I read that the 360 will be getting a new OS in Sept and one of the features is being able to copy a game to the hard drive which would improve load times.   I recently got Mass Effect and there are these very annoying load times (kinda like hiccups) where the game would pause for a second or two to load during game play.

You guys know more about this stuff then I do... so was wondering if running a game off a hard drive would improve how fluent a game plays (particularly what I've observed in Mass Effect).   I'm thinking of waiting until it comes out before playing the game (I have plenty other games to play in the meantime).

I remember reading that the option would be available to all games past and present. If that's true then yes, load times would be significantly increased and would solve the texture pop in issues and loading.

Yes and with every single game, that's why it is a neat feature for those who do not like load times.

heads up dude

Well, it's not that I hate load times... I think Gears plays fine but I hate it went the game stutters or pauses in the middle of battle... kinda throws me off LOL

When is the official release date for this update?

No telling. Fall goes until Dec. 22.

erm that only happens between checkpoints to save your game and in areas with no enemies.

Were you thrown off guard while trying to run in a straight line lol

I believe they said it made loading times 30% faster.

I read that somewhere too. The article I read said that it takes 10 minutes to copy a whole game to the hard drive, which is better than I was expecting (assuming that's true). Also, if you have a multi-disc game, you'll be able mix it up between copying discs to the hard drive or playing them via the DVD drive in any combination you want. It'll work with any game and as well as reducing load times, it'll obviously reduce noise and wear and tear on the DVD drive. The disc has to be in the drive when you play the game, but only for authentication to prevent piracy.