Is a hard drive REALLY required?

  • Thread starter Jedi2016
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Jedi2016

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I keep hearing all these people (fanboys, mostly) who babble on about how much the PS3 and it's games will "totally suck" if the system doesn't include a hard drive.

I was thinking about it, and the question kept popping into my head:

Why?

Think about it... why is a hard drive necessary? And as near as I can tell, it's not. I mean, what is a hard drive? It's storage. Nothing more, nothing less. So couldn't any storage device fulfill the same function as a hard drive?

Specifically, I was arguing with someone about whether MMORPGs were possible without a hard drive. He said they weren't, I said they were. Granted, they require larger amounts of storage, but that's pretty much in the form of a save-game.. so couldn't a 256MB memory stick serve that function? I'm sure there are some folks here who play MMORPGs on their PCs... what's the largest save-file you have?

Isn't a memory stick basically just a very small hard drive without the moving parts? I mean, do you really need 80-120 gigabytes of storage space for a game console?

Then they'll bring up the "caching" argument... which is rather stupid to begin with. Because the Xbox does it, it must the "cool thing to do", I suppose. A properly optimized game doesn't need one. By using the hard drive as virtual memory, you're essentially giving the developers free reign to be lazy, and not bother to optimize their games to use only the system memory, as it should. As you've probably heard, neither PS3 or Xbox360 will utilize this feature next-gen. So that argument's right out from the start.

As for actual in-game caching.. things like where you parked your car in GTA.. that sort of thing could easily be stored on a memory stick, or simply tucked away into RAM if there's some to spare (and also included in the game-save in the event that you turn off the console). Again, hard drive not required.

Now, I'm not saying that a hard drive wouldn't be nice to have. Having one installed would give you the ability to do things like custom soundtracks, and would indeed eliminate the need for memory sticks (except for portability and "versus" multiplayer stuff). And I think developers should be encouraged to insert these features as options for customers who have a hard drive (especially EA and their asstastic soundtracks), but still make the game itself fully functional without it.

What do you guys think? Do you think the system will be fine without a hard drive standard?
 
I haven't used an HDD for my PS2, I'll be just fine without it.

Granted, the custom soundtracks would be a nice feature, of course.

The reason I see Sony not implementing an HDD for the PS3 is piracy. It would make it so much easier to burn games onto the HDD much like you already can now. IMHO, those who are lobbying for the HDD to be included with the PS3 is probably made up of nothing more than cheap bastards who don't want to pay $50 for a video game when they can rent it for $5 and burn it.

Flame on.
 
Custom soundtracks are worth it, I love my music and especially when I play racing games! :)
Plus, its nice to know you dont need a memory card for everything.
 
I read someplace the HD on the PS3 will NOT store saved games. It's strickly for downloaded content for internet (movies, music, pictures, etc) and online game data. For video game saves, you'll need a memory stick or flash card. Why if you can save an internet game data, for game add ons and such, then why not game saves?

I wonder if a compact "Pocket" external HDs will work in place of a flash card. I don't see why not, but computers often surprise me. A 40gb pocket HD will cost 60 bucks, and a 1gb flash card costs 70-80 bucks. Which one would you use or buy?
 
I wonder if developers use the HDD in the current X-Box for larger games?
Anyway, having a HDD as standard in a console gives the developers more memory to play with. The reason why memory sticks or memory cards wouldn't work is because they are optional. You are not required to buy one and so the developer won't be know if they should create a game that supports external memory storage or not. With a standard HDD they would know.

I personally think that the PS3 won't need a HDD, rumours are floating around that Sony will or already has increased the amount of memory on the PS3 from 256MB XDR to 512 MB, the same goes for the GDDR3 memory. If it turns out to be true then a HD will not be neccesary for any type of game.
 
Well, that's not the point I was trying to make..

Some people say that hard drives are required in order to play large-scale RPGs like Elder Scrolls. I disagree, I think a large enough memory stick would do the job just as well. But they insist that ES: Oblivion will never come to PS3 because it doesn't have a hard drive (even though I believe a port is in the works?). It's like talking to a brick wall.. no matter how you explain that a hard drive isn't required, they simply resort to the "PS3 SUXX" mentality.

I'm not here to debate how useful it is or how "neat" it would be.. I'm trying to get an opinion as to whether the hard drive is truly required to play games, or whether a memory stick could provide all the storage even a large game would require.
 
