Guest Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Documentation obtained by Joystiq – and subsequently confirmed with two separate sources – reveals that "USB Mass Storage Device Support on Xbox 360" will soon be a reality. The document, authored by a senior software development engineer at Microsoft, states that due to "increased market penetration of high-capacity, high throughput USB mass storage devices, a 2010 Xbox 360 system update" will allow consumers to save and load game data from USB devices. The update is purportedly coming in Spring 2010. Once the update occurs, Xbox 360 owners will be able to download Xbox Live Arcade games, Xbox Live Indie games, Games on Demand, DLC and Title Updates to the storage device. "USB storage devices may, however, have far greater memory capacity than MUs (at the date of writing, the largest MU is 512 MB), and may therefore support previously infeasible operations-such as installation of a full disc-based title." That's right, you can also store disc-based games to the USB device; however, it will require the disc to be in the tray for authentication, identical to the current functionality. According to the document, the USB mass storage device must be at least 1GB and the system will do a compatibility check. "The system partition occupies 512 MB of space, and by default the consumer partition occupies the remainder of the device capacity, or 16 GB, whichever is smaller." Upon inserting a blank USB storage device, "consumers are offered two choices: 'Configure now' or 'Customize'." The "Configure now" option will use "the entire device capacity, up to the maximum of 512 MB plus 16 GB" meaning, regardless of the overall size of the device you're using, the Xbox will only enable 16 GB of usable, non-system storage. The "Customize" option will allow you to "preserve some pre-existing, non-console data on the device" such as music. It should be clear by now that Microsoft is simply pulling out of the Memory Unit business and not the highly lucrative Xbox hard drive business. With an artificial cap of 16 GB – still shy of the 20 GB hard drive that shipped with the original 2005 Xbox Pro and a fraction the size of the currently shipping 120 GB hard drive – USB storage support simply removes the onerous requirement for a Memory Unit on Xbox 360 Arcade units, and brings the Xbox 360 platform a feature that's been present on the PlayStation 3 since that console's 2006 launch. If you're intent on circumventing Microsoft's cutthroat hard drive pricing the Xbox 360, you can use two USB storage devices for a maximum of 32 GB of usable storage; however, the console "has a fixed limit of two external USB mass storage devices" regardless of whether they're "formatted for the Xbox 360 or not." If you fill all three USB ports on the console, only the first two to be connected will be recognized. With talk of a new (slim?) form factor for the Xbox 360 picking up, and plans to abandon (or at least obviate) Memory Units underway, we're guessing those Memory Unit slots could be cut entirely from future iterations of the console. http://www.joystiq.c...in-2010-update/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draken Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 whoa now that's something (Y) and yes yes Sony representatives we all know this was present on the PS3 since launch :sleep: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coresx Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Fits with the slim rumour. Lack of portability of an internal hard drive, it would make it pretty painless for anyone to move stuff without an official memory card or transfer cable. I wonder if the Slim would even have a memory card slot now, seems doubtful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mad_onion Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 whoa now that's something (Y) and yes yes Sony representatives we all know this was present on the PS3 since launch :sleep: My understanding is that you can't save game installs or anything from PSN to an external hard drive. Only playback media, which is exactly what the xbox can do right now. Of course the ps3 can play back more formats natively but that's a different story... With this rumoured update you would be able to install games and live content to the drive. But I don't how fast that will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyLarry Veteran Posted March 18, 2010 Veteran Share Posted March 18, 2010 Nice move, just 4 years to late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massiveterra Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 My understanding is that you can't save game installs or anything from PSN to an external hard drive. Only playback media, which is exactly what the xbox can do right now. Of course the ps3 can play back more formats natively but that's a different story... With this rumoured update you would be able to install games and live content to the drive. But I don't how fast that will be. I think he meant that you can swap the PS3 harddrive with a bigger non-proprietary hard drive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mad_onion Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 I think he meant that you can swap the PS3 harddrive with a bigger non-proprietary hard drive Right well you still won't be able to that after the rumoured update, this is for external usb drives only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyDX Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Now the question, could we install games on USB drives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mad_onion Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Now the question, could we install games on USB drives? Yes you can maybe read the article or my first reply. Either would have provided you with that information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Now the question, could we install games on USB drives? According to the article, yes. It'll work just like the current install system in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clotz2000 Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 I would like this but the 16GB cap is gay, would like them to stop selling hard drives altogether, there's no point... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerzdawg Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Yea.. im not sure why they capped it at 16gb... guess i can just pick up a 16gb thumb drive so expand my 20gb.