New Xbox Experience game installation caught on video

by Christopher Grant { Aug 11th 2008 at 11:28AM }

We don't know how it happened, but the New Xbox Experience interface has been leaked to the webs and is, bit by bit, making its way to us in video format. One of the more interesting new features is the ability to install games to your console's hard drive. On display in this video: the installation (spoiler alert: it takes a while!), checking the memory footprint (spoiler alert: it's a whole DVD!), and launching the game (spoiler alert: you still need the disc in the drive!). Crap, we've spoiled the entire thing for you. If you can muster any interest in the video now, you'll find it after the break.

[Via X3F]

Tags: New-Xbox-Experience, NXE

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Duke @ Aug 11th 2008 11:33AM

So watching the video is just like sitting there waiting for something to install? Yeah, sounds great. :P

Wiinterfang @ Aug 11th 2008 11:38AM

+1 for you.

Nate @ Aug 11th 2008 11:36AM

Sounds like both PS3 *and* 360 owners should be investing in sandwich futures ;)

umm....hello??? @ Aug 11th 2008 11:38AM

what?! all this time I've been using that time for bathroom breaks during my marathon gaming sessions....

danny. @ Aug 11th 2008 11:45AM

so again the sandwich-heavy portfolio pays off for the hungry investor!

SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread) @ Aug 11th 2008 11:50AM

best.idea.ever.

Shmil @ Aug 11th 2008 12:02PM

@danny
You didn't even refrigerate it you spineless lobster!

rv @ Aug 11th 2008 2:37PM

But if we buy sandwich futures, when will they be delivered? We will be left sandwichless until the contract is fulfilled.

Tim The Enchanter @ Aug 11th 2008 3:56PM

Lol @ Danny and Scmil

Tim The Enchanter @ Aug 11th 2008 10:05PM

YOU had to go and bring SPINES into this!

Vol @ Aug 11th 2008 11:37AM

There's nothing like watching something install. Consider me one of the ones who will skip this.

Wiinterfang @ Aug 11th 2008 11:41AM

Yep, the trill of watching something install have no comparison.

Red Leader @ Aug 11th 2008 3:07PM

Especially watching Old Snake chain smoke for eight minutes.

Deeznuts420 @ Aug 11th 2008 11:43AM

i really hope the background can be changed completely because that gray BG is dull as hell.

umm....hello??? @ Aug 11th 2008 11:43AM

ok....I bit and watched the vid...shows off the new interface, shows the different menus and the ability to d/l to harddrive, then shows the start of installing, skips to them checking the harddrive footprint (GTAIV uses up 6.8gigs of space) and then them clicking on play from Harddrive, to which the system responds to insert game disc to play from Harddrive.../end video.

Jason @ Aug 11th 2008 11:43AM

Doesn't the fact that the disk has to be in the drive to play the game kinda defeat the purpose of an install? The 360 load times are usually not bad anyway. This just seems like a REALLY bad reason to waste time and HD space.

Nael M. @ Aug 11th 2008 11:47AM

The point of installs is to reduce load times by loading from the hard drive instead of the disc. The disc will be required as copy protection, and nothing more - all loading will still be done from the hard drive, no point defeated.

Erik Stroud @ Aug 11th 2008 11:49AM

Im hoping that once you insert, you can remove and pass to someone else in your house. That would help me not have to buy 2 copies of some games.

Kodros @ Aug 11th 2008 12:00PM

Erik Stroud is the reason you have to keep the disk in the drive =)

Jason @ Aug 11th 2008 12:06PM

The point IS totally defeated b/c the way I see it the only way an install would really be useful is if I was playing, say, GT4 and a friend popped in and wanted to play COD4. If I was able to install and not use the disk I could switch over really quick and start playing. Its funny that everyone poked fun at PS3 for mandatory 1-4GB installs and now its all badass to be able to install 6-8GB on the 360. Its basically the same, you still have to use the disk, already minuscule load times are decreased, and its a big waste of time.

Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!) @ Aug 11th 2008 12:08PM

Jason, its so you don't borrow from a friend or rent from Blockbuster/Gamefly and so keep it forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever.......................and ever........on your hard drive!

Duke @ Aug 11th 2008 12:20PM

Jason, its not the same as the PS3 which mandates install on some games, so save us the bs. Also, having the disc in the drive is the same solution that has been around for years for stopping people from installing a game from rental/borrow/warez. You damn well know this.

Jason @ Aug 11th 2008 12:22PM

OH REALLY, I had no idea??!?? Of course that's the reason! I still doesn't make it that convenient of an option especially with the cost of upgrading a 360 HD.

