Xbox 360 installs: Install takes 10 minutes, 30 percent load time improvements

According to GameSpot, Microsoft has told reporters that a Devil May Cry 4 hard disk installation will take around 10 minutes on the Xbox 360 and will result in around a 30 percent improvement in load times. Reduced noise is also another benefit of the new option. Although you will STILL need to have the disc in your drive!

[Wildarmsjecht]

So um...will this be an end to the useless banter of morons always nit picking the install of some ps3 games regardless of its benefits?

Probably not.

[Captain Tuttle]

So it's not even in the same league as the PS3's mandatory installs. The bigger issue is the small size of the 360's hard drive and the outrageous cost to upgrade.

[crck]

Mostly just some kids like Bladestar trying to make noise. I still love his argument that the 360 hard drive is proprietary technology and is more secure then a PS3 hard drive that's why it costs so much more. But a "ps3" 250 gb hard drive can be had for $75 now. A 320 gb hard drive for $100 shipped at Newegg. Its really a non-issue for most.

[Wildarmsjecht]

Yes, its optional, but if this is a way for MS to allow bigger games to fit on their DVD, then some might actually have to be mandatory, in which case the point I brought up at first applies. It's all speculative however, and only time will tell.

@Crck

Yes, Very few PS3 owners had an issue with it is what Im assuming as well.

[gaffyh]

At the moment MS is saying these installs are optional, but if they become mandatory I will not be happy cos I've only got ~7gb left on my 360s HDD.

On my PS3 though I actually don't mind installs, cos I've got a lot of space available on my 60gb (I think about 20gb left).

[CaptainHowdy]

Dynasty Warriors 6
Folklore
Genji: Days of Blade
Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Ridge Racer 7
Time Crisis 4

for the exception of NG they're all crap, but still...not ALL are mandatory. But you wait, their will be be hypocrisy

[Ghoul]

well said, i for myself never minded the installs. i just cant take it how every game got basehd for a bloody 10-20 minute install (mostly under 10) but now its a smart move by ms to do the same.

sure it was a smart move i totally agree on that, installs forloadtimes horray, but it wasnt bad on the ps3 before either, installs for load times horray.

[KRUSSIDULL]

Install is pointless who cares about load times it only takes up alot of space keep instals for the PC.

[JustinSaneV2]

@CaptainHowdy

And how old are those games?

[StayHigh]

Of course its optional because Microsoft cant make it mandatory since they will screw the core owners..

[whoelse]

Does this mean then its not so much a problem to have multiple DVDs because you can instal the whole game anyway...

[twininfinitysol]

If you're installing the whole game...and it has multiple dvds...that's a LOT of hard drive space.

[SeNiLe911]

is less time then a PS3 to copy only part of a game. It's mandatory for the PS3 on some games but not on the Xbox 360. The benefit for installing the game on the HDD for the 360 is no disk spin making it a whole lot quieter while playing a game (most of the time I don't here the drive anyway with bullets fling past my head) and less wear and tear on the drive with the many hours of playing a game. For the PS3, the Blu-Ray drive still spins durn a game since not all the info is on the drive.

[Homicide]

Oh great. If I want to play a game on the 360 and make it silent, I have to install the game. I'll run out of space quick and need to waste money on an overpriced hard drive. Thanks MS.

[xhairs9]

What's your point? So the disc spins in the PS3, #1 it doesn't make noise such as a jet engine. #2 I've yet to hear of someones Blu-Ray drive falling apart due to too much disc spinning. #3 it DOESN'T take less time. In fact it's most likely the same. DMC = 10 mins ps3/360, what's your point? I'll tell you my point flat out -- your post is a joke.

[AAACE5]

I don't think I complained on here, but yeah! I guess it's enevitable. The main reason I don't like the Idea of installs, is because it feels like dealing with computer games. When I did try playing computer games I would install them, and by the time they were done... I didn't want to play it anymore!

I know right now it's optional, but if developers start focusing on that, we may all end up waiting 30 minutes for a game to load. Or maybe i'm just paranoid?

[BardockS30Z]

Don't forget Unreal Tourney 3 for ps3

[Super-Brad]

the only reason xbox installs faster because it reads dvds faster whereas ps3 has only 2x read speed therefore ps3's needs to install to speed up but not all the time, while xbox don't but to install a whole game will be quicker by near double the speed simple math really.

END off.

[jlemdon]

yeah just like how ps3 fanboys talk about how noisy the Hard drive is huh?

[xhairs9]

Well it is, what do you want them to say? No, it's so silent you can hear a pin drop? That, would be lying.

[ry-guy]

If all it takes is a disc in the drive to reduce load times and fan sounds, I am all for it. I don't know why people are complaining about still requiring to put the disc in for authentication.

