Million - It kills the need for disc swapping because you only need the disc in there to prove that you own the game, nothing more.

The advantages of installing the game on your HDD:

1) No disc scratching
2) Longer X360 Lifespan (less heat production due to DVD not being used)
3) Faster Load Times
4) No Disc Swapping

The DRM is already there on-disc, which is why it'll be compatible with all current Xbox 360 games. There is copy protection already embedded into the discs and data. It will use the same form of copy protection to prove that you didn't just download the game and trade off the disc as they do now to ensure you didn't just flash the DVD info to a blank DVD.

I am a bit confused now....So just think I am not one of those idiots who bought a X360 20 GB but a Elite version with 60 GB.

I want to play Halo 3.  I put it in my X360... It will install it and then I can play it without the X360 reading the disc;.

I take the game out of the tray,  I put Kameo in it,  I install the game....And what if I want to play Halo 3 again I don't need the disc?

 You would still need the disc--it'll be like a computer game (a non-hacked one, of course).  You install it to the hard drive to make load times much faster.  You can also install multi-disc games if you choose, so that whenever you want to play it, you only need the first disc, which is used to verify that you do in fact own the game.

so... let me get this straight... instead of load-time, you get what? 20 minutes download time from Disc before-hand? And LO has 4 discs, so you have to take upward 1 and half hours just to download them?

That's absolutely the dumbest idea I've ever seen. You better wish people don't swap games around a lot, because Microsoft's ridiculously priced hard-drive will never be big enough.

It's not a bad idea as an option for elitists that want reduced load times, or negate disc swapping. It's not like Microsoft, or anyone else will force anyone to do this (versus mandatory installations on PS3). It's just an option if you want faster load times.

I would think on a game like Mass Effect, or Oblivion, this would help considerably.

Konichiwa - You'd still need to swap discs from game to game if you wanted to play them. Again, this option that MS is giving consumers, when available, is to drastically reduce load times. Most likely beyond what the Playstation 3 offers, because your not installing the game, your loading the entire thing from your HD, which negates disc reading alltogether.

So again, on games that have bad frame rates, or bad loading, your issues would be reduced tremendously. I don't think MS is picturing this as a be-all-end-all option. More of like a quick, easy idea for Elite owners that might want a smoother game.

nvm me...i reread the post

This is some exciting stuff we are hearing from them. It's great to see the incremental improvements to XBL, rather than huge patches. I'm a WOWhead, but some of those monster patches are a drag...great to hear this, and I'm looking for mroe info to flow in the coming months. I think ALOT is going to hit before the holiday season to really help gamers make a clear choice.

Those are the 2 games I thought of first for this.

Also, I wonder if this is the precursor to downloadable 360 games?

Hurry up MS and get that 250GB HDD for the X360 on the market. Time is ticking. 120GB (113GB) 7 GB is taken up with memory.

This is great news Mr stickball, stroing the games on the HDD is a brilliant idea and will allow for shorter load times of games.

I'm in the VGA club too! That was a big announcement for me too. I play on my 22" LG monitor.