Xbox 360 gaining USB storage support in 2010 update

I also tried with a cheap Kingston 16gb datatraveler, and it failed the test :( Tried to install a game and took almost 3 times longer than hdd-installing... Am I doing something wrong?

dunno

transferred and copied a bunch of stuff, even a couple of gigs and seemed snappy. also copied Splinter Cell demo (1.2GB) to the same drive and it played flawlessly. maybe that particular drive is flawed?
 
I timed GTA4, going into my Ballad of Gay Tony save point. Did two timings each, on both times it was 1:27 via hdd, and 1:34 via usb. So in that case the usb stick was a touch slower, although still a boot case which favors the hdd.
 
I do use XBLive, purchased about 10 good games from there. I also have DLC for some DVD based games. I've never been to any XBLive parties, never really knew they existed, but then again I've never been to any LAN parties either.

It's all a bit new to me as well. This whole parties around gaming seems to be coming back after all the table-top gaming craze died down. Now, I'm getting "Facebook Invites" all the time to gaming nights, etc. It really all seems to have been started by Guitar Hero/Rock Band -- at least in my social circle. Have one tonight for "Castle Crashers" and the new RTS/FPS/WWI game (can't remember name)
 
Would you really be able to play games or DLC installed to a USB hard drive? Wouldn't it be too slow, compared to reading straight from the disc?
 
Would you really be able to play games or DLC installed to a USB hard drive? Wouldn't it be too slow, compared to reading straight from the disc?

Reduced seek times can make times equivalent or even better, but it all depends on the style of reading. I imagine a game / software that reads lots of little files will see as fast as or even better times vs. reading off HDD/DVD.

Software that reads a lot of data all in big blocks will most likely be slower reading from USB.

Also, with USB flash drives, you now have to factor in all the different performance characteristics of different manufacturers/designs. Many variables. Corsair drives seem to generally be marked high for speed...
 
I'm currently writing a Digital Foundry feature for Saturday that benchmarks three different flash drives, a MicroSD + adaptor, a SATA HDD in enclosure and even a pricey SSD in enclosure.

Choose your flash drive carefully and you can get performance that in many tests inches out the standard Xbox 360 hard drive and even gets close to the SSD. I'd say it's a pretty decent upgrade in terms of a free feature. A bit stingey in terms of the 16GB allocation, but I like the idea of truly portable profiles, DLC, etc.
 
... A bit stingey in terms of the 16GB allocation, ..

TWO 16GB allocations. ;)

personally I'm not interested in slight performance improvements (unless they were noticeable) but just glad that they FINALLY allowed normal back up of my data and expansion of my storage. sheesh, it took long enough. Now I can format my HDD or swap to a new HDD and not lose anything
 
TWO 16GB allocations. ;)

personally I'm not interested in slight performance improvements (unless they were noticeable) but just glad that they FINALLY allowed normal back up of my data and expansion of my storage. sheesh, it took long enough. Now I can format my HDD or swap to a new HDD and not lose anything

You don't need this feature to upgrade the HDD? Doesn't the HDD upgrade allow you to transfer the contents of your old HDD to the new one with the cable?
 
For some reason the HDD upgrade kits don't always come with the cable.

Actually the 20gb & 60gb retail packages were never sold as upgrades for existing hard drive owners. They are meant for Arcade owners. So they never included the cable or software to transfer their content. However, all 120gb or 250gb drives sold at retail include the cable and software needed to transfer the data.

Tommy McClain
 
I've got a HD transfer cable if anybody needs it.

Might want to let everybody know what version of the software you have too. The older versions only worked on 20gb to 120gb HD transfers. The version is printed on the cardboard sleeve.

Tommy McClain
 
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