Mandatory 5GB, 10-Minute Install For Bioshock PS3

Even though the vast majority of PlayStation 3 titles don't have mandatory installs, a few of the high-profile titles do. Therefore, perhaps this subject summons more debate than is absolutely necessary, but when big games like Bioshock are in the news all the time, it's tough to avoid.

When the BBFC rated the the PS3 version of the atmospheric shooter earlier this year, it was rumored that we could expect a sizable install before we could begin play. Now, thanks to a Eurogamer playtest, it has apparently been confirmed: Bioshock PS3 will have a 5GB mandatory install, which will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. As we just mentioned, this isn't exactly common in the world of PS3 software, but we have seen huge titles like Devil May Cry 4 and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots require similar-sized installs to the HDD before play begins. Perhaps Sony has heard some of the cries and that's one of the reasons behind the impending 160GB PS3, but even at 40GB, this typically isn't a problem. First of all, as most will say, you can always purchase a bigger hard drive, and second of all, there's no rule saying the installed data needs to stay on your hard drive. Take it off, if you need the room.

Even so, in direct comparison to last generation, this is an added, albeit small, inconvenience. Last week's Vampire Rain: Altered Species also had a mandatory install, although that's one game few will care too much about. We figure that with more big games will come more installs, and this debate will continue to rage. Bioshock for the PS3 releases on October 24.

Related Game(s): Bioshock

9/10/2008 Ben Dutka

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Comments (Beta)

Alienange
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 10:59:24 AM
Reply

If a 5gb mandatory install means the game runs faster then I'm ok with it. 360 owners are willing to copy over the entire game to their (expensive) hard drives to speed things up, so IMO I don't think there's much to debate here ...

2 up, 0 down

MornelitheVT
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 11:20:39 AM
Reply

Agreed Alienange,

This whole issue of games installs is getting tired. People point it out as if it's a bad thing, whereas, considering I started gaming on a PC, it seems most natural to require an install. I recently swapped my 60g drive out for a 320g, more for media capacity than for the ability to store more games. The hardware end took literally 30 minutes...the full system restore took a bit longer, but 33g does take some time to back up. Either way, game installs still...don't bother me.

Morne

2 up, 0 down

snglbck26
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 11:57:06 AM
Reply

When I download a demo from the PS store(usually no more than 1300mb's) it usually takes over an hour. That's without music downloaded to my PS3 and a game I'm currently playing in the machine.

Does that mean if I got Bioshock with the 5GB install it would take five hours? I'm not sure if there is a difference between how a demo downloads and how the install works.

Last edited by snglbck26 on 9/10/2008 11:57:27 AM

0 up, 0 down

DIsmael85
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 12:10:02 PM

No it wont take that long. A Demo from the PSN is downloading based on your Internet speed, a disc download is a completely different thing. If it's 10 min, it'll probably be around 10 min, most of the time it's faster than that. Devil May Cry 4 was not 20 minutes for me.

0 up, 0 down

ffrulez
Friday, September 12, 2008 @ 5:08:46 AM

the download speed is very slow compared to the ps3's cell broadband engine and blu-ray speed

0 up, 0 down

markinstlouis
Sunday, September 14, 2008 @ 11:57:54 AM

Actually, the blu-ray drive is slower than the 360's drive, which is the reason for the download to hard drive.

Last edited by markinstlouis on 9/14/2008 11:58:13 AM

0 up, 0 down

tlpn99
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 12:52:26 PM
Reply

As someone said previously if in need of space remove some games, I've got the 60gb and have no where near filled it up yet. Do the game companies want us to end up forking out for a bigger hard drive ? Surely they are reasonably cheap now.
Also im sure someone told me that a USB external Hard drive is just as good as the PS3 thinks it is a portable media device, not sure how true this is and if it is only for saving games on so maybe the hard drive is needed to be installed properly. Either way I'll worry about it when I start to run out of space, only 2 games I'll keep on there anyway for deffo is MGS4 and GTA4.

Last edited by tlpn99 on 9/10/2008 12:53:22 PM

0 up, 0 down

WaR_HaWk
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 12:57:22 PM
Reply

2 bad i dont have space on my 160GB HDD

1 up, 1 down

ffrulez
Friday, September 12, 2008 @ 4:20:06 AM

what have u been doing man? seriously, u dont need all that junk on the ps3's hard drive, thats what an external hdd or computer is for.

1 up, 0 down

tramp
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 1:01:23 PM
Reply

the less space thats on your harddrive the less time it takes,i think thats how it works.
i really dont care for these installs.Im ps3 is loaded with crap that i can alway just get rid of.

0 up, 0 down

Shrek
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 1:52:35 PM
Reply

Hey if the game is better for it I say its worth it.

0 up, 0 down

Anthony
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 3:19:41 PM
Reply

I wonder if Fallout 3 and Resistance 2 will have game installs?

