Sorry Arcade users, Soul Calibur IV requires an HDD [update]

by Terrence Stasse { Jul 1st 2008 at 7:00PM }

[Update : So it looks like the good folks over at Microsoft messed up. The page has now been updated to reflect the fact that the game actually doesn't need a hard drive.]

So according to the game's xbox.com page, Namco Bandai's fourth installment fighter isn't going to be playable for those arcade pack owners out there. While Microsoft's doctrine that your SKU wouldn't matter when it came to the simple act of playing games has been broken before (FFXI, etc) we really didn't expect to see it in a fighting game.

It could be that the HDD requirement refers to the game's Create-A-Soul mode (which would obviously require space to save created players). But has the game really been created in such a way that doesn't simply disable that feature for a user without a hard drive? The xbox.com page could be a mistake of course, because to have to leave a certain section of the potential player base (however small) unable to purchase your game just seems a bit strange. As much as this is worth complaining about, let's hope that the game uses the 360 HDD's reserved 6GB of caching space so as to avoid the mandatory install of the PS3 version (which seems to be the most likely situation, considering the PS3 HDD install is just about the same size as the 360's reserved cache.)

Tags: hdd, namco, namco-bandai, soulcalibur, soulcalibur-iv

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

ZEBRA NINER @ Jul 1st 2008 7:09PM

Oh man. Well, I hope they start doing this with all games. I guess that's in line with the rumors of all the new SKU's coming with an HD.

tan @ Jul 1st 2008 7:21PM

to my knowledge only 2 other games broke the rule
burnout paradise and FF

any other? please let me know:)

redpill @ Jul 1st 2008 9:47PM

Football Manager 2006 is another i dont think 2007/08 need, i thought hard drive in BP was only required for online play though

Maximun2k10 @ Jul 1st 2008 7:23PM

Just buy a freaking HDD...

Or don't buy the game... simple

Or just complaint like a little bitch... :D

SadisticHam @ Jul 1st 2008 7:26PM

6.7 gig install for the PS3, lol screw that.

I certainly hope it's not the same for the 360.

ojibwer @ Aug 13th 2008 12:50AM

RED RING OF DEATH xbox is a metled chocolate piece of shit

Prox @ Jul 1st 2008 7:42PM

I'm sure this comes as a huge blow to both Xbox 360 owners without a hard drive.

kastonie @ Jul 1st 2008 7:50PM

Man i just got a ps3 and every demo i download i have to install. Wtf.... why cant the game just work right after its done downloading like on the 360?

AoE @ Jul 1st 2008 8:23PM

Because the system was designed by Sony, who specialize in consumer electronic hardware. Whereas the 360 was designed by Microsoft, who specialize in consumer software (hence the RROD issues not being so really such a shocking thing).

iRoy @ Jul 2nd 2008 7:50AM

In reply to AoE:

Too simplistic to be true. Sony are well known for their software, look at the rootkit debacle for a start, and Microsoft have been making hardware for decades.

The article above tells the true story, both xbox & xbox360 have cache partitions which negates the need for Sony's installs.

Trekster_Gamer @ Jul 1st 2008 7:54PM

I wish they would just drop the 360 arcade version and only sell 360's with HDD's..

ZeroCorpse @ Jul 1st 2008 8:15PM

The Arcade is great for people who don't use Live. I gave an Arcade to my nephews as a XMas present. They don't have high-speed Internet, so they aren't on Live. Without Live, there's hardly any use for the HDD. You can get by on the memory card for game saves and small caches.

If I'd had to get a Pro, they wouldn't have gotten an Xbox 360. Being able to save $70 meant the difference between between an affordable XMas gift that they could upgrade if they wanted, and NOT getting one at all. I had to get extra controllers, and I think they appreciated all of them being able to play a lot more than they would have liked having a HDD with a lot of space they'd never need.

The Arcade is a good deal for entry-level or non-Internet users.

AoE @ Jul 1st 2008 8:25PM

Arcade is also an excellent replacement if you stupidly didn't get the store insurance policy and are too busy to have the time required to hash it out with MS when your broken 360 is out of warranty... Not that I've ever purchased an arcade unit because of that (hey, it was the week Gears came out... )

PeterF @ Jul 1st 2008 9:01PM

Whatever, it still should be standard. If it isn't affordable, too bad. It would have improved game quality!

Gamertag: GOPAL892005 @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:29AM

how would having more storage apace improve the quality of a game? a HDD would help store more game information if the DVD's size is too small, but the game quality will not change.

The only thing that can change game quality is the hardware.

Digitalspirit @ Jul 2nd 2008 9:29AM

Agreed. HDD should be standard, game quality can be improved because the drive can then be used to cache data hence improving load time, textures etc. if this isn't an "improvement" then I don't know what is.

Jim Halpert DM @ Jul 1st 2008 8:40PM

Sucks...now there's two people in the world who can't play this game.

Procris @ Jul 1st 2008 9:04PM

Arcade owners can buy a hard drive. Its not exactly rocket science.

Roto13 @ Jul 1st 2008 11:41PM

That's like if a game only supported HD video output, telling people with SD TVs to just go out and buy new ones. Yeah, that's a solution, but it's a damn expensive solution.

Gamertag: GOPAL892005 @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:25AM

@ Roto13 - Dead Rising kind of did that; you can read any of the text on screen using SDTV; so you have no clear idea what for the next part of the mission.

PeacefulOutrage @ Jul 2nd 2008 8:30AM

@Gamertag: GOPAL892005

I have Dead Rising, and I bought it when I only had a 27" SDTV. IT wasn't THAT bad. Also, when you go to select waypoints, the text is a lot larger.

GRAW, however, sucked loads because I had to be 2" fromthe TV to see what buttons did what during the tutorial, and even after I bought an HDTV, Settlers of Catan had text the same size as DR.