360°

New Xbox 360 Format Still Holds Roughly 8GB of Data

Save and Quit - "People participating in the Xbox 360 update program received their copy of Halo Reach in the mail today. Speculation over the new disc format has been everywhere since Microsoft made the announcement. According to an article by Just Push Start, hackers have dug into the new Halo Reach discs and found that they have a capacity of roughly 10GB. This cannot be possible as Microsoft is still using DVD-DL discs which can only hold 8.5GB."

Article provides proof of an 8.5GB disc.

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saveandquitgaming.com
4772d ago
Burning_Finger4772d ago

It's their damn fault for not fully backing up toshiba in the first place and making the HD-DVD it's main proprietary format.

NexGen764772d ago (Edited 4772d ago )

That wouldn't been a smart choice either HD-DVD was D.O.A from the start with no major studio support.

Kleptic4772d ago

no studio support (or only about 20% of the industry at the time)...and was every bit as expensive to manufacture as blu ray...

='s

a $500+ 360, of which would be the base sku, at launch...there was NO way MS was going to let that happen...price was, and always has been, the only advantage they have had over the Ps3...

You can pick your sides all you want...but everyone can admit that the Playstation brand was the only name in the gaming industry strong enough to drop at a price that high...and they barely made it out...if the 360 was anywhere near that of the PS3, ceterus parabis...the 360 wouldn't be around anymore...

Redrum0594772d ago

even though i keep my attention more on the ps3 exclusives, i still do seek out multiplats. and more space for 360 disk format means the bigger multi-plat games will be. great game like RDR and Masseffect can be just a bit bigger and better :)

B1663r4772d ago

Sigh, I am gonna get disagrees for this but...

Blu-ray is barely scraping by after 5 years on the market and only having a 10%-20% share of disk sales at a time that disk sales are decreasing because people are switching to downloads... A'la netflix, hulu, Apple, and Zune.

And no support on Apple computers, and nominal support on PCs

It is a videophile format...

Arnon4772d ago

Excellent comment. The Xbox brand isn't as big as Sony or Nintendo, but Microsoft was incredibly smart in dropping HD-DVD. Yes, it would allow for more storage, as you stated it would've been too costly for a brand that's still so new to the genre.

Also, compression has come so far as to the point where very minor differences are even seen nowadays.

4772d ago
NexGen764772d ago

@Kleptic

At that time HD-DVD only had 20% of the movie market Universal & Warner Bros.....How can you sell a low priced HD-DVD play with only 20% share of the highdef market also Warner was also making Blu-Rays so HD-DVD had only one exclusive provider....I'm a Sony guy but Microsoft made the best move buy not including a dead format into it console & on top of that Microsoft was bragging about how digital download was going to be the future...Next time do your home work.

badz1494772d ago

"Blu-ray is barely scraping by after 5 years on the market and only having a 10%-20% share of disk sales at a time that disk sales are decreasing because people are switching to downloads... A'la netflix, hulu, Apple, and Zune."

all those streaming service you're stating don't even have the QUALITY offered by Bluray! Bluray is still hands down THE best version available on the market be it physical or digital!

and do you think that Sony is pushing 3D for nothing or just for games? although a bit slow at the moment, 3D is penetrating into the market with all TV makers on board and the biggest arsenal in Sony's hand is 1080p 3D Bluray movies! this is something that is not possible for streaming service at the moment due to bandwidth and Sony is looking to target that niche but steadily growing market.

3DTVs are awesome but price is holding them down at the moment. hopefully the price can go down a bit faster.

Theonik4771d ago (Edited 4771d ago )

If by now studio support you mean more than Bluray you would be correct. It sunk in the end but was doing quite well at its early steps.

@Above, does it really matter though? This is generation iPod we're talking about. Most people don't care.

Arnon4771d ago

I was about to say the same thing that Theonik said. In this day and age, MP3 is considered a high quality format. The quality of a product matters, sure... but that doesn't mean it's going to be the most popular, versatile format.

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 4771d ago
SilverSlug4772d ago

They played it save and in my opinion it turned out better for them in the long run.

Adding a HD-DVD player back when it launched would have been costly to both the consumer and Microsoft. It wouldn't have guaranteed a victory for either, especially Microsoft. They where going up against the successor to the PS2.

They had to keep prices low (and 400 was NOT low tbh). The only thing that saved them was Sony's mistakes and delaying titles...

Playing it safe made the 360 cheaper, put it in more living rooms. HD-DVD would have probably lost anyway.