GTChamp2003
rumours are floating around that Sony will or already has
increased the amount of memory on the PS3 from 256MB XDR to 512 MB, the same goes for the GDDR3 memory. If it turns out to be true then a HD will not be neccesary for any type of game.
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There is no rumor floating around, that is all product of people who do not understand tech specs and created their own "thoughts" but there is no rumor.

the PS3 Dev Kits are limited in areas of bandwidth, etc, so, in order to compensate the best they could, the changed the memory to a full 512 XDR, rather than just 256XDR with another 256GDDR3. There was no "bump in memory" they simply changed over the remaining 256MB to a faster memory to increase the overall performance of Dev kits, this saves $$money$$ for sony.
 
Elder Scrolls Oblivion will not use the HDD, No Xbox 360 game will require the HDD. Xbox 360 games will be independent from the HDD acording to j allard. THe $299 version will not come with a HDD and games will not use it anything other than game saves.. With that much ram to boot its not necessaryto cache things to a hdd that was needed for current gen system with low amounts of ram. There are zero pc games out that require a 256mb video card so i imagine there will be much left if the main ram is maxed out.

512mb of ram on a console is going to go much further than a PC with 512 plus a 128mb card.
 
De Bolle
Welcome to the real world, Black95Z28.
You think Microsoft's goal is to entertain people and hopefully break even at the end of the fiscal year?
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They do a better job.
 
LMAO.

really? look at the thread I started in the Xbox 360 forum, I'll make you look like a fool there instead of here. Fanboy :)
 
Black95Z28
I saw it. Worth it to me.
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I'm not talking about the bundles.

I'm talking about the fact that accessories are extremely overpriced, and available, primarily, only through microsoft.

You pay your $80 for a wireless controller (the whole get up). They can keep that.

I'll stick to my PS3 controller that recharges through USB, so I don't have to purchase additional cables and rechargable batteries if I want to recharge.
 
I've never been real big on accessories anyway. I mean, the only one I have is the DFP, and that's fully licensed, and should be fully compatible with PS3.

Hell, with PS3, I might not even need to buy a memory stick.. I have SD cards from my digital camera that might work. That's money saved, right there.

Can't really think of any other peripherals I'll need, except of course for extra controllers for when my friends come over.
 
Jedi2016
I've never been real big on accessories anyway. I mean, the only one I have is the DFP, and that's fully licensed, and should be fully compatible with PS3.

Hell, with PS3, I might not even need to buy a memory stick.. I have SD cards from my digital camera that might work. That's money saved, right there.

Can't really think of any other peripherals I'll need, except of course for extra controllers for when my friends come over.
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Yea, but I'm talking about Xbox 360 and how insane the prices are for accessories.

Black95Z28 said sony was all about money...

Not once have I ever seen a sony controller MORE than $30 dollars.

Same goes for a memory card.

Or their component cables, composite cables, AND Svideo cables.
 
Same here jedi. I have a memory stick with my psp and when i upgrade to 1gb later this year I'll have the 256mb as a spare along with my spare CF card.
 
Now that I think about it, has Sony confirmed whether or not any old memory card will work for game-saves? I know it has SD and CompactFlash slots, but are those for general media purposes, or will those be used for save-games too? I hope they are... I have two 128MB SD cards, and I only ever use one of them for my camera.
 
Sony hasn't said anything yet. My take is that, you will have to format the cards specifically for the PS3.

However, I do have a strong gut feeling that only the Memory Stick Duo will work for the PS3 as far as games are concerned...because Sony uses patented Magic Gate technology for their game saves, and I don't see that being capable on SD cards.

I think SD cards will be used as another medium to get data into games/PS3...but that's yet to be seen.

I see it highly possible, however, that PS3 will play media off of SD cards etc.
 
Yeah, that's what I'm worried about, having to buy a Memory Stick anyway, and just using the SD card for other "stuff". I guess we'll wait and see.
 
Sony IS about the money, they want my money, your money and the next guys money, but so is Microsoft, so is Nintendo, any profit making business is in it for the money. You can't really accuse a company of being in it for that because if they arn't, then why are they in business in the first place.

Different companies will try to make themselves seem friendlier in different areas, thats all marketing and doesn't mean that company all of a sudden doesn't want your cash, this applies to all bsinesses.
 
Omnis
a hard drive is most definitely required.
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Well, thank you for that insightful post. Perhaps you'd like to elaborate a little... perhaps explain WHY a hard drive is required.

And, if it's required, why are NONE of the next-gen systems including one standard? Hmmm??
 

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