Another PS3 Game With Mandatory 5GB Install?

Kotaku writes:

"And it's...Hot shots golf 5. Really? Hot Shots Golf 5? Look, small mandatory installs, those are fine. We've had plenty of those before. And with a game like Devil May Cry 4, you can understand a developer wanting to get the most out of the hardware (even if they should have given us the option of an install)."

[Jack Bauer]

im not liking this trend...its why i dont play PC games, i dont like installing games, i dont mind load times, i wish they would be optional.

[zambrota]

eg in RR7 there was installation too but that was OPTIONAL TOO

same goes to MG ---It is rumoured to have an installation WHICH IS OPTIONAL

[Martini]

Why are you yelling ?

[mikeslemonade]

I never understood why would this be considered a negative. The developeprs can develop knowing that every PS3 has a hardrive and they don't have to work as hard making the game stream the most efficient way from the disc. I mean it's 20 minutes if you're really that uptight about having your games ready to play then you got a problem.

Uncharted, game with no load times after the initial one, doesn't have this large of install because the developers chose to do the more efficient way because they're probably more skilled, have more man power, and more tech savy with the PS3. Smaller developers like Japan Studio have the option use the HDD with large install and get by to make a good game.

[BobDog]

@ above, i totally i agree with you, games can be so much greater if the developers develop with a hd in mind....

but this is hot shot golf, seriously look at the game, im sure they could compress the hold game to <500 meg if they wanted to

[InMyOpinion]

I'm not sure it's a trend. This game is pretty old, I think it was released in Japan as a launch game. No idea what took it so long to be released over here.

[mikeslemonade]

Why does it matter what game it is? If the developers need to use it then let them. The developers who chose to use 5 gigs aren't taking advantage of the system like Naughty Dog and Insomniac, but if they want to use to make the game work then freaking let them. 20 minutes isn't a long time and i'm probably the most impatient person that I know. It's a one time install.

[ravinash]

If dev know whats good for their game, they'd better not force you to install anything over a Gig.
This will shorten the time the game will be on your system as when people run out of space for their new games, the old games that take up a large amount of space are the first things to go.
Imagine when MGS4 comes out and if it took up that much space...by this time my hard drive might be full of UT3 maps. So how do I make space...easy, I uninstall devil may cry4. now if I ever want to go back and play that again, it'll be a 20 min install...so I wouldn't do it any time soon.
If all I'm getting is faster load times for all this installing, then why not run it from the disk, or better still have the game use temp files on the hard drive which loads during game play.

[TeCh77]

It wasn't a Japanese launch title. The demo didn't come out in the Japanese store til last March.

[phony force slayer]

REAL TIME READING TIME FOR MASSIVE DAMAGE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[M_Prime]

The wii has pretty good loadtimes and no instal..

but 5 GB of instal for that.. and i was not aware PS3 needed to have games installed to play until this article. I mean how slow must the BLURAY be? I don't see 360 using installs (that i am aware of) and yeah 5GB for a golf game is kinda bad.. and do u still need the disk to play?

and for PC gaming installing is nothing bad, cause you can mod the games (usually) and usually no disk is needed. And we know PCs now usually come with MASSIVE storage.

Soon you won't be able to play all the game you want cause you will have to uninstall the old ones..

So who here thinks MGS will have to install ?

[zambrota]

Blu Ray has a constant DISC READ speed and the reading speed is faster than what the x360 dvd drive takes to read a DUAL LAYERED DVD disc.

The installation is made optional/mandatory when the Game is usually rushed . In a sense the installation causes data to stream MUCH FASTER which produces better texture and a MORE STABLE FRAMERATE.

even if MGS requires an install it is not bad. Atleast we would be installing for an ultra realistic game not a cartoon game

Go Play your wii rather than trolling the PS3 threads.

[xplosneer]

But Zambrota is partially right. The Read speed of a 2x BluRay(PS3 drive) is actually slightly faster than a x 16 DVD-9 Dual Layer (most Xbox 360 games). Which is why it's so weird that the PS3 gets all these installs. Maybe it's chocking in transfer pipelines, but I can't see where.

[Legion]

You are incorrect Zambrota... the Bluray 2X player that is used in the PS3 is not faster at reading then the 12X DVD system in the XBox 360. The PS3 has one of the lowest quality Bluray players on the market currently. And constant speed is only constant when the disc is spinning. Access time changes when the disc has to spin up to read, thus effecting the constant variable of the Bluray player. A Bluray movie is no issue. Constant rate with constant play. (still at the X2 speed limit though) A game Bluray is different due to it reading, stop, reading, stop... etc.

