Installing games is definitely one of the more intriguing features of the
New Xbox Experience.
We've tested it. So has
Eurogamer. When it comes right down to it, the performance increase (if any) varies wildly on a game by game basis. If only there was some central source we could check to see how well a game runs after it's installed. If only there were some place where such information was arranged in an intuitive manner, alphabetically perhaps. Wait a minute! BingeGamer already put together a
chart and it lists 360 games in alphabetical order! The chart also lists how big a footprint each game will leave on your HDD (
Lost Odyssey is 23.2 gigs, yikes).
Not surprisingly, there are still plenty of games that haven't been tested, so be sure to drop a comment at BingeGamer if you have some data about a game that isn't listed yet.
Big Bumpin', sadly, isn't supported, so don't bother with that one.
{ Nov 12th 2008 at 5:15PM } 
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
SaNcTuS @ Nov 12th 2008 5:24PM
Only games I'd bother doing this stuff with is Gears of War 2 and maybe Rock Band 2. I have the 120gb hard drive but I still think its a bit stupid to waste ~8gb a game just to save about 10 seconds. Especially when you still need the game in the dvd drive...
Anticrawl @ Nov 12th 2008 10:17PM
It isn't even that much, the reports are pretty sensationalized. I've been in the beta and early viewing of the NXE and tried quite a few games. Even in Half-Life 2 from the orange box you are only looking at maybe a 1-3 second gain for installs.
The real benefit of game installs is for those of us who have iffy drives or curious kids/pets, will keep you from getting those disc read errors or scratched discs.
KSB@kallnet.fo @ Nov 13th 2008 7:13AM
I belive the best reason to do so, is to escape the painfull DVD-drive noise ;)
works like a charm
nextlevelexotics @ Nov 13th 2008 8:47AM
Don't listen to Anticrawl. He has no clue what he's speaking about. 10-30 seconds saved is pretty decent.
Loading Half-Life 2 DVD 44.5 seconds, HDD 25.5 seconds. Half Life 2
Save Game - ‘We don’t go there any more’ DVD 47 seconds, HDD 15 seconds. Loading Portal DVD 34.5 seconds, HDD 20.5 seconds. Loading Team Fortress 2 DVD 57.5 seconds, HDD 41.5 seconds
robotoid @ Nov 13th 2008 12:22PM
Since all the games look to have around 10 seconds reduced (a couple more, a couple less), I guess the only real benefit would be the noise reduction. but the noise doesn't really bother me THAT much to waste so much hard drive space.
Weird how a huge game like Far Cry 2 takes 4.5 GB and Lego Batman takes 6 GB!
Halo 3 wtf??
Arnie @ Nov 12th 2008 5:30PM
The Load times of some games impress me especially games like Ninja GaidenII and Virtua Fighter.
Unfortunately with just the 20GB , I dont think I will be able to install even the 6.8GB games.
oo7ev @ Nov 12th 2008 5:34PM
Load times mean nothing to me. It's more important to install to stop the deafening noise of the spinning DVD drive. This should enable me to keep the surround sound a little lower, which makes the GF much happier.
El Capitaine @ Nov 12th 2008 7:04PM
Agreed. I'll be installing Gears 2, RB2, COD4, and quite a few others.
The Halo slowdown is unfortunate, but not surprising due to the caching that Bungie has used in both Halo 2 and 3 to speed load times.
One game I want to know about is SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (next-gen). I bought that game soon after I tried the demo, figured it wasn't as good as 2D sonic but I was hoping it would be good...
The load times made it unplayable. So, I'm going to install it, and hope for the best. If not, well then, at least now I can remove it from my played games... eBay maybe?
philmcphail @ Nov 13th 2008 4:45PM
No man, the real benefit is in the heat reduction. I have the beta and when I play games on hourly sessions now, my room doesn't become 10 degrees hotter than the rest of my house. And for the people who have 20 gig hdds like I do, Install one game at a time and delete it after your done (only about 6.7 gigs a game). It's very useful.
Adam @ Nov 12th 2008 5:34PM
Am I the only one who doesn't care about improved load times and disk space, it's the chance to stop that bloody dvd drive revving so effing loud...
Jez @ Nov 13th 2008 5:31AM
Agreed, I rarely get irritated by long load times since I accept it as "one of those things" about gaming in general. The jet engine dvd drive not having to spin is the only reason I would install a game.
MDJ2010 @ Nov 13th 2008 6:06AM
yeah im in the same boat. Load times have never bothered me, I still play a lot of old school games so the lod times on a 360 are nothing. But it would be nice to shut up that damn disc drive!!!
