Irritating Installations: Xbox 360 vs. Playstation 3

[EricBushEIC]

Since even before the launch of the PS3, Sony fans were touting the system’s incredible processing power as several orders of magnitude beyond that of the Xbox 360. So far we haven’t seen much proof of that in terms of graphical performance, but much of that is due to the general downturn in exclusive titles- developing two separate versions of a game would be far less cost-effective. Having recently picked up Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 to play with my fiancée on the PS3 (she finds the 360 controllers a bit too bulky) we popped in the disc, excited to once again run around as superheroes and pound various enemies into oblivion. Nothing was available until after it finished the lengthy installed. Well first it had to download an update. Unlike the 360, which simply gives you the choice of updating you’re game or signing out of Xbox Live. Usually when I’m playing a new game I’m far too excited about getting started on it to worry about the patch. If there are serious game-crashing bugs, then I’ll go back and update it.


Irritating Installations: Xbox 360 vs. Playstation 3

[Pepper Jack]

i hate them both because they never actually do anything, at least the 360 ones are optional though

[remixFA]

i hate them both because they never actually do anything, at least the 360 ones are optional though

well, obviously the patch does something, otherwise they wouldnt send it to you.. unless its "national developers bug PJ day" and i didnt get the memo.. damnit!

[DeadOneWalking]

I feel this is one of the few articles that took a real look at both systems with game installs. But, it only partly looked at the patch side of things. I don't have a PS3, so I don't know how long patches usually take to get installed. But I do know on the XBox 360 I have had to wait at most about one minute for a patch once, and on average they take less then 10 seconds.
It would be nice to see someone do a complete review/comparison on the two systems in terms of game install, patching, and general handling. Of course, it would need games that are on both systems to get a proper comparison.

Now from what I have heard about the PS3, it still uses the disk after the required game install. Really, I thought the point was to not need the disk to spin. The fact they are using a Blu-Ray drive is what makes the installs take so long. The throughput of the drive in the PS3 is slower then the DVD drive used in the XBox 360.

[HolyOrangeCows]

Time to clear up some false information:

"There may be a point where due to the massive amount of data crammed onto each Blu-Ray disc an installation will actually become completely necessary, but that’s certainly not the case today"
Clearly, you haven't the slightest clue how this works. Installs are sometimes mandatory for read speed, not because there isn't enough data ''crammed'' onto a disc.

"forcing patches"
You're only "Forced" if you want to play GamingGamingGamingGamingGamingGaming, JUST LIKE THE XBOX.

"Maybe this is one of the reasons why the Xbox 360 continues to dominate the Playstation 3 in worldwide sales"
It doesn't. The PS3 has outsold the 360 worldwide for several months.


If you're going to make anti-PS3 FUD articles, do it right.

[SynGamer]

Seriously? Editor-in-Chief and you post this ****? I'm not sure if this is laughable or sad. I really would have expected better, even from a biased site such as PlanetXbox360...

[blu_yu_away]

Some of the articles posted lately have begun bordering on flamebait, but this really takes the cake. It's poorly written, incredibly biased and full of nonsense. Having both systems I have found that PS3 patches, updates and downloads do generally take longer than their 360 counter parts. Installing games to the HD however takes no longer on PS3. Additionally, I know I have waited significantly longer than 5 minutes for my 360 games to install to my hard drive. Disk size has absolutely nothing to do do with why PS3 games need to be installed. As it has already been mentioned, blu ray drives generally have a slower reading speed than dvd drives making installs necessary for streaming of information.
As a counter argument, perhaps if MS had included a hard drive with mandatory installs the system wouldn't overheat and die quite so easily. It certainly wouldn't sound like a damn jet engine while running. Also, it would have provided more space for developers to work with than the dvd format, the 360's largest obstacle in delivering games on par visually with the likes of Uncharted 2, God of War 3, Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4. And yes, they all look much better than anything the 360 currently has to offer.

[Pepper Jack]

well, obviously the patch does something, otherwise they wouldnt send it to you.. unless its "national developers bug PJ day" and i didnt get the memo.. damnit!

i'm not talking about patches i'm talking about installing the game off the disk fool

[PS360]

Where have you been "continue to dominate worldwide sales"? the 360 hasn't dominated worldwide for a couple of years now, especially 2009. If by "dominate" you mean continue to have an overall lead over the ps3 then i will agree with you. Regarding the patch, it is no different than the 360. The 360 wouldnt allow you to sign on to xbox live untill you "update" similar to the ps3 not allowing you to sign on to psn untill you install the patch. Yes, the 360 does seem to run faster with the updates and game installations. The consoles do run completely different than each other however we finally do see the difference in development because now we are seeing pretty much all the latest ps3 games that do not require game installations. This is an article that should of been written when near enough all games needed an installation not now when developers know how to utilize the bluray hardware.