Dramatization:

PS3 mandatory 1GB install: "That's so stupid, I just wanna play my games, Sony sux, PS3 is for shitheads, I can't wait that long to play, that's pointless it still had load times, 360 FTW!"

360 optional full (6-8GB) install: "Hurray, this is the greatest thing to happen in human history, the gods have blessed us, there is nothing better than sitting through a 1.5 hr install, i love sandwiches, wow, now I don't have to sit through 1.5 second loads b/c I sat through a 1.5 hour install, that's great!! but I am gonna miss riding in those elevators"

Duke @ Aug 11th 2008 12:32PM

OK, so now you are showing that this is a "fanboy" issue and not an issue with optional install of games.

Thank you for showing your true angle. Yes, anyone who owns a 360 is a piece of shit and anyone with a PS3 is a God among men. How shall we achieve forgiveness? Congratulations, you have finally won the battle for the legions.

You cannot directly compare the option of installing a game to having to install, no matter what fanboys on either side cry. They are not the same thing. You’re argument has convinced nobody because the basic building blocks of symmetry are lacking.

Jason @ Aug 11th 2008 12:44PM

I'm not comparing the actual process of installing on either system (mandatory/optional), what I am trying to get across is how hypocritical everyone is with their overall praise for an install process on the 360 when the idea was lambasted and beat to death when games started using installs on the PS3.

Everyone was complaining that they couldn't bear sitting through a 20min install for a PS3 game and they are all turning around and jumping for joy now that they have the option sit through a 1-1.5 hour install on the 360. Which most likely doesn't have mandatory installs b/c you can't guarantee that every 360 has a HD.

Shmil @ Aug 11th 2008 12:51PM

Jason: Master of the Obvious

Easo @ Aug 11th 2008 1:30PM

"Everyone was complaining that they couldn't bear sitting through a 20min install for a PS3 game and they are all turning around and jumping for joy now that they have the option sit through a 1-1.5 hour install on the 360."

1.How the hell do you know how long it takes to install? In the PC world, only MMOs and Games with a million patches take that long to install.

2.Its not a hypocritical comparison because some PS3 games REQUIRE you to install the game Before You Can Play It. Microsoft has stated that the installs on the 360 will Never Be Mandatory and thus you will Never Be REQUIRED To Install The Game Before You Play It.

Optional installs are great for games like Mass Effect and Oblivion that have load screes that can take 10 or 15 seconds to load. But the Key word in that statement is OPTIONAL.

BlaznGoldstein (Electric 6 Defense Force) @ Aug 11th 2008 1:32PM

Ok Jason, let me spell it out for you. Mandatory installs on the PS3 is how Sony/developers get around the slow read times of the Blu-Ray drive. For the 360 it's an optional feature that allows you to play a game without the sensation of a 747 taking off in your living room. People gripe about PS3 installs because it is a band-aid for a poorly designed system. (Blu-Ray not the PS3 itself) On the 360 installs are a luxury that you can choose to use or not.

Vcize @ Aug 11th 2008 2:27PM

Jason, what part of the word 'optional' does your tiny little brain fail to comprehend?

An install will decrease load times and prevent the (loud) DVD drive from spinning up. It's not a huge deal, but it's nice to have the OPTION.

I've said all along with the PS3 installs that I like them on games that I play a lot, but it's not worth it on games that I don't. If a 15 minutes/6gb install can knock 1.5 seconds off the loading time, that's not really a big deal for most games. But if it can do it on a game that I've put dozens or hundreds or thousands of hours into (like Gears or CoD4), then that REALLY adds up. The problem with the PS3 is that it would make you do it even on games that you were only going to play for a few hours, so you never got close to re-cooping that lost install time/space.

The perfect solution would be to give you an OPTION. I don't care about shaving off a few seconds on the load times of Devil May Cry, because I'll play through that once for a few hours and be done with it. For a game like Gears though, that I still play hours every night almost 2 years after release, that would be a nice thing to have.

And give it up with the crap about PS3 installs being 1gb, because the vast majority of them are not.

It's also nice to be able to do it whenever you want. I was pissed off when I came home from lunch to start up MGS4 on the day I got it, then HAD to use 8 minutes of what was left of my short lunch break right then and there before I could even try the game out.

jron @ Aug 11th 2008 3:03PM

I remember installing ffxi onto my ps2's hard drive. (sadly)

Dan CiTi @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:50PM

Meh. this is a nice feature. It'll keep the shitty disc drive on the 360 alive longer. We should all be happy.

vidGuy @ Aug 11th 2008 11:44AM

If I wanted to install my games I would play on the PS3 or PC.

Duke @ Aug 11th 2008 11:46AM

...its optional.

vidGuy @ Aug 11th 2008 12:18PM

Sure it's optional, but I still think it is a disturbing trend in video games. It makes sense on the PS3 considering the size of the games and the slow speed of the drive, but I'd hope that the mandatory installs would be eliminated once the drive speeds made it possible.