RememberThe3574772d ago

Yep they did very well playing off Sonys mistakes. They played Sonys game against themselves and were very successful at it. As a gamer I think having more space in on a disk would have been better but it never was a huge issue in my eyes.

Porkins4Life4772d ago

Price has been the driving force of the 360. By cutting costs in areas such has hard drive space, initial lack of wi-fi, no internal rechargeable controller battery, etc.

gamingdroid4772d ago (Edited 4772d ago )

Actually, I think it was more MS had a solid business plan in place. They figured out what the consumers wanted (at the time) at a reasonable price and gave them that instead of Sony whom made their consumers essentially pay early adopters fee (albeit at the time it was substantial discount to a stand-alone blu-ray player) and completely out of tune with their customer base.

Executives making comments such as consumers will work extra hours to buy a PS3 is just utterly arrogant and stupendous business plan!

What saved Sony in the end was their brand name and MS failure in making their console reliable. Sh!t happens when you are a software company and try to cut corners.

Kleptic4772d ago (Edited 4772d ago )

@sliverslug...I totally agree with you on everything except that it was better in the 'long run'...

if anything, it was better in the short run...it helped the 360 be relatively cheap even at launch...which was exactly what they needed...as production costs of games go down though, that is where it will begin to hurt...as the extra space would clearly be an advantage now as most 'big games', at least other than MS's own offerings, are ramping up past 8Gb very quickly...

but even then, that doesn't really matter...this generation has pretty much peaked, and they made it through the brunt of it perfectly fine with DVD...it was more of a marketing advantage for Sony to have blu ray over everything else...it kept the 'future proof' push perfectly in tact...and simply made it silly when MS would shout the same thing...

but yeah...its not like Sony didn't f it up too, if not more...at the beginning of this generation...like mentioned the 'work harder to afford a PS3' was a PR nightmare to the degree where it will probably be discussed in future business classes...and the forefather of the Playstation brand was canned soon after...

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4772d ago
VINNIEPAZ4772d ago (Edited 4772d ago )

"It's their damn fault for not fully backing up toshiba in the first place and making the HD-DVD it's main proprietary format."

As always, fanboys saying the dumbest things. Back when the Xbox 360 was released, DVD for games was fine and acceptable to the times. Yes NOW that DVD seems a little on the small side, buts its not a HUGE problem as companies can still ship multi-disk games. Which only seemed to be a problem this gen for people. Never heard any complaints about 4 disk FF games.

@ Pirate Thom

Oh just stop it man. Complaining about multidisk games is like the lamest thing to complain about. Bluray and HD DVD both were not readily available when the 360 came out. Sony knew the MAIN reason for putting a bluray drive in the PS3 was to help win the HD DVD/Bluray battle. Each system has its own strengths (last gen Xbox had WAY more features than PS2 and this gen PS3 seems stronger in the long run) and I believe the next gen is when we can truly start judging what systems need to have in them and if companies are being cheap.

Here is my setup BTW in case people think I'm a fanboy in some way for not siding with ONE system. Cant we just have fun gaming and stop this petty crap? NO? Didnt think so =(

http://i138.photobucket.com...

PirateThom4772d ago (Edited 4772d ago )

That was two gens ago when CD was the only media type readily available, are we really saying the 360 is on par with a console from 2 gens ago?

Anyway, that's irrelevent, there was multidisc DVD games last gen as well, so it's not been some surprise that DVD didn't have the capacity to last.

No, the biggest flaw is that the 360 has both DVD and no standard hard drive. If the 360 had a standard hard drive, the DVD data could have been extracted to the HDD and disc wouldn't have been an issue, like PC games.

And it's easy to say "ship multi disc games", but Microsoft charge higher amounts for additional discs after the first.

DelbertGrady4772d ago

@PirateThom - DVD5 that you are referring to only has half the capacity of DVD9 that the 360 uses.

What many fail to realize is that having big games is not as much a storage issue as it is a development and RAM issue for the current gen. Also making a game the size of Neptune requires a budget the size of Jupiter. Only Rockstar and a few others are capable of taking risks like that.

gamingdroid4772d ago

The biggest cost last generation for the Xbox 360 was the hard drive. They made that mistake once, and ain't doing it again.

Like it or not, we would all like a supercomputer as our console, but not all of us (or the majority) is willing to pay that price. I'm sure MS would put the standard hard drive in there if people are willing to pay, but they aren't!

Consumers are still buying the Wii! Which tells you the vast majority don't care enough.

Godmars2904772d ago (Edited 4772d ago )

The Xbox1 had a HDD, the PS2 had DVD movie playback out of the box. Above anything, it was movie playback which won it for the PS2 in the consumer market. MS realized this too late, then compounded on the error by offering a playback kit when hackers had already shown them how do it without.

