"Shipping on two discs “would completely wreck the functionality and experience of the unified interface.”
As posted on Gamespot
Halo fans–particularly those with slow Internet connections or data caps–weren’t pleased with last week’s news that an update available at launch for The Master Chief Collection weighs in at a whopping 20 GB. Offering a second disc “would have been easier in a lot of ways,” according to 343 Industries’ Frank O’Connor, but doing so “would completely wreck the functionality and experience of the unified interface.”
O’Connor made these comments in a series of posts over the weekend on NeoGAF, where he defended 343’s decision to offer the hefty day-one update we learned about on Friday. He described it not as being a patch, but “content” that is primarily geared towards the game’s multiplayer modes.
“The game is designed to run as a single, unified product; digital is seamless obviously, but we also wanted disc users to have the same experience, without swapping discs,” he said about the 20 GB download. “Since the bulk of it is MP or MP-related, the logic is sound. There will ALSO be a [title update] in there, but that in itself is a tiny fraction of the content.”
To help matters, those who buy the game digitally will be able to preload this content along with the base game. He also reassured players that they’ll be able to play through all four campaigns (and watch their respective cutscenes) and play “a good chunk of MP custom games” without getting the update.
But even with that being the case, this is an unfortunate situation, and O’Connor didn’t shy away from acknowledging that. “Do I understand the inconvenience and annoyance for some users? Of course. I’m not going to blow smoke or ignore it,” he said. “For some folks it will be straight up annoying and I both apologize unreservedly for the irritance, and hope that the package and the way it works more than makes up for it.”
He also noted that he has “pretty lame Internet” and uses Wi-Fi, but hasn’t run into problems himself–“my installation and immediate play were all pretty buttery,” he said. Of course, take this with a grain of salt, as it’s coming from someone who works on the game.
“We realize that this isn’t ideal for everyone, but it’s the path to the smoothest eventual experience,” he added.
The Master Chief Collection, which consists of Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 4, launches on November 11.
Source: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/halo-boss-addresses-master-chief-collections-huge-/1100-6423067/