Joshic

Long load times can kill a game for me. It rarely matters if it's a good game or not; if the load times are too long, I quit playing the game.

I feel that long load times are the product of inept programmers. Look at all the best games for PS2 - GT3, GTA3, MGS2, FFX, THPS3, etc. All of them have very short load times. They also happen to have some of the best graphics and sound the PS2 has to offer.

Rayman Revolution was touted early on as one of the best platformers for the PS2. I bought it, but never played it much and eventually returned it, because of the ridiculous load times. Spyhunter was also a great game. But the load times totally broke up the continuity of the game. If not for this problem (and also lack of support for the GT Force wheel), the game would have been a buy and not a rental. I also heard that the new Crash Bandicoot game for PS2 has bad load times. So I haven't even bothered renting it.

Why don't game reviewers at IGN or Gamespot make note of a game's load times when they review a game? Do others feel that load times are also a MAJOR contributing factor to the overall quality of a game? Or am I just impatient?

jeffdsmith

I hear exactly what you are saying. I don't "drop" a game because of load times but they sure do take away.

If you think you are bad, I still have a hard time dealing with the load times on Waverace Bluestorm for the GC. It's only like 3-4 seconds tops, but since I know its loading it bothers me to no end.

I am happy overall with the GC's load times compared to my xbox, smash brothers plays like a cart, even better. (Minus one point in adventure mode where you take on 30 kirbies.)

But yeah, they hurt.

ClarkKentKY

What really frustrates me are long Intros that you can't click past. How many logos did they squeeze on the screen before GTA3 ... DMA, rockstar, PS2, etc etc.... Kind of irritates me.

Kellehair

I hate load times. Sometimes it's worse than other times though. The load times in Wave Race are no big deal -- I've never even noticed them actually -- because they don't break up the action. A lull in between races is natural. Load times become a problem when they interrupt the action just because you entered a new room or triggered some event. I also hate long load times at the start of a game. It pisses me off how GT3 makes me wait for some intro movie, that I'm just gonna skip every time anyway, to load when I start the game.

True indeed. It even saves your progress while you're playing. I hope other Gamecube developers try to emulate Nintendo's genius in this respect.

I've noticed that too. What's up with that?

jeffdsmith

kellehair: I wasn't trying to imply that Waverace is bad, its not at all. I'm just very picky about load times can't really explain it.

I'm looking forward tot he remake of RE. They said they wanted to keep the door opening sequence in the game to build suspense or whatever, but I sure hope they make it much more fluid or something. On the original PSX it nearly killed me. I wasn't afraid of the zombies, i was afraid of the loading. Here's hoping.

Kellehair

I wasn't implying that you thought Wave Race was bad. I was just using your example to convey my thoughts on load times.

Don Catchpole

I really hope by the time they come out with Tomb Raider for PS2 the load time is seriously cut. I've never seen a slower loading game. They should have had a mini game to play while the thing was loading.

tor_greg

Half-life handled this well; the game is just one big level

TheVelvetRope

I made the mistake of picking up "Chef's Love Shack" for Dreamcast (it was unbelievably cheap, and this was well before the console was canned, so I couldn't resist). It has to be the worst load time game I've ever run into. You have to wait for EVERYTHING. Categories, mini-games, questions, even character reactions to questions. Absolutely horrendous!!!! And completely inexcusable, given the simplicity of the design of the game.

Mattalos

Because it's not that big of a deal to most people, myself included. If a game takes a long time to load a full level, and then never loads again til the next level, fine. Only in games where there is a big multiplayer aspect where you get right back into the thick of do I actually mind load times.

Other than that, they don't bother me.

happypants

Yes, the load times are around 45-60 seconds per level. Horrible in this day and age. To see how it is done right, check out Jak and Daxter.

bdshort

Hehe... I wish it was... I mean, it is one continuous area, but it's broken up into several smaller sections... you'll get a pause as you walking around a corner or something as it loads the next section, but if you have a decent computer they are very short.

