Full Hard Drives Mean An Uncomfortable Digital Age For PS4 And Xbox One

Forbes:
"It finally happened. As I went to install my Bloodborne review copy on PS4 this weekend, I got a message. “This action cannot be completed, you need 5.72 GB of free space to install this file.” After less than a year and a half of ownership, my PS4 was already full. The Xbox One hit that mark a few weeks ago when I installed Evolve, and now it was official. It’s time to start deleting."

[RyanDJ]

As a reviewer myself, I say that kind of effects it. Lots of review copies are coming as "digital only" these days. While a lot of data gets put on the HDD, it skyrockets if you are getting free games to download on a regular basis. Plus, if you are installing every Games with Gold/PS Plus game, you will fill it up too. Smart downloading and logical deletion (especially of physical storage you can always re-install if the mood hits) can stave this off a bit longer.

[Mustang300C2012]

I really don't get why this is a conversation. The PC is not infinite and you have to get more hard drives or upgrade for more space. PS3 let you change the hard drive. Why is it we have known regardless if it comes on disc or digital it is going to take the same amount of space and these consoles are not infinite space. I have two 4TB Externals for my Xbox One. Why is this even a conversation when it should be common knowledge.

[psplova]

I'm glad I don't have this problem anymore. Bought a 4TB SSD for $100 WITH a gift certificate I got for Christmas. Solved all my problems and I shouldn't have to worry about this again for a good long while... If ever. Bring on those free games, I say!!
: )

[SmokingMonkey]

1st thing I did before I ever even turned on my PS4; was to put a 1TB HD inside that bad boy!

I've had bad luck with external HD's (probably not the only one)

So good luck having all these appendages hanging off your Xone or WiiU, sucking up more power from the extra outlets.

60gb PS3 had the same loving thing done to it, 250gb installed and never had it fail on me so I stuck to the same specs when doing the PS4.

Screws were made of butter though.

[LifeInNZ]

I prefer the external HDD option because it means I lose nothing that's already on my internal drive. Also, having USB ports at the rear of the xbox one also helps to hide any of the usual clutter.

[Kiwi66]

You do know that you can get usb powered external hdd's so that solves the power problem

[alexg587]

Yup I just had to delete for the first time too.. on a 1TB drive on ps4.... them 40gb+ games add up fast :-(

[deadpoolio316]

Because you need to have every single game you've bought all installed at the same time....Most people with common sense delete things they haven't played in a while and are even slightly sure they wont want to play again anytime soon....

[captainexplosion]

I finally got a testicle shot where the X Ray bullet goes through the testicles in Sniper Elite 3 and when I went to record it I couldn't because my hard drive was full.

[Shineon]

Even when you buy the disc it still takes up waaay to much space.I don't understand how these games require such space,are they that much bigger than ps3 and 360?I would take a few compressed audio tracks,pics and etc if it means less space is taken up on my hardrive.

[HammadTheBeast]

Texture upgrades over last gen takes up a whole lot of space.

[rainslacker]

Games nowadays aren't that much bigger than last gen. Textures are a bit more, but audio has been uncompressed since last gen...at least for blu-ray. Movies/audio are what take up a bulk of the install size.

The difference in install space now is that MS and Sony are requiring that the games be fully installed on the hard drive, so the only time the disc drive is used is to install the game, and to verify ownership of the game.

Not sure if this was done to speed up game access or reduce the wear and tear on the system lasers so to have fewer warranty claims...or possibly both.

I still think there are things which could be streamed/loaded from the hard drive(like movies or audio), to reduce the amount of space used, and allow people to get more games onto the rather measly amount they gave people at launch.

[Moldiver]

I got a 1TB COD edition Xbox with a 3TB drive strapped to it.And a 1TB in my PS4. Im not worried about space anytime soon. I could tell it was going to be that kind of gen when I saw the install sizes! lol

[soul-assassin-]

Have a 1tb on my ps4. I buy & download a lot of games. Just Play, complete, delete & repeat! What's the problem?

