New Xbox update to shrink some hard drive installs
by Justin McElroy 
{ Aug 3rd 2009 at 11:30AM } 
By DF's approximation, the update allows the system to be more efficient in selecting what non-essential data it puts on the hard drive. Though that results in a big savings in some cases, there are exceptions. Fable 2, for example, is no smaller post-update, leading us to assume Lionhead needed every inch of the disc for all that GOTY material.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Aug 3rd 2009 11:38AM
good news for those games....but I'd much rather Fable 2 be shrunken down....I mean its MS...SURELY they can further compress stuff without harming file integrity....
Weapon360 @ Aug 3rd 2009 11:45AM
According to the article, the image isn't being compressed but striped of duplicate files and dummy data. Pretty much what most of us CAGers have thought since this occurred.
Good to know that the theory was correct. Now if we could figure out why some titles won't install at all that would be better :)
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Aug 3rd 2009 11:47AM
yea I'm curious as to why Crackdown doesnt install myself
Crimson Major @ Aug 3rd 2009 11:55AM
I thought Crackdown didnt install because of the Halo 3 beta
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Aug 3rd 2009 11:59AM
Halo3 Beta?? whats that got to do with Crackdown not installing?
dark_inchworm (on Steam!) dark inchworm (on XBL!) @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:06PM
I thought the beta was included as a code on a card and not on the disc. (I waited about a year to purchase the game, myself)
Drunk Ste @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:08PM
Crackdown actually requires a hard drive to play online co-op, running the install off the hard drive while also using it for the game was probably too detrimental to performance. I remember reading comments along those lines from someone who worked on the game that pretty much confirmed this.
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:12PM
yea darkworm I just got it a few months ago....
dark_inchworm (on Steam!) dark inchworm (on XBL!) @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:23PM
lol, "darkworm"
Bowser Rogozhin: Death of a Ladies Man @ Aug 3rd 2009 11:41AM
Now all you need is a decent collection of disc games for 2009 and Microsoft will be set. Oh wait...
ThatPCgameryouhate @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:12PM
Now all you need to do is learn the art of relevancy.
Xanto @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:49PM
Straying too far away from your fanboy cage sir.
vidGuy @ Aug 3rd 2009 11:42AM
So does the 360 have to spin up the disc to get non-essential data that doesn't make it into the install? Or is it truly junk data that won't be missed?
Vidikron @ Aug 3rd 2009 11:45AM
I don't know for certain, but I would assume it is filtering out duplicate data and padding. And maybe videos/files for alternate regions if they happen to be on the disc too.
tmacairjordan87 @ Aug 3rd 2009 11:42AM
I tried it on the 3 disc games I currently have.
Fallout 3 went from 5.9 to 5.5 gigs.
Rock Band 2 went from 6.3 to 4.6 :D
Oblivion went from 6.7 to 6.3ish
Use this to see the old install sizes. It won't help you with newer games like Ghostbusters but it's good for everything else pretty much.
http://www.stripesonfire.com/nsc/#O
Weapon360 @ Aug 3rd 2009 11:48AM
Both the CAG thread in the article and gameinstalls.com have more updated lists, including the new NXE sizes for games already tested.
BTW, the link for stripesonfire.com just had a malware detection warning pop up on Chrome. Weird.
tmacairjordan87 @ Aug 3rd 2009 11:50AM
Oh damn don't click on it just in case then guys. Nothing popped up for me, but that could be a good or bad thing lol.
Mazrael @ Aug 3rd 2009 1:36PM
Hmm.. So trying this.. got about 12.6GB left on a 120 hdd (yes I could delete some - but they're on my 'play list')
Heimbachae @ Aug 3rd 2009 1:42PM
okay, maybe i missed this, and i'm assuming here, but i'm guessing that these games have to be REinstalled on my hard drive to benefit from this, correct?? doesn't just magically happen with the new update???
tmacairjordan87 @ Aug 3rd 2009 1:43PM
Yeah you have to reinstall them
Heimbachae @ Aug 3rd 2009 4:52PM
drats!
