Gaming How big can a DS game get?

[sonicstorm]

How big can a DS game get in both mbits/mbytes? Is there a set limit that can fit on a DS card?

 

[INTERNETS]

Yeah, 1024mbits is the maximum capacity of the cart, which is around 128mbytes.

 

[knl]

you mean a freaking beetle game fills the cart up? goddamn.

 

[legendofphil]

It could simply be that the game is slightly over 512Mbit, since their isn't a card inbetween.
I do remember reading somewhere that in theory the DS cards can be over 1024Mbit with a software trick.

 

[opcode32]

doesn't even need a trick. if you have a look at the developers manual you can see that in theory there is no limit for the size of a game.

 

[sonicstorm]

I was wondering because I want to get a G6 lite even though the cart is small, I was just wondering will their ever be a time that I can't fit the latest game (even if its the only thing on the cart).

 

[leetdood]

Nah, there won't be a 4gbit game for a looooooong time.

 

[TPi]

I had always heard that 2Gbit was the highest cart size, but opcode probably knows what he's talking about more than I do.

So either 2Gbit or no limit.

 

[VmprHntrD]

The current limit is 1gbit with the technology allowed, but as with as far back as Nintendo's 8bit roots you can do stuff like they did in the day (bankswitching on NES carts) to allow for larger cart sizes that do more than the original hardware could allow for. Every cart (or in the case of DS ...card...) system made by Nintendo to date has always had a game that has gone beyond the specs due to bankswitching, new hardware, new techniques...whatever (Virtual Boy aside as it petered out.) GB itself should have done I think just 4MByte carts but Densha de Go did 8MB over there, and like the N64 didn't get larger but got new chips to allow for new stuff as did the SNES...MPEG chip (re4, pokemon puzzle league) and FX chip and about 12 others on the SNES.

 

[ceevee]

So if there's new hardware in a DS cart that allows the game to do more than a regular DS is capable of (like FX chip in Starfox for SNES), then it'll prolly take awhile for the game to be patched by flashcart manufacturers.

I hope it won't be too big of a problem in the future...

 

[jumpman17]

There is no reason that they can't make a bigger cart in the future. We sell 4 gig flash memory devices at Staples by Sony that are the size of a fingernail. If Nintendo wants, they can make a bigger cart. They probably just don't see a need for one yet.

 

[wabo]

It's not a physical size problem jumpman, it's a matter of how much memory you can adress.

Every cart (or in the case of DS ...card...) system made by Nintendo to date has always had a game that has gone beyond the specs due to bankswitching, new hardware, new techniques...whatever

GBA didn't have a game bigger than 256 mbits.

 

[VmprHntrD]

That is true, but...it is possible as I read up on the thing some years ago when I used to work for Midway. It while quoted as 256mbit just like how DS is for 1gbit isn't so much as a hardware cap, but just what they're willig to offer considering the cost of manufacturing vs how much a game should cost people at retail in the end and so on and all that.