When Rockstar published the 1940s crime thriller L.A. Noire back in 2011 on Xbox 360, it was put onto three separate discs because the game was so large. Not only was it fairly lengthy, but the technology used in the game took up a lot of space on the typical DVD used on the Xbox 360. On PS3, it was just one disc due to the use of Blu-Ray discs but those who wanted to play on 360 had to periodically get up and change discs.
Now that the game is re-releasing, the problem of disc switching is basically non-existent because every console uses Blu-Rays or just downloads the additional content instead of having to manufacture extra discs/cartridges.
Since the Nintendo Switch doesn't use discs at all, developers must get their games to fit on 16 GB or 32 GB cartridges with the latter being more expensive to produce. L.A. Noire on the Switch will opt to use a 16 GB cartridge for physical copies and have players download the rest of the game via a 14 GB download. Rockstar states that the install contains "required gameplay data as well as general bug fixes and improvements". This means those who want to play the game will likely be forced to buy an additional SD card to have space to download the game's remaining content.
If you're interested in purchasing digitally, you'll have to swallow the whole 29 GB file size to play the game. Many were hoping that since Rockstar is charging $49.99 for the Switch version as opposed to the $39.99 on Xbox One and PS4 that they'd eat the cost of 32 GB carts for physical copies but it would seem that's not the case.
L.A. Noire releases on Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch on November 14th, 2017. You can click here to view the game's all-new trailer.
