The venerable Shawn Elliot tweeted these comparison pictures today. I have no idea where they came from originally (probably Reddit?), but they're pretty darn amazing, IMHO. Since GiantBomb scales down images by default, here are the links to the original source: Large Video Game Worlds, Even Larger Video Game Worlds.

Jesus Christ.

holy crap

That... that's a lot of room.

It takes like an hour in Just Cause 2 to fly from end to another with the fastest jet. 

Seeing how tiny San Andreas is now in comparison astounds me. Shows how far gaming open worlds have become. 

" Shows how far gaming open worlds have become.  "

" @Abyssfull said:

" Shows how far gaming open worlds have become.  "

Not far at all? Just because we know have the processing and memory power to let some program randomize and create even larger maps from a set of building blocks doesn't make them more exciting. "

Funny how small WoW is. Although that's just the original continents. But wow, San Andreas is that small? I remembered that being massive. 

It's funniest for WoW, cause that's supposed to be one whole world, whereas everything else is just an island or city or smal part of the world.

Daggerfall, man. That game was ridiculous. 

I've never played Wow, but I'm really surprised at how small the world is compared to some of the other MMORPGs.

" Seeing how tiny San Andreas is now in comparison astounds me. Shows how far gaming open worlds have become.  "

I was completely shocked at how small Azeroth was. That's the only one of those areas that I've spent a considerable amount of time in and it seems like it's pretty large to me.
 
Also, if anyone's curious, you can download Daggerfall for free here.

Where the fuck is Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall? It would take your more then a day to cross the entire map in that game.

" @Tru3_Blu3: On the second picture, in the lower right hand corner, there's a small set of squares. If you look, it shows that Daggerfall's the largest recorded gamespace. "

DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN.

oh geez bigger than just cause 2? when your in a plane or boat getting around it's hard to imagine a game map being bigger.

"

Funny how small WoW is. Although that's just the original continents. But wow, San Andreas is that small? I remembered that being massive. 

It's funniest for WoW, cause that's supposed to be one whole world, whereas everything else is just an island or city or smal part of the world.

"

 http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2010/05/ubwcz.jpg
 
bigger image.
 
this doesn't add up for me.
 
if this is accurate, one tiny street in Burnout is the size of the entire GTAIII map.

shit man i'd like to see one of these without mmo's

I guess if you had to walk everywhere in Burnout: Paradise it would feel as large as it actually is, but driving 110, it's all a blur. 

" @Sir_Ragnarok said:

" @Tru3_Blu3: On the second picture, in the lower right hand corner, there's a small set of squares. If you look, it shows that Daggerfall's the largest recorded gamespace. "

Oh. Shit. Never saw that. Forgive me.  I wish these images were at a higher res. "

" Jesus Christ. "

" holy crap "

" That... that's a lot of room. "

So what is the smallest game world out there?

That really is incredible. The sheer size of Daggerfall's world amazes me. Has anyone ever travelled across all of it? Probably not... but still. The fact a game that is 10+ years old beats the latest technology at getting massive worlds is epic.

Just Cause 2 > All

" This is exactly why I don't play some sandbox games. "

The scale seems off, i don't see how Burnout is half the size of Just Cause 2.
 
 Just Cause 2 is massive.

Interesting comparisons for sure.

" I had no idea Nightfall was so big "

" Daggerfall has to be taken with a grain of salt, it's maps were randomly generated so it had so many possibilities. "

" I had no idea Nightfall was so big "

" @Abyssfull said:

" Shows how far gaming open worlds have become.  "

Not far at all? Just because we know have the processing and memory power to let some program randomize and create even larger maps from a set of building blocks doesn't make them more exciting. "

" I guess if you had to walk everywhere in Burnout: Paradise it would feel as large as it actually is, but driving 110, it's all a blur.  "

Its funny, I was playing Just Cause 2 today and I wondered if something like this existed. Great find.

" So what is the smallest game world out there? "

Oh my god, FUEL is huge. And this is awesome.

Daggerfall is mostly randomly generated so it's size is not as impressive as something like Just Cause 2 which is considerably smaller in comparison but much more detailed.

" @Brendan said:

" Daggerfall has to be taken with a grain of salt, it's maps were randomly generated so it had so many possibilities. "

Only the dungeons were, the open world was not.
It's a real shame the game is next to unplayable due to outdated controls, severely ugly graphics and crippling glitches.
 

Cannot wait for the game that simulates the entire planet, i suppose flight simulator does, but there isn't anything in that world.

No fallout 3? No Operation Flashpoint?

Is there a larger picture of this? I can't really see much.

It doesn't seem that the World of Warcraft one takes into account Outlands and Northrend in their estimates, but even then, it wouldn't be as big as Just Cause 2. 
 
Nonetheless, I'm shocked at Guild Wars: Nightfall.  I never realized how big it was.  I mean, 15,000 square miles?!  GODDAMN!!!

" Is there a larger picture of this? I can't really see much. "

Whoa, that's really cool!

Nice. Too bad so many of those huge game worlds are so bland, though.

Just think of the poor game designers being whipped by there publisher to keep making bigger and bigger worlds!!!