Xbox 360 gaining USB storage support in 2010 update

[bkilian]

16 gig limit kinda sucks.

But if they can make it so that i can have more 16 gig partition on my usb hdd then im fine.

USB HDD may not be supported. The system does a performance test, and if it's anything like the readyboost perf test, USB HDDs will not meet the minimum specs.

Please show me a full game that you can't play without a HDD.

Final Fantasy XI
System Requirements
FINAL FANTASY XI for Xbox 360
Requirements for Xbox 360 version are as listed: Xbox Live® account, Broadband connection (Xbox 360 does not support 56K connection) and Xbox 360 Hard Drive.


(Apparently also "Footbal Manager 2006")

 

[corduroygt]

You're missing the point. It's an *option* to require one. I mentioned GTA5 because of all the games I thought of past, present and future, it's the only one I could think of that might need a mandatory install at some point. 99.9998% of games will never need one because dvd is enough.

You can get around DVD limitations by including multiple DVD's but it doesn't work so well with open world games like GTA so I'd somehow agree there. Although I'd say it'd be more like 90%.

They said they would support "approved" usb sticks, so the archaic slow ones would not be supported. The rest would work fine and likely be faster than the dvd drive anyways since seeks are the killer (not bandwidth) and flash memory doesn't have any.

Because the $5 cheapie ones I've dealt with had way too many failures. A $10 stick would have much better QC, that's all I am saying you can't go too cheap and low quality.

This is where you confuse me. You seem to think that people will be ok to pay $50 or whatever for an accessory (natal) to be able to play a game, but you think a $5-$10 usb memory stick to play a game for the hdd less console owners is a deal breaker, even though it has use beyond the game itself. I don't follow.

I was just referring to use Natal as a "standard" for the 360 from now on. When it's launched, I believe no 360 will be without it, or at least that's how it SHOULD be to get market acceptance. If you do it like that and have the new games require Natal, it'd be a clean new standard. Of course you can type Natal or 4GB memory stick required on the box so people know they're not forced to buy it.

Any way you slice it, I'd say adding flash memory to Natal makes far more sense than the custom chip they removed so it should be there.

 

[Acert93]

Cool, I can get double my HDD space for pennies (well, relatively) and quickly. Perfect for when we want to DL a movie and I don't have space because I have too many DLC items lol

 

[RudeCurve]

Let's see buy two 16GB SD cards for $80 or buy a 500GB HDD for $80...LMFAO...genius!

 

[corduroygt]

Cool, I can get double my HDD space for pennies (well, relatively) and quickly. Perfect for when we want to DL a movie and I don't have space because I have too many DLC items lol

You can get 120 GB drives for around $90, much better option than 2x16GB at 60+ bucks. Gamestop also sells refurb 60 GB drives for 69, and I'm sure you can find them even cheaper online.

 

[corduroygt]

USB HDD may not be supported. The system does a performance test, and if it's anything like the readyboost perf test, USB HDDs will not meet the minimum specs.
Final Fantasy XI
System Requirements
FINAL FANTASY XI for Xbox 360
Requirements for Xbox 360 version are as listed: Xbox Live® account, Broadband connection (Xbox 360 does not support 56K connection) and Xbox 360 Hard Drive.


(Apparently also "Footbal Manager 2006")

Well congrats, those two games are as relevant as having the xbox originals requiring HDD. How many did they sell between them, did they even hit 100K?

 

[NeoTechni]

I couldn't get Fable II to work without installing it.

But as an FF11 owner, that game sucked so much ass no one counts it.

Didn't crackdown or some GTA-like game need the HDD for multiplayer?

Why are we listing HDD-requiring games?

 

[PalmiNio]

I couldn't get Fable II to work without installing it.

But as an FF11 owner, that game sucked so much ass no one counts it.

Didn't crackdown or some GTA-like game need the HDD for multiplayer?

Why are we listing HDD-requiring games?

Think it was Burnout Paradise

 

[bkilian]

Well congrats, those two games are as relevant as having the xbox originals requiring HDD. How many did they sell between them, did they even hit 100K?

Well, you need to be more precise then. You didn't ask for a _good_ game that required a HDD, you asked "Please show me a full game that you can't play without a HDD."

 

[AzBat]

Major Nelson confirmed the news today.

