Why are people complaining about installs for games...

[kevinski]

Allowing developers to force installations for games only encourages them to be lazy in how they approach loading sequences. In the past, developers were quite inventive in how they'd mask loading times. I, for one, am tired of seeing developers turn to such measures to work PlayStation 3 into the equation. Sure, Sony...Blu-ray this, Blu-ray that. Your console isn't up to the task of accessing media from Blu-ray discs at sufficient speeds, so what does it even matter? The majority of space on Blu-ray discs are used for poorly-compressed assets (especially sound), as well as redundant files which are instrumental in reducing loading times (assuming that developers don't take the easy way out by forcing an installation).

I love how people claim that a few gigabytes isn't such a big deal when you consider how much Blu-ray discs can store. Take a look at most PC releases, which aren't anywhere near even several gigabytes much of the time and look a lot better than anything you could fathom playing on PlayStation 3. The fact that Microsoft is actually allowing installations is nothing short of disgusting. You know why I play consoles? I put in a cartridge or disc, then the game starts. I don't have to wait through an installation. That's what consoles are all about. If a particular console is a heap of trash that can't even fetch media from its primary format, then let it rot, developers. Don't support such an atrocity. I'm tired of developers bending over backwards to support Sony's shoddy consoles. PlayStation 2 and its graphical issues that require software workarounds, PlayStation 3 and its slow-ass Blu-ray performance...what's next?

[Niode]

Woah hold your horses there fellah.

The 360 is allowing OPTIONAL installs of games onto a hard drive. You still need the disks (obviously) but it's to combat the noisy DVD drive rather than decreasing load times. Loading isn't really a problem for me on the 360. I don't remember the last game that showed me a loading screen for a while except Halo 3 and GTAIV. On the other hand I could tell you what every single loading screen looks like on every single disk-based PS3 game I own... Purely because i've seen them for so long and so often. I think they've been burnt into my retinas.

Joking aside.

Installations on games should be optional at all times. Having to install games is just too much like PC gaming for me. I get a game, I want to pop it in and be playing within 5 minutes. I don't want to sit through a 10 minute install procedure and then be forced to patch the game which could take any length of time depending on server load.

I know why devs choose to have mandatory installs. It's the frequency that they use them that I find annoying. If games like GTAIV don't need installs, why the hell does something like Ninja Gaiden need it FFS?! How hard is it to pre-cache levels before they are needed. It's not like's it's completely linear gameplay... what oh yeah, I forgot it's the most linear gameplay you could get this side of Streets of Rage. Games that weren't 100% linear were pre-caching data 10 years ago (Soul Reaver comes to mind) why do we have to put up with this crap these days? The Playstation had 2mb RAM and a 2x CD-ROM drive for crying out loud!!!

[Bootaaay]

It's laziness/time constraints on the part of the developers, if optimizing the game so it can load directly from the blu-ray is going to take time the publishers aren't willing to give you, a forced install is a quick solution. I hope that as more developers become proficient in developing for the system we will see less and less forced installs - Naughty Dog proved with Uncharted that it's possible to create an amazing looking game without the need for a forced install and without excessive loading times, hopefully more developers can do the same. At least if a forced install is required, the devs should attempt to cover it up like Bethesda did - Oblivion installs 5gbs of data in the background during the opening cinematic.

[SpaceBooger]

I was just thinking about how noisy and long dreamcast loading time was... I would chime in but the only new console I have is the Wii and there is no way, or no memory, for any kind of installation from a DVD.

[Daniel Primed]

I don't really favour the idea of compulsory installs, the fact that I pay an additional $250 to get an inferior 40gb PS3 than the cheaper, 80gb backwards compatible NTSC version only then for games to force install on me. That's not cool. I agree that loading times should be masked with good game design like in God of War which used context sensative events before a new area.

[RackGaki]

I don't really favour the idea of compulsory installs, the fact that I pay an additional $250 to get an inferior 40gb PS3 than the cheaper, 80gb backwards compatible NTSC version only then for games to force install on me. That's not cool. I agree that loading times should be masked with good game design like in God of War which used context sensative events before a new area.

God of War was an unholy aberration of perfecting the art of hiding loading times. Especially considering the constraints of the hardware. It will take PS3 developers a similar amount of time to streamline a AAA title like that, I assume.