Bigger Isn't Always Better When It Comes To Game Box Size

Terry Cummings examines the hardware requirements for this oversized game.

The unfortunate thing for Terry, and for many others, is that 16" CDs are only compatible with a 16" CD-ROM drive, a newer hardware peripheral that hasn't made its way into all markets. The bulky devices sell for approximately $399 retail, and because of their size, are only available as an external drive.

These "oversized" CDs offer a significant increase in storage capacity (up to 40 gigabytes), a huge advantage to software publishers whose products are growing to such sizes that their content cannot fit on a standard CD. The larger media makes it easier to produce multimedia-rich, graphics-intensive games without the usual file size limitations.

Retailers are excited about the bigger CDs. The larger boxes immediately draw the attention of customers and they offer a promise of more value--bigger is always better.

"I heard that the next version of Microsoft Office XP will require two of these 16" CDs...maybe even three if they include a clip art library," said David Britton, manager of The Software Boutique, a local software retailer. "And who knows how many the next Myst title will require."

Britton says that his store is starting to sell more of the oversized software titles, claiming that the need is creating the demand.

"The first oversized title we had was the Diablo II expansion pack," said Britton. "People scrambled to buy the expensive 16" drives, without regard for the cost. But then again those RPG diehards would have bought Macs if the game wasn't made available on PC."

Britton's only concern is that the physically larger games take up more retail shelf space, and they have less room for inventory. But those are small inconveniences compared to the alternatives.

"Look at the positive spin," said Britton. "Without these innovations, we could still be installing games from diskettes. Can you imagine how many floppies it would take to load up Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project? Okay, not that many, but Warcraft III would sure take a lot!"

Because of the incredible amount of data that can be stored on a single16" CD, there is also a natural protection against copying, which appeals to the software industry. It would be far too difficult and unreasonably costly to copy the content of a 16" CD onto multiple CD-Rs. However, there are rumours of a 16" CD-writer being developed.

Although tempted to buy the game he wanted anyway, Terry ultimately decided to hold off on the purchase until he upgraded his system. He settled for buying the animal movie Jumanji II which he watched later at home on his standard-sized DVD-ROM.