NBA 2K12 Hard Drive Loading Evaluation

With NBA 2K12 in hand the first thing to check on as always was loading times when playing from the disc up against those when installed to the Xbox 360 hard drive. 2K12 represents the largest install I’ve ever come across and possible to date on the 360 – it utilizes the new discs that have additional storage space and comes in at a massive 7.9 GB. Loading times in general are reasonable on the disc with the install doing little to improve on them though helping in fluidity of navigation. 

Install time- 13:50
Install size- 7.9 GB

Loading Times
Boot to main menu- 53 seconds disc vs 53 seconds HDD (No Change)
Load into quick game- 39 seconds disc vs 30 seconds HDD (9 seconds)
Load out of game to menu- 9 seconds disc vs 6 seconds HDD (3 seconds)
Load into My Player game – 41 seconds disc vs 39 seconds HDD (2 seconds)
Load into Saved Association- 11 seconds disc vs 10 seconds HDD (1 second)

A drastic improvement in loading times was unlikely given the base times were decent to begin with. What I’ve noticed it helps more is in menu navigation, where going back to the “home” screen requires a load – waits when moving to and from become largely unnoticed. Installing to the hard drive is recommended for the reduced noise and wear and tear put on the system in addition to any improvements seen in loading times.