[HolyOrangeCows]

"So far we haven’t seen much proof of that in terms of graphical performance"

Feel free to let us know which games on the 360 out-do Uncharted 2, Killzone 2, or Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time graphically. Go ahead. I'll wait.

[RUserious]

OK, so I am prob going to come off as sounding as a PS3 fanboy, but in this case its OK. Let me start off by saying I own a 360, PS3, and Wii.. Well my girlfriend owns the Wii. ANWAYSSSSSSS...

I know this is planetxbox360.com and articles like this are expected to pop up like this every once and a while. If I read something like this on any CONSOLE SPECIFIC website I voice my disgust IF its warranted.

Now.. @ the writer/EDITOR-in-Chief?? You sir have NO idea what you're talking about.. Some others have already pwnd you in the comments and Im going to continue that trend. 1) You said, Since even before the launch of the PS3, Sony fans were touting the system’s incredible processing power as several orders of magnitude beyond that of the Xbox 360. So far we haven’t seen much proof of that in terms of graphical performance (Uncharted 2 looked great - that's it)" Well first of all, we have MGS4 Then we have Uncharted1, KZ2 and UC2. Even UC1 is still considered one of the best looking CONSOLE games ever made:FACT! not opinion..
Now lets talk about your OPINION regarding WHY the PS3 has installs... BLURAY discs you say.. MASSIVE amounts of data is it? haahha boy are you wrong. Let take a look at some games that come to mind. KZ2, easily the BEST looking FPS on console EVER! I love me Halo3 and COD but KZ2 GRAPHICALLY is like nothing ever before seen, and well it NEVER had an install.. How about FFXIII, it weighs in at a whoppin 40GB on the PS3 and guess what.. NOOO INSTALL... Uncharted2... NO INSTALLL there is a 30 second Load screen at the very beginning getting to the main menu, but the rest of the game can be played without ever experiencing load times longer then 1 second. FACT!
Listenn my point here Will is this: Because you write for a CONSOLE SPECIFIC website, does not mean you need to be a liar or misinformed in the least. You also dont need to be a total douche bag and assume that everyone on here will actually believe what you have to say.. Please become a journalist NOT a fanboy!!!

[EricBushEIC]

Thanks for your opinion RUserious (cool name BTW), first it wasn't written by me - but thanks for all the complements, second I never read the comments at N4G because that place is full of a bunch of HHG-loving PS3-fanboys, now that you've said your piece we'll c-ya around, actually probably not.....

[Shadowriver]

One point, PS3 give you choose to update or not, you just press Circle when he say about update and you can play ofcorse probably without GamingGamingGamingGamingGamingGaming.

[RUserious]

Sorry Valk for assuming you were the one that wrote the article. I normally dont assume anything, but being unfamiliar with this site I was not quite sure..

I dunno what is with your comment about N4G and how everyone is HHG lovin PS3 fanboys.... I go to N4G to get as much WIDESPREAD news in one spot then visiting 100 different sites throughout the day. Is the majority PS3 fanboys? HELL YA! are the 360 fanboys? SURE! But do they love HHG?? HELLLLLLL NO!! That guy gets more hate then any other "journalist" out there. I dont post on N4G comments, I typically comment on the site that the article was written.

Anyways, I apologize again for assuming you wrote the article, so my first post is really towards Will! The internet has given birth so some amazing ways of communicating, and also expressing ourselves and that pretty awesome! But when it comes to video games and the industry as a whole, we are ALL a bunch of 2 faced major losers with far too much time on our hands! Like right now, its a sunday afternoon and instead of playin MW2 or Bayonetta or UC2 I am here typing this ahah. I have been gamin since the good ol' NES days.. I have had every major console since, sega genesis, Snes, sega saturn, PS1, PS2, xbox, xbox360, PS3... And what I know is THIS!!! GAMES!!!!!!! ITS ALLLLLL ABOUT THE GAMES DUDE... Its not about which one installs more, has uncompressed data or whatever.. Its about supporting the developer for takin a chance to bring you apart of their dream.. So really at the end of the day... You can sit here and write or in this case NOT write a biased 360 article and really be just as bad as the HHG lovin PS3 fanboys on N4G.. Oh and I never gave you ONE compliment my last post.. Sarcasm is for pussys

[HolyOrangeCows]

"So far we haven’t seen much proof of that in terms of graphical performance"

Feel free to let us know which games on the 360 out-do Uncharted 2, Killzone 2, or Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time graphically. Go ahead. I'll wait.

Still waiting....

