On the other hand, loading from a hard drive is inarguably faster than spooling data off an optical disc, one of many reasons why PC games generally don't even offer to let you play from the disc anymore. Penny Arcade (comic) remarks they find it absurd to consider one initial long installation a bad thing for the game overall, stating that the ends will ultimately justify the means, and lamenting that the Xbox 360 version doesn't have a similar option for those who have a hard drive for it.
Capcom compares this favorably to the accepted-but-cumbersome process of installing games on a PC, and is subsequently grilled by commenters for not addressing the issue as it relates to the 360. And though most PC game installs don't take 25 minutes, some certainly can. In fact, one of the most popular games on the planet right now - World of Warcraft — can take upwards of an hour to install with expansion content, patches, and updates. Of course, DMC4 and WoW couldn't be more dissimilar in terms of actual game play and play time, but the point stands.
The biggest division may be rooted in the instant gratification console gamers are more attuned to. I read somewhere long ago that Nintendo had a manifest at one point saying that there should be no more than five to ten seconds between the time you turn on the console and the time you are playing the game, which may be why they have typically avoided having superfluous and tedious introductory videos of the publisher's, developer's, and system's names and logos, not to mention the intro movie for the actual game content. In fact, Capcom compares the PS3's load times of the game after the initial install as being as speedy as those on the Super Nintendo of yore. Cartridge RAM format always made for near instantaneous loading (except on the Atari Jaguar). Whether their load times really end up being that miniscule remains to be seen.
Article comments
1 - Ken Edwards
I wish there was an option. There should be an option. I have played many other PS3 games where installing the cache files was an option.
Yep, I got the PS3 version, too. And from what I have read the load times are 3-10 seconds on the 360 and 1-2 seconds on the PS3 because of that 20+ minute initial install.
My problem is this: I play console games because I do not like PC games, and all the installing, patching, re-patching, re-installing that takes place on that platform.
I wonder how long the install process takes on the PC version of DMC4. I am sure someone will time that.
So what about the game? The game is very good. Thankfully they went back to the original to draw inspiration, because DMC2 and 3 were both letdowns.
2 - Bobo
This article is ridiculous. Installing to the hard drive is a huge bonus.
The reason the PS3 version of Oblivion was better was because it could install to the hard drive which meant their were no in game loading times. The exact same is true of Devil May Cry 4. IGN have timed the in game load times of the 360 and PS3 versions and according to them the PS3 version is up to 3 times faster and because of that they say the PS3 version is the better game overall.
Yes, you have to wait 20mins the first time you ever play the game but so what? You are getting the best version of the game.
3 - Dave
This has become a worrying trend, i have a 40gig PS3 and it's nearly full already.
I didn't plan to fill the HDD this early and certainly didn't expect it to be game cache taking up most of the space, i don't like to finish a game in one go then move on, i like to play games a bit at a time when i'm in the mood for a certain genre and those 1.5 to 5 gig installs mount up fast.
Sony please take note, when my HDD is full and there's no more demo's to delete i'm not going to be buying a bigger HDD, (I do enough of that on PC) I will just have to use my PS3 for movies only and switch all my gaming to Xbox.
I just read that Hot Shots Tennis will require a 5 gig install as well, i really don't understand the logic in this, is it lazy programming, a problem with Blu-Ray loading speed or do developers believe we want another PC in our living rooms?
4 - Mark Buckingham
@Bobo...the point of the article was to relay the reactions of other players so far and present the issue for discussion, as well as examine the ramifications and impact of this emerging habit of installing console games. I have a 60GB PS3 (wanted that backward compatibility) and am planning to eventually replace the HDD with the 120GB one from my laptop, so the drive space isn't as much of a concern for me, but others like Dave are going to run out of HDD space in no time, and developers need to consider this, as does Sony as they keep doing reconfigurations of the hardware specs.
@Dave...I think the main reason developers are doing this is because of the slow read speed on BD-ROMs, and to make load times optimal as a sort of console exclusive feature. It makes for a good bullet point on press releases and the back of the game's box, at least. To an extent, this is what Microsoft gets for not packing a hard drive in with every 360, but there's no reason they couldn't have still had it as an option for those with the right hardware.
5 - Ken Edwards
I have a 60 GB PS3, and I have already seen the warning message telling me I have only 500 MB left on it!
In a year? You have got to be out of your mind. It took me 2 yrs. plus to fill up the 20 GB on the 360, for which I switched it out for the price gouging 120 GB drive.
I have Yellow Dog Linux on my PS3, so there goes 10 GB right there. I too am going to install a 120 or 160 GB drive sometime in the future.
As far as all these games requiring a mandatory install, that is total hogwash. Make it an option.
@Bobo, I played quite a bit of Oblivion on PS3, and quite a bit more on 360. The change in loading times was not not much, if anything, on the PS3.
6 - Jason
You may want to update your PA reference given the following post by Tycho:
7 - Mark Buckingham
The specific PA post referenced still stands, as all they were saying at that point is that, when used effectively, using the HDD as a cache is beneficial to load times, though the new evidence you pointed out is also worth bringing to light.
In any case, I wonder just how many people bought multiple versions of this game just to prove a moot point. To all who did, you just made Capcom twice or three times as much money, and for what?