 so we can play old games! Gimme a break."

    You mean like 90% of Live Arcade's Library? They've made improvements to the Shmup formula since Galaga was released.

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