The PS3 Devil May Cry 4 20 minute load time debacle has heated up with reviews and reports coming in this week that it does no good. The load times between levels are about equal to that on the Xbox 360 according to places like CVG, who have timed the process. Over at Capcom, community guru Chris Kramer has responded to the issue.

In the official blog he states, ”Hey, all. It’s true: the first time you drop your DMC4 Blu-Ray disc into your PS3 tray, you’re going to be treated to an exciting 22 - 25 minute load process as the disc spins a few gigs of data onto your hard drive. While the game is loading, you get to watch a really nifty series of screens that completely catch you up on the DMC4 backstory.”

There’s a lot of “hey gee, everything is fine” talk in the post. But what is just as prevalent is a little perspective. Aside from developers having trouble programming for the PS3, one major technical hurdle is the Blu-ray drive. Being a first generation product it is naturally slower than the old school DVD drives, like that used in the Xbox 360. It’s not that the install makes DMC4 superior on the PS3. Simply put, there is a guaranteed hard drive in Sony’s system and DMC4 is a huge and gorgeous game. Capcom took the opportunity to utilize the HDD to create an equal experience for PS3 players. Something that other developers are having trouble doing.

Listen…we all know that the Devil May Cry series has long been a Playstation staple. There is no way that Capcom would allow a gimped version to be put out on the PS3. The problem is misconception put out there for the last few weeks. Some claimed that the install was to make the PS3 version the superior product, thus maintaining some of the old Playstation loyalty in the series. Others felt that it was a way to show the superiority of the Xbox 360 version. But how about the simplest answer? Dealing with the hardware provided Capcom did what they thought was best to give a great experience to both PS3 and 360 owners.

I never enjoy lengthy install processes. It’s another reason I don’t play a lot of PC games. But this thing has been blown way out of proportion. 20 minutes of time sucks balls. There’s no doubt. But it’s better than dealing with a herky jerky game that is constantly loading.