For me, there are two big benefits to console gaming over PC gaming: I don't have to update my hardware every three months to play the newest games and I don't have to install a game to play it. Both of those benefits are quickly disappearing.

Duke @ Aug 11th 2008 12:24PM

I don't see how allowing the option of installing if you want is a disturbing trend effecting you. Especially since there is no trend. Mandatory install =/= optional install. You are really stretching this to sound like a negative feature.

Never install a game and your life will go on the same as it did before.

vidGuy @ Aug 11th 2008 12:49PM

Oh, I think it's a positive feature, as long as it remains optional. I might even use it some day. I'm just hoping that it doesn't open the door for MS to do mandatory installs with their next console. That requirement is one of the hurdles keeping me from buying a PS3.

Jason @ Aug 11th 2008 1:04PM

I'm with vidGuy (surprise), I think it is a situation of "once you get the ball rolling..." It will be small mandatory installs and optional full installs this generation and next we will start seeing mandatory full installs. Hard drives will need upgrading during the lifespan of your console and further down the road, perhaps graphics card type upgrades mid-cycle. It is slowly moving away from the simple "buy system, play games, five years later buy new system" type of industry to one of add-ons, peripherals and upgrades.

BlaznGoldstein (Electric 6 Defense Force) @ Aug 11th 2008 1:34PM

This "slippery-slope" argument assumes that gamers will actually buy these systems. I would vote with my wallet and go to the park or something.

Microswirl (MKWii:1676- 4270-3674) @ Aug 11th 2008 1:54PM

What makes the "trend" disturbing is that the 120GB HDD still costs $180. I own Burnout Paradise, a game that requires the HDD, and I'm sure more and more games will come with a HDD requirement in the future (and that this install feature may actually be the Trojan horse that ushers in a new generation of install-only games). I also have Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition, which uses up about 1GB of DLC. I'd like install Gears of War 2 on my 20GB HDD just so I don't have to listen to the loud disc drive, but I'm afraid that my DLC for Halo 3, Bioshock, Mass Effect, Gears of War, etc. has left me pretty much without any more space... I'm not really disturbed by it, just annoyed. Yes, it's an annoying trend.

Duke @ Aug 11th 2008 2:00PM

Its not a trend.

OK, you are annoyed with the price of HD's - we all are. That does not ahve anything to do with this option. You aren't forced to buy the new larger HD.

Why does everyone want to crap issues together. HD price is one issue and optional installs being good or bad is another one.

Duke @ Aug 11th 2008 2:08PM

Its like my keyboard went nuts there.

ahve = have
crap = cram

vidGuy @ Aug 11th 2008 2:40PM

After this fall update, 2/3 of the current gen consoles will feature game installs when no console featured it last generation. Trend may be the wrong word but it's still a dramatic change.

Microswirl (MKWii:1676- 4270-3674) @ Aug 11th 2008 3:25PM

Yeah, I know it's not a trend, that's why I put "trend" in quotation marks in my last comment. I'm simply pointing out that I would like to use this feature but I can't. I also think this is a pretty weak solution when really what Microsoft SHOULD be doing is making a faster yet quieter drive. I mean, supposedly they can drop another $50 off the console price, so you'd think they could just as easily keep the current price indefinitely and put in a more expensive, uber-high-quality drive and/or fanless liquid cooling system that runs as quietly as the PS3... and apparently they could still turn a profit doing so. Maybe it's not that big of a deal for some people, but I bought a whole new 360 (the Falcon chip) not because of RROD but because my original was just too loud. The newer model is an improvement, but still I can't stand that humming noise, especially when watching a DVD.

On a somewhat related note, I think it would be better if Microsoft let you install, for example, Halo 3, COD 4, and Gears 2 and didn't require the disc to be in the drive, so you could just switch from playing one game to another without having to get up and swap discs. Lazy? Yes. Convenient? HELL YES! Then, in order to combat piracy, there could be a weekly re-authentication whereby you just put the disc in briefly and can remove it prior to playing.

Jared Mackenzie @ Aug 11th 2008 12:02PM

Sounds just like the way the PS3 installs games.

Tiptup300 @ Aug 11th 2008 12:18PM

Except it's optional. And the ps3 doesn't allow you to copy any game.

SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread) @ Aug 11th 2008 11:49AM

cool. i guess that interface doesnt look too bad. it looked terrible to me at first when they were showing it the first time with all those ads and stuff all over it. it looks better now. im just curious now to how fast the games will load when installed?

and DAMN that 360 is loud! i could hear it humming throughout the whole video.