360 games to be installable to HDD

By Robert Purchese Published 14 July, 2008

Plus in-game dashboard, new displays.

Microsoft has decided to let you install Xbox 360 games to the hard drive.

Xbox Live boss Marc Whitten revealed the feature on the Major Nelson blog and boasted about it improving load-times and reducing DVD drive noise, although you will still need the disc in the drive to play in order to verify that you own the game.

He went on to unveil an in-game dashboard that lets you access every feature and option "no matter where you are", although being near the telly and console will presumably help.

There will be new display modes, too, including 16:10 over VGA or HDMI, plus 1440x900 and 1680x1050. That one's our favourite.

On top of that, Microsoft will let us browse and buy Live Marketplace content on the PC from the Xbox website. This means we can do handy things such as set films or game demos downloading so they will be ready when we get home.

Whitten also expanded on the Live Party system where you can specify a group of seven others that you move from game to game - or movie - with. The feature was announced during Microsoft's E3 press briefing. You can chat in the dashboard before playing or watching and it's supposed to work with all Xbox games.

"Because of your feedback, we started rethinking the entire Xbox experience," said Whitten. "What we discovered was that we could not only provide a better experience for you, but also something that reaches out to new audiences."

Microsoft had much more to say during its E3 conference earlier this evening. Pop over to our live report to see what happened.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (60) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • makeamazing #1 4 years ago

    "Xbox Live boss Marc Whitten revealed the feature on the Major Nelson blog, and boasted about it improving load times and stopping the need for the drive to make lots of spinning noise."

    Perhaps its time for them to stop selling the Xbox without the hard disk if its that much of a benefit to the users ;)

  • absolutezero #2 4 years ago

    In game DSB

  • the_dudefather #3 4 years ago

    game installs = neat, if it makes mass effect have less pop in I'll be using it, honestly can't think of any other game that I would want to use it for (GTA maybe, but it didn't bother me that much)

    it would be nice to have Clan / steam style group support though, anything to make organising friend lists a bit easier

  • wewillselfdestruct #4 4 years ago

    Install the entire game or just the partial installs like PS3? Either way, those with 20GB drives (which had about 13GB available for use if memory serves) aren't going to be able to do much of this so I presume it will have to be optional? (Not to mention the relatively small number of users who don't have HDDs at all.) And if it's optional surely this could lead to relative performance problems with online games if some users have it installed and others don't. I guess all this will get cleared up in the coming days.

  • mattigan #5 4 years ago

    Starting content downloads from work so they are ready when you get home = Fucking Awesome, I was wishing for this feature only this morning when I heard that the Too Human demo was up on live, and I was stuck at work.

  • tap #6 4 years ago

    Finally - 1440x900 over VGA.

    Why did it take so long? No matter, what with the FFXIII announcement and the ripping to HDD I'm going to allow myself a little smile tonight.

    Just stop delaying demos to Silver Live members and all will be well ...

  • penhalion #7 4 years ago

    The dashboard is one area that microsoft got right from day 1. Because of the way the dashboard works i.e. it has it's own exclusive thread that is NEVER used by games (or at least is never supposed to be). This means that accessing it doesn't require the game to do anything other than pause. It even has it's own memory space that games are not aware of and never use so it doesn't require a game to unload resources to accomodate it. As a result of this the whole dashboard can be changed without any game ever knowing the difference or needing a patch etc. etc.

    Sony please take note for any future consoles you develope.

  • GamerG #8 4 years ago

    This makes me so happy

    Wipes tear

  • anonim1979 #9 4 years ago


    "Play from hard drive. ***Copy*** your games from the game disc and play directly from the hard drive. Not only will the drive not spin, but load times are quicker, as well. Of course, you will still need the disc in the tray to prove you own the game."

    EUROGAMER STAFF - CAN you spot DIFFERENCE between COPY and INSTALL ?

    It Is NOT INSTALL of any kind - not full instal - nor partial install

    Completly OPTIONAL - you will be able to:
    ***COPY WHOLE GAME TO HDD - LIKE Playin from ISO on PC***

    And it will copy whole DVD in 4-5 minutes TOP on 12x drive in X360 unlike 20 minutes PS3 installs

    Anybody who even once played from ISOs on PC will tell you how usefull it is.

    And making it ISO copy will make it completly backward COMPATIBLE with ALL X360 games.
    Edited by 5 at 14/07/08 @ 22:27

  • T4RG4 #10 4 years ago

    We will be getting support for new display modes too, such as 16:10 over VGA or HDMI, plus 1440x900 and 1680x1050.


    YES! Nice one fellas! Thing is, I just sold my swanky monitor to a mate because I couldnt stand the slight stretching effect to match 16:10 monitor. He got a bargain.

    Bugger.

