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Xbox 2 To Feature Removeable Hard Drive
More details are emerging on Microsoft's next console, set to release this fall. GamesIndustry.biz has word that the Xbox 2 will have a removable hard drive as part of its feature set. From the article: "It's been assumed for some time that this means that Xbox 2 will be sold in at least two basic configurations - with and without a mass storage unit - and today's report seems to indicate that it will be possible to upgrade between those models by adding the hard drive."
... my Xbox already has a removable drive (well, 120 gigs held in by 4 torx screws) or you mean an official MS product?
Trolling is a art,
I doubt that a HD as an accessory would sell well. Take a look at the PS2 drive. The only reason to buy it is for Final Fantasy XI. If Microsoft isn't including the HD in all of their versions of XBOX 2, developers will be less inclined to utilize it, and it'll be just as useless as the PS2 HD.
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Does this mean that i can somehow buy a normal harddrive and mod it so that it would work with the xbox??
Huge profit potential for anyone who can do that.
1. Steal Msft Xbox Trade secrets
2. Make hundreds of them.
3. ???
4. Profit!
Now the real question is whether this HDD will be the missing link in allowing the XBox's successor to be backwards compatible.
The article didn't mention this, but instead explored the rumours about an 'xPod' and the Xenon's marketing name.
With MSFT acquiring hardware virtualization software not too long ago, there have been plenty of rumours about backwards compatibility in this console, but few facts.
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I thought the whole point to consoles was to sell a unified hardware platform. Making a hard drive an option seems like a headache for game developers. It would essentially make unit w/ harddrive a different platform to test with than unit w/o hard drive on top of the other platforms, such as Windows 98/2000/XP, next-gen GameCube, and PS3.
-- Microsoft is the most expensive commodity operating system and office suite vendor in the marketplace.
Which is going to be heavier. This removable hard drive or the XBox2 controller... ^_^
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If the API for saving game files is abstracted to the point where saving a game on a memory card is exactly the same as saving it on a HD, that alone will make it worth it. (it'd still be sweet if the xbox could back up it's data to a network share).
Further more if Microsofts tools make it trivial to check for the harddrive and expose those abilities (playback of stored mp3s, caching) why wouldn't developers use it.
A lot of xBox owners are going to buy the HD version of the xbox. Why, a lot of them own playstations and know what a hassle memory cards are. They'll expect certain options, and they buy based on those expectations. The hard drive on xbox 2 won't be an afterthought the way it was with the PS2.
News Flash! Xbox2 rumored not to have harddrive... BITCH BITCH BITCH
News Flash! Microsoft set to release Xbox2 with harddrive... BITCH BITCH BITCH
Common people seriously stop with the double standards. To those who think having a hard drive will be a problem for developers ask yourselves this: did the the first xbox's harddrive get utilized by developers? Absolutely not unless you count Blinx.
My gut instinct, or rather hope, is the thing will come with enough mass storage to handle a lot of game saves and fulfill the purpose of the hd in the current xbox as far as streaming and other things are concerned. There are rumors that flash storage will be used, and this kind of makes sense as a smaller, 1-2GB drive in the base unit. That way, you can still use tricks like hd streaming, you can still expect that everyone can save to the HD, you can still (potentially) support backwards compatibility, and you can still expect that everyone can do custom soundtracks (and you have a place built in for settings like live accounts and what not).
Then the HD add-on really only becomes important when you either want to load up a bunch more soundtracks or you want the box to become more of a media server, storing a lot of content or perhaps doing tivo-like stuff. That way, the HD isn't an "option" doomed to failure because of lack of dev support, but actually a real value-add feature that makes you box do entirely new things. Note that both Sony and MS are rabidly pursuing that whole tivo/media center angle in the next generation.
The only question I have about using flash storage in the base unit is the speed of storage. I don't know how fast flash storage is in comparison to a low-end hard drive like the one in the box now. If it's a lot slower, then maybe the base unit is a bit more limited, at least as far as streaming and backwards compatibility are concerned.
I really thought that the release of the Xbox would establish hardrives as a nesesity for all consoles that would be released after it. The hardrive is: 1) EXTREMELY convienient, I only know of one person who has bought a memory card for the system. 2) Super fast. Having a hard drive reminds me back to the cartridge days when saving your progress took no more than 3 seconds. 3) Allows for downloadable content on xbox live. If the next xbox has a version without a HD then it will make it impossible to release patches and other content through LIVE. I think that the more expensive hard drive version will be way more popular than the cheaper one. also, i expect the sales of the removable hardrive to be impressive also. What if this whole no hardrive thing is just a way to suck mor money out of consumers who crave a HD and will buy the add on?
Easier to use your torren^H^H^H^H^H^Hlegally backed up games! And shar... I'll stop there. Whatever, I'm happy :D
Spell cheek you've failed me four the last thyme!
Just consider it a very large memory card.
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Sega split their market with the Mega CD/32X addons back in the 90's, different platforms under similar guises lead to much confusion with Joe Public. This began to move Sega onto a slippery slope which ultimately leading them out of the console hardware business.
Why don't MS just stick with a HDD as standard in the next gen Xbox, it's not like they're that expensive is it??
The article states the developers "should not rely on its (the HDD) presence for their games" so why bother buying an expensive model unless you hack it, or is it for the home entertainment market MS are looking for?? The drive is not really for games but for videos, music...etc, I wonder...
