Ben-DutkaThe debate over mandatory installs seems to arise once again with every new blockbuster for the PlayStation 3. The latest two in the media are Final Fantasy XIII and Tekken 6 .
First, the good news: thanks to new information gleaned from the latest Famitsu issue (courtesy of IGN UK ), we find there will be no mandatory install for FFXIII. On top of which, the loading times will be greatly reduced and the only time we'll see them is during the transitions "from town to field;" the developers made a point to mention this because they desired a feeling of real seamlessness. This much, we're relatively certain all RPG fans will appreciate. On the flip side of the coin, the upcoming Tekken 6 – set to launch next week – will give you the option of installing 4GB worth of data onto the hard drive. Of course, if you do this, you can shorten up the load times but the good news is, this isn't a requirement, unlike past productions like Devil May Cry 4 and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots . What we need are more titles that give us the option; mandatory installs are a tad annoying and if you don't have a large hard drive, things can get awfully crowded in there.
Well, the default PS3 model now has a 120GB hard drive and a new SKU featuring a massive 250GB HDD will be available in the first week of November, so perhaps it isn't much of an issue anymore. That, and the fact that it does not void the system's warranty on the PS3 Slim if you wish to swap out the hard drive for a bigger one.
Related Game(s): Final Fantasy XIII , Tekken 6
Good news, good news indeed.
Though mandatory install is good for one thing, you can have a break while it's installing, video game is the best thing that could happen to us but video gaming too much isn't good for you.
I think every game should have an optional install with a few diff available installs like, 250mb 500mb 1gb etc. the ability to decrease loads time is pretty awsome, I mean we have HDD's for a reason, lets us access them more efficiently.
Am I to understand that there will not be an optional install for FFXIII either? I upgraded my PS3 HDD and as such I really prefer to install data whenever I can. Making short load times into even shorter load times is always nice.
Of course they can't have an install, its going to 360.
But other multiplatform games have installs on ps3 tho not 360, or are you trying to refer to the fact that installing would decrease loading times making it > than 360's version? haha
I think you can install games on the 360. The only thing that stops people is that getting a hard drive upgrade for it will cost them a load of money for a pathetic drive space.
good point, forgot about that
Games that have a mandatory install on PS3 but not 360 are usually coming from the point that the cache on the 360 is double that on the PS3 and during a cut scene or another opportune time they load the next piece of data into that cache memory (512mb ps3 1gb 360) leading to some developers opting to make it mandatory to have install data on the PS3 so that the game will not have frequent interrupts as it loads new data more frequently than the 360.
The reasoning behind not needing a mandatory install can most likely be chalked up to good developing. Yes, I know it is trendy to bash SE but in all reality it takes talented developers to find ways to obscure the data loading from the end user. It seems doubly hard when you have a game that is supposed to be as big as a Final Fantasy title so I say good on them for being able to do it.
I also forgot to mention the fact that a DVD drive reads much faster than a BD drive so there is that fact of on the fly data reading to consider.
Last edited by coverton341 on 10/22/2009 11:49:33 AM
and installing the game on the 360 is optional and something that I'll be doing… if you can even save 2 seconds per fight you can imagine that it'd be worth the install… there should always be an optional install
wow! seems developers are getting along with hardware!
Yup
No game should need installs now-a-days.
what makes you think that? Im not an expert in developing videogames but i believe making them is kinda complicated. As the medium keeps moving forward/innovating, then things will get more complicated. Think back, did the NES, SNES, PS1, Ps2 have installs? No, well ps2 had some games but pretty negligible. Developing for the NES was relatively simple compared to ps3 games. Besides, installs lets you lower the strain your system goes through. IF developers can make a game without installs, thats good. If they need to use game installs, thats good too. It just results in a better gameplay experience for us gamers.
Reading data off of a HDD that is hard wired into the motherboard and is at the same bus speed as the memory therefore closer to the same speed of the bus to the processor is always without question going to be faster than reading from physical media caching into memory and then passing to the processor. Especially when the HDD is running at either 5400 or even 7200 rpm and the BD drive is only running at 2x speed.
Mandatory installs might not be necessary but they sure can help out in the end.
No… they do, its called patches and updates!
Q!
