*Under Construction.*

Introduction

Ever since the Next Xbox Experience first arrived on Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, people now have the ability to install their favorite games onto their HDDs. To many, this is an interesting feature that fixes some problems that they have had with games. In this blog, I will be testing out the games that I personally own for my Xbox 360 and try to give you an accurate description on what the differences are.

How do I install a game to my HDD?

Step 1: Insert the game you wish to install to your HDD into your Xbox 360.
Step 2: On the 'My Xbox' portion of the dashboard, select the 'Play Game' box and press the Y button.
Step 3: On the screen that pops up, move down to 'Install to Hard Drive' option and press the A button.
Step 4: Once the install is complete, press the A button.
Step 5: On the next screen, select the 'Play from Hard Drive' option.

What are the general pros/cons for installing a game to my HDD?

Pro #1: Since your 360 will not be reading the data off of the disc, it will run quieter due to the disc drive not spinning the disc.
Pro #2: Because the disc drive will not be reading the data off of the disc and spinning the disc, your 360 will run cooler.
Pro #3: You'll be able to play your games if they are scratched and run into disc read errors without problems (If they fully install to your HDD without any problems).
Con #1: You still need a disc of the same game in the disc drive to play, due to piracy reasons.
Con #2: Not all games are supported, where some actually run into issues if you burn them to your HDD (Such as Halo).
Con #3: Games installed to your HDD will take up several GB of memory.


What are the pros of certain games installed to my HDD?

The full list of games that I have tried out can be found here, and will be updated as fast as I can test them out.

So, I've decide to do this in order to show how long a game will roughly take you. I've seen in reviews how so and so game takes 20 hours to beat, but yet I've completed it in less than half that time. So with this blog, I'll be keeping track of how long it takes me to complete a game in order to give you a better idea on how long it might take you to beat it, if you haven't already. What you'll find are the my personal times, my estimated time for someone to beat the game, along with a selected review source's time to beat the game (I look at Gamespot for the game's completion time first, then IGN if I can't find it on Gamespot, then the first review source with a time if I can't find it on both Gamespot or IGN).

*NOTE* These game times will not be 100% accurate. It might take you longer, or shorter, to complete these games depending on how you play. All games played will be on the default normal difficulty, and will not include collecting items, side missions, side quests, multiplayer, additional content, or credits and are just straight through plays from the beginning to the end of the game, but all game times will include cut scenes, dialog, tutorials, etc. Also, it might take awhile for me to post the game times, so be patient. If there's a game you want on the list, just comment on what game, and if I have it I'll work on it for you, but only in request order.

Amendment #1: I'm not going to do large scale RPGs (Final Fantasy, Elder Scrolls, etc). Reason being is that these types of RPGs are too customizable, and can take different amounts of time to beat on a larger scale. This means that for example, a certain type of character in Oblivion can beat the main quest in about 3 hours when another can do it to close to 10, where as I want to keep my estimates as accurate as possible.
Amendment #2: I won't be re-doing games that only contain one save at a time, unless if I've already beaten it, and gotten everything out of it that I wanted (Achievements, etc).
Amendment #3: I won't be doing games that I personally don't like. So, with that in mind, if you ask for a game time, don't ask for something along the lines of "Barbie Horse Adventure", etc. However, if asked, and if I can find it, I would absolutely love to do Big Rigs.
Amendment #4: Games that are on multiple platforms that have different campaigns will only be placed on their respective consoles (Meaning that games that share the same name, but have different campaigns will be reviewed for that console only. This is why games such as Gears of War remain on the 360 list, because even though it's on PC, it has an extra portion to the campaign that the 360 version does not, therefore altering the completion time.)
Amendment #5: Games with asterisks next to their name are games that I have already previously beaten before going back to clock in the game time. So, with that in mind, these game times (not the estimates) are going to be questionably shorter than what the reviewer said.

Legendaryscmt's List of Games.
Toropore's List of Games.
Naikori's List of Games.

Currently Working On: Red Faction II (Multi-Platform)
Latest Game Time Added: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Multi-Platform)
Latest Updates:

#1. Halo 3: ODST (Xbox 360) game time has been added. (9/23/09)
#2. Dead Space (Multi-Platform) has been added. (10/6/09)
#3. Dead Space (Multi-Platform) game time has been added. (10/18/09)
#4. Several games' estimation times have been altered to be more accurate. (11/02/09)
#5. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (Playstation 3) has been added. (11/02/09)
#6. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Playstation 3) has been added. (11/02/09)
#7. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (Playstation 3) game time has been added. (11/04/09)
#8. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Playstation 3) game time has been added. (11/10/09)
#9. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Multi-Platform) has been added. (11/10/09)
#10. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Multi-Platform) game time has been added. (11/11/09)