XBox2 memory unit

The way I see it, Xbox Next won't have any internal drive, but have user purchased external drive for use with certain games and Xbox Live....
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Not a bad theory, or maybe MS could have units with the HDD already in them for an extra 30-50 bucks.

Who knows, we'll find out for certain at GDC though(I hope anyway).
 
Multiple models is possible, but if it's just for HD-in/HD-out, I'd think the logistics of it would make them opt for just having a separately-packaged HD available at launch as well.
 
A harddrive as an accessory is not going to happen. Either the Xbox 2 has one built in or a PC is going to be used as a media server with flash cards being used to store patches.
 
cybamerc said:
A harddrive as an accessory is not going to happen. Either the Xbox 2 has one built in or a PC is going to be used as a media server with flash cards being used to store patches.
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Agreed, more or less.
 
Flash cards could be used for content downloads.

Even with broadband, noone is going to want to download an update larger than 50MB, and the most common updates like new maps or player models will be much smaller. A 256MB flash card will be sufficient storage, and they are already in the $50 range. By 2006 you might even get 1GB for the same price.

The only real advantage of a hard-disk is that it can be used as virtual memory, which a flash card is too slow for, but X-Box 2 will have more memory anyway so this is less of an issue.
 
Nobie/Vince/Cybamerc,

I agree more or less with your comments as well. I've been posting some of my ideas and comments on this at TeamXbox. Here they are...

AzBat said:
Pinnacle's idea seems like something Microsoft might go with. Microsoft has got to be envious of Apple's iPod and iTunes service. Something tells me that Microsoft will get in the music business pretty soon and that means it no longer makes sense for them to subsidize the cost of the mass storage for music by including a hard drive in the Xbox Next. So they could sell an iPod-like device separately from the Xbox Next that has its own hard drive. When connected to Xbox Next via a cable or docking station the music stored on it would be available to games as custom soundtracks. The storage on the iPod-like device could also be used for storing game saves or downloadable content. I believe the flash memory provided by M-Systems will most likely be only available to games for caching. Something like less than a gig would be plenty to maintain performance. This would make it much smaller and also would be cheaper than including more expensive mass storage. So, if you want to store save games, custom music or downloadable content they will require you to buy 64mb memory cards, use an iPod-like device, use a Windows XP/Media Center PC or use Xbox Live online storage. Think about it, Microsoft needs to make money from gamers somehow and it only makes sense to charge for storing user data. If all they did was only include flash memory for game caching I would be Ok with that. That would definitely make it cheaper for Microsoft to build and sell and that's good for both of us.
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Regarding iTunes-type service...

AzBat said:
Me and a buddy of mine here at work came up with the ideas I posted above. I could see them making the service, but not just for Xbox Live. Though I do believe that Xbox Live will be one of the ways to get the service. This makes more sense if they're going to be removing the capability to store music on the stand-alone Xbox Next. Plus, it gives them another way to make money by selling memory cards or iPod-like devices.

This also works with their new Media Center strategy. I have a feeling Microsoft doesn't want the Xbox to be the center of the living room because they loose money on making the consoles. This would put a WindowsXP PC as the media gateway of the house since they make money on Windows XP and devices based on it: Windows XP Media Center PCs, Media Center Extenders and Portable Media Centers. This strategy is one reason why I believe we won't see TiVo like functions on the standard Xbox Next. Though they may decide to include Media Center Extender technology in it by default since it's mainly only software. They could possibly make another version similar to Sony's PSX, but I doubt they would be able to sell it for a loss like the standard model. So it could be expensive just like the PSX.
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Anyway, my thoughts now are that not having a hard drive in the Xbox Next is not something I'm too worried about. That's provided they still offer some kind of internal storage to allow caching of games. I don't think a seperate hard drive peripheral is somthing that would sell. I however believe that an iPod-like device with a hard drive that could be used as a storage peripheral for the Xbox Next would definitely sell. This would also help sell an iTunes-like service if it could be used via Xbox Live. They might even sell more Xbox Live memberships by offering the iTunes-like service through it. The revenue possibilities are almost endless.

Tommy McClain
 
Nice summary by gamesindustry
Flash memory maker M-Systems has been signed up by Microsoft to provide a high capacity memory unit for the next-generation Xbox console, adding weight to reports that the system will not include a hard drive.

M-Systems is best known for manufacturing USB flash drives which are small enough to attach to keyrings, but the company says that what it is manufacturing for Xbox 2 is a product that does not currently exist, and will be far higher capacity than the 8mb Xbox memory cards.

Sources within Microsoft and at development studios which have been briefed about the Xbox 2 specification have previously indicated that the company is seriously considering dropping the hard drive from the console in favour of high capacity solid state memory devices.

