PS3 downloadable games set at 500MB limit, Xbox 360 still 50MB
Speaking with FiringSquad, SCE Santa Monica's director of external development John Hight offered up an arbitrary size limit for PlayStation 3 downloadable games: 500MB. That number is ten times larger than the size limit that Microsoft imposes on its Xbox Live Arcade game developers. But bigger don't always mean better.
Leniency could lead to sloppy development, leaving games unnecessarily large, in turn, increasing download times. But if Sony dedicates itself to a strict certification process -- and keeps prices competitive -- than this generous allotment of space could give PS3 developers a significant advantage; and help the service avoid XBLA's pitfalls (e.g., Lumines being split into multiple downloads). So when will Microsoft amend its policy? (Hint: when the 256MB mem unit drops.)
