NBA 2K10 Hard Drive Evaluation

With NBA 2K10 in hand I have gone through and timed different loading areas when running off the disc compared to running off the hard drive on the 360. Installing to the hard drive not only has proven to cut down on load times, in some cases significantly, but it also reduces stress to the system and the noise it produces. For NBA 2K10 the actual install process took 8:46 and the game comes in at 6.2 GB.

Unlike all the other games I’ve examined the loading time improvement from the hard drive for NBA 2K10 appears to be limited to just the initial boot up to the main menu. This process is the longest of any game tested so far. Playing from the disc takes 1 minute 11 seconds to make it to the menu screen but installing to the hard drive helps it reach the menu in 45 seconds.

The initial boot is slowed by a bunch of individual loads. Among them are calls to the hard drive for settings, profile, roster, sliders, and the latest NBA Today update. It then cycles through updating player progression and the Living Roster amongst a few other things.

From what I went through there are no other improvements seen to loading times. Starting up a quick game it takes a minimum of 32 seconds to get to the tip-off regardless of disc vs hard drive. Loading an Association file takes 7 seconds either way. The general menu system is set up to eliminate or keep loading to a minimum.

As always it is recommended to install the game to the hard drive if you have the space. With NBA 2K10 you’ll save some time at the initial load up along with the added benefit of the 360 running quiet and cool throughout the play sessions.