Since the loading times are substantially faster when playing Hamsterball on a newer console, I personally think that using an emulator is a little unfair because it disadvantages players using original PlayStation 3 hardware because the current way to time does not account for loading times. I'm not sure how to solve this issue, but I was considering perhaps we could utilize in-game time instead. However, a full run using in-game time might be a little challenging to calculate.
Edit: I went through the dedication of figuring out how to calculate total in-game time myself.
You are given this amount of time for each level, not including the time that remains after each one is finished.
Warmup = 60sec.
Cascade = 60sec.
Dizzy = 55sec.
Tower = 55sec.
Up = 45sec.
Neon = 45sec.
Odd = 45sec.
Glass = 40sec.
Total = 405sec.
The total amount of time allotted to you during the run, excluding the remaining time, is 405 seconds; therefore, to calculate in-game time, you would need to take 405 seconds and subtract by how much time is remaining after completing the last level.
The loading differences are seen in the video below. On the left, Hamsterball is emulated on the PlayStation 5, while on the right, it is played on the PlayStation 3. Shoutout to @CMG_Real for the left clip, and on the right, it's just my own clip.
here's the times I have ingrained into my brain for hustle:
Bounce 1 and Tubular 1: 80 seconds Bounce 2: 130 seconds Ultimate 2: 210 seconds
Adding up every "elapsed time" should be the way to go for full Hustle mode, using the timer is inaccurate because of the 5s clocks spread across the game (RTA obviously didnt benefit from those)
However I dont think there's anything one can do except go level by level to get IGT properly, but the time difference simply from loading times is massive to not consider.
