The Xbox One has been getting a healthy dose of useful updates such as faster menu navigation, improved snap mode, and external HDD support. Yet as much as I welcome these new additions I can’t but feel the Xbox One is lagging in one department: long and slow installation. While many gamers continue to criticize Xbox One’s less than expected performance and bulky design, I’m here to say that none of these are as bad as the Xbone’s pitiful installation time.

It’s best to start where it all began…

When I first brought my Xbox One home it took nearly 4 hours to get playing. No, it’s not really because of the day 1 update but the ridiculous time it took to install Ryse (without the online updates). It was a very underwhelming feeling that was slowly followed by buyer’s remorse. I didn’t feel like I stepped into the next-generation. If anything, I feel like it took a step back.

It’s ironic really, because, I recall when using my 360 it seemed to have an edge over the PS3 due to the fact that I didn’t need to install any of my games. I mean aside from the last few titles such as Battlefield 3 and GTA V, installation really wasn’t mandatory. Even when it came to downloading games from Live it was ready to play as soon as it was done. I loved that feeling and really that reminded me why I love consoles so much. Now, with Xbox One everything is just…slower. Another more recent example is the Destiny BETA and how painstakingly long it took me just play the game. It literally took me a day just to get the game fully downloaded and ready to play whereas on my PS4 I was done in 3 hours. I’m not quite sure what happened here. Perhaps I was downloading is slow day but even when purchasing new games the time it takes to install is still above the average slow.



As much as I want this feature to be fixed I’m not quite sure how Microsoft can fix this. I’m no console programmer but judging from the hardware it seems this is a feature that is embedded into the massive black box. It’s a shame really because that’s one feature I always want consoles to have: quick and easy.