[Tempist]

It's the fact that many people had heavily criticized the PS3 for requiring some games to install on the drive to... alleviate load times (unfortunately inherent in the Blu-ray drive given it's first gen and there's a HUGE amount of data to be read.)

As well there were many naysayers about the 360 requiring installation ever.

[ThaGeNeCySt]

But you're missing your own point... it's still not required on the 360 nor is it mandatory. Much like some PS3 games, 360 installs will be completely optional. I won't waste my time doing it but I know others will

[GarandShooter]

The 'option' to install to HDD may be in the hands of the developers, not the gamers.

[xhairs9]

You're missing his point, it's the fact that it's not a waste of time at all. Many 360 owners claimed it was, and now that it's stated to be beneficial all these 360 owners are now claiming this a gift from the Game God. Optional or not it's beneficial and not a waste of time and you only have to do it once.

[ThaGeNeCySt]

it's a waste of my time, I only have a 20gb hard drive... no way am I going to play musical chairs to pick one game to put on that LOL

[xhairs9]

You shouldn't have bought a 360 then. 120gb is more than enough room for me to just download/install anything I see.

[ThaGeNeCySt]

I shouldn't have bought a 360? lol because I don't want to put full installs on a 20gb harddrive? That's hilarious...

[Aquanox]

Considering we won't need to use it in 95% of the games, it will still be a welcome option (key word: OPTION) for games that do require it. For what I've seen, the first candidates could be Fallout 3 and the sequel of Mass Effect. No more long loading times for heavily loaded games. Texture pop-up will be dramatically improved too.

[Aquanox]

Devil May Cry, which installation takes 10 minutes on the Xbox 360 beta tests, takes around 22 minutes on the Playstation 3 according to this article (among others)

http://kotaku.com/353612/de...

[Bill Gates]

Great now the BABOONS are also starting to COPY another one of sony's strategies by having game installs to improve the gameplay by having LESS load times.....AHHAHHAHHAHA

Before they were all like " installs are lame", and now it's "awesome"......POOR hypocrite BABOONS.....AHHAHAHHAHHHA

[power of Green]

The PS3 fans are not comprehending what is being offered they are confusing MSFT's optional installs for reducing noise and increasing load times with the PS3 having to use the HDD to allow the games to run on par with the 360 also increasing PS3 load times where they are acceptable for a console.

The difference is the 360 will allow installs as a universal system software option and the PS3 forces you to install parts of some games so it runs properly and in a timely fashion.

360 games are going to even run better than they already do compared to the PS3.

People making fun of PS3 having to install or else the game can not run or will be so slow it will piss gamers off is no excuse to bash this new system feature. lol

[themyk]

b b b b but i thought game installs were gay. and the great thing about consoles is how you can just put the game in and play.

nnnnnnn no installs aren't the thing of the future.

b b b b but home sucks.

b b b b but trophies are so stupid.

360 = installs, home lite, and metals, not to mention mii's.

super lame.
you have no shame.

in one week the 360 went from the "hardcore" system, to the system that was soooo dated that it had to copy everything good about the other two systems.

pathetic. unimaginative.

[Pain]

Install games to keep parts and what not from Over heating so CrapBox 2 might not RROD.

with this said.. Please stop saying teh Xbox 2 is Not a PC since its Installs = PC and not the same as the Held back cuz of Xbox 2 dvd Install for PS3's...

oh and @ the Moron Xbots below taking about FF...u Brain Dead Hypocrite crack babies are way funny with FF...
.....Firsts Its FF is JPRPG it BLOWS WRPG>>>JP Anyday ...sound familer???
...oh...but its on teh~xbox 2 its KOOLZ againz..... u xbot kids are funny and i mean that in the Special ed way.

[why do droids cry]

' b b b but'

stop stuttering droid. these are optional not mandatory like the ps3

[zapass]

so HDD installs are kewl now?
xbots = shameless FLIP FLOPPERS
AquaBOLLOX = the most hypocritical hippo of N4G

[why do droids cry]

that a very good self portrait their. trophy unlocked= sad little boy

[zapass]

did you mean 'there' kiddy kiddy?
[email protected]

trophies, medals and all that blingbling are for you under-confident over-achievers. gamers like me play for something called fun.

since you failed to achieve this time, you will not have any candy :(

[hay]

Soooo.... Where's the topic with "What can you do during DMC4 install" like it was with certain other titles?

[CyberSentinel]

....This is step towards solving the "Multi-Disc" issue.

FFXIII should be no problem with this update, among OTHER massive data titles.

@those that disagree, denial is NOT prevention against the inevitable.

@2.2: Your point being?

@5: So true. Bubbles my friend.

@2.3: Exactly My friend. Bubbles for you, as always.

@17: How would you know what single life is like for a ps3 owner, your married, are you not? - you do win the funniest post award though. Lol.