  • Les #11 4 years ago

    Makes sense. Might drive up demand for overpriced HDD add-ons and, through piracy, might make the 360 more attractive. Worked wonders for Windows...

  • Tweakmonkey #12 4 years ago

    That is a killer feature in my opinion.

  • mattigan #13 4 years ago

    From reading the post on MN it looks like you can install ther entire game to HDD with only the disk being in the tray for authentication as proof that you own it or have physical access to it.

  • makeamazing #14 4 years ago

    "It will copy in 4-5 minurtes TOP unlike 20 minutes PS3 installs "

    @anonim1979 ...Dont know where your getting your info from, but ive never had a 20 minute install.

  • anonim1979 #15 4 years ago

    @makeamazing
    (quote)
    "It will copy in 4-5 minurtes TOP unlike 20 minutes PS3 installs "

    @anonim1979 ...Dont know where your getting your info from, but ive never had a 20 minute install.
    (quote)


    Devil May Cry 4: Startup comparison
    [link url=http://www.gamesradar.com/video/v-2008020711498625065 ]http://ww w.gamesradar.com/video/v-200802...[/link]

    22 minutes 41 seconds

  • cyber_nicco #16 4 years ago

    This is a really pleasant surprise. While the drive noise doesn't bother me much, it is noticeable, so it will be nice to remove it. Also, this could really improve some games that had slow texture load-times or suffered from scenery pop-in.

    Now a really awesome use for my Elite's HDD!!! Woo hoo!

    edit: Bat writing.
    Edited by 1 at 14/07/08 @ 21:53

  • penhalion #17 4 years ago

    It will effectively silence the 360 to the noise levels it has when you play a live arcade title or downloaded movie i.e a quiet low while of the fans. Good to do if you have the new lower priced 120gb drive or the new 60gb drive. Given most of us play only one or two games at a time (full retail titles I mean) it shouldn't be too intrusive to do once or twice every few weeks.

    Hopefully they make an easy way to replace existing installed games. It should be as simply as selecting an install slot and having the system automatically overwrite whatever was installed in that slot. The dashboard menu should then show whatever I have installed at the time as if it were an arcade title.

  • GamerG #18 4 years ago

    ?Did I say how great this is?

    my 120gig hd is getting so filled, the noise of the drive bugs me at night, now I can game with the sound down!!!

  • George-Roper #19 4 years ago

    Wow! Well colour me fucking blown away! At last, i'll...

    1) Be rid of the noisy ass DVD drive and

    2) Have a reason to get my 120gb drive filled up with faster loading games!

    Absolutely impressed, by this announcement alone. Well done MS.

  • Raz76 #20 4 years ago

    And I just bought the 120 gb on ebay! Good timing :)

  • BadDevotions #21 4 years ago

    so if i set a download off at work, does that mean my 360 at home will turn on all by itself? that surely is some mysterious black magic! burn the witches!

  • Nige #22 4 years ago

    Another Yay for 1440x900!

  • Sevens #23 4 years ago

    Complete games? Who confirmed that? That'd be surprising, for multiple reasons.

  • Eraysor #24 4 years ago

    Ohnoes I need a bigger hard drive

  • Gaol #25 4 years ago

    1680*1050 support will probably single handedly sell me a 360.

    I currently run my PS3 through a Dell monitor via HDMI (720p) and it looks rather nice.

    But, uh, native resolution? Yes please. More reliable motherboard this Autumn and job done.

  • Rash' #26 4 years ago

    "so if i set a download off at work, does that mean my 360 at home will turn on all by itself? that surely is some mysterious black magic! burn the witches!"

    PS3's been doing that for months now, so for a change it's 360 that's doing the catching up. Though to be frank it sounds more convenient with PC than it is with PSP.

    Now if only both manufacturers would support Macs.
    Edited by 1 at 14/07/08 @ 22:44

  • Xerx3s #27 4 years ago

    Still no clan & friend group support you muppets. Fucking fail.

  • Xerx3s #28 4 years ago

    anonim1979: Is that so? If that is true then that would make it an awesome feature unlike installs which would not solve the problems. That would persuade me to get a 120gb version tbh.

  • Xerx3s #29 4 years ago

    "Now if only both manufacturers would support Macs. "

    What do you mean? As in streaming content? Don't they both do that? And if not: macdicaplol.

  • daz_john_smith #30 4 years ago

    I wish you didn't have to have the disc in the drive to run a "copied" game from the HDD. Faster load times, although nice, doesn't really impress me enough. Being able to run any game from the HDD without having to get off my arse and switch discs, now that would be sweet. I know having the disc in is a preventative measure to stop people copying games from friends and rentals, etc, but it'd be nice if you could register them in some way so you didn't have to have the disc in.