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skulltrail Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Sounds great. I can now use my xhdd for downloading all the games my 20GB (*hmph*... 14.8GB) hard drive cannot. The only game I have downloaded onto my X360 HDD is BC2 but I also wanted MW2 and Borderlands on there as well. Everyone feared that if MS actually went with this, their official HDD sales would decrease but USB can only go so far in comparison to internal SATA hard drives. Transfer speeds on USB are inferior to those of SATA. EDIT: Not to mention the 16GB cap. EDIT#2: Is it possible to connect multiple hard drives via USB? Or is the 16GB cap fitted onto all connected external hard drives, memory units? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 EDIT#2: Is it possible to connect multiple hard drives via USB? Or is the 16GB cap fitted onto all connected external hard drives, memory units? 32GB is possible by the looks of things. 2 external USB drives at 16GB each. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayepecks Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Cool beans. Time to get more flash drives. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyDX Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Yes you can maybe read the article or my first reply. Either would have provided you with that information. Yeah sorry, I quickly swiped over it^^' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0sit0 Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 I would like this but the 16GB cap is gay, would like them to stop selling hard drives altogether, there's no point... Definition: Gay 16 GB limit sucks, but I'm still glad they are giving us the option to use our own storage devices... at last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George P Global Moderator Posted March 18, 2010 Global Moderator Share Posted March 18, 2010 I think the 16GB limit is just for the start, and probably more to do with speed of the NAND flash used up to that size. 32GB sticks probably use slower (thus cheaper) NAND that doesn't meet whatever req. OR, it could just be that they don't want to offer you the ability to use bigger ones initially so that it doesn't hurt the HDD sales side. Or people will just buy bigger and bigger USB sticks and at some point won't need a hdd. Later this year we could very well start seeing 128GB USB sticks for sale for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draken Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 My understanding is that you can't save game installs or anything from PSN to an external hard drive. Only playback media, which is exactly what the xbox can do right now. Of course the ps3 can play back more formats natively but that's a different story... With this rumoured update you would be able to install games and live content to the drive. But I don't how fast that will be. yup I know, I was just anticipating the flood of pro-Sony people saying the PS3 already do that :shifty: That's simple, a 512Mb memory unit costs almost the same than a 8GB Pendrive (at least here) so that's a great update, 4 years later? I don't care, better late than never (Y) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneNutter MVC Posted March 18, 2010 MVC Share Posted March 18, 2010 Great stuff if you ask me, even though I have a nice hacked 250gb drive it will still be great to keep all my saves on the usb drive so they can be used no matter who's Xbox 360 im playing on. I dont think the idea of this is to replace the 360's hard drive (ms make way too much from them) but to replace memory cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REM2000 Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 I think the 16GB limit is just for the start, and probably more to do with speed of the NAND flash used up to that size. 32GB sticks probably use slower (thus cheaper) NAND that doesn't meet whatever req. OR, it could just be that they don't want to offer you the ability to use bigger ones initially so that it doesn't hurt the HDD sales side. Or people will just buy bigger and bigger USB sticks and at some point won't need a hdd. Later this year we could very well start seeing 128GB USB sticks for sale for example. i was not thinking of USB thumb drive but instead a nice slim 250GB / 320GB external USB drive, would allow me to download a lot more DLC, movies and other content. Thumb drives are nice and small, but it would be really easy to have a hdd sitting on top of my 360. Microsoft have to decide if they want to make money from DLC and other consumable media or from the hardware itself. Personally i think they should be introducing as many steps as possible for 360 owners to increase their storage, to allow people to purchase and download more media. Sony saw this and it's working for them, there is a lot more money in the download market. But with all said and done, i wouldn't moan about being able to upgrade to 16GB, 2 x16GB's would be excellent. I have a 20GB HDD with 13GB odd usable, i have used it and it's hard to get 1GB free for demos after DLC and save games. A further 16GB would really take the pressure off. The 120GB upgrades are a no go for me, i just can't justify spending that amount of money on such a small hdd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Livin in a box Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Damn that's stupid. What's the point of a 16GB cap? Sure, it might hurt their sales, but what difference will it do at the start rather than later? People will hear about this and most will wait for another update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Explore Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 Nice, now let me use more than 16GB (or 32 GB with 2 flash) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DigitalE Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 I'm not even going to bother if it's capped at 16 GB.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayepecks Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 I'm pretty sure the point of this is to replace memory cards, people... not really as an added hard drive (except for the Arcade, I'd assume). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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