[Gaming] Insane Full Installs

I downloaded the demo for "Tomb Raider: Legend," and was slightly surprised by the minimum system requirements.

OPERATING SYSTEM:
Microsoft Windows 2000, XP
CPU:
Pentium 3 1.0Ghz or Athlon XP Equivalent
RAM:
256MB
GRAPHICS:
100% DirectX 9.0c compatible 64 MB 3D Accelerated Card with TnL (GeForce 3Ti / Radeon 9 series)
SOUND:
Microsoft Windows 2000/XP compatible sound card (100% DirectX 9.0c -compatible)
DVD-ROM:
Quad-speed (4x) DVD-ROM drive
HARD DRIVE:
9.9GB free disk space
INPUT DEVICES:
100% Windows 2000/XP compatible mouse and keyboard

To be honest, most of this looked pretty reasonable, but...9.9Gb of free space on your hard drive?

This is one thing I like about consoles. If it needs an asset, it gets it off of the DVD. Levels are optimized to load in a reasonable amount of time off of a limited-performance medium.

If this was a PC-only title, I'd grumble but I wouldn't give it a second thought...but this game was developed for multiple platforms. Why should the Xbox version be able to use a maximum of 750Mb of hard disk space on a temporary basis while its PC cousin is forced to dedicate over thirteen times as much to hold the game? Why isn't the work done to get the game onto the consoles carried over to the PC?

PC gamers are accustomed to having to have the disc in the drive anyway for copy protection purposes...you may as well put that media to good use.