Ah, mandatory installations. They're a necessary evil most PS3 users have gotten used to, and all too common in many unoptimized multiplatform titles.

While a relatively minor gripe, it's always nice to see a game whose developers have gone the extra mile to make everything work smoothly, and that seems to be the case for Final Fantasy XIII's PS3 incarnation.

At least, if a supposedly leaked scan of the game's case art is confirmed. The game will have no mandatory (or optional) hard drive installation, and even its save data will take up a piddling 500kb (with 1.9mb extra for Trophy data).

Better still, the game will support loss-less 5.1-channel audio, and its gorgeous FMV cutscenes will be rendered at up to 1080p. Mmmm, juicy HD.

Nothing's been said so far about the Xbox 360 version, seeing as Final Fantasy XIII is still a PS3-exclusive in Japan. Perhaps more information will be available as Square Enix's international marketing engines rev up.

A question comes to mind though, for you dual/console 360/PS3 owners: were FFXIII PS3 to offer these features, and the 360 version not (perhaps due to some Blu-ray snafu), would it influence your choice?

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