OrgunDonor @ Nov 12th 2008 6:01PM
So then it seems that installing is pretty useless. Looks like i wont bother with upgrading my 20GB drive yet.
mikazi @ Nov 12th 2008 5:47PM
Would it be worth it to have RB or GH installed on the hard-drive? I would love to see those tested, seeing as those are the only games i play lol
ljung8erg @ Nov 12th 2008 6:03PM
The whole thing doesn't bother me really. If there were substantial differences then sure but there seems to be no more than 10 -15 seconds. I'm excited by not hearing my 360 sound like it's about to take off!!
I'm playing Fallout 3 right now and that game loads quicker than most, you're at the title screen in less than 10 seconds, which is phenominal for a game this size!
Vcize @ Nov 12th 2008 5:59PM
Nice that the chart also includes a link for how to upgrade your HD with any laptop HD.
The PS3 gets so much love for that, but it really isn't any more difficult to do on the 360. The only difference is that you're reading the instructions on how to do it off the internet, rather than from your manual.
The 360 hard drive is external anyway, so it doesn't affect the warranty on your 360.
OptimumEDGE @ Nov 12th 2008 6:05PM
Whoa wtf, I didn't know you could swap out your Xbox HDD.... Hmm.
YoRone22 @ Nov 13th 2008 1:13AM
It's not as cracked up as it is may seem. Read the directions and see that you can only use a 120 GB HDD if you have a 360 120 GB HDD.
nextlevelexotics @ Nov 13th 2008 8:54AM
You can install up to 120GB hard drive on any xbox. That's the limit xbox allows. Doesn't matter if you have a core, 20gb, or 60gb machine. You have to find a certain drive for it to work though. But will save yourself $100.
OptimumEDGE @ Nov 12th 2008 6:10PM
I hear it cuts most of the loading time for Lost Odyssey in half, which is awesome. Even having a 120GB HDD, I still think it's too small to put anymore than a handful of games on.
Also Fable 2 has some noticeable menu "lag" and such which seems to be fixed by running it from the HDD.
jrmtz @ Nov 12th 2008 9:23PM
Can't you just install the 4th disk of Lost Odyssey if you're already on it? Pretty much everything is accesible once you get to the end of it.
I just want to install it to level grind in the DLC to then fight the boss at the bottom. I don't want to take up 23 GB for that
OptimumEDGE @ Nov 12th 2008 9:37PM
Yeh if you're already near the end I'm sure you can just install the 4th disk. But for the people who aren't there yet, each of the DVDs contains the scenes and such of the storyline.
I've had the game since it came out and haven't played it yet... Lol. Waiting for just the right time I suppose, the HDD would be a great extra once I start.
ciscomancer @ Nov 12th 2008 6:13PM
Time saving loading a game I've copied to the hard drive: nominal
Not having to hear a GD jet engine start up in my living room every time I want to play XBox 360: Priceless.
mtrox @ Nov 12th 2008 6:14PM
What I am curious of is if you can install the game, then make a DVD with the right files to override the need of the real one?
Probably impossible though. This will be amazing if you have a scratched DVD though! Rent a good copy, install, use yours.
El Capitaine @ Nov 12th 2008 7:05PM
That's what I was thinking -
I have a few friends that have asked to borrow my H3 disc after the 19th since their campaign doesn't load
Mrblonde @ Nov 12th 2008 7:07PM
One word: Piracy
kentawilson @ Nov 12th 2008 6:36PM
I don't think it ever been about the load times with the installs. The only site I've seen do a noise level test was IGN. The only time the game spins is when it's trying to read to tell you what's in the drive. That's pretty much the proof that the game is valid. I installed Fable 2, FallOut3, and Gears because those are the games I mostly play. Just for the fact I won't have to hear the DVD drive.
Tony @ Nov 12th 2008 6:40PM
I didn't even realize some of the load times in games I play are as long as they are. Some of the numbers on the chart really surprised me.
I am interested in knowing the difference for Forza 2, so I hope someone updates that soon.
Adam @ Nov 12th 2008 7:58PM
Tony, "TrainingDummy" commented on the original article with this:
Forza 2 - Nürburgring
Disc: 31 sec HDD: 20 sec
Project Gotham Racing 3 - Nürburgring - Behemoth Circuit
Disc: 27 sec HDD: 14 sec
Perfect Dark Zero - Mission 01
Disc: 30 sec HDD: 16 sec
Tony @ Nov 12th 2008 8:19PM
Oh, thank you. I didn't notice that.
h0mi @ Nov 12th 2008 6:55PM
Amusing... it doesnt work with all games (big bumpin). What about the arcade disc?
No crackdown? Doh!
Stasis424 @ Nov 12th 2008 6:56PM
I get dirty discs when I play Fifa 09 a lot... but the disc is fine, so I'm assuming it's my first gen console overworking to play the game. Anyone have any idea if I install it to the HDD, it would cut down on it since the console itself wouldn't have to work as hard?