The deal with M-Systems fits perfectly with these reports, as it would suggest that an extremely large removable flash memory unit would replace the hard drive. Flash units of up to 512mb - half a gigabyte - are already commonplace in pen and keyring devices, and it's possible that Microsoft could aim for an even larger unit for the Xbox 2 memory system.

Such a unit would be large enough to store hundreds, possibly thousands of save games, and even small-scale downloadable content such as new skins or models for multiplayer titles. However, the console would probably lose the ability to rip music CDs and run custom soundtracks - although Microsoft would probably prefer that you do that by playing music on your Xbox over a network link with a Windows XP Media Centre enabled PC anyway.

Microsoft will save significant amounts of money on the production cost of Xbox 2 by not including a hard drive, as well as allowing the case for the unit to be smaller and opening up a potential revenue stream from sales of flash memory units. The company will also be hoping that the lack of a hard drive will make Xbox 2 less attractive to hackers than its predecessor - whose hard drive has made it into a prime target for hackers who have turned the console into everything from a functional Linux system to a home media player, as well as enabling easy piracy of Xbox game titles.
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Which also makes me wonder if Sony will indeed ship their next-gen system with a HDD. They are apparently making a nice profit from standard and special edition memory cards now.
 
Link

Leaked Xbox details heat up games war
Roland Tellzen
FEBRUARY 17, 2004

FAR from conceding defeat in the games consoles war, Microsoft has started quietly releasing details of its next-generation Xbox.

This time Microsoft hopes to steal a march on rival Sony's PlayStation 3 console, due in 2006, after Sony's PS2 beat the original Xbox to market by 20 months. Indications are that Microsoft plans to launch its new Xbox in the second half of 2005. To date, Sony's machine has outsold the Microsoft offering by five-to-one in the world market.

Sony at present seems content to rest on its laurels with the PS2, and the interim combined PS2/video recorder machine - PSX - introduced in Japan late last year, but Microsoft has made clear that it considers the fight far from over.

"Microsoft is in this for the long-term," says a company spokesman.

Microsoft is likely to release details of the new Xbox at the Games Developers Conference in San Jose, California, next month, and the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles in May, but it has also quietly started leaking details to US developers and analysts.

According to reports in the San Francisco Mercury News, the new machine will be low-cost, with some advanced technology.

The specifications will include:

Three IBM-designed 64-bit microprocessors, which will give Xbox Next more computing power than most personal computers.

An ATI Technologies graphics chip with speeds much faster than its upcoming R400 chip for the personal computer. This would help the console display games with the resolution of high-definition television.

No hard drive - a marked contrast with the 8GB hard drive in the existing Xbox - opting instead for flash memory to store saved games and permanent data.

About 256MB of dynamic random access memory, compared with 64MB on the original.

Some form of video technology, although the current DVD format on the Xbox could well be superceded by newer Blu-Ray technology.

Lastly, and most riskily for Microsoft, there is no guarantee the new machine will be compatible with the original Xbox. Reports indicate "Microsoft is concerned it would cost too much money in hardware and in licensing fees to enable the Xbox Next to play old Xbox games".

The Mercury News, however, says the company is willing to change many of these specifications if it feels Sony is likely to supercede them.

If the PlayStation 3 ships with a hard drive, Microsoft would be expected to put one back in Xbox Next.

Similarly, if Sony packs in more DRAM, Microsoft would upgrade the new machines from 256MB to a heftier 512MB.

Also, by leaking early details, the company is soliciting feedback from developers, who will be expected to produce games for the machine.

One developer, for example, has already gone on the record to push for the inclusion of a hard drive. "I would really like to see a hard disk drive in the box," says Tim Sweeney, chief executive of Epic Games in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Sweeney has made his opinions known to Microsoft.

"For a console to really have a useful online component, it has to have the hard drive to store downloaded maps and other data."

The compatibility issue with the original Xbox is also stirring sharp reactions.

"I can't imagine that Microsoft would be so insanely stupid as to make it incompatible," Jon Peddie, an analyst at Jon Peddie Research in Tiburon, told the Mercury News.
 
I think not all of us are confident about these details. At least GDC is now just a month away. The interesting thought is whether Sony and Nintendo will be keeping quiet during the conference, leaving the stage to MS.[/url]
 
I cry "bogus!" at these rumors. The "Sony forbade DVD playback in xbox" comment is all that's needed. It's some guy pulling stuff out of his nether regions on purpose to stir up discussion forums...
 
Well that rumor is indeed dumb. MS split it out to cover the license costs is all. But considering they bundled in the networking and a HD, it's hardly an inconvenience. It does, however, cause more than the license cost in general annoyace to people though, I think. ;) Would have been better to include that too, and just make a good enough remote that people would want it anyway.
 
they DO need someone who can make a better design for the dvd playback controller. That thing blows ass... Where is teh power button!!!
 
YES!!!


It's like searching for the remote for 30 minutes just to change the channel!
 
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