While not acknowledged in the posting, supposedly the name of the console will be Xbox 360. Is it just me, or is this a huge give-away that the console will be circular in shape? Why else have such a ridiculous name.
Well its a good way for them to save money, i know my Xbox hard drive is only 2% full or something...i just hope the removable hard drive doesnt use some proprietary connection, because if its just a standard hard drive this would make it easy for anyone to add an 80GB drive, which cost about as much as an 8MB memory card from Sony these days. Really what Microsoft should do is make the Xbox work with thumbdrives standard, that way i can bring a gig of data from my xbox to a friend's as easily as i would on a memory card...plus it would hold enough for me to store downloaded levels etc...
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That's not all it will have. Kotaku reported this last week, as well as the fact that the whole box will be customizable with snap on skins and even a customizable dashboard. They also reported that it will come in two flavors, have wireless controllers and some other details.
...not really on purpose though. I bought one of those PSO USB Keyboard Adapters when they were selling them online for like 2 bucks. A few weeks ago I plugged in my 1gig Lexar USB Key into it and like magic the Xbox formated my USB Key into a 1 gig Xbox memory card.
Not exactly what I was going for but it was cool to see so many free blocks on the memory card port from the Xbox menu.
My Xbox Live Gamer Card
If Nintendo and Sony wont release till nex fall then MS can charge whatever they want for the debut. Then lower the price 6 months later then lower it again to be compareable when the others launch.
Early adopters will pay any price to get what they want. Remember December 2000 Sony could only supply 250,000 PS2's for all of the US. The people with pre-orders snapped them up. Then many christmas shoppers were spending up to $1000 for them on E-bay.
Why should after-markerteers get all the profit. MS could launch with a limited supply for as much as $600. Then come in after X-mas with a new supply for a new low price. Could backfire, or they could make a killing.
I think, while the whole 'segmented market' argument is somewhat valid, you've got to think about the fact that, if this is true, the harddrive will be released at the same time as the console, and not afterwards as an add-on, the type that's never faired particularly well. So, you go into a game store, or check ebgames.com, and you'll be contanstantly harassed, from day one to buy the damn thing by retarded EB employees.
Not all of us are 43 Kilos, 163 cm tall and grew up on rice seaweed and nosebleeds.
It was nice to have a sturdy comfortable controller for a change.
Why don't MS just stick with a HDD as standard in the next gen Xbox, it's not like they're that expensive is it??
Because HDDs are PC commodity items - and therefore driven by the PC market. Can you walk into Fry's right now and buy an 8GB hard drive? 3 years from now when MS will be expecting to be making huge profit from Xenon, will you be able to walk into Fry's and buy an 80GB hard drive??
My guess is that they will use your home network for these types of tasks (and stream the video/audio/etc). Just think of it - for you to save your maps or whatever, you have to buy a PC running WINDOWS! OMFG what a great idea Bill, we'll screw over our customers by forcing them to have a home network - and then we'll make the map-building software on the PC incompatible with Wine, so we'll simultaneously be fighting Linux too!
Given that Microsoft must already know the danger of splintering the market by offering the HD as an add on, I would say that it's just a marketing hedge. They don't want to really support a hard drive at all and probably won't develop any games that would require such an add on. For end users the Xbox hard drive was great, no memory cards to buy and a really hackable games console. For MS, this was a big headache! The HD coupled with its PC-based hardware and development model made Xbox piracy relatively easy and hacked Xboxes running Linux are a pure loss on the books for Microsoft. And I can't think of a single game on the Xbox that really could only be done with a built in hard drive. The only game that would have really required the HD is the now cancelled MMORPG, True Fantasy Online. And since the Xbox runs a distant 2nd (or 3rd) to the PS2, supporting the Xbox HD beyond simple game saves means not being able to port to the other consoles easily, though usually the porting went in the other direction.
As much as the hardcore love having a built in hard drive, for Microsoft it's probably been a real pain. More common broadband and flash memory drives in excess of 1GB will make the need for multigigabyte internal hard drive less and less. Not having the hard drive will make it easier for MS to reduce piracy and royalty stealing Xbox hacks. The nonPC-based architecture will help this too. And I suspect that memory cards are always sold at a profit. Ultimately, I think this is their true intention. Anything else you hear about built in hard drives from this point on is just marketing hype. A HD compatible bay is just a bullet point now, nothing developers will be encouraged to support.
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All this bull shit with xbox next and such. I am really disenhartened by the gaming community. who needs a tivo i know i dont. i have a computer and a dvd burner. hmm lets guess what i do? i think that microsoft should just build in the hdd and make everybodys life easier. because you all know that there will be some PIBKAC that tries to put the drive in backwards or actually opens the xbox to install the drive and then will fu*k up his xbox.(lawsuit to follow) lets face it people most average computer users have never even seen the inside of thier computers. and what about the younger generation will they really need a portable media player at age 11 probably not. also watch microsoft as they put in a security "feature" on the media player any music caught on the drive that isn't "legal" will cause you to be banned from xbox live for life. that would be great who actually pays for thier music. NOBODY. So FU*K you microsoft you can take you nextbox and shove it. I wont be buying one anytime soon. I think I will stick to my computer