Life Is Strange Before the Storm install issues

[VideoGameCritic]

I hate how you need to install games to the PS4/Xbox One and the complications that tend to arise. Tonight I was hoping to play Life Is Strange: Before the Storm, but as usually have to do all the installation BS.

I knew something was a little strange when it said I needed to clear 125MB or something like that, which seemed like a really small amount. Normally you need to clear out 10-50 GB. And since I have an early model PS4, this usually necessitates me to delete a bunch of installed games. What a pain in the ass.

Anyway the install process got stuck on the "preparing" phase, stuck at 99% forever. I was going to let it sit overnight, but decided to do a quick search. Low and behold everybody and their mother is having the same problem. Nobody seems to know what the problem is, but the consensus seems to be to clear a whole hell of a lot of space and try again.

I'm really, really hoping we don't have to waste our time with this install crap with the PS5. This is why I prefer the Switch.

[Atariboy]

Sounds more like the developers screwed up rather then a fault with how the PS4 operates.

And sadly, there's not a chance of it disappearing with the PS5. They can't stream data off a 100 GB UHD Blu-Ray fast enough for data intensive modern games.

Even HDD's are getting to be viewed as too slow to cope with demands, with the big push at Microsoft and Sony being to incorporate solid state drives in their next-gen consoles in order to be able to move that data quicker and at higher volumes.

[Atariboy]

Thought there'd be some discussion on this topic. Are others around here okay with these mandatory installations on PS4/XB1 and the disappearance of being able to play a game directly off a disc?

I personally haven't found them overly burdensome on my PS4, although I'd obviously share the Critic's annoyance if this particular problem struck a game I wanted to play. But at the same time I'm also not playing a ton of major AAA releases, so I haven't encountered many long installs since buying a PS4 a year ago. Something like SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, more typical of what I'm playing on my PS4, installs so quick that it's virtually seamless and doesn't interrupt the experience when firing up the game for the first time.

Or do I just have the magic powers of killing discussion when I say something? I swear sometimes that half the threads I respond to never see further activity, even when they were busy in the hours before I'd reply.

[Sonicx9]

The install issues of PS4 and Xbox One is why Switch is my go to console like the critic said and could not agree more.

[DrLitch]

I'm really, really hoping we don't have to waste our time with this install crap with the PS5. This is why I prefer the Switch.

With console hardware design mimicking PC's to a degree and the sheer volume of content makes it nigh on impossible that gaming from hereon is going to be without install. Now of course there are drives and memory interfaces that are blazing fast that would not, in technicality, require a conventional install. Trouble is these drives are nasty expensive. A 128GB drive with PCIE interface is $40 right there, just hardware. Read/Write speeds over 1GB/sec. Some drives can offer up to 4GB/sec speeds which is tremendous. 250GB at over $80. Games either stupid expensive or we deal with those pre millenium HDD read speeds of 60MB/sec.

[Matchstick]

I'm really, really hoping we don't have to waste our time with this install crap with the PS5. This is why I prefer the Switch.

Best part about the upcoming PS5 / Xbox Scarlet / Nintendo SwitchToo? You don't have to buy them!

I'm not sure what "great leap forward" anyone really expects from the upcoming generation, anyway. If you ask me, the leaps between the PS1-2-3-4 eras have been less and less impressive as time's gone on. Not that I do much gaming on the current-gen systems, but when I do, I really have a hard time telling any difference between a game on my wife's Xbox One and her 360. It all just seems like more of the same.

Sorry to hear about your install issues, Critic. I feel your pain, though. Whenever I buy a game for the Xbox One, I never plan on actually being able to play it the day I buy it. I use it as a sort of "install day" and just plan to play later. I'm the patient type, so I really don't mind too much. The Switch does a fair amount of updating, too. The wife likes Fortnite while I like to play WarFrame every now and then. Most times we load the games up, we get a prompt telling us to update them first. Just the way it is nowadays. Like I said in a posting a few days ago, though, that doesn't mean you have to like it!

I did get a cheap, used copy of Bloodstained for the Xbox One a few days ago and set it up to install when I got home. Didn't take too long, though I was surprised an indie game such as that one still needed to download 9 GB of updates. Judging by the pics on the back of the case, I really don't think the game looks like anything that couldn't have been done on a 360. I guess we'll find out. Haven't played it yet, as I'm just waiting to get a bit closer to Halloween and hoping the "spirit" gets me more in the mood to play.

On the flip side, I took my Game Boy to work with me the other day and played some Castlevania Adventure on my break. I flipped the "On" switch and was playing in a matter of seconds. 'Twas a simpler time...

[Sonicx9]

I did get a cheap, used copy of Bloodstained for the Xbox One a few days ago and set it up to install when I got home. Didn't take too long, though I was surprised an indie game such as that one still needed to download 9 GB of updates. Judging by the pics on the back of the case, I really don't think the game looks like anything that couldn't have been done on a 360. I guess we'll find out. Haven't played it yet, as I'm just waiting to get a bit closer to Halloween and hoping the "spirit" gets me more in the mood to play.

Funny you mentioned about last gen looking visuels despite running on Unreal Engine 4, it was once planned to be on Wii U and PS Vita only to be canceled on both considering the hot mess the Switch version is.