Final Fantasy III Won't Be Installed on the PlayStation 3

Installing games on their PlayStation 3 has become a natural thing for gamers, as they've begun to leave the “cartridge” fashion of the old consoles more and more and brush shoulders with the PC tradition. But, it seems, at least one major release will stay true to the console and is designed as an install-free product. According to IGN, Final Fantasy XIII will have the best of both worlds: it won't have a hard-disk installation, but players won't have to put up with constant loading screens either.

According to the game's Director, Motomu Toriyama, developer Square Enix sought from the beginning to reduce the time gamers spent staring at the loading screen and offer a more uninterrupted gameplay experience. Toriyama said that the only time players would see a loading screen was between the town and field transitions. With this single exception, the game is pegged as a continuous, free-flowing title.

Most fans seem incredibly excited about the news regarding the lack of an installation for Final Fantasy III. It may be more convenient to simply pop the disk into the console and get right to playing without having to wait or worry about having the available disk space, but waiting five minutes for the game to install can't be that horrible. A few minutes of wasted time can't be counted as a traumatic experience for anyone these days, regardless of their social status. The comparison with the PC titles that are almost exclusively install-to-drive ones isn't really necessary. This isn't a cultural difference or a generation-gap problem, it's just common sense.

Popping the disc in and out of your drive every time, along with the fact that the game will have to constantly be in the drive when you need to play, may lead to some long-term, technical issues. The more experienced gamers of the PC are bound to be familiar with the titles that require the original disc to be in the CD ROM while playing for authentication purposes. Nothing can ruin your day like an unreadable, scratched disc when you want to get your game on.