Storm Eagle [Wiizer Sweatshop R&D] @ Aug 3rd 2009 11:43AM
Maybe they think the installs are contributing to the slowness of the current dashboard's start-up? Also: When did Terry become a spokesman for Subway? Because that is AWESOME.
Todd G @ Aug 3rd 2009 11:46AM
So do you have to re-install the games, or will the update automatically shrink existing installs?
Vidikron @ Aug 3rd 2009 11:47AM
Reinstall
Rhamsey @ Aug 3rd 2009 11:47AM
Crap, I better uninstall my old saved disk and reinstall them now. Thanks for the heads up on this. I never would have noticed this myself.
Rhamsey @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:24PM
Yay!! mass effect went from 6.8GB to 6.8!! well, at least burnout went down almost a gig.
Brian @ Aug 3rd 2009 11:52AM
GTA IV is 6.5, down from 6.8
Cj @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:03PM
Left 4 Dead went from 5 GB to 3.7GB. Pretty impressive.
ThatPCgameryouhate @ Aug 4th 2009 3:20AM
I think Valve is to thank for that.
LiqwidZero @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:03PM
Well, the install for Mass Effect went down from 6.8GB to 6.7GB. Not really a noticeable improvement.
hakunin @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:09PM
Huh. My didn't change at all. Maybe because it's the PAL version?
Rhamsey @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:26PM
i dont have the pal version, and mine still didnt go down. and mass effect is the game that takes up the most of my hd space, 11 gb.
Ralph @ Aug 3rd 2009 4:15PM
The PAL specific data might be what was not installed for non-PAL consoles.
hakunin @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:05PM
Tried on the 3 games I own. I can confirm what was said of GTA4 and F3 and add that Mass Effect does NOT shrink. Guess Bioware crammed every bit of data they could onto the disc :)
Wiizer (MW2 Sweatshop Entrepreneur) @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:06PM
Wow, those are some Cheap-Ass Gamers... Watching the space on the HDD is... well, I don't want to be judgmental.. Does it seem a little anal?
dark_inchworm (on Steam!) dark inchworm (on XBL!) @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:07PM
Well, when you install a lot of games, you need as much space as you can get...
Me, I just got a 120, and I'm really not sure what to do with all the space yet.
Nerdy Desi @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:08PM
When you see the high price of 360 hard drives, you'll know why. ; )
Wiizer (MW2 Sweatshop Entrepreneur) @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:15PM
WHOA! $169?????
You could buy a DS, or a PSP with that!
dark_inchworm (on Steam!) dark inchworm (on XBL!) @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:22PM
Where do you live and where are you looking? Yeah, they're stupidly priced, but even $169 is above MSRP ($150, I think?). I picked mine up for $135 from Amazon.
K1LLER HORNET @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:54PM
'Wiizer' = TROLL!!!
He never has anything good to say about the XBOX 360 - even about this!
This is obviously great news, but 'Wiizer' finds some way to try & put it down.
"WHOA! $169?????"
^ Shows that you don't know how to shop around.
Amazon $129.99: http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-120GB-Hard-Drive/dp/B000OYKQBU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1249318364&sr=8-1
Wiizer (MW2 Sweatshop Entrepreneur) @ Aug 3rd 2009 12:59PM
You've got me K1LLER HORNET! I am a troll.
Forgive me for not finding the bargain price of $129.99.
That $40 would buy me half of a new game on PS3 OR 360.
See, that was bi-partisan, wasn't it?
Wiizer (MW2 Sweatshop Entrepreneur) @ Aug 3rd 2009 1:32PM
On further investigation, K1LLER HORNET, it seems you're an ill-informed fanboy.
The 360 comes with a 5400 RPM drive, with a 8 meg cache. On Amazon, that's worth $52.99.
So, let's compare your $129.99 hard drive with some others. Western Digital Scorpio Blue 500 GB Hard Drive with an 8mb cache is $94.99. Seagate SV35.3 Series ST3500320SV - Hard drive - 500 GB with a 32mb cache is $128.64, and that's the original cost. Right now, it's $68.99.
