Xbox downloadable games?

[fisdunctional]

I believe I heard somewhere, correct me if I am wrong, that Microsoft announced that you will be able to rip games off of the disk onto the harddrive when the new update comes out. If this is true it is awesome, being able to take friends games, and being able to play them whenever, and if this is true, is it worth upgrading the hard drive to a 60 or 120 gig from my 20 gig hard drive?

[Desert]

You are wrong. You have to have the disk in the 360 to play it. It just makes it more quiet. Quieter? I don't know.

[fisdunctional]

So it will be like the PS3, how it downloads half the game?

[MrDoctor]

No it downloads the whole game but it still needs the game in so it can check randomly to make sure you have it. So it only spins every time it needs to check.

[Averageroadkill]

I'm pretty sure hackers will find an exploit in this new update and pirating 360 games will become easier.

[fisdunctional]

No it downloads the whole game but it still needs the game in so it can check randomly to make sure you have it. So it only spins every time it needs to check.

So, the game has to be in, but it doesn't use it? It only checks for the disk? So you need the game everytime you play. Smart play by Microsoft.

[Relaps]

I imagine this would also help load times significantly, or is that just a pipe dream.

[BreakTheWalls]

So it will be like the PS3, how it downloads half the game?

PS3 games install a cache, making games load quicker, as a compromise for the slower load time a Blu-Ray drive has compared to a DVD drive. The 360 loads games quick enough without having to install a cache. Doing so would just be unfair to the PS3.

I'd rather you could rip movies onto the hard drive.

[fisdunctional]

I would love to be able to rip movies onto the hard drive. That would be amazing, so If the PS3 has a cache, if it didn't it would run about twice as slow?

[MrDoctor]

I imagine this would also help load times significantly, or is that just a pipe dream.
Yes, I'm pretty sure that was one of the main reasons they allowed this.

[I_Smell]

I remember when we used to play games on cartridges. Back then, there was no such thing as load times.

[this is not a post]

Stop living in the past you fool! Load times are the future, without them, we'd be no better than the animals! I for one hope the next gen load times to be 5 times as long.

[MrDoctor]

Stop living in the past you fool! Load times are the future, without them, we'd be no better than the animals! I for one hope the next gen load times to be 5 times as long.

Maybe one day technology will let us have 5x longer load times. But not yet we have to settle with almost no load times.

[BreakTheWalls]

I remember when we used to play games on cartridges. Back then, there was no such thing as load times.

Back then, there was no such thing as HD graphics that didn't look like cardboard cutouts and proper mp3 quality music. Or Xbox Live. Or wireless motion controlled remotes. Or plastic guitar controllers.

But I'll tell you what, soon enough everything will be Hard Drive based. It's already started on a small scale (you can buy Warhawk for the PS3 without a need for a disc) but it'll be a while before a pure Hard Drive console will become managable and widely available to the masses.

[JonC]

It's just for faster load times thats all. Microsoft aren't going to allow you to completely rip the game from the disc onto your harddrive, that'd be stupid on their behalf. Plus, it would eat up your entire Hard Drive. If you have the Pro SKU, you probably the 20 gig HDD, and the DVD-9 discs that are used for xbox360 (i think they're dvd-9) have like, 7 gigs of memory available, which means after two game rips, you'd have 6 gigs left, and you couldn't even put another game on there. Plus, you have to take into account of the other content you have stored on your harddrive.

All-in-all, its not going to happen.

[Tempest]

All-in-all, its not going to happen.

:ahe: It's already been confirmed. (http://forums.gametrailers.com/showthread.php?t=475953)

[mohaas05]

So, the game has to be in, but it doesn't use it? It only checks for the disk? So you need the game everytime you play. Smart play by Microsoft.

They do that already for all their PC games.

[I_Smell]

It's just for faster load times thats all. Microsoft aren't going to allow you to completely rip the game from the disc onto your harddrive, that'd be stupid on their behalf. Plus, it would eat up your entire Hard Drive. If you have the Pro SKU, you probably the 20 gig HDD, and the DVD-9 discs that are used for xbox360 (i think they're dvd-9) have like, 7 gigs of memory available, which means after two game rips, you'd have 6 gigs left, and you couldn't even put another game on there. Plus, you have to take into account of the other content you have stored on your harddrive.

All-in-all, its not going to happen.

I guess the smart thing to do would be to not download games if you've got the 20gig.

[JonC]

I guess the smart thing to do would be to not download games if you've got the 20gig.

Well yeah but what if you wanted to play some Alien Hominid or Contra or something? Then you're fucked!

:ahe: It's already been confirmed. (http://forums.gametrailers.com/showthread.php?t=475953)

Didn't know that, but for those of us who have 20 gigs, well thats kind of crappy. Unless, you just limit it to like a game that takes forever to load, such as GTAIV sometimes.

[Tempest]

I think I'm missing something here. It's a completely optional thing. If you have a 20 gig, don't do it. :ahe:

[JonC]

I know its optional, I was just saying. It's like its pretty much saying, "To get the most out of this, you need to have the larger harddrive."

[Assassin]

So why exactly is this so great? Do you just don't have to make the effort to put in a disk or does it really improve the game?

[junglebunny]

Yeah I'm not going to use this. Load times really aren't that long.

Will it even effect multiplayer?

[I_Smell]

Well yeah but what if you wanted to play some Alien Hominid or Contra or something? Then you're fucked!

No, you'd download them. Those games are like 300MB, I've got a 20gb hard drive.

[JonC]

I was referring to if you put a lot of games onto your harddrive from the disc and it filled up your harddrive. Then you're fucked if you wanted to play Alien Hominid or some other Xbox live Arcade game.

Though, you could always delete some stuff.

[afroman9898]

So, the game has to be in, but it doesn't use it? It only checks for the disk? So you need the game everytime you play. Smart play by Microsoft.
Well how does a person put the game in to play and take it out. When you open it up it takes you back to the dashboard.

[Matterialize]

You don't take it out. The point is that the disc will only spin when the xBox is checking to see if a disc is actually in there, so you can't play without the DVD. But it doesn't spin during gameplay so it's quieter, and if you accidentally knock your console around, you won't damage the disc.