Brian

Outlaw

Good question, recently most games have relatively quick load times so it doesn't bother me too much. I am still very impressed at the Gamecube's load times, very nice!

But I don't mind long load times IF its worth it, and most of the time it is. Anything over a minute is really pushing it though unless its on a PC. I remember waiting for the long loads on Street Fighter Alpha for the PSX, those were pretty long but games like Soul Calibur and Super Smash bros. melee are practically instantaneous. Sometimes there are clever ways of loading, like on FFX I noticed that sometimes they load the battle scenes during a cool picture blurry effect. But even the normal battle loads are quick. How fast do these systems spin anyway? I don't know much about programming but I would agree that it comes down to good programing techniques and optimizing code, polygons, etc to reduce load times.

MasterofDVD

Yeah...I'd say save the cash. I bought this as a gift for my wife since she liked the PS ones. We traded it in within a week. She couldn't figure why all my graphic intense games load so fast but she had to wait so long for a "simple" run and jump type game. I told her I was stumped as well. I bought her The Sims Hot Date and now I have the PS2 back to myself.

SnoopDogg

When I first went from my Sega Genesis to my Ps1, was wierded out by these spots of time that I lost in my life, but now it is is no big deal. Xbox seems to move very quickly.

Naan

The Xbox cert guidelines have requirements that levels must load within 15 seconds. That's why they are so quick. There are some ways around it, but most developers just stick with the 15 second rule.

-Naan

Gallant Pig

GCN and XBox both have awesome load times and all the games I've played thus far.

huh?

yeah, what he said....


i haven't seen a bad load time yet on either machine.

ScandalUMD

If the load times are really annoying, they usually get mentioned. I don't mind waiting a few seconds, for example, to load up a track in SSX Tricky, but when restarting forces the whole level to load again, as was the case in the original SSX, I get annoyed. I enjoyed Showoff mode in Tricky a lot more than in the original version for that reason.

mmconhea

Soldier of Fortune for Dreamcast must have the biggest load times of any game. I bought it and only tried playin it once, I just can't stand the load times. I can take a dump, shower, eat a meal, come back and the level will still be loading. Does any other game have that one beat when it comes to long load times?

madmike

I agree, Soldier of Fortune has to be the worst I've ever seen as far as load times.

Josh H

Load times bug the crap out of me, the Gamecube's short load times are one of my favorite things about the console. As someone said above, many of the games (especially Super Smash Bros.: Melee) load like carts, with almost no noticeable load times. The PS2 still has load time problems on many games, and I haven't played the X-box enough to comment on it.

That said, if a developer has to have load times, they should be at the beginning of the game, not continuously occuring throughout the game. The worst loading game I ever played was Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen on the PSX. The load times were so bad, I probably only played about 25% through the game. You literally spent at least 40% of your play time waiting on the next screen to load up. They loaded in small chunks of a couple rooms at a time, and loaded slowly at that.

Spicollidriver1

Yes they bug me especially now that we have hardware and software knowledge to bring these times down. Simpsons Road Rage on PS2 has horrible load times, and with the missions being short it's a bigger pain because you wait longer then you play.

Daryl

The only thing that really bothers me about load times is a bunch of different loads just to start a game. EASports does this all of the time: put in the disc - long load time just so they can load the snazzy intro movie, hit a button to bypass that, ANOTHER long load time just to get to the start menu, then load your season from memory, and then finally yet another load to get to the actual game. 6 minutes before the action can take place.

Daryl

Giantrobo

I know what you mean dude!

This is REALLY irritating in SOUL REAVER 2 for PSX2

---

Personally I don't mind load time IF:

1. There's some interesting animation. Soul Reaver 2 has Raziel running while loading....

2. The load time is WORTH the WAIT.....awesome graphics, gameplay, and etc


The bottomline?

If the game kicks ass.... you hardly notice load times.