The HD-DVD/Blu-ray "war" was just an outright mess. BR had the key feature, memory, but MS was pushing menu and security codecs which the BR camp - mainly Sony - didn't want. MS ran to Toshiba and the HD-DVD camp just before they were about to fold and filled their war chest on the obvious condition they promote their codec. MS having no actual faith in the format, they just wanted to sabotage physical media for DDL. Which is why they ignored it for the 360 to get it out the market all the sooner.

ya-da, ya-da, ya-da...(Though actually I think that's everything.)

Now years later they're trying to make a big deal about an extra GB - which they got in ironic twist by removing ineffectual security code. Likely a version of the very same code they wished to push upon the industry.

Why aren't we tired of this whole argument? Extra disc space, based on the PS1 gen alone, would have been a nice thing to have in the transition from Xbox1/PS2 to HD consoles. MS thought otherwise and its had an effect on the industry. That people are defending/attacking a 1GB difference says as much.

Finger-Eater4772d ago

Dude you have four 360 and two Wiis, why?

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4772d ago
Nathaniel_Drake4772d ago

That would have cost MS the year head start and ultimately doomed MS's gaming division. Cheap and fast is what MS's wanted to do this generation to establish their name mainly. I don't blame them they were getting pounded during the PS2 era.

Persistantthug4772d ago (Edited 4772d ago )

it's the lack of harddrive.

You combo a DVD drive and no hardrive, and that's why XBOX 360 struggles to do HD with it's own exclusives.

Microsoft went backwards with the the harddrive thing.

Christopher4772d ago

1. The 8.5 GB is Japanese GBs, which is 1,000 MBs, not 1,024 MBs.

2. Technically, they will still only hold a true 7.95GB of data, max.

Please understand, Microsoft is not moving away from DVD9, they are just changing how they use the previous 1GB of security data on each disc so that more data can be put on a disc by the developers.

Kushan4771d ago

Misleading article is misleading.

They use a screenshot of Xbox Backup Creator as "proof" of the 8.5Gb limit, yet they left out some painful details -

1) XBC was not designed to rip those "new" format disks (XGD3, for the uninformed), it would need to be updated. It's still expecting a regular DVD.
2) XBC relies on having EITHER a "KREON" drive (modified samsung drive) or a modified Xbox 360 drive to work. The catch? The drives all use Custom firmware to achieve this, no custom firmware has been designed to handle the new format
3) The Xbox Game Disk is NOT a strict DVD. It uses the format, yes, but it's a modified version of it. Modifying it further could definitely unlock more space.
4) Current 360 disks have a maximum space of about 6.8Gb, so even if there was a hard 8.5Gb limit due to the DVD9 spec, it's still an improvement.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 4771d ago
l_P_Freely4772d ago

I don't see why this is such a big deal. It's only 1 to 2 gb difference, not like they can add uncompressed audio and hd textures.

B1663r4772d ago (Edited 4772d ago )

uncompressed audio and textures actually take longer to load than compressed media...

Edit:

I just would like to know if you know what a plethora is?

l_P_Freely4772d ago (Edited 4772d ago )

Killzone, Uncharted, God of War and an abundance of PS3 Exclusives plays fine on my PS3.

"uncompressed audio and textures actually take longer to load than compressed media..."

NO DUH...

Edit: there you happy

l_P_Freely4772d ago

...and the word of the day is "Uncompressed".

Persistantthug4772d ago

That's a good reason why exclusive games struggle to do HD like Alan Wake and Halo: Reach.

Redgehammer4772d ago

@ l_P_Freely
In my opinion, I look at what you can actually store on 1 GB of data, and I get excited. I think of great DLC's and the added fun that was added by a a GB or less, IE: ME2 - Project Overlord - DLC 839.45 MB, Borderlands - Zombie Island - 1013.65 MB, L4D2 - The Sacrifice - 633.26 MB, and the Passing - 284.04 MB, those two combined under a gig. And those are just a few examples of solid, fun DLC's. Hooray! If true , it gives the developers an extra GB to give, we the paying gamer, some fan service. We deserve it. The largest games I have installed are all 6.9 GB. It would be awesome to see 7.9 GBS. Is it a paradigm chnager? Absolutely not, but it still is a good thing.

Chucky20034772d ago

well duhhhhhh,the thing is i can't believe how many idiots believed in this and writing on the other news and started fighting each other,man if stupidity was a killing disease a lot and i mean a lot of the kids on this site wouldn't be here anymore,i can't believe people believe every crap that comes out from someone's ass on the internet

mynd4772d ago (Edited 4772d ago )

Who the @%#! knows whats going on.