When Sony gets a better Bluray player into it's system then it might solve some issues it has. But until then they will have the bottle kneck that is the Bluray speed. This option of loading to the HDD was talked about a LONG time ago... and some said it would never come, and others harped it as a good thing. Little did they know it was going to take 20 minutes and 5 GB for each download! See below for an old conversation that discussed this issue with Oblivion title around the corner:

http://www.joystiq.com/2007...

And another showing the Bluray vs DVD speeds and fans marking it as a win without realizing their system was only a 2X Bluray.:

http://boardsus.playstation...

As you can see the Bluray 2X only meets the minimum level of the 12X DVD player. And the 12X DVD maximum nearly doubles it.

[Martini]

Why is it that developers duplicate the data on discs to help with the loading speeds on the PS3 if the BR drive is as fast as you make it sound it is ???

[DJ]

And has been done since the PS1 days, and is still done on the PS3 and 360; it simply decreases the amount of time the laser needs to travel to start loading up data that it needs.

Also, the Blu-ray speed info is completely wrong. 2x Blu-ray, on average, actually reads data faster than a 12x DVD drive, especially when reading a dual-layer DVD drive. Blu-ray discs are read at a constant speed at every point of the disc, and on every layer. DVDs are only read at their theoretical peak speed at the outer corners of the disc; Dual-layer DVDs are read even slower.

[BobDog]

yes legion, get your facts straight

[Diselage]

Look at the charts he's provided. He is correct. Until Ble-ray makes the jump to 3x or 4x DVD is faster. Not their min. speed but their max. is. Come on guys comments are going to start going bye bye unless you can get links to argue with the only guy who has provided proof of the speed.

[solidt12]

Install is not required for all PS3 games you &$&*. DMC4 is the first one I have seen that required it. I don't think Hot Shot Golf should require it, thats strange.

Either way after to beat the game you could always delete the file, it will not mess up your game saves.

[ruibing]

Some developers can do it just fine without the installation, like Naughty Dog's Uncharted. But it's just an option that they have at their disposal to improve the gameplay experience since every PS3 come with this standard feature.

[lilwingman]

While I won't be buying this game, I don't see where the problem of a mandatory single-installation lies. If it makes the game run significantly smoother, with few-to-no load times, than I'm all for it. I'm not so socially inept that for 20 odd minutes I have absolutely nothing to do except whine.

[zambrota]

if the installation produces faster and more stable FR, better texture quality and less load times then why should we complain.

since every ps3 comes with an HDD

[Martini]

Zambrota quit the crap dude it's getting old, installing game data on HDD does nothing to improve frame rate or textures.

[Legion]

Actually it would improve the frame rate but not so much that it would serve as any huge advantage over a 12x DVD speed. But it would improve it over the slower speed of the Bluray. Lucky for PS3 users that they have the option to upgrade their HDDs looks like they are going to need it.

[Graphics by ATi]

Hey Legion, ever heard of VBR?

No?

Ever heard that Blu-ray reads at a constant rate from anywhere on a disc?

Ever discover that the 12X is only the THEORETICAL performance limit for the 360's DVD drive?

Did you ever take the chance to notice that with a Dual Layer DVD (which most 360 games are on), you are almost NEVER reaching 12X?

Just a little insight for ya' since you decided to quote 12X DVD as an advantage over Blu-ray.

[RoboChamp]

As if Hot Shots was even so popular for people to notice. It's been out in Japan with the install for months and NOW people think it's a trend?

[CaliGamer]

People are really impatient and just seek to turn everything into a negative. If you can't wait 10 or 20 minutes for a ONE TIME installation, then your parents seriously failed in your upbringing.

Its one time, and its how the PS3 functions depending on the game. I seriously doubt that any real gamer would allow a one time installation deter them, it will become the norm and fools such as the one that put this article together will find something else insignificant to complain about.

Sorry about the rant, but complaints about trivial SH!T just annoys me, especially when the inconvenience is one that occurs once in a blue moon. I'm sure that in any given day the average gamer waste more time than it would take to install anything on a PS3.

And just a note of caution for those 360 owners who want to gloat, if MS implements a policy where more often than not and HD is required you will have to endure this too.