[InfamouspS3]

FUNNY THAT NOW THAT FFXIII IS COMING OUT FOR THE 360 ALSO YOU SH*TBOX FANBOYS ALL OF A SUDDEN CARE FOR IT.AND NOW INSTALLS ARE A GOOD THING? LMFAO YOU XBOX FANBOYS ARE A JOKE!

[Harry190]

We don't know anything about how the game will be yet. Have you even read what they said about installs?

[Bladestar]

who said xbox fans didn't care about final fantasy? ohh and installs... there is a big difference between PS3 installs and xbox 360... first they are not installs... they are rips... moving DVD files from the disc to a hard drive and playing it from there.... PS3 installs the game... and partially play some of the files from the hard drive and most of it from the blu-ray disc... on the PS3 this ability must be implemented by the developer and i a) not optional or b) non existent.

on the xbox 360 you can do this with your old games... ALL GAMES ARE SUPPORTED AND OPTIONAL.... also, on the PS3 this is a workaround to make the games playable do to blu-ray reading speed... so developer use different technique to match the loading to the xbox 360 versions... which is why games like DMC, GTA4 require installs on the pS3 and not on the xbox 360 though they have similar loading... now add the 30% the xbox rip introduce and you have multiplayer games running 30% faster than the PS3 games... even with PS3 installs... now that's a good thing... I do not want installs if they will not do $h!t... why do you think they are mandatory on the PS3? because the game without them would not be playable... that's why xbox 360 gamers are ok with this new OPTIONAL FEATURE...

[themyk]

hey bladestar so what your saying is they finally didn't copy EVERY thing from sony.

would you like to explain the difference between metals and trophies.

or home and home lite

or the new dashboard and the xmb

or lips

or anything else they have been releasing the last week.

it must be nice to be completely brainwashed.

[ravinshield]

first of all FONY copied the trophies from microsoft cuz before you unlock an achievement their is a little picture of a trophy with a lock.

next is the avatars, only cuz FONY announced it first doesnt mean they invented it. Maybe microsoft had it in development way back but they dont like to announce things that will never come out like HOME. anyways the fall update will come out way before the DELAYED home.

the in-game xmb was in the 360 since launch unlike the ps3 which FONY ripped off.

and LIPS is way better than that singstar crap. and its not copying anyways cuz only because their is one singing game ur saying no one else can make more singing games.HERE is an example for u. 2K makes basketball games and so does FONY so u see.

[power of Green]

Talking about *JOKE *I find it funny PS3 fanboys are trolling 360 news like their lives depend on it, go check out PS3 news there doesn't seem to be anybody interested in it.

[BoneMagnus]

I did upgrade to a 120G HD, but I doubt I could have my entire game collection on my HD. I'd probably keep the LIVE games I frequently play on the HD, and delete SP games once I've beaten them(I could always just play it unloaded again if I wanted).

The other thing, and this is only a question, so please don't flame, could this move make MGS4 possible on the 360?

[fresco]

it would be alot more convenient for multi disk titles as well

[Dark vader]

yea its possible, If you want a mandatory installation of 50 gb on your hard drive lol.

[ry-guy]

I also wonder how large these installs are. It may be worthwhile just to keep 1 or 2 most played games installed and just let those infrequently played games spin.

[mistertwoturbo]

I only have a 20gb 360 and only 11.5gb of space left. So you're telling me I can only install 1 game?

And no, I'm not forking out $149.99 for the 120gb HDD.

[Dark vader]

Wow is it really like that for such a small harddrive. I payed $150 for a 250 gb harddrive for my ps3. Microsoft never stops nickle and diming their consumer. people have to realize that yes the ps3 does cost more, but it also is the better value.

[Nevers]

they're talking bout uploading the WHOLE game.. just a coupla gigs to smooth load-times. But that still sux for those who only have the inadequate 20gig HDD... I just upgraded to the 120gig and luckily caught a sale on Amazon so it was $140. That's still too much for 120gigs and I hope Microsoft decreases the price on HDD's because of this aspect but that doesn't really fit their MO....

[xhairs9]

Strictly because of the amount of man-power it would take to re-do basically the entire game. There are so many references to the PS3 in the game they'd pretty much be making a brand new game. It's not fanboy talk it's simply put -- no. If you've played the game you'd realize why it's not going to happen.

[celticlonewolf]

The install is a choice you dont have to if you dont want to. When you get the game if you want to jump on right in and play you can and then wait till the time is better for you before you install.

[TheColbertinator]

I approve of installations in 360.Less loading equals better better experience and games like Oblivion could feel more immersive.360 installations are a good idea

[themyk]

thats funny. that's the same thing you 360 fans were bashing us for saying.

so on the ps3 installs means the ps3 must suck

on the 360 it means the 360 is the sh1t

wow thats good logic.

