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Why do GBA games boot so damn fast? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/retrogaming@lemmy.world
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[–] 66 points 3 months ago* (3 children)

Cartridge games were always fast to start. There are essentially no loading times on them, just maybe some logos that you would have to wait through. CD based systems are what introduced the concept of loading times to console gamers, because cds read data from the disk at a massively slower speed than a cartridge.

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  • [+] [S] 13 points 3 months ago (1 child)
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  • [–] 9 points 3 months ago

    Also the data on a cartridge is read using addresses just like memory, whereas on a disc you use tracks and then do a long sequential read. If you want one byte of data from a specific place you have to read much more than one byte from a disc, but from an addressed system you may be able to read an individual address then move on.

    Also if you have 600mb to work with you tend to be a little less frugal thab if you have only a few megs to work with like on a GBA.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago

    I remember once watching someone play a game on a PSP when that was a current console... and being absolutely surprised that on occasion, frames didn't load completely instantly. I only owned Nintendo consoles (GBA, NDS) at the time, so wasn't used to this.

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