The system update is coming April 6 and comes with support for "storing profiles, game saves, demos and more.". Setup is not done automatically. You'll have to go to the Storage menu. You'll have the choice to format and use the whole device or do a custom setup. "one time performance and integrity check to confirm the drive is working properly." 1GB to 16gb is only available for use. Remaining space will be made available to your PC. 2 simultaneous devices are allowed, giving 32gb of total storage. Major Nelson also HIGHLY recommends flash-based storage over hard-drives since it gives MUCH better performance. One last thing they are partnering up with Sandisk to provide Xbox 360 branded USB flash drives that will be pre-configured for use.

Here's some photos of the dashboard screens...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/majornelson/sets/72157623576662307/


http://majornelson.com/archive/2010/03/26/USB-Memory-Support-for-the-Xbox-360-coming-April-6th.aspx

Tommy McClain

 

[NavNucST3]

Major Nelson confirmed the news today.

The system update is coming April 6 and comes with support for "storing profiles, game saves, demos and more.". Setup is not done automatically. You'll have to go to the Storage menu. You'll have the choice to format and use the whole device or do a custom setup. "one time performance and integrity check to confirm the drive is working properly." 1GB to 16gb is only available for use. Remaining space will be made available to your PC. 2 simultaneous devices are allowed, giving 32gb of total storage. Major Nelson also HIGHLY recommends flash-based storage over hard-drives since it gives MUCH better performance. One last thing they are partnering up with Sandisk to provide Xbox 360 branded USB flash drives that will be pre-configured for use.

Here's some photos of the dashboard screens...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/majornelson/sets/72157623576662307/


http://majornelson.com/archive/2010/03/26/USB-Memory-Support-for-the-Xbox-360-coming-April-6th.aspx

Tommy McClain

You missed the MOST important thing!

Checkboxes.

 

[Ruskie]

Grrr so we wont be able to install games on it???Stupid MS,stupid MS...
Imagine it could...R* could cram alot more area for next gta,JC would be happy as a child,i bet he jumped the gun thinking he wont have to use 3 DVDs ...

 

[Zassk]

Grrr so we wont be able to install games on it???

Where are you reading this?

 

[eastmen]

Where are you reading this?

I don't think the trasnfer rate is fast enough for games. Mabye dlc like rockband songs or something.

 

[AzBat]

You missed the MOST important thing!

Checkboxes.

ROFL, yeah saw those too on the screens. Definitely an odd thing to see on a Xbox.

Tommy McClain

 

[Zassk]

I don't think the trasnfer rate is fast enough for games. Mabye dlc like rockband songs or something.

Isn't that the purpose of the mandatory speed test by the 360 of each new USB stick? The 12X DVD drive has an average read rate of 16.5MBps. Your typical mid-grade USB stick has an average read rate of something like 20-25 MBps. Bottom end USB sticks would be slower than the DVD drive, and would, presumably, fail the speed test.

 

[AzBat]

Where are you reading this?

Probably assumed that from this... "storing profiles, game saves, demos and more." Major Nelson hasn't made clarifications since the post except for saying the pics were from his dev kit. Right now they don't differentiate between demos & full games like Arcade & Indie titles. So if have the space you can store them on memory cards. But I guess they could change that with the update. Why they would, I have no idea.

Tommy McClain

 

[eastmen]

Isn't that the purpose of the mandatory speed test by the 360 of each new USB stick? The 12X DVD drive has an average read rate of 16.5MBps. Your typical mid-grade USB stick has an average read rate of something like 20-25 MBps. Bottom end USB sticks would be slower than the DVD drive, and would, presumably, fail the speed test.

true i missed the part wit the mandatory speed test.

 

[AzBat]

Evidently, you can't transfer installed games to the USB device. But you can re-install them directly. Also, here's a pic of supposed the Xbox-branded USB drive...

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/26/xbox-360-branded-16gb-drives-from-sandisk-coming-in-may/

Tommy McClain

 

[BadTB25]

Evidently, you can't transfer installed games to the USB device. But you can re-install them directly. Also, here's a pic of supposed the Xbox-branded USB drive...

Tommy McClain

Seems a little shortsighted to me. What's the difference between transferring my installed game and re-installing to the USB drive. You still need the disc to be able to play the game anyway.

Also, would this apply to XBLA games that you already purchased. I'd imagine that you'd have to delete it from the HDD, then re-download it the USB drive if you wanted to have it saved there.

Also, one last annoyance - have they explained why the 16GB limit (32GB with 2 devices)? It's better than nothing and it essentially doubles my current capacity (I have the 20GB HDD), but it would have been awesome to have much more space.