Mrblonde @ Nov 12th 2008 7:08PM
Probably
Matt Frank @ Nov 12th 2008 8:27PM
I'd like to know the answer to this too, I had to stop playing Lost Odyssey I got so many disc read errors. I also have a first gen console. Though I don't know how much good this would do me unless I upgraded my hd.
xenocidic @ Nov 13th 2008 10:23AM
This is what I'm looking forward to; the elimination of dirty/unreadable disc errors.
And yes, I see no reason it would not cut them out entirely.
Alex @ Nov 12th 2008 8:12PM
Well who cares about the noise of the dvd or the loading times, this thing makes your xbox work really cool now. I've been on the NXE for like a week now and after playing 6-7 hours nonstop with my friend it still blows air thats almost cold. I think this was microsoft's main plan to stop the RROD. Just have fun on 19th
mindshed @ Nov 12th 2008 8:44PM
Umm, explain lost odyssey to me. The whole game is 23 GB because it's on four discs, but should I be able to install one disc at a time (as I need it)? Or am I screwed with a 20 GB HDD?
AoE @ Nov 12th 2008 9:03PM
You should be just fine installing just the disk you're currently playing. It's not installing in the way we think about software on computers being installed; rather just copying the files to the hdd and running them from there, but as though they were still on a dvd.
xX FearHAVOK Xx @ Nov 12th 2008 8:48PM
with my 20 gig hdd, i will only intall the game i am currently playing. right now it is gears 2 and i will install that bad boy so i ont have to worry about scratching my disc! i dont know if im the only one, but i constanlty get disc read errors, for everygame, and my disc constanly gets chewed up in the 360. nothing ever happens to the disc though. weird.
rohan @ Nov 12th 2008 9:03PM
i honestly do not see the point of installing the game on the HD, now since gamers will have at least a HDD (as they have to have it to install NXE) on the 360 it may be mandatory ( and everyone was complaining about this on the ps3 and ya i know maybe not everyone will have it but developers will slowly get advantage of it) . The only features i see amazing is the party system and netflixs. But hopefully sony uses something like this to improve a slowly but surely improving PSN
EYEGOTAJOB4YASTEVE @ Nov 12th 2008 9:45PM
go to hell you sony junkie, don't get on here and start repping some p.os. system that has absolutely nothing to do with this article. so go play with your cute little big planet, while I go chainsaw some noobs. eat that.
rohan @ Nov 12th 2008 10:00PM
wow i came here to have a have an educate chat about the 360, and if you took the time to actually read my whole post you will see instead of focusing on three words, i will even be kind enough to post the three words, 1) PS3, 2) Sony, and finally 3) PSN. The rest is talking about the good and bad as i see the NXE from what was posted by Joystiq. So go back to school and learn to read.
Jcarpio @ Nov 13th 2008 8:13AM
Sorry for that rohan.. the difference between the two install scenarios is twofold
1) it's required for most games on the PS3; it's optional on the 360
2) it's not a full install of a game on the PS3, just some working pieces to take the load off of the slow blu ray drive.
saylorsgang @ Nov 13th 2008 12:49AM
I know this is a dumb question, but I do have a choice if I want to install the game? The load time does not bother me enough to do all that, plus I have a 20 gig HD, with about 9gigs left, but I have over 40 games with about 10 in heavy rotation, I'd rather keep my hardrive for XBLA downloads and etc.
Tony @ Nov 13th 2008 12:54AM
It's totally optional. I doubt it will ever be required for any retail game. Even with the HDD deal MS is having now, there's no way for them to assume everyone in the world has one with Arcade and Core units out there.
Tony @ Nov 13th 2008 12:55AM
You know, what happens to the Arcade units still on the shelf. People are going to get home on the 19th and find that they can't update their system, they can't connect to LIVE... it seems stupid.
I don't think we can assume that every person is going to go on Xbox.com to order a $30 used HDD. And, honestly, if I were a casual user I'd be annoyed by it. It seems like a big hidden fee. You bought this Xbox, but you can't do much with it.
Mrblonde @ Nov 13th 2008 3:03AM
Its twenty bucks
Mrblonde @ Nov 13th 2008 3:03AM
Plus they can get a memory unit for free
Ensiot @ Nov 13th 2008 3:48AM
"The real benefit of game installs is for those of us who have iffy drives or curious kids, will keep you from getting those disc read errors or scratched discs."
Amen brother.
kfresh97 @ Nov 13th 2008 4:03AM
The NXE works fine without a hard drive. I just tested it.
I assume the need for the HDD is the Avatar and Netflix applications. The Avatars require a download from the XBLM before you can use them, and I'm sure that if you don't have a HDD then you simply don't download that file.