Please change to Disc 2

L.A. Noire 4-disc experience on Xbox 360 was more of a struggle than anything.

RIP Monster Rancher.

It's been replaced by "Please download the next chapter"

Definitely prefer it to having to download half the game.

I don't miss changing discs, but in a game like FFIX I do at least wish they'd include the missing art as a bonus feature or something in rereleases.

Of course I miss it. That pause to change discs told me it's going down. Satisfying!

the MGS4 gag had me howling

I miss the transition as it felt like a trophy of sorts and I would love to see a proper end of act today. The idea of forcing disc swaps however is a terrible idea.

As long as it is a two disc situation, sure.

Good old days of parasite eve and having a dungeon where you needed to constantly go back to a room to solve a puzzle

but the room was on disc 1 and the rest of the dungeon was on disc 2

I do have a nostalgia for that and think that they may have had an influence on the design of those games too. They'd often occur at important shifts in the narrative and were almost a means of punctuating certain key story events.

I've always loved the act format. But the act itself of changing discs never appealed to me.

Nope, and I hated the disc screens in FFIX, full of spoilers.

Fear Effect 2 is another game I remember for changing discs:

Disc 1 > Disc 2 > Disc 1 > Disc 4 > Disc 3 > Disc 4 > Disc 2 > Disc 3

I think it's a charming little thing. Especially when it has a beautiful screen or artwork with it.

Then you realize that you can't find disc 2 and the panic starts happening.

Oh wait Snake. Were on a ps3 system. It's a bluray drive, dual layered too. No need to swap.

"Allied Disc detected, to play the Soviet missions, please insert the Soviet Disc"

Fun times.

LA Noire on Xbox 360 made me want to jump out a fucking window when trying to go back and do the 100% completion which involved replaying a handful cases to get 5 stars on them.

Had to change discs like every 20-30 minutes

FF games were fine but I remember it being really annoying in Riven.

FFVII disc changes are the absolute GOATs

Thank god I never have to use opticlal media ever again:

mute said:

FF games were fine but I remember it being really annoying in Riven.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Riven mostly used the discs for the separate islands which was fine

Except when there were stretches where you needed to constantly go back to the island with the metal topography map and change discs like a madman

I remember Otacon being arrogant in MGS4 'Oh we no longer need to change the discs' despite the multi installs between chapters.

Not missed at all.

But I liked the joke that multiple disk games permitted.

Multi-disc games could still be a thing, as all the data is just installed now so you'd only have to install once and use just the play disc. But first party has been against it because of the "perception" that, i shit you not, multi-disc means the console is less powerful.

So even on PS4 and One, you'll have to install off the 40-50GB blu ray disc, then download another 10GB-20GB of data just to get the entire game playable, because they'll only ship on one disc.

Starlatine said:

Except when there were stretches where you needed to constantly go back to the island with the metal topography map and change discs like a madman

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Yeah that.

I'd get off track sometimes and in floundering around I'd hop islands. My poor CD tray.

I don't miss changing discs (not that I ever had to do it much), but I do miss those days.

Yea. Lost Odyssey on 360 had like 4 discs. The pauses always were at good cliffhangers so it felt like "Acts" from a broway show. Pretty cool. I miss it.

It was cool for it's time but I don't miss it.

Thankfully technology has advanced enough that we don't need to do this any more.

I remember swapping ME2's disc half way through the game, then putting the first disc back in for the final mission. I was bizarre, to say the least.

Definitely. It truly felt to me like the journey wasn't over yet when a disc change came up.

CormoranStrike said:

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

haha that's awesome.

It's a pretty interesting feeling. Like an intermission at a play. "This thing is so big you can't handle it all at once". If handled correctly its got good vibes.

I've fond memories of the changes in Final Fantasy games. It was always a nice moment to let things settle after a major plot point. Especially in VIII, throwing you straight in that Laguna sequence.

Brian Damage said:

Thankfully technology has advanced enough that we don't need to do this any more.

I remember swapping ME2's disc half way through the game, then putting the first disc back in for the final mission. I was bizarre, to say the least.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

I think they did this on purpose so that you could go right into a newgame+ after completing the game.

Colony Wars was fucked up because of multiple discs.

One mission was on disc 1 but wait the next one is on disc 2. It had branching paths so you never knew which mission would force you to change discs.

FyreWulff said:

I think they did this on purpose so that you could go right into a newgame+ after completing the game.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

I hadn't thought of that, you're right, there is a thread of logic there. I'd still say it's better to add this interruption before the start of a new game rather than right before the climax.

theofficefan99 said:

Anyone else miss multi-disc games?

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

No! :D Remember having to change several floppies for some games back in the day.
Knowing which one to have ready to insert next was part of the game!

I remember being pretty upset that Xenogears was only 2 disc. Turns out it wasn't even that.

MRORANGE said:

Thank god I never have to use opticlal media ever again:

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

this one you can blame on blu ray's complete failure in the PC market

I can't really say that I miss them but I do think back fondly on certain ones. I have an odd affection for the disc-swapping screens in some of the older Resident Evil games. Somehow they felt like a good moment for contemplation and reflection on what had happened so far, even though you could get the same effect by just pausing the game.

CormoranStrike said:

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

And yet we had to install each act XD
Thankfully they patched after like 4 years.

I never got the chance to change discs on the PS1 but there was that moment when I was playing MGS1 (for the first time) on my Vita and then it tells to switch to Disc 2 and I'm like "What? How in the hell am I suppose to that? lol".

MRORANGE said:

Thank god I never have to use opticlal media ever again:

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?

PensivePen said:

I can't really say that I miss them but I do think back fondly on certain ones. I have an odd affection for the disc-swapping screens in some of the older Resident Evil games. Somehow they felt like a good moment for contemplation and reflection on what had happened so far, even though you could get the same effect by just pausing the game.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

That's because it was usually right around the final area of the game. REmake had you swap discs right before the lab, RE4 right before the island, RE0 I... forget, actually.

No I don't miss antiquated media storage limitations.

I'm pretty much the hard opposite of this mind set what with me being all digital and what not. I can't understand why someone would wanna be screwing around with discs instead of the playing the game, and I really can't understand how it could improve the experience of the narrative. But hey, I haven't messed with discs for my games in over a decade, and I'm happier for it, as I always found the prospect of changing the disc pretty annoying when I was a teenager/young adult. As far as the folks saying it's a nice divider or a decent way to break up story sequences, I'd say a simple chapter splash screen is more than sufficient and serves the same purpose without being potentially irritating. I suppose I get it though, if the fondness for the act is relegated purely to nostalgia. I feel illogical fondness for the act of cleaning out my NES and SNES cartridges with my handy little q tip and alcohol based solution method, though I still don't really want that back; I just think back fondly upon it from time to time.

I remember playing FF13 and getting so frustrated because it would say to insert the next disc, but when I did that it would say wrong disc. >:(