  • patchbox360 #31 4 years ago

    80gb hdd + installable games + final fantasy 13

  • Darren #32 4 years ago

    This is weird... as a PS3 owner I despise mandatory HDD installs because they're the reason I bought a 320 GB HDD. On my 360 though I'd welcome them because they will be OPTIONAL. LOL

  • dsmx #33 4 years ago

    I would feel slightly happier about this announcement if microsft had announced at the same time that they would start letting you use standard hard drives on the xbox 360 rather than the stupidly overpriced ones we have at the moment.

  • CARL05 #34 4 years ago

    Something which EG having added is that the disk still needs to be in the drive, it just won't spin, meaning it will be quieter.
    Of course, the disk needs to be in the drive for piracy reasons!

  • Daikon #35 4 years ago

    They'd better start selling HDs at 2008 prices then...

  • Feanor #36 4 years ago

    "1680*1050 support will probably single handedly sell me a 360.

    I currently run my PS3 through a Dell monitor via HDMI (720p) and it looks rather nice. "

    Will running it at the much higher resolution lower the framerate like it would on a PC game if you went from 180 * 720 to 1680 * 1050?

  • grantc7 #37 4 years ago

    +1 on all comments about reducing hd price, it has too be done.

  • rodpad #38 4 years ago

    This is brilliant. Means I can use cheaper media :D

  • MattyD #39 4 years ago


    Will running it at the much higher resolution lower the framerate like it would on a PC game if you went from 180 * 720 to 1680 * 1050?

    No because individual games are programmed to render in a set resolution (usually 720p but some games like CoD4, Halo 3 etc use a slightly lower rendering res) and everything above (or below if you're playing on an old TV) is done by the machine's upscaler hardware. The only real advantage in outputting a higher res is for compatibility with your monitor / HDTV.

  • SeesThroughAll #40 4 years ago

    How many PS3 versus 360 comparisons have shown there's little gain from having the game start from HDD?

    In the case of the 360, the gain is obvious: it works as a jet engine silencer ;)

  • Mr_Dodger #41 4 years ago

    I'm assuming this will also help multi-disc games like Lost Odyssey, as each disc boots separately anyway.

    This is such a useful feature, I'm surprised it wasn't in the main press conference.

    Edit: isn't it amazing how hings occur to you just as you hit 'submit'.

    The disc still needs to be in the drive for verification. So swapping will still be needed, unless it allows verification of all 'ISO'S' from physical Disc 1.
    Edited by 1 at 15/07/08 @ 00:30

  • George-Roper #42 4 years ago

    @banfoi

    " So rather than fix the noisy DVD Drive, they instead let you install entire games to the HDD>

    Two problems:

    1. You still need the disk in the drive.
    (But I can see them having made cracking ISOs to the 360 considerably esier for hackers now).
    2. Hard drives are going to fill up considerably quicker now.
    3. How many PS3 versus 360 comparisons have shown there's little gain from having the game start from HDD?

    So for all intents and purposes, it only really serves two purposes of any practical use:
    1. Larger games that span multiple DVDs are now more feasible.
    (FFXIII had somthing to do with this no doubt).
    2. Less noise from the console.

    But for 99% of games on the 360, there's no benefit. 7.8 gigs + DLC+ Movies = 60gigs full already.
    Even the elite will strain with more than 10 games (especially multi-DVD games).

    At least with the PS3 its' not every game, and they only install a couple of gigs to 4 or 5 at the most.

    What is particularly grating is that MS still force you to use authorised hardware,w hereas the benefit of the Ps3 is the ability to backup the hard drive and install the contents onto an upgraded, standard SATA drive, so ou can upgrade all the way to the 500gb available for less than the cost of a 120gb 360 hard drive.

    Pathetic"


    You miserable fucker. MS announce a handful of feature updates that we've been crying out for and that's your response?

    Disc-tray noise is an issue for some people, myself included, so for this ONE feature alone (HD installs) I'm immensely happy. Also, just because there's been no proven increase in loading on the PS3, for HD installable titles, means jack shit here because the same hasn't been quantified, like-for-like, on the 360 yet. For all you know, the 360 may have 50% increase over regular disc-based game load times.

    Yes, HDs will fill up. Thats the nature of the beast when you've got a capped storage system. The PS3 may have the advantage of generic drives as replacements and lower costs to boot, i'll grant you (if you're confident to have a go), but that doesn't detract from these great new MS announcements. Will 360 20g owners have a tough time? Yes, of course they will, and they'll need to juggle games installs. However, i'd put money on MS lowering the cost of 120g drives, at the time these features go live, to go some way towards alleviating the concerns.

    Pathetic is what people like you are, for blatant trolling of great, feature-rich, announcements that will do NOTHING except improve the usability and experience of an already great games console.

  • hiddenranbir #43 4 years ago

    Wow, now I really didn't need to buy a 360.

    Finally - 1440x900 over VGA.

