Swapping discs or mandatory installs? What's worse?

[MikeB]

WessleWoggle said

Getting up and changing a disk takes five seconds. Are people honestly so lazy that getting up would be their reason for liking install times? Sitting for minutes is better than changing a disk, which takes seconds?

 

But installs aren't used to prevent disc swaps, harddrive loading allows for more data (faster) to be streamed into memory than is possible to achieve from disc. This can for example translate into better graphics or shorter loading times. A secondary reason to perform a harddrive install is when the file structure is optimised for DVD, a harddrive install for the part of the DVD which is loaded faster than a Blu-Ray disc is the easy route to take as the harddrive always loads faster than both optical disc based media.

MGS4 wouldn't fit onto one DVD, but may also require a harddrive if a 360 port would ever be done to prevent too many quality related sacrifices.