Posted Wed Nov 27, 2013 at 11:30 AM PST by Brian Hoss
Time from inserting the game disc to playing compared for six multiplatform games.
Owners of next-gen systems have and for the near future will continue to have to go through mandatory game installs for all disc-based games. And one system disparity that has been staggering, especially when considering the user experience for the PS3 and 360, is the process, and subsequent length of time for game installs, especially with regards to disc-based games.
Though the difference can feel like night and day, Kotaku has put together a video where the game install is began on both systems simultaneously. The video uses the Xbox One HDMI to get the comparison on the same screen, making the difference all the more obvious.
The comparison, which features 'Need for Speed Rivals,' is run at eight times normal speed, but even at the fast speed, the difference is remarkable:
In addition to the visual comparison, Kotaku has broken down times for six games:
How Long Your First Install Will Take On PS4 And Xbox OneAssassin's Creed IV:
Xbox One (offline, no update): 5 minutes 50 seconds
Xbox One (with update, fastest connection): 7 minutes 2 seconds
Xbox One (with update, 10Mbps connection): 10 minutes 32 seconds
PS4: 42 secondsNeed For Speed Rivals:
XBO: 09:25 (including update)
PS4: 00:32Just Dance 2014:
XBO: 08:48 (including update)
PS4: 00:45NBA Live 14:
XBO: 16:26 (including update)
PS4: 00:35FIFA 14:
XBO: 16:06 (including update)
PS4: 00:34Madden 25:
XBO: 9:38 (including update)
PS4: 00:38
Now many users may question, why do install times matter? And the answer is simple, it's the time between being ready to play a game, and playing a game. Secondary to that on these new consoles, which have massive game installs and tiny hard drives, the time will come when deleting game installs is a necessity, and the time needed to restore those installations will be a consideration.
Now there are some other things to consider. For one, on the PS4, while it's great to have lightning fast installs, it's not so great to start a game and only then be notified that it has an update to download, which then means having to download the game, and ultimately exit to install the update.
Furthermore, the Xbox One's install times, while slow, would be more understandable in the original Xbox One install and forget system, where the user would have all of their games playable from the hard drive while waiting for a new game to install. Hopefully, the current lengthy install times are an issue that will be corrected in the coming months.
Source: Kotaku
Author: Brian Hoss
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