PC Disc Installs

With Steam/Origin/U-Play/Battle.net, the last time I installed a game through a disc on PC was with Diablo 3 and that was only because I had a gift card.

I just bought Mafia 3 from Amazon after the disc version went on sale for $22 and was surprised to see 6 discs waiting for me!

For those who buy disc copies of PC games more fequently, which game for you has required the most number of discs to install on your PC?

Final Fantasy 8 was 4 disks. Haven't bought disks recently, 6 disks for Mafia sounds pretty crazy.

For reference

I believe gta v requires 7 dvd disks.

I got that same Mafia 3 deal from Amazon and was super bummed out to see those 6 discs in there. I was expecting it to just be a Steam code in the box. Luckily, there's a Steam code on the back of one of the inserts in there.

@jtmosh: I had the exact same reaction. At first I was bummed out thinking I would need to rotate 6 discs to install but was relieved to see the Steam code.

@xanadu: Wow that seems like an awful lot, to me at least.

Besides the StarCraft 2 games, which I think weighed only 1 dvd each, the newest PC game I own a physical copy of is Knights of the Old Republic which is 4 discs. Is there a reason to buy physical copies besides the occasional deals? I guess data caps?

4 is the most I've had. Just sold the boxed of Resident Evil 7 on PC which comes on 3 discs but that game is tiny compared to most games. How many would Gears 4 be on PC I wonder.

GTA 5 is a 7 disk install with a 10GB download afterwards. Mafia 3 is similar, with 6 disks and a small download.

I seem to remember Half Life 2 on CD (yes, CD, not DVD) being like 8 disks. I think Counter Strike Source is like 6 as well.

I still buy disks because I have slow internet. It would take me a day and a half or more to install GTA 5 in it's entirety at this point, but if I can install 50 odd Gigabytes off disks? I'll do that any day of the week.

I bought Titanfall last year just so i wouldnt have to wait for download and could play it immidiatelly. Imgine my surprise, considering the last gane i installed from disk was FIFA10, when i opened the box and the disk just kept popping out :D There were 4 of them. I was like, okay, this one gotta be the las one, and then there were 2 more :D

I actually bought the physical copy of Fallout 4 at the midnight release, when I get home I realize the disc serves no purpose and you still have to download the entire game.

@bigboss1911: This happened to me with Doom. Bought a retail copy because I thought it would be a faster install. NOPE.

@dgtlty: @bigboss1911: If you guys got physical discs, did you try this: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=5357-FSQM-0382

I've not tried it, but I'm curious if it simply works as it seems it should.

@blizzvg The most discs I've personally seen is five DVDs (for DA:I), but ever since Steam and day 0 patches they aren't putting all the data on the discs. For reference, Fallout 4's PC physical release was just a single 8.5GB DVD and then a 35GB download. I was pretty hacked off about that.

Also, the cutoff point for your Internet being slower than discs is around 132Mbs for DVDs and 288Mbs for Blurays. I still try to get physical console games where I can (25Mbs Internet here), though I can understand the convenience angle of going discless.

I use that all the time, it works fine. It pulls everything it can from the disc, and then synchronizes with the latest patches. Origin can do this, too.

I have bought retail copies, such as titanfall 2, when on sale. Yet titanfall 2 had no disc and just a steam code...

Also isn't having discs somewhat faster than downloading? I mean buying Mafia 3 on release day with all that traffic takes a few hours to download. With discs is it not like 10-15 minutes?

I recall having to swap 11 discs playing Monkey Island 2 on a friend's Amiga.

I used to buy retail versions all the time but when i got faster internet i went digital.

@athleticshark: It is, but preload is a thing these days, and that lets you get the last minute launch patches that wouldn't have been on the disc anyway.

The Secret of Monkey Island was 5 discs. I remember my Dad saying MI2 was 11 and he couldn't be bothered with that :( So I didn't play MI2 until I got it on PC.

With other games though, I some times buy retail PC games if they are cheaper, but I never actually use the discs. It's faster (or just as fast) to use the steam key and download from there.

Back when I used to buy physical game copies of PC games all the time the game with the most discs I had was World of Warcraft had like 4 CD's when I tried to get into it around when Burning Crusade launched. Can't deal with having physical game copies taking up space anymore, so I just buy digital now.

GTA 5 7 disc for me was the most I also remember COD2 had 6 back in 2005.