"i am home"
I dont get why people get pissed about installs. Its just a one time thing. If you dont have any space, just delete an old install from a game that you're not playing, you know you have them. I prefer installs, since it makes the game more fluid. I rather install a game and play rather than waiting at a loading screen everytime i enter a town or something. Given that naughty dog managed to create uncharted 2 without installs, and i commend them for that, that initial loading screen kindda got too long for me. but as i said, i rather have these pause at the begining of rather than periodic loading screens. If the install takes a while, then get something to eat or at least pick up the manual so you can familiarize yourself with the gameplay instead of complaining that something doesnt work well because you dont know what the hell you're doing. In the end, if i have a smoother gameplay experience, and ONE TIME install doesnt bother me.
Amen to that man!
Xbox can live without instals because DVD drive is faster than BR. But I would prefer to have an option to instal game on my ps3.
Last edited by JackieBoy on 10/22/2009 1:07:01 AM
What are you talking about johnld? "makes the game more fluid?" Does it? Does it really? What magic is Naugty Dog pulling off then? And now it looks like even SE knows what they're doing with the PS3 technology. Just because some devs don't know what the hell they're doing doesn't necessitate an install for all games to make them more fluid.
All i was saying was that as long as there are little or no interruptions during gameplay, Installs, which you only need to do once except on MGS4, is a good tradeoff. Some developers can do it without installs and thats good too, shows how much dedication the developers have for their intended product. Maybe fluidity may be a bad choice of words. I meant a game experience with little or no interruptions. Naughty dog may have bypassed the install but instead they got a long ass initial loading screen which happens every time you start a game from the main menu. The upside of naughty dog doing this is that there were no loading screens, at least not noticeable (i didnt see one), when you play the game and progress from chapter to chapter. If you played Uncharted 2, you will see what i mean. you just go through the game and theres no pause for a loading screen…well other than the initial one as i said.
Last edited by johnld on 10/22/2009 4:56:39 PM
i dont see what the problem is, once your finished playing a game delete it of the HDD.
thats what i did before changing my HDD because im using it as a media server.
YES! I'm so glad to hear Tekken 6's install isnt compulsory!, i might be a 2st day buy for me, and THAT has been a while.
If the loading screen takes as long as street fighter 4 before each match, i would prefer an install.
Much to the dismay of many 360 fanboys. The argument of "Bu bu bu bu you need teh installs 15 – 20 minutes" will be soon destroyed.
Well its the same with Soul Calibur 4, the install wasn't mandatory. I'm getting Tekken 6 too.
I'VE GOT 500 GIGS, BITCH!!! BRING ON YOUR MANDATORY INSTALLS!!!
ANGRY!
well i dont have 500 gigs!
Powers… I will be purchasing the new 750Gig drives coming out soon… that should do it for me for a few more years yet 🙂
Q!
"i am home"
Last edited by Qubex on 10/22/2009 9:12:52 PM
yeh i have to say i like the installs but they should be optional…..
Installs are ridiculous. They are the result of devs rushing out 360 ports. When devs ditch that old PC/360 technology and start focussing on the PS3 they realize that installs are not necessary. Sony didn't design the PS3 to have mandatory installs. The hdd is for all that dlc nonsense.
Again I will state that in some cases installs can be beneficial. You can read from a HDD much faster than a BD drive and if you are reading from the HDD then you have less of a need to store data in cache memory. It is possible to obscure the caching process from the end user but not in all cases.
MGS4 is a shining example. I fully believe that Kojima and crew are highly talented designers and coders but the amount of detail and amount of things going on in that game made it necessary to have installed game data. There really would not have been a seamless way of integrating data caching in that game and still had it run as smooth as it did
not to mention that reading from the HDD puts less strain on the bluray drive. And i have to say it again, these install would only be done once excluding MGS4, so its not a big deal. Also, unlike the xbox 360, the HDD can be upgraded for a lot lower cost. I agree with coverton about install being beneficial. Just to point this out too, the ps3 hardware/architecture is still relatively new to developers compared to the 360/pc technology you are talking about. There will of course be a learning curve and developers will use the tools they have right now to get their game out the door instead of sitting on it and put more and more funds towards it. If that means installs due to their lack of experience with the ps3 architecture, then so be it. there wont really be much difference to the game anyway if its mandatory. If its optional, its your choice whether you want longer loading screens or not.
Who focuses on the lowest common denominator? Even if they get close to the 360 numbers you're still looking at trying to compete with a system that can easily take any of it's games and quickly and nicely port them over the PC… the biggest user base of them all. It's all about the dollars and yens and such
Speaking of games that should have optional installs I am growing very very tired of the Demon's souls loading screen.