Mass Effect 2 releases this week and a lot of people are starting to get really excited to get their hands on it, I know I am.
Recently, our beloved Geoff put up a post about disc swapping and how it will work in Mass Effect 2 but we all know that with the introduction of the NXE, installs are possible as well. Not only will they speed up the loading by a couple seconds but also allows us to stay comfortable on the couch without swapping discs, or will it?
The major issue is that for people who want to install the game, the disk space damage is pretty rough and for some just plain impossible and now we have news that swapping discs will still be required, thanks to Microsoft.
According to a post on examiner.com the install for both discs will cost you a pretty 12.4 GB of hard drive space.
Being an owner of an original 20GB Xbox 360, which mind you, comes standard out the box with barely 14GB actually available for use, I couldn’t install the game even if I wanted to. Thankfully, the installation is optional.
According to reports, the installation will set you back between 20 and 30 minutes. All of this to save a few seconds of load time. Kotaku has also updated a recent post saying that according to Bioware, the appropriate discs will still need to be in the drive due to it being a requirement from Microsoft.
This doesn’t really surprise me, considering that it’s always been the case but it would have been nice to just install the game and play through without swapping. Then again, what am I really saying here? You will need to swap the disc twice in a 35+ hour game, that doesn’t really count now does it?
So a 20-30 minute install that takes up 12.4GB just to save on a couple of seconds of loading time.
Worth it?
Last Updated: January 26, 2010
eXp
January 26, 2010 at 15:35
“All of this to save a few seconds of load time”
Never mind the load time, installing the discs will save my ears from rapid degeneration.
Can’t wait for this!
Milesh Bhana ZA
January 26, 2010 at 15:45
“the appropriate discs will still need to be in the drive due to it being a requirement from Microsoft.”
So it’s only ok if they do it? Forza didn’t need you to swop discs.
Nick de Bruyne
January 26, 2010 at 15:52
Well with Forza the second disk was more like additional content, rather than a piece of the game, so I don’t know if that counts
darthdad
January 26, 2010 at 15:50
No problem with disc swopping, or installing for that matter.
Have you seen the review scores for this game? :w00t:
Three more sleeps!
Nick de Bruyne
January 26, 2010 at 15:52
Can’t we all just take a handful of sleeping pills and get the wait over with? Not too many though, or we ain’t gonna be playing bugger all
Opium
January 26, 2010 at 15:54
Totally worth it, can’t stand the noise
Goose
January 26, 2010 at 16:00
I install all my games to protect the disc
bboy
January 26, 2010 at 16:54
I install to protect the xbox from destroying itself… but alas, 12Gb, not a chance on the 20GB model.
Bobby Kotick saves
January 26, 2010 at 17:31
I agree with the lads above me, the discs are important. I install to protect my precious disks.
Human
January 26, 2010 at 20:57
I don`t get it. If the game needs 12.4Gb to install, then the 20Gb drive is enough. I have one of the old premium 360s with the 20Gb hdd and I just fully deleted Forza 3 + all of the pre-loaded videos that came with the 360 (some titanic doc and a few others). Now I`m at 13.4Gb of free space. If that`s the case, then a 12.4Gb install should be no problem.
I`m heading out to the store in a bit to buy ME2 and hopefully I can confirm this.
Human
January 26, 2010 at 21:00
I don`t get it. I`ve got a 20Gb premium box and after deleting Forza 3 and all the pre-loaded 360 videos, I`m at 13.4Gb. If that`s the case then a 12.4Gb install should be no problem.
I`m heading out to the store in a bit to buy ME2 and hopefully I can confirm this.
Human
January 26, 2010 at 23:37
Anyways, I just confirmed it. MASS EFFECT 2 WILL FULLY INSTALL ON A 20GB HDD. I still have 1Gb of space left on the drive, just like I predicted earlier. Have fun guys.
Btw, sorry for the double post earlier, I got an error.
Nick de Bruyne
January 27, 2010 at 02:09
Thanks for looking into it, what I said earlier was actually running under the assumption that most people with 20GB’s have downloaded some DLC here and there and jsut don’t have the space.
I don’t have the space to even install half of a normal game
Human
January 27, 2010 at 02:46
That makes sense. I keep forgetting that most people probably have DLC content on their drives. I game offline, so all I have are game saves. For once I`m happy about that.
Man, sucks that you don`t have enough space for even half of it. I think that if you have some stuff you don`t mind scrapping, then it`s definitely worth it. Playing it without installing makes the loading times longer, the spinning disc is annoying, and you don`t have to worry about random stutters from disc loading. In the end you`re less likely to get problems from overheating as well. That`s probably the biggest incentive to install. I`ve already had 2 failed 360s in the past, so I`m trying to keep this one alive for as long as I can.
I was actually planning on buying a 120Gb drive, so that I don`t have to worry about limited game installs. The only thing that`s stopping me from doing so is the price. At around half the price of an Elite, they`re not exactly cost effective. I`m not sure what`s Microsoft`s strategy there.
Bobby Kotick hates you because you beat his Donkey Kong score
January 27, 2010 at 10:41
Perhaps Microsoft is banking on you actually deciding to buy an elite instead of an expensive hard drive. That’s one more sale of an xbox due to designed obsolescence, and another sales posting. :pouty:
Anyway, hopefully, Powercare will be kind enough to repair my box and post it back to me before Friday… 🙁
uberutang
January 28, 2010 at 10:21
Homegrown 120 gig ftw.
Adam
January 29, 2010 at 14:53
MW 2 Super Elite 250gb HDD FTW!! 😛
Tis abit of a bitch u have to swap to either disc 1 or 2 after there both installed… disc one should just hvae the copywrite bit but ohh well.
The 3 bits of DLC that come with the game are about 500MB aswell :0
Dave
January 29, 2010 at 19:15
People, people. You do not have to install both disks at the same time to play. Install one, play it, delete, then install the next. It’s like bitching that Lost Odyssey is 4 disks and trying to install them all on a 20gb.
Mike
April 27, 2010 at 00:13
Ok… So now that the game has been out, I just want to say to Dave that installing one disk at a time in ME2 is not going to work. For some reason 5 hours into the game you have to swap to disk 2 and then you can play most of the game off of disk 2, but as soon as you pass through the omega 4 relay… you have to put in disk one.
Awesome design strat! lmfao… I hate Microsoft.
Garrett
May 16, 2010 at 15:39
The reason it is that way is so you do not have to switch midgame. . . you can play several hours before you even get to that point anyways. I mean I was on disk two 3-4 days doing the questline/side quests/mining before I even got to the omega relay and had to switch.
Aero
July 1, 2010 at 06:18
*looks at ME2 icon on desktop*
I win.