[WESKER2015]

no problem, just the whining generation at work

[soul-assassin-]

haha, yeah most of them would have a meltdown waiting for a commodore 64 to load up. I know it's irrelevant, but this generation of casuals will never understand what us gamers put up with in the 80's

[Maxor]

The problem is after I delete a game like Farcry 4 my friend just got it from a sale and wants me to play with him. Then I have redownload the entire freaking game.

I have over 120 games on the PC that never, ever, have to worry about deleting. Then why do I have to manage space on the PS4? This is this 1998 when HDD space is at a premium and games need to deleted? Am I gaming on a god damn 16 GB iPad? Nope, I'm gaming on a so called "nextgen" console.

I can't wait for Nyko Databank to come out so I can attach a 4 TB HHD to the PS4 so I will never, ever to worry about space again.

[Shineon]

I don't want to delete I want to keep just like I still have my nes,genisis,ps1,ps2,ps3 and 360 games readily avaible.I don't belive the games have to use that much space I could be wrong

[Bnet343]

It's not whining. Who the hell wants to deal with deleting and reinstalling games? Are you nuts? You must have a small gaming library cause last gen I had 80+ games that I didn't really have to install and if I have that same amount this generation, I do not want to keep installing and reinstalling. Sorry bud, I do not support that.

[BLKxSEPTEMBER]

Ive got external drives on my x1 and i go all digital. I have over 25 games and i still have 500gb left.my ps4 on the other hand only has 117 gb left after i downloaded bloodborne. Im going all digital on x1 but sony needs to add true external hdd support so i can stay all digital on ps4

[Spotie]

Or you could add a few TB right inside your PS4 and not have to worry about it, either.

[BLKxSEPTEMBER]

Or EVEN BETTER sony could allow true external hdd support which is even easier to do than swapping out an internal.

[ziggurcat]

@blkxseptember:

or you could potentially do both if they ever add external support on PS4, and end up with an insane amount of HDD space...

[SamPao]

This has been the problem with EVERY single hardware out there. Handheld, PC, Console, mobilephone, laptop, photocamera. EVERY TECH PIECE need space. Even my cloths need a closet. My car needs a garage.(2 cars need 2garages) Brain needs a head.
Aparently you do not need any of these things to write gaming articles these days

[Mustang300C2012]

Thank you I don't get why another article or even why this is a discussion today. We get it you ran out of space you got OPTIONS.

[WESKER2015]

just delete some games you dont play often, not hard Lol

[Tankbusta40]

Although in the past I have been a fan of Sony... I find myself buying more multiplats for xone simply because I had a 2gb external just collecting dust...I will eventually get a replacement HD for ps4 but right now I just don't have enough space on it

[DxTrixterz]

If you could only keep updates after uninstalling games then I wouldn't mind but if you like me and say for example hmm I want to play Cod Advanced Warfare multiplayer. You pop in disc wait few seconds for it to install and then bam few GB patch to download and you have to wait for the patch to finish downloading and then you can play multiplayer. Then you decide you want to play different game and bam here we go again.

[rainslacker]

It's probably not a good idea then to delete the games you are likely to play regularly(like once a month or more). But surely there are games that you aren't likely to play again any time soon which could easily be deleted without much hassle. I personally selected a couple Lego games and SP games which don't take much time to reinstall from disc.

[DxTrixterz]

On my PS4 I have games that I do not delete at all. GTA V, The Last of Us Remastered,Assassins Creed IV Black Flag, Diablo 3 Ultimate Evil Edition, Driveclub, WWE 2K15,Shadow of Mordor,Battlefield 4, Destiny and now if I want to play any other game then I would have to uninstall one of them which I do not want to do. Also I don't have really great internet speed so to download 5GB patch takes me like 30 minutes. If they let me keep the updates then that wouldn't be problem. If you can keep saves why not updates. I have currently 28 games and 3 other on the way from ebay and that's not even beginning. I'm gonna buy Bloodborne, MK X, Witcher 3, Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition, Dark Souls 2, Final Fantasy X/X-2 remaster, Final Fantasy 15, Project Cars, Naruto ultimate Ninja Storm 4, Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain, J Stars Victory VS, Dragon Ball Xenoverse. All these games I'd like to get in 2015 but now I have no space on my PS4 at all.