[blu_yu_away]

HHG... haha. Speaking of him, isn't it about time for the weekly Sunday trash to go up?

[Rauland]

Sorry but I think this article has a bit of misinformed information.

Firstly, when a game needs a patch to play it on the PS3 and your promoted to download it, you can press O effectively signing out of the PSN and skipping the patch (like you stated for the xbox, but you made it seem like it was mandatory for the PS3).

Secondary, THE PROCESSOR HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE LOADING OF A GAME!?! It's the 'bluray' and the 'HDD' that is doing all the work. 360 has a faster DVD Drive, meaning? I think you can guess what it means.

Also Patches are encrypted, and the 'installing' is actually decrypting (a measure to protect it being hacked). Why do you think it patches/games take awhile to install (when downloaded off the PSN)?

Some games ARE being installed while you play (take FALLOUT 3 for an example). So you thinking that you have solved the "installation crisis" with this already in practice method... hmm.

Stop purposely writing stupid flame bate articles for some hits on your website. Get to know your PS3, not assume everything without even knowing.

-R

[majdees]

oh great, what a stupid article. whether I have to install a game or not has become an issue now??! In that case I won't play PC anymore!

EDIT: @RUserious I completely agree with u my friend. It's really sad to see how corrupt writers are nowadays!

[Xbox Defender]

To Blu Yu Away, dude, this is a response to the nonsense you're sprouting. You say that the 360 overheats quickly and dies, correct? How fast has your 360 overheated? Maybe 5 mins? Why are you still bringing up this tom-foolery? You have got to be a little kid, otherwise this would've been passed you generations ago. Microsoft is still benefiting from malfunctioning Xbox 360's.
Sure, I understand you paid for a 360 and want to get your money's worth so you won't have to be spending money on 360s and much as you do for groceries, but you will go back and by one anyway, because you like the 360. So if ppl are so "dumb" as to go purchase another xbox after it has overheated as you say, then why should you be angry at that problem? My point is, ppl go back and purchase another 360 after it's RROD and the charts tell no lie, so what's your deal for still believing that you're bringing up a good argument when your statement is just as foolish as the article you responded to? It makes absolutely no sense.

Also, was talking up the PS3 visuals necessary? No one said anything about the graphical power between both systems. All the writer said was that the games that the PS3 had does not seem that graphical as it is spiced up to be. I can vouch for it. Assassins Creed 1 and 2 look incredible on the PS3 no doubt. But the 360 has better frame rates which make the games visuals look way better than the PS3. KillZone 2 looks real as hell, but again, the frame rates aren't up to mark and therefore makes the game look cloudy. If you compare Gears of War 2 (xbox 360) to Killzone 2 (PS3), everyone will tell you, (Well only 360 gamers) that Gears of War 2 looks better and is more crisp and visually stunning than Killzone 2. No doubt the graphical power is better, but the 360 still holds the edge when it comes to crisp, clear and clean picture. You just want to hear yourself talk. Go play your systems and stop the nonsense. Be civilized and maybe no one will have to talk down on you about your maturity.

Again, I am not in anyway agreeing with everything the writer said, I'm only telling you of how foolish of a point you made while trying to sound like you were actually bringing up a good point.

[remixFA]

ok, for all the new people that just joined

1) valk already said he did not WRITE the article, tis just a repost.

2) yea, the article is a bit off... most of us have already figured that out

3) PS3 requires install of many games, because like its been touched on, the BR drive does not have a fast enough read speed to always read from disk.. besides, theres nothing wrong w/ USING the hardrive for things other than demos

4) only an idiot would not want to be able to install their game to hard drive. it makes the machine run quieter, the access speed is faster (so less pop up and other read style errors), and ect ect..

5) the install speed on the ps3 is down right LUDACRIS. i can recall MGS4 taking FOREVER to initially install, and then its only installing 1 level so you got to redo that after every campaign!?!? OMG, just do one big install... theres plenty of space... we all know the read speed of the disk is not that great, save us a bit of headache, 1 install per game!

6)updates are never mandatory, just unplug your damn machine from the internet. of course, unless you are trying to cheat and take advantage of your game in its current state w/ some sort of glitch, why wouldnt u want the update that improves.. something?

7) and as far as PS3 GRAPHICAL SUPERIORITY you cant find any games that have an edge by LEAPS AND BOUNDS. there might be an uncharted2 or whatever, but thats not the norm, thats an exeption. for every one of those, theres 40 Haze's. Most every game that they are comparing (that would be CROSS platform games)... they look better on the 360, and most of them play better too. The only true exeption i can recall would be GTA4 which was much better on the PS3 because of that annoying install which reduced graphical pop up.


and pj, u didnt clarify, so PHPHPHPHPH