[power091999]

I really feel this is one of the coolest additions MS added to the Xbox.

I am all for HD installs, and honestly feel this does nothing but add to games. 10 mins of installs for quicker load times is fine by me.

Although I never minded it on the PS3, I defiantly like the fact that it's optional on the 360. More so since I only have the 20GB drive in mine.

Great idea MS! <golf clap>

[kingme71]

This just null and voids all those absurd arguments from the last 6 months about PS3 installs.

[Petitionstation 3]

No it doesn't. 360 installs full games in 10 minutes. It takes 20 minutes to install half of devil may cry on ps3. So not only is it quicker on the 360 but load times completely obliterate the PS3.

there is also another significant difference. 360 installs are OPTIONAL OPTIONAL OPTIONAL OPTIONAL OPTIONAL OPTIONAL OPTIONAL OPTIONAL OPTIONAL OPTIONAL OPTIONAL OPTIONAL OPTIONAL OPTIONAL OPTIONAL OPTIONAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!

[LoVeRSaMa]

@Petitionstation 3

Shut up you fool.

[strotee]

I love how people scream "choice" when talking about the 360. What "choice" does a person have when upgrading or adding a new hard drive?

Western Digital? No
Seagate? No
Maxtor? No
Hitachi? No

Wait, what's that? A person has but 1 "choice"..... an expensive, proprietary drive from Microsoft? Talk about looking out for your customers.

[Infernus]

That was quite funny. Wrong, but funny.

It takes just under 10 mins to completely install DMC4 on the PS3. Then we have the MGS4 arguments, if MGS4 came to 360 (Which it won't, the many mentions of 'superior Blu-Ray technology' and the references to the PS3 in the game points to PS3 exclusivity forever) then it'd require mandatory installs just like the PS3 version (Which take about 5 mins, at the start of each chapter, they're reduced the next time you play anyway to about a minute.) I don't recommend anyone play through the whole of MGS4 without getting up, moving about and taking a break, it's a long game and sitting there that long is bad for you :P

Personally, I have no issues with mandatory installs at all, I don't mind a one-off 10min install, I don't live sitting in front of my TV every minute of the day so I find it ridiculous how people say mandatory installs are bad based on the length of time they take. Don't you have anything else to do?!

I've upgraded to a 250GB HDD for just over £40 ($80), you can't do that with a 360 there's no way you'd get it that cheap, so I don't have to worry about installs, DLC, game saves, pics, music, videos etc etc filling up the PS3 because I have plenty of space.

Installs for the 360 will become mandatory because the devs will build the games around the fact that players can install now. Don't get sucked in to this 'optional' crap, the last time I heard that MS was pushing HD-DVD drives...

[Bladestar]

what are people talking about? what the big deal with swapping discs... this is to improve loading...beyond what other consoles can do... multi-platform games that require installs on the PS3 currently have similar loading.... the xbox 360 version when using this method will load 30% faster... simple as that...

if you are trying to prevent disc swapping... and you are ok with 10 minutes installs... you have some serious problems since swapping a disc takes only 30 seconds... if this ability wouldn't increase loading speed by 30% I would not bother... I would take 30 seconds disc swapping over 10 minutes installs any day of the week...

don't I have to swap disc anyways to play other games... PS3 or not?

while I was playing Lost Odyssey by the time it asked me for the 2nd disc I already swapt the disc to play other games like 20 times... most people don't own 1 game you know.

[Ghoul]

Multiplayer games that require installs on the PS3 currently have similar loading.... the xbox 360 version when using this method will load 30% faster... simply as that...

ah the futureorb again, you read something on the internet and allready are good damn professional about facts... p

[Bladestar]

@Ghoul - not stating the facts... stating the obvious... are you still trying to figure out how to spin this negatively?

[Ghoul]

what are you taking i want some too man,

what negativ spin ?

[TheColbertinator]

Well Bladestar,it is choice that allows the consumer to decide what they like.Frankly I dont mind installations or disc swapping or both.Its because I am also a PC gamer and some of the best games require both procedures.

I have enough memory on my 360,PC and PS3 to not have to worry about installations or disc swapping.

[Zulwarn]

the best part is "this is a choice" unlike a certain console in which you have to install game in order to play it

and even with installs it has long ass loading time

[Ghoul]

ps3 installs bad
xbox360 awesome

.... and dont gimme the mandatory sh...t

its allways the same with you folks, you bash the oposiong faction to the ground on EVERYTHING but if your precisous one gets the same option you like it suddenly. btw i give a crap about installs on the 360 as long as i need the disc couse the noise is the same. i want to disable the damn drive alltogether.

p.s.you consider this as a service but in reality its only the pre phase for mandatory 360 installs as ms realised they cant stick to the disc streamed games in the future to compete.