0 up, 0 down

NuCl3aR32
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 4:09:55 PM
Reply

I wonder how cod 4 did it? full 1080p HD, 60fps, NO install? It seems infinity ward really understands the PS3. Thier the only ones I know of that said working on the PS3 wasn't hard at all......

0 up, 1 down

Aftab
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 4:46:09 PM

Um, and COD4 wasn't 1080p.

1 up, 0 down

timster118
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 6:16:30 PM

COD4 was not 1080p...came from xBox version so the game size had to stay small.

1 up, 0 down

Geobaldi
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 8:27:52 PM

I remember how short of a game that one truly was?

1 up, 0 down

Geobaldi
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 8:36:18 PM

Remember how short of a game that one truly was?

1 up, 0 down

Cavan
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 4:37:04 PM
Reply

yh but mate COD4 wasnt a big game, it would of only been about 8gb game as it was just a port over from the xbox version, so there wouldnt be an install.

0 up, 1 down

Daedusian
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 5:45:45 PM
Reply

Yeah I don't really care either way. No matter what I'll be buying a good sized hard drive this year, maybe as a christmas gift or something. I mean, if we are going to have the PS3 for another 7 years, we kinda need to get a bigger hard drive. You can get a friggin 320gb hd for only 105$! That's nothing really if you think about it.

I think 5gb isn't too bad but getting near 10, like DMC, is a little much, and just grows after time. That is if you like to keep your games forever.

Last edited by Daedusian on 9/10/2008 5:51:29 PM

1 up, 0 down

timster118
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 6:18:01 PM
Reply

I just installed a 250Gb hard disc drive. It only took 7 minutes. Then had to download all my stuff again. That takes some time.

Game installs ....no worry Mate.

0 up, 0 down

AceTatsujin
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 6:26:03 PM
Reply

you can puchase a 2.5" size HDD 5400 RPM HDD SEAGATES that has around 250 or 280 gigs for no more than 90 US dollars and it is highy recommended and has tons and tons of reviewers from PS3 users having 5/5 stars. You can get it at tigerdirect[dot]com or newegg[dot]com

Last edited by AceTatsujin on 9/10/2008 6:27:02 PM

1 up, 0 down

timster118
Thursday, September 11, 2008 @ 9:47:24 AM

Newegg.com = awesome. WD250Gb Scorpio is all you need. Do IT....DO IT NOW!!!

1 up, 0 down

NuCl3aR32
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 6:39:37 PM
Reply

@ aftab and timster
Cod4 isn't 1080p? Are u talking native resolution? Whats the difference?

0 up, 0 down

timster118
Thursday, September 11, 2008 @ 9:55:51 AM

Check out this site:
http://www.gamebrink.com/blog/2007/11/15/most-hd-game-resolutions-not-even-720p-let-alone-1080p

0 up, 0 down

Geobaldi
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 8:33:48 PM
Reply

I am a long time PC gamer so all of these installs is just as common for me today as it was 15 years ago. I'll take an install any day over swapping disks in and out like a lot of games used to be. And if loading times improve as an added bonus, I gladly accept. But for those people who aren't patient enough to wait a few more minutes to play their favorite games, I wonder if companies will start thinking about adding more optional installs to favor to that particular audience.

0 up, 0 down

Jed
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 8:46:01 PM
Reply

The only thing I dont like about the installs is sitting there with a brand new game you just unrapped, and having to wait. You sit there smelling the inside of the case, and waiting.
But really installing a game once before you play is not a bother. However, I would rather change discs than sit through several installs, like in MGS4.

0 up, 0 down

hydro
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 9:35:40 PM

During the install would be a perfect time to read the manual. That's what i do. It's better to know how to play, then to get frustrated and hate it because you cant figure it out.

0 up, 0 down

AntDC
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 @ 11:58:29 PM
Reply

I don't mind this, installs from games your not playing at the moment can be deleted. Gran Turismo 5: Prolouge and Oblivion have pretty big installs as well.

0 up, 0 down

Gabriel013
Thursday, September 11, 2008 @ 1:31:21 AM
Reply

What's annoying is that we suffer through the installs and all that does is bring us on a par with the 360 versions.

If I decide to keep my Bioshock preorder I'll also have to trawl my HD for something I can live without.

0 up, 0 down

NuCl3aR32
Thursday, September 11, 2008 @ 4:33:56 AM
Reply

I think we have installs because

1. blu-ray loads to slow and
2. Not enough ram
imagine if we had a faster bluray drive and 2 gigs of ram..... I wouldn't be surprised if killzone 2 had 6 gigs to install...

0 up, 0 down

ffrulez
Friday, September 12, 2008 @ 4:18:15 AM

blu-ray loads 5 times faster than DVD but compared to its size, its too slow.

0 up, 0 down

ffrulez
Friday, September 12, 2008 @ 4:18:39 AM

it also does not require RAM because of the processor

0 up, 0 down

ffrulez
Friday, September 12, 2008 @ 4:17:25 AM
Reply

ALL of my games need a mandatory install!

0 up, 0 down

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