No mandatory install for Uncharted 2

By Ellie Gibson Published 29 July, 2009

Best make that cup of tea first then.

Good news, time-poor fans of rollicking action adventure games - there will be no installation required for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

That's according to Naughty Dog's Christophe Balestra, whose Twitter page states: "Uncharted 2 does not require any install." Just like the first game, then.

However, a previous tweet by Balestra confirms, "Uncharted 2 is going to be bigger on disc than U:DF." They're "not going dual layer" though.

Uncharted 2 is due to launch in the US on 13th October. There's no word on a European release date yet, but we'd bet Drake's entire Fortune it'll be here in time for Christmas.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (29) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • bad09 #1 3 years ago

    A 40gb looses space FAST but once you upgrade your HDD those installs are only a minor annoyance TBH (except after rushing home to play Ghostbusters "HURRY UP YOU BASTARD!!!!!!!";).

    / thinks back to speccy days of loading and smiles while watching 10 min countdown
    Edited by bad09 at 29/07/09 @ 09:04

  • Artemis_Matsas #2 3 years ago

    That's good. I hope more games in the future do the same.

  • kangarootoo #3 3 years ago

    I am going state right now that I expect UC2 to be f*cking brilliant.

    If it isn't, they will hear my screams in Iceland.


    On subject, I don't really care about pre-play installs. But I suppose the lack of one is better than a poke in the eye with a pooey stick.


    @bad09

    I used to love all the tunes that played in front of US Gold tape games. They form a core part of my memories of Bruce Lee on the C64. Anticipation and all that.

  • schnide #4 3 years ago

    I'm still shocked Sony released a console where mandatory installs are pretty much standard.

    But then not a tremendous amount about the PS3 shocks me these days.

  • TheVoice #5 3 years ago

    A 40gb looses space FAST but once you upgrade your HDD those installs are only a minor annoyance TBH

    Dunno, I've had my 40GB PS3 for well over a year now and I've still got at least a few GBs of space free, and that's without having deleted the install data for any games I still own, as well as having several PSN games on there of various sizes (ranging from 200MB to 3GB), as well as Home taking up 3GB. That being said, I probably will get a bigger drive eventually, but it's not a necessity just yet. Still, nice to see games that don't need to install, Dead Space rather surprised me in that respect and load times didn't seem to suffer as a result either.

  • SL33PY #6 3 years ago

    I installed a 250Gb HD the second I got my 60Gb PS3 (2 years ago). I still have 160Gb free. I do not really care about mandatory installs because of that.

    I can imagine it being annoying to some people who currently have a 40 Gb drive.

    Is the install not in as in not available at all or have they made it optional?

  • kangarootoo #7 3 years ago

    I've got a 60GB PS3 and I still have over half the drive empty I think. I'm not really a horder of videos or anything, but I haven't deleted any installs yet.

    I am also still on my original 20GB 360 drive, and that is running out of room. I can only run maybe 2 disc games from the HDD, probably just 1 now I've got a bit more XBLA content. But still I am fighting the urge to spend over £50 on a 120GB upgrade, 'cos its a damn rip off.

    http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Search...

  • SL33PY #8 3 years ago

    <fanboi>Ditch the box</fanboi>

    Sorry couldn't help myself :p

    -9 apparently people don't "get" sarcasm lol
    Edited by SL33PY at 29/07/09 @ 12:12

  • kangarootoo #9 3 years ago

    Too many good games to drop it. You've got to take the rough with the smooth :)

  • El-Dev #10 3 years ago

    "I'm still shocked Sony released a console where mandatory installs are pretty much standard."

    They're not really standard, I think the last 2 I've had mandatory installs on were UFC and inFamous. Maybe you're talking about the PSN titles or maybe you're just talking out of your arse.

  • laudy #11 3 years ago

    @El Dev

    +1

    there's always one isn't there? ;-)

  • Miths #12 3 years ago

    The biggest mandatory installs (those 4+ GB whoppers) were starting to annoy me the first few months where I only had a 40 GB HDD and were buying a ton of games (still do at times, but now I rarely have any catching up to do), but I can't really say I've been short on space since I upgraded to a 250 GB disk over a year ago :).

  • Progguitarist #13 3 years ago

    cant wait for this game!

  • Zebula77 #14 3 years ago

    This game will be so good that I wouldn't even mind a mandatory install. I usually get a little annoyed with them (especially when loading times STILL stuffer), but I'm getting this game as soon as it's out. No doubt.

  • Chufty #15 3 years ago

    Does this mean there is an optional install to improve load times, or not? I don't mind waiting a few minutes for a game to install.

    Western Digital have just released a 1Tb 2.5" drive, and smaller drives are cheap as chips, so there's no excuse for running out of space!

