I'm running a pretty moderate machine. A 6800 with a gig vid mem and a 3 gig process with a gig of ram. The more intense loads take about 4 seconds at the most. I get to read a screen message and then see one want to appear but I'm loaded in and ext just a lil' pause here and there usually means incoming rain. Oblivion thus far would have been the primary reason for me to get a 360 but I figured the PC would be a better experience. Due to my past Morrowind experience.