[Bathyj]

Check you captures on PS4. They pile up fast.

I put a 1TB hybrid drive in my PS4 before I even played a game. Im glad I did because I noticed just yesterday by sheer coincidence that I have about 100gb left.

I started looking through what was taking up all the space and I saw I had about 50gb of video captures just for one game. Factor in I have over 2 dozen games and you can see where all that space goes.

Time for some housekeeping.

[rainslacker]

One thing I noticed on the PS4 is that if you accidentally hit the share button, it will actually save the video capture regardless of if you upload it or not.

I think there is a buffer to allow for constant streaming(15 minutes worth if I recall correctly).

[Scatpants]

Duh, harddrives aren't infinite. Stop whining and either delete something or get a bigger HDD. Fun fact: when HDDS are full on PCs you also can't put anything else on them.

[titans9999]

I shouldn't have to delete anything! It's idiots like you that physical copies die!

[rainslacker]

Physical copies often have to be installed as well. On the PS4 and X1 they have to be installed completely, so no partial installs.

This isn't a digital problem, just a lack of space problem. There should have been bigger hard drives installed at launch IMO, but business dictates maximizing profits.

[gamer7804]

i just added a 4th hard drive to my xbox at a cost of 130$ to bring the total space to 4.5gb, of course some is used for OS and apps. Plenty of room for now. Was really easy, now all games and apps install to my 4TB by default. I can always move it back and forth.

I"ll probably wait a bit longer to replace my PS4 hdd, id like to get something above 3TB thats 2.5" for reasonable price

[22CobraKing]

It would be cool if Sony and a hard drive company make 2+tb internal hard drives for the ps4 and had a program where you go into the store to trade the stock hard drive for a 2tb+ hard drive and it will end up at a $60-80 price range.

[yuukiliu]

Put a 1.5TB HDD in my PS4. Have about 900gb left. Should be good for a while. Hopefully by that time ps4 has External HDD support so I don't have to redownload all the games on a bigger internal.

[bleedsoe9mm]

i stopped buying any games that aren't exclusive to ps4 and buy them for my xb1 , it was too easy to plug in an external to my xb1 , sony really needs to add external support .

[Scatpants]

Sony has always been dicks about storage. Just look at the Vita.

[titans9999]

And this is EXACTLY why I will NOT accept and pay for digital only! Physical copies are the way for me and will ALWAYS be the way for me as long as it lasts! So it's time for EVERYONE to make a statement by only buying physical copies to send a message to all game companies, or else this will be our bleak looking future!

[Scatpants]

You do know they get fully installed on your HDD anyway, right?

[titans9999]

Not true Scatpants, otherwise you wouldn't need a disc....duh!

[PoopsMcGee]

I installed a 2TB drive in my PS4. It was incredibly simple.

And I spent under $100.

[Maxor]

I should've done the same thing. The 1 TB I have just isn't enough.

[ziggurcat]

where did you find a 2TB?

i swapped the stock drive with a 1.5TB drive, and i still have plenty of space, but i'm finding myself going almost completely digital now, which means that unless sony really does add external support on the next FW update, i'm going to have to get a bigger drive down the line.

and that's going to be a pain in the butt since there's no real way to transfer information from one HDD to the other on PS4 right now (unless i am mistaken??)

[PoopsMcGee]

Here's one I just pulled up on Amazon for $106:

http://www.amazon.com/Seaga...

[traumadisaster]

Maybe they want you deleting old games and never go back to them, that way your time and money is spent on new games that require new purchases.

If you are spending time on old previous purchased games that's not gonna sell a new game.

[Dizzydrifter1]

Bought a segate 5tb for $129 Black Friday works perfectly not a big deal.

[ziggurcat]

well, i don't think it's so much of an issue since you can:

a) swap HDDs (and hopefully be able to plug in an external shorty) on the PS4

and

b) plug in any size of external you want into the xbone.

both of those things kinda sorta negate the whole HDD space argument.

[BBBQ_BYOBB]

I have a 500GB PS3 and it's been full for years (with about 200 games including PSOne and minis). You just delete a game you haven't played recently, it's not very difficult.