[quote name='SynGamer']Oh i understand, was just hoping the optional install would help, but either way, no big deal. My copy was shipped today according to Best Buy. What i'm really anxious for is the first patch. I know that may sound strange, but this is Next-Gen gaming right? Unlike last generation (PS2/Xbox/Cube), developers can patch their games now to fix bugs and from the sound of things, there are a few things that could use some cleaning up in GTAIV (floating cars...).
So yeah, can't wait. I assume they can fix some of the slowdown now that the game is out and they have time to work on bugs and such.[/quote]
There is no slowdown in the 360 version that I have seen. Like I said before, there is some popin, but only when transitioning to indoor scenes. Also, there isnt much loading. When you first load up the game, it loads for about 30-45 seconds, and when you reload a save, theres about 20-30 seconds of load, but other than that there is no ingame loading or pausing of any kind. I've driven 150 mph from Broker to Bohan and theres no loading or popin of any kind.
One of the ways the game saves memory is that things that are far away are kind of blurry. Like when your on the waterfront of Broker, you can see Manhattan, but it's blurry, so the game doesnt have to load the textures for everything all at once.
I dont know about PS3 vs. 360, since I only have the 360 version, but I can tell you that not having a hdd install doesnt seem to hurt the game at all.