Would You Download a 100GB Game?

by on Mar 12, 2015

Star Citizen appears to be one of the largest game downloads in the history of the planet, weighing in at 100GB or more.

Welcome to this twelfth day of March, 2015.   I’m John “Boomjack” Hoskin and this is Here Comes The Boom – EP #32.

A little bird pointed me at Star Citizen yesterday and, well, just when I thought that group couldn't surprise me they did it again.

Size Matters

This week's diatribe was prompted by the forum announcement that Star Citizen (you may have heard of it) will be at least a 100GB download.  I appreciate the breadth and scope of this title, but a 100GB client download seems, well, HUGE.   

I imagine the following happening the moment they open the gates to download the alpha or beta or gamma or delta or whatever level of access you purchased for the priviledge of sucking this behemoth through your Internet pipe. 

**Verified Star Citizen backer

Putting the Massive in Massively Multiplayer

I appreciate that game assets are getting larger by necessity.  We have more powerful graphics cards, faster hard drives and in general better Internet connectivity, but I can't help but think that somebody somewhere didn't think this all the way through.   If you are living on Main Street U.S.A. with an unlimited Internet plan and fibre to your door then you don't give a hoot about client size.   You're like Yosemite Sam, guns in the air, blasting away calling everyone else a "varmint" while you lose poker hand after poker hand to a talking rabbit.  You don't live in the world that most gamers do.

**Actual photo of gamer with a full fibre connection.   Taken in Kansas City.

If you live in most of Australia, the rural U.S, most of Canada or just about anywhere else on this lovely planet you don't have unlimited bandwidth and you most certainly don't have fibre speed Internet to your door.   You are not Yosemite Sam.  You are one of these guys (or gals).

Given that I don't understand how an "idea" that isn't a game yet can raise so much money (but good on them for pulling it off) I suppose it isn't that strange that I can't understand why anyone would believe that a 100GB client download (with 20GB patches) is a good way to keep a gaming community alive and happy. 

How do you feel about it?  I'd love to know!

If you received even an iota of enjoyment from this then please support both myself and TenTonHammer by doing one of more of the following:

Read my previous columns
HCTB 31: Friendly Wednesday HCTB 30: Newbie-Tuesday: Comics, Where Do I Start? HCTB 29: Funday-Monday PAX Edition HCTB 28: Rock Band Returns HCTB 27: Throwback Empires HCTB 26: Memories and Moments HCTB 25: Winners and Losers – Iron Tide HCTB 24: First World Gamer Problems HCTB 23: Strongbad is Back HCTB 22: Free Steam Keys HCTB 21: Destiny Bounty Guides HCTB 20: Destiny Video Farming Guides HCTB 19: Casino Cave Closed HCTB 18: Why Light Is Important in Destiny HCTB 17: Do You Like Green Engrams? HCTB 16: Destiny Is A Nursery Rhyme HCTB 15: Is This My Destiny? HCTB 14:  Censored HCTB 13: Hype and Hope HCTB 12: Irritated by Ice Bucket Challenge HCTB 11: Censored HCTB 10: I Got Fireflied HCTB 9: Gaming Junkets, Do We Need Them? HCTB 8: Need For Speed or Gaming Gourmand HCTB 7: Every Breath You Take HCTB 6: Dear LPBs and Twitch HCTB 5: Comments HCTB 4: If MMO Fans Were World Cup Fans HCTB 3: Censored HCTB 2: Censored HCTB 1: EA vs Activision Follow me on Twitter (@BoomjackTTH) Whitelist us if you use adblocking software Comment below (even a “this sucks” will do)

Thanks again.  I appreciate your support.  

 Who’s awesome?  You’re awesome!

-


Last Updated: Mar 15, 2016