RF Generation Message Board

At lunch today, I met with my EB/Gamestop contact and he showed me a company memo instructing that EB/Gamestop reps advise customers that are considering buying the PS3 version of Devil May Cry 4 of the fact that the game requires a 5GB download (taking approximately 30 minutes) to the PS3 hard drive PRIOR to being able to play it.

Also, that even after you download it to the HD, you will still need the disk to be in the system to enable the game to play.

Further, that the PS3 version maxxes out at 720p resolution only.

All of this is FYI.

This was announced a couple weeks ago. Now before this turns into a flame war, let's remember that many PS3 games have HDD installs like this. And until a comparison of loading times is released between the two, this could either be a good or bad thing. I've heard "SNES speed" for loading times, if that's the case then it'd smoke the X360 version easily.

5Gb isn't a big deal on a system with a 40gig or 80 gig drive.

Since I'm a pessimist and think this whole thread was posted to get me angry, I will not do so. ;)

It's nothing new on PS3. Some games have required installs. Skate does, Warhawk does (not a large one, but still), and Unreal Tournament 3 has an optional install. Honestly, I don't mind the installs. If it helps load times then I'm all for it. I'll just get up and do something else for 20 minutes while it installs whatever data it needs to install to the hard drive.

As far as requiring the disc to be in the system when you play the game...well no shit. That prevents people from returning the game to the store and getting it for free.

Oh, and the 360 version maxes out at 720p as well.  :P

I don't see why this is a big deal honestly. Sure it's probably the largest install of any PS3 game so far, but chances are most PS3 owners have experienced an install before, so it shouldn't phase them.

Incorrect. 1080p on the 360. ;D

And a question for you Tondog. Do you find this to be the possible start of a trend of large download requirements to the PS3? I mean, with GTA4 coming up, is it possible that it would require the same thing in order for the game to run smoothly?

And while I agree that small (under 1G for example) downloads are no big deal, if a consumer is purchasing a 40G PS3, 5GB seems to take up a pretty large percentage of the HD space imo.

Just my $.02.


 

Just like the core/arcade X360, I'm sure the 40Gb model will be phased out over time. No one thinks about the impact a 5Gb+ install would have on a 20gig launch model PS3, someday the 40 will be the same.

http://www.ripten.com/2008/02/04/dmc4-is-720p-on-ps3-360-desipte-blogs-press-release/ ;D

Well, here's my take on the whole installation thing...

Large (say, greater than 1GB, going by what you suggest would be large) installs are nothing new for PS3 owners. What's nice is that you can actually find out how much hard drive space is required by simply looking at the back of the game in the area where it lists all the features it supports (kind of like what you see on the back of PS2/Xbox/360 games). Most of the times what's listed there is accurate, sometimes it's even more than what is required. For example, Skate says that it requires at least 3GB of hard drive space when in actuality, my PS3 says that the game data on my hard drive for Skate is just 2.5GB. However, sometimes what's listed isn't even close to being right (I'm looking at you Ratchet and Clank! 420MB is not the same as 510KB).

Most of the time, the large installs are found in third party games. As I said, Skate requires 2.5GB, Assassin's Creed needs 2GB, Heavenly Sword requires 2GB as well, and there's countless others. Just go into GameStop or something and you'll see what I mean.

I wish these humongous installs were optional like in Unreal Tournament 3 (2.5GB) or Ridge Racer 7 (5GB, same as DMC4), but if they need that space, then I'm fine with it. At least you can delete the installation data whenever you feel like doing so in the PS3's menu. The thing that I wonder is why certain developers need all this space when Call of Duty 4 only needs 12MB or Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, a game with ZERO LOADING TIME has no installation. One of life's great mysteries I assume.

Installing console games? Kinda defeats the purpose of it being a video game console doesn't it?

You got a point there. Turns your console into more of a PC.

I dont understand the installs either. But if it helps the load times that is good. The load times for the 360 suck.

Eh... we've been installing PC games for years, and almost all of them that I play still require the disc in the system. Not really a big deal to me.

Indeed. That's really what I feel about this whole thing.