So, I would suggest just buying your own drive, and that you 'don't know how to shop around'.
Sean @ Aug 3rd 2009 1:55PM
Ugh. For the nth time.
YES the 360 hard drives are more expensive, but comparing them to any OEM or boxed hard drive on newegg is absolutely retarded.
The 360 hard drive is plug in and turn on. No opening of the box, no jumpbers, no snaking a power or data cable, no screws, no drivers, no formatting, no nothing.
I would say there is a $50 premium on top of how much it costs MS to make them, because MS knows they can sell it for that price and they want to, gasp, make a profit this generation.
Mike @ Aug 3rd 2009 2:02PM
@wiizer
They are stuck with buying the proprietary hard drives from microsoft, or they have to buy a certain type of hard-drive to put into their old hard-drives case and do a bunch of stuff while its hooked up to a computer and then risk getting banned from microsoft. Can't just plop a 500gigger into a xbox360 like you can with a PS3.
Wiizer (MW2 Sweatshop Entrepreneur) @ Aug 3rd 2009 2:06PM
@ Mike
Oh, thanks for the info, Mike! I kinda thought that since the PS3 just lets you swap it, MS would do the same thing with the 360... It's a shame, really.
ArtVandolay @ Aug 3rd 2009 2:33PM
Oh my!
Thanks to Mike and Wiizer's witty banter, I have decided to ignore the 360's superior game library. I will instead run right out and purchase a PS3 based solely on the fact that I can upgrade it's storage with an off-the-shelf hard drive.
That is quite a system-selling feature that you have highlighted, guys.
Thanks, Mike & Wiizer!
Vidikron @ Aug 3rd 2009 3:37PM
@Sean
"YES the 360 hard drives are more expensive, but comparing them to any OEM or boxed hard drive on newegg is absolutely retarded.
The 360 hard drive is plug in and turn on. No opening of the box, no jumpbers, no snaking a power or data cable, no screws, no drivers, no formatting, no nothing."
No, the comparison is not retarded. The comparison is made because of how easy it is to swap out the PS3 hard drive. It's not really much more involved than the 360, except you get a LOT more storage for your money.
Wiizer (MW2 Sweatshop Entrepreneur) @ Aug 3rd 2009 4:27PM
@ ArtVandolay
Well, if you need further convincing (and I wasn't set on convincing anyone to buy a PS3, but since you brought it up...), the PS3 does have Uncharted 2, God of War III, and Gran Turismo... Also, it has this crazy idea of having "free" multiplayer via the PlayStation Network! We're even getting voice chat in a couple of months! The PS3 can communicate with its handheld counterpart, the PSP. I haven't seen Microsoft's handheld, but I'm sure it's nothing like that Zune. The PS3 has the capability of playing Bluray Discs; the official winner of the HD format war... AND Battlefield 1943 works flawlessly on our network, as well as all multiplatform games!
... But really, I'm more of a Wii fanatic. Let me know if you're interested in buying one of those, and I may be able to get you one in black!
PeterF @ Aug 3rd 2009 4:59PM
While you are right about the drives being way more expensive than it is to buy the actual drive, the ST3500320SV is a 3.5" drive and can not be compared.
If you want to, you can easily save a LOT of money and buy a Western Digital BEVS 120GB 2.5" drive and replace the 20GB in your current case with it. It just takes a little bit of work on the computer and it works fine. I did this a year ago for $65.
I use it online and never have been banned.
PeterF @ Aug 3rd 2009 5:02PM
But Wiizer I must say you are an annoying troll.
I have both systems and I barely play my PS3. I don't see the $50 a year for xbox live as a huge deal ESPECIALLY considering it has (and has had since launch) WAY more features than the PS3.
No cross-game chat? Really?
I like my invite system, party system, easy website where you can view and send messages, etc. The PS3 has a better hardware value, but the 360 just has better games and is easier to use.