Console gamers are also not used to having to download patches for their games after release, a habit becoming more and more common among console developers these days. In the case of Lair, after a firmware update to fix the Sixaxis control problems mentioned negatively in countless reviews, they asked for re-reviews to be done. No one complied. It's not done for PC games, and with the console world gradually becoming more and more similar to the PC market, no different treatment or standards are warranted.
Once all the dust settles and people start playing the game, the uproar will likely subside, but at this time there is a great deal of speculation and cynicism, and surely some players will have both the PS3 and the 360 versions sitting side by side with stopwatches in hand, determined to see if Capcom should be crucified or lauded for their decision of forced installation in the PS3 version. Reactions are generally favorable on the boards over at Kombo.com to other games (Uncharted, Superman Returns, Metroid Prime, Oblivion, Grand Theft Auto, etc.) with longer initial load times but few or none thereafter, and one can expect this ruckus about DMC4 will also blow over in time.
If nothing else, I'm sure the players would like the option of not doing the installation so they can at least see the difference in mid-game load times. It's likely Capcom can address this issue soon with, you guessed it, a patch.
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?
8 - Fanny Oyang
I hope that I can have Devil May Cry 4 in PS3,however I have no clue where to buy it in Shanghai......