    Can someone help me here. I've already been using my 1440x900 monitor through vga for 360...what resolution has it been all this time then? Or is this from games specifically?

  • wired009 #44 4 years ago

    Some people are way too easily impressed. Copying games to the HDD isn't really some kind of huge improvement. Partial installs to save on load times and increase performance without eating all your HDD space is the way to go. Then there's queue'ing downloads from the PC...for all the people who leave their 360's on while they're at work?! Average person works 8-10 hours per day while there's maybe about 1-2 hours worth of download per day. That makes a lot of sense. If you don't download much in the first place, this feature is even less remarkable. Try starting a download before you eat dinner and take personal time. Now was that so hard? Come on MS, I'm still waiting.

  • symmetry #45 4 years ago

    Fuck me what a fantastic announcement!

    There's at least 2 things in there that I badly wanted and 2 more that I didn't know I wanted till now.

    I feel kinda dirty saying this but... GO MICROSOFT!!!

  • SentientNr6 #46 4 years ago

    @hiddenranbir I am not sure what the default resolution is but it's probably horribly stretched.
    Go to the dashbord and setup to find one which looks better.
    I have a 1680x1050 and found one which looks quite good, so good that I forgot I was worried about it when I bought my 360.
    Obviously 1680x1050 support is welcome.

  • muscleblade #47 4 years ago

    "There's at least 2 things in there that I badly wanted and 2 more that I didn't know I wanted till now. "

    +1 fantastic and surprising news indeed.

  • mazzl #48 4 years ago

    wasn't the spinning of the drive used to get some air flow to cool the gpu?
    i'm happy, no more hurricaine while gaming :D

  • des #49 4 years ago

    @hiddenranbir

    360 output resolution is whatever you set in dashboard(system blade),its not game dependent.I have 1440x900 monitor,and 360 is set to 1280x768(its closest to 16:10 ratio).Your monitor is always "in" 1440x900,it has to stretch input res to native(1440x900) res.

  • TheJuriel #50 4 years ago

    Play from hard drive has been my most expected feature. So awesome.

    Stupid thing is, of course, that it's I view it as necessary just because my 360 is loud as a jet engine taking off when reading discs, and because it sometimes gives read errors. If this solves both those issues, I can finally love the console.

  • Yaster #51 4 years ago

    I personally think they're bringing in this feature because of the concerns over multi disc titles. i know a lot of people are pretending not to care about this but it just seems that thats the way development is going.

  • Colin8703 #52 4 years ago

    The ability for an install should shut up the Sony fanboys on the FFX111 thread complaining about the amount of discs it could be on and the drive noise for the 360 version.

    I'm pleased.

  • Mortey #53 4 years ago

    I've been waiting for the download to xbox from work thingey! It's like Sky+!

  • moggsy #54 4 years ago

    Finally a use for my 120GB hard drive. Excellent news.

  • Garulon #55 4 years ago

    @xerxes: "Still no clan & friend group support you muppets. Fucking fail. "

    Erm:

    "LIVE Party system. Create a party of up to eight friends, and stay with them from one game to another, or watch a Netflix movie together, or share a slideshow of your personal photos. It works with all Xbox 360 titles, not just upcoming games. LIVE Party allows up to eight people to chat in the dashboard, so you can meet up before playing."

  • Xerx3s #56 4 years ago

    "wasn't the spinning of the drive used to get some air flow to cool the gpu? "

    Err... 0_o

    Garulon: Yes I have eyes and can read (it's true, I know) but what you bold still is in no way cross game clan support or the ability to make groups in your friends list and assign friends to groups (as in the live messenger groups functionality that makes it all just so much easier).
    Edited by 1 at 15/07/08 @ 09:25

  • IneptPercy #57 4 years ago

    Optional install sounds good to me and I only have the good old 20gb.

    I know this will mean really one install at a time, but thats fine with me as I usually only have 1 favorite so install that and other can run off the disc as per usual, favorite game changes so does my install, easy life.

    Some of the updates seem good, to me xbox live really only jumpered to version 1.5 as such (assuming the original xbox service is 1.0)

  • dryden555 #58 4 years ago

    that is rather huge news that will save wear and tear on the optical drive and cut down noise. Best news I have heard coming from E3.

  • Gaol #59 4 years ago

    The advantage of the native monitor res is that the image is only scaled once; and its done by the 360s hardware scaler chip.

    Compare this with my PS3, where you get a game like GTA4 rendered at 640p (or whatever) which is then software scaled and outputed at 720p; which is then scaled again by my monitor to 1680*1050 (less letterboxing).

    Add in to this the fact that the 360 gets 2x AA on most titles and the PS3 doesn't and I reckon you have quite a big quality difference close up. Its a big selling point to me, but I will be waiting on the eventual user reports before buying.

  • Ryze #60 4 years ago

    @wired009

    Wake on LAN.