Disc swapping is usually much less problematic. This is because usually you only have to do it once in a while.

In a general sense, installs are better. But too many of the too large variety (5G) can fill up a hard drive. Of course, you can always delete the install after playing the game ... but that might make it tough to ever play it again from the save file.


Mike from Morgantown

That's not the comparison. 

The comparison is:  Swapping Discs or Manual Installs. 

It is not:  Swapping Discs or Manual Installs with a tiny hard drive.

Nor is it:  360 or PS3.

hay PS3 fans .. in which way the installs is better ? .. in taking 5 to 10 minutes of install or taking a 8 to 15 GB of the hard disc space ?! .. dont be a fan & think before u post.

What ps3 game has an install of 10-25 minutes?

And no most games dont even have installs on the ps3..

it is not installs i play a lot of pc games so they have never bothered me.

OK now about swapping disks now that bothers me, i mean it does my head i that much that when i ever get a pc game i always download a crack for it just so i dont have to put the disk in the drive everytime i play a game never mind swapping every few hours through the game.


thats just me though but both are a lil bit annoying.

Manditory installs, the CD swapping only effects the game in question while the install effects every subsequent game. I have to install it it eats up space and if I run out of space I have to delete it all or buy a new HDD(Something I don't want to do when I spent 500$ on the initial purchase regardless of the 'low' cost)

I'd prefer voluntary installs then I'd say disc swapping would be a far worse offense. However I hate being told I have to do anything so maybe I dislike both but find installing a game more intrusive.

Not to discount your opinion, but I just found it funny that you named yourself after the main character in FF VIII, forevercloud is named after the main character in FFVII, and both of you picked installs over disc swapping. You guys must have had a lousy time playing what I'm assuming are one if not your favorite games.

Installs and disc swapping both suck. Like it was previously said, disc swapping should win by default for the simple fact that almost no games are one more than one disc. Mandatory installs are becomming very common. Only a small percentage of any 360 owner has ever had to worry about disc swapping, and yet I would guess at least a 1/3rd of PS3 users have had to install.

Nicely done.

This is ridiculous, who cares!!!

Changing the disc after hours of playing or having to wait 5 insanely long minutes before playing a game. Really if this sort of thing gets you angry theres something wrong.

My biggest issue with installs is not just that you have to wait the first time you play a game, if it gets uninstalled you're less likely to want to play your old library.

If I have half an hour to kill, do I really wanna spend 5-10mins of that installing the damn game? Then if I have to uninstall something else will I have to reinstall that in the future?

Its not 5 mins now and nothing forever, its the threat of installs for the whole life of the console.