Microsoft Increases Limit on XBLA Downloads

1up reports that XBLA's 50MB size limit is no more. Microsoft has upped that to a whopping 250 MB, just a week after it was revealed that the upcoming Symphony of the Night would be almost double that in size. While this is great for the possibilities of the service, games, and gamers, it does mean that 'Core Pack' owners are now even more 'out in the cold' when it comes to downloadable content. Unless a HDD is purchased for the system, Core Packers are reduced to using the 64MB memory cards, which are clearly not large enough for even one 'expanded' game title. From the article: "However, how many folks are out there downloading Live Arcade games without an HDD? It probably works out to a small percentage. We asked Microsoft about those users and the memory card issues that the console will face with this new expanded size for Live Arcade titles. Microsoft said 'There is already one possible solution in the works for this category of gamer should we decide to increase the Xbox Live Arcade game file size from its current 50 MB limit. As announced at E3 last May, a larger Memory Unit is being developed which will allow gamers who do not own a hard drive to store and easily transport several Xbox Live Arcade games at a time. We have no further details to announce at this time.'"

Comments

Old Addage

[AKAImBatman]

While this is great for the possibilities of the service, games, and gamers, it does mean that 'Core Pack' owners are now even more 'out in the cold' when it comes to downloadable content. Unless a HDD is purchased for the system, Core Packers are reduced to using the 64MB memory cards, which are clearly not large enough for even one 'expanded' game title.

Penny wise, pound foolish.

I never did understand the Core system concept anyway. If games were going to require a hard drive, what good would it do to purchase a system without one? My suspicion is that Microsoft released the Core system in an attempt to keep their prices from looking outrageous. ($399 was a lot for a game console at the time.) Thanks to Sony, however, Microsoft's pricing scheme suddenly doesn't look so bad after all.

Re:Old Addage

[Itchyeyes]

I think the core system was aimed at parents who would be giving a 360 as a present but would balk at the extra $100. A parent could give the core system at feel like it was a reasonable price. The child could purchase the memory card or hard drive themselves once they had the system. I think it was a poor choice for Microsoft as I doubt it really boosted sales in the long run. Technically it allows them to say that the 360 is $300, but practically in most consumers minds it's still $400.

Core Pack

[Itchyeyes]

Microsoft should have never released the core pack. However, everyone knew exactly what is was from the moment Microsoft revealed it. It was obvious right from the get go that there would be limitations when it came to memory space. If you're using the core pack, and you don't have the storage space for this, then you have only yourself to blame. What's more, it's not like this would be the first item Microsoft offered that wouldn't fit on a memory card. XBL Arcade titles are practically the only thing left on the service at the moment that clock under 300mb.

Re:What they need to do

[arkanes]

Hard drives use a standard interface. You don't need special drivers for your hard drive, only for drive controllers which are built into the XBox and thus not an issue. This is not a support issue, this is MS enjoying the closed, proprietary platform they always wanted the PC to be.

WHS, of course

[amliebsch]

I will bet dollars to donuts that the 360 will be able to use Windows Home Server as NAS. This has the advantage of being a good solution for gamers who want big storage capacity while simultaneously creating a Microsoft ecosystem for the home computers.