Home Gaming Xbox 360 Getting USB Storage Support – Say Hello To More HDD Space

Xbox 360 Getting USB Storage Support – Say Hello To More HDD Space

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Joystiq have managed to get their hands on some really interesting documentation that confirms that a 2010 update to the Xbox 360 is going to allow it to use USB devices as memory units.

According to the report, Xbox 360 owners will now be able to use any USB device that they have lying around as a new way to store demos, game installations, DLC – you name it. This is quite a move from Microsoft and one that I really didn’t expect.

It’s not all milk and honey though, it seems like Microsoft have made a decision that may just prove to be a buzz kill for your excitement.

Here’s the problem, while you will be able to use any USB device. Microsoft is only going to allow 16GB’s of the device to be used for the Xbox 360. It will also partition the space on the drive, meaning that the space will not be usable for anything else on the drive. Microsoft have also opted to only allow two devices to function on the console, which means that you are only looking at a solid 32GB’s of space for use.

This is a tough one. While I applaud Microsoft for doing this, considering that they really just could have not, it still leaves a bitter taste in your mouth when you see the restrictions attached to it.

What say you? Happy, or are the restrictions just too much of a bummer for this to truly be a good thing?

Let us know in the comments, and hit the source for more information.

Source: Joystiq

Last Updated: March 19, 2010

19 Comments

  1. better then nothing! id take that, who knows maybe in time they’ll increase the size

    Reply

  2. Geoff

    March 19, 2010 at 08:46

    It’s about bloody time. The restrictions are in place so that cheaters can’t hack saves and enable exploits and such – but dodgy f*ckers will always find a way around that.

    Expect big multiplayer games like MW2 to be even more filled with cheaters after this update hits.

    Still, it’s nice for Average Joe to finally be able to use something other than the outrageously expensive official cards though.

    Reply

  3. Milesh Bhana

    March 19, 2010 at 09:11

    and Average Joe can now play Forza 3 also 🙂

    Reply

  4. WitWolfyZA

    March 19, 2010 at 09:36

    33GB thats about 4 games on your HDD more then enough too :biggrin:

    Reply

  5. Al360

    March 19, 2010 at 09:38

    32gb thats just stoopid in today’s technology
    i mean really now MS is that the best u can come up with
    PS3 FTW

    Reply

    • WitWolfyZA

      March 19, 2010 at 09:46

      I agree, but we know hackers will exploit this and some way turn these USB to 60HDD. Now imagine that scenario 😎

      Reply

    • Fox1

      March 19, 2010 at 09:55

      Installations on the 360 are not mandatory unlike the PS3 :whistle:

      Reply

      • WitWolfyZA

        March 19, 2010 at 10:17

        with a 320GB HDD whose counting :whistle:

        Reply

  6. Aequitas

    March 19, 2010 at 09:57

    The big question now is: Can we transfer downloaded DLC to other usb hdds? this would save us tons of bandwidth.

    Reply

    • koldFU5iON

      March 19, 2010 at 11:15

      This is exactly my thinking! wouldn’t it be rad to just be able to give friends a demo that they couldn’t download over on their broadband? better yet there’s an oppertunity here for local ISP’s to download content from live and put it up available for everyone to download on local cheaper bandwidth!

      Reply

    • Geoff

      March 19, 2010 at 11:50

      Unlikely – the drive will be formatted with the 360’s filesystems , being FATX and STFS, so won;t be readable on a PC.

      Of course, some clever people will change that.

      Reply

      • WitWolfyZA

        March 19, 2010 at 12:06

        looks like you’ve never heard of Xport360 :pirate:

        Reply

        • Geoff

          March 19, 2010 at 12:16

          Considering I have a 250Gb 360 drive, I’d say I have. 😉

          Reply

  7. r0gue

    March 19, 2010 at 10:18

    aah brilliant! I was going to splash out on a bigger HD, but in reality 16gb more will do me just fine. Yes I’d love 120gigs but I will love the spare cash in my pocket more.

    Reply

    • WitWolfyZA

      March 19, 2010 at 10:24

      i see Gumtree and Junk mail some ppl are selling generic or refurb 250GB HDD for R800

      Reply

      • r0gue

        March 19, 2010 at 20:14

        shuu okay. I didn’t think they would go that low.
        Thanks

        Reply

  8. Lupus

    March 19, 2010 at 11:52

    What are the chances of these HDDs working well though? Also another 32gigs is fine by me, I’ve still got 32 gigs free on my HDD, on a 60 gig which I am still shocked how quickly HDD is used up.

    Reply

  9. Someone

    March 19, 2010 at 12:40

    The extra space that you’d be getting from the flash will be able to be used as system space.
    So DLC, Profiles, saved games and everything else can be stored on there.
    Many belive this aids the rumor of a Xbox 360 Slim as there’d now be no need for a “bulcky” HDD.

    Reply

  10. WitWolfyZA

    March 23, 2010 at 09:39

    Like this one time at band camp…

    Reply

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