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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."
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.
Dear diary: Today I stuffed some dolls full of dead rats I put in the blender.
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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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.
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Except for caching to reduce load times (e.g., Ninja Gaiden) and DLC for Live games, providing new levels long after a game was released (e.g., various Tom Clancy Live games). The map maker feature on the upcoming Time Splitters Future Perfect, which will allow users to create maps and share them over Live, will also presumably make use of the hard drive to allow Xbox users a lot more save space then the PS2 version will offer. So, all that and Blinx.
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...
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!