I kinda feel like this the lull before the storm of MS nXBox news.

So some new info for neXtBox came out today via vgleaks and really its nothing new for the most part and nothing I can add to OP.

Kinect in every box, always on (like other consoles really), forced install to HDD for instant game starts, bluray, etc... all stuff that's been leaked earlier.

Kinda sad MS has been so quiet. I thinking we likely have to wait until April at the latest for some official info.

is vgleaks a part of THIS community? VGleaks - VGchartz...

Anyways, do you HAVE to instal the game to the HDD? or is that optional?

If the rumor is true you'll HAVE to install them in order to play because, as they say, "Play from the optical disc will not be supported".

That's not necessarily bad as it will mean no disc spinning during gameplay so less noise.

For me the disturbing rumors are the other rumors, forced Kinect, always online, no used games, etc.

Yeah, I think that forcing you to install a game is their way of not allowing used games. Maybe you can pay to unlock it once you installed it or something.

If all of these rumors are true, I definitely see the 720 failing. BUT, I wouldn't have thought people were willing to pay for online game when there were free options either, so, who knows...

I'm pretty sure also the PS4 will force game installs. At least for a large fraction of games. Even the 6x Bluray-Drive is way to slow to fill the GDDR5 in adequate time. There's a reason why load times on the Wii U are often so long*. And that console only has 1GB of RAM usable by games.

Let's just calculate a bit: Assume that 6000MB of GDDR5 can be used by games. Then assume that each level/game load completly refills this ~6GB (that's of course are worst case scenario) and then finally assume that the Bluray-Drive can deliver the full maximum speed of 27MB/s the entire time (that's a best case scenario): 6000MB : 27MB/s =  222s = 3min 42s

In my opinion that load time is too long. Even if it's only for the startup of the game (and I know that the last state of the game can be saved in the GDDR5 but sometimes you want to switch games etc.).

Compare this to the same situation with a pretty standard ~100MB/s-5400rpm-HDD: 6000MB : 100MB/s = 60s = 1min. Still not ultra fast, but much more acceptable in my opinion. And then the access times of a HDD are also much lower even when compared to an 6x BR-drive.

I have no idea how important streaming of data during gameplay will be in the next gen (8GB of RAM may be large enough to store a large fraction of the necessary game data for one level in the RAM), but if it's still used a lot the limits of a BR-Drive will be even more noticeable.

Can this install-feature be used to block used games? Yes of course! Is that the main reason for enforcing it? Not in my opinion.

*Yes I know that even games installed on the flash or a HDD don't load much faster. But the HDD is only connected via USB2 limiting the speed to around 35MB/s. And the flash probably also isn't the fastest just to be on the same level (and to save a few Dollars).

Didn't understand much of that, but I did understand "installed games=faster" ^^

No, VGLeaks is some other site that so far has actually been VERY accurate in leaks for all the latest consoles. Not perfect, but very accurate.

As far as I understand it, it seems that BOTH the PS4 and neXtBox will force a user to install the game onto the HDD. This may be their key into potentially locking out used copies of games, however, it will also allow all games to effectively be considered digital copies and the benefits of such a system.

Though, I think it will also force them to require massive HDDs of at least 500GB and potentially 1TB as a default. I mean a game like LEGO City on Wii U is 20GB and that would seem to have a lot less resources than many other next-gen games.

The one benefit retail will still offer over pure digital will be that you have the backup on your disc vs having to redownload if you were forced to delete for some reason.

Holy shit, I'd never buy a PS720 if all my games - even the physical ones - were considered digital... Is there any benefit for the costumer using that system?

500gb should be the bare minimum really... Like, the casual basic kit :P

Benefits are for digitial vs retail overall.

1) No need to ever change a disc. Turn on, pick game, play.

2) Quicker in-game transitions as HDD is faster than BR drive.

That's pretty much it AFAIK.

You don't gain the obvious digital benefit of not having to store the disc/case as you'll want that for back-up or reinstall, when needed.