  • Beano #16 3 years ago

    "A 40gb looses space FAST but once you upgrade your HDD those installs are only a minor annoyance TBH (except after rushing home to play Ghostbusters "HURRY UP YOU BASTARD!!!!!!!";). "

    True - but after playing Ghostbusters I felt the install was the most entertaining part of the game :(

  • Darren #17 3 years ago

    Not in the slightest bit surprising, seeing as the first didn't require an install either, but I'm still amazed that developers aren't offering it as an OPTION, you know so you can have slightly faster loading times. Seems most games still either give you no option or a mandatory one, which is strange when you consider what Microsoft were able to do with the Xbox 360. :?

  • bad09 #18 3 years ago

    @Beano

    ? Ghostbusters is ace!

  • Spekingur #19 3 years ago

    So it's not dual layer. Which means it doesn't use the full amount of a BR disc. 25 Gigs, same data dispersed around the disc to make an easier reading/loading on the fly. My guess is that in its basic form it requires about the same space that a DVD9 has. Anything else would require longer developement time.
    This is my biggest feud with the BR followers on the PS3.
    Machine itself is good, Uncharted 2 isn't going to disappoint, no more than the first. But the it's the "omg br has so much moar space and thus makes everything moar awesomeness!" bs that really gets me. Makes me really miss HDDVD.

  • kangarootoo #20 3 years ago

    @Spekingur

    I hear what you are saying, but there is a silent majority out there that simply doesn't care about such things. The storage space of BR discs was never a selling point for me. When I am wearing my gamer hat I just want to play games, I don't really care how they get there. BR films was a bit of a selling point, the relatively open platform approach to peripherals was another I guess.

  • Darren #21 3 years ago

    @disc - Sounds very similar then to the method used by many Xbox games. I'd imagine it would have also been adopted for the Xbox 360 too had Microsoft not foolishly (IMO) dropped the HDD as standard.

  • peterfll #22 3 years ago

    I simply cannot wait for this game, so much so if there's any hint of a significant delay for Europe I'll conisder importing.

    The caching in the first game was seamless, the only load on start up or between the levels. A bit like GoW.

  • Darren #23 3 years ago

    @Spekingur - Believe it or not, data duplication is also used in DVD based games too as data is read quicker on the inside than the outside (it might be the other way round though). Oft accessed data is obviously stored where data can be read the fastest but you cannot store everything there so developers have to find alternative means of allowing quick data access when needed. Data duplication is one such method as it reduces the need for the laser to keep moving back and forth.

    BD is read at a constant speed though and although data duplication is used for the same reasons as DVD, I doubt that dropping it would allow a 25 GB game to fit onto a 9 GB disc!!! For starters, the Xbox 360 doesn't even have 9 GB available for games anyway, it's nearer 7 GB due to the proprietary format it uses.
    Edited by Darren at 29/07/09 @ 14:18

  • IneptPercy #24 3 years ago

    Not trying to fan flames but when people say that the 360 is expensive when you add all the 'needed' add-ons, do these same people include a hard drive upgrade in the PS3 price?

    As for the size of games, yes blu-ray offers a lot more space for data duplication so may have more but one thing you miss is compression, in basic terms the 360 uses hardware compression on textures, audio and video. I can't remember the exact ratios etc but in basic terms a texture on a PS3 game may take more room than the same texture on the 360 version as the PS3 doesn't really need to use compression as the amount of room a blu-ray offers is more than enough for everything to be not compressed.

    I am not sure how I feel about installs, as a PC gamer I accept them as just being on of the things with PC gaming but with that not having t use the disc every time balances that out (maybe the use of no-cd patches). Consoles on the other had I have always loved for the 'plug & play' element and an install isn't really part of that. Personally I could deal with it due to being use to from PC gaming, but to the average 'console only' gamer it is worth consideration.

  • chessboxer #25 3 years ago

    @Chufty

    Can you provide a link to the 1TB 2.5" SATA?. My 500GB is 11 months old and has just over 5GB free at the moment. I've got games from the PS Store that I cannot install due to having low space.

    edit

    No worries, I just found it. No idea when it will be available though.500GB is not enough...
    Edited by chessboxer at 29/07/09 @ 14:38

  • Widge #26 3 years ago

    Christ! 500gb not enough? I mean mine is quite full but I've got a massive amount of albums and TV shows in HD on there!

    And surely a HDD isn't a 'needed' upgrade? Not in the same bracket of "how am I to connect wirelessly as I can't do it physically" necessity.

  • septimus #27 3 years ago

    Better be an option to install. 500GB to use!

    I use an external 500GB for all movies and music. Only playlists are on the PS3 HDD for game soundtracks.
    Edited by septimus at 29/07/09 @ 15:38

  • chessboxer #28 3 years ago

    Half of it is game content including (I own a lot of great games), the other half is media (HD, SD, photos and music). I'm just using the PS3 to its fullest. The SD content gets recycled frequently but we all have different requirements. Having this content on the PS3 helps to keep my PC free for other uses.

  • holsty101 #29 3 years ago

    chessboxer - maybe put smaller video (