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90°

Why Console Wars are Nothing But Marketing Gimmicks

Where are you on the battleground of console wars? Should we care? Do you care?

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indiewatch.net
Knushwood Butt1860d ago

So, writing about console wars is a clickbait gimmick?

Razzer1860d ago (Edited 1860d ago )

"No doubt, if Microsoft or Sony or Nintendo wants to pay me to advocate for their products day in and day out, I promise to never touch a competitor’s product ever again. But most of us are normal people, and most of us should ignore people who have an agenda that is either self-serving, in the interests of some soulless corporation, or both."

So...

Ignore corporate shills!

(Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo.....please make me your corporate shill)

Atom6661858d ago

My theory on gaming "fans" on the internet:

30% are shills.
30% are children.
30% have a legitimate mental health diagnosis.
10% are normal adults with personal likes and dislikes.

The 4th group are nice to find. The third group are easily ignored. The second group are excused. That first group are my reminder that none of these corporations are In this business for some misguided altruistic cause.

ApocalypseShadow1858d ago (Edited 1858d ago )

Straight up: I used to buy all consoles. Even Xbox. Still have the first one. I have nothing against gamers or their game preferences of genres. Just blind support and spending that hurts the console industry I play in that effects me or will effect me. Like paying for online when I knew it was coming for everyone and stated that years ago on N4G during PS3 days. Those multiple comments are back there somewhere.

The war is about supported strategies of a company that may not have your best interests and I'll always rally against it. If that's fanboyism or continuing a console war, I'll keep doing it.

I don't support EA and all their machinations. I've boycotted their games for over a decade. I want competition like NFL 2K. I'm not going to buy Madden just because. And I believe 2k was better at putting things in the game over EA's lies of "its in the game." Why support a company like EA when you know they have ulterior motives?

Microsoft. Why would I support a company that has near a trillion dollars but doesn't make games like Sony does? Why support their ideas of services and fleecing gamers wallets with new schemes? DRM2013 was their attempt to control our gaming habits like Stadia will do which is no trading, lending or owning games. Why support their lies and misleading statements that we all know they're guilty of? Crackdown being their last recent example.

It's not about war. It's about where you want gaming to go. And what companies are doing their best to support gamers and gaming's future while making money. Sony has time and time again, showed they care about games and growing the industry. Not controlling it. With companies trying to destroy traditional gaming with mobile style micro transactions, season passes, loot boxes, etc, and now GaaS and lack of ownership, the war continues. I'm not sorry for who I support when I can clearly see Sony being better at offering options like VR while still making money. And still being friendly. If you're against that, I'm against you. If Sony ever changes, I'll be against them.

yellowgerbil1858d ago

Tell that to the fallen... 3DO, Phillip's, Casio, Atari, Sega. Next up Google and amazon

Orionsangel1858d ago (Edited 1858d ago )

Console wars began because as a kid your parents could only afford to buy you one system. You had a chose to make between two systems. For example NES or SMS. I picked SMS as a kid. Now my main concern was that my system got the best exclusive games and became the most successful. Because if it didn't it would become discontinued and I wouldn't have anymore games to buy for my system. So in school I would defend the SMS and my other friends would defend NES. It became a war of who had the better system. In other words console wars are all about protecting your one investment.

ApocalypseShadow1858d ago

Not exactly for me. When I was younger, we played all the systems and went to each other's houses to play them.

I got a Sega Master System after an NES because Zillion reminded me of Macross/Robotech and Phantasy Star looked cool and different than Nintendo RPGs. And I continued to support Sega because of the nonsense 3rd party policies and strong arming Nintendo tried with NES. I still had an NES and a SNES. But Nintendo lost points for the way they acted and I had no problem of them losing their grip on the industry with Sony releasing PS1.

I didn't get into the which was better. Because games were subjective. I got into which developers and companies did better for gamers and which companies were just into cash grabs. And to avoid them. Basically inform others on being better shoppers because there were games like from LJN that were garbage. The industry didn't need more garbage or a sequel of the video game crash that was filled with garbage. Seen my share on Atari .

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80°

Top 3 Things Xbox Needs to Regain Lost Ground

The biggest complaint most gamers have had with Xbox, also including times before the Xbox One, was its lack of exclusives in comparison to Nintendo and Sony. This is something that has become more and more of a problem over the continued lifespan of the Xbox One.

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geekreply.com
Razzer2546d ago (Edited 2546d ago )

2017 is the year of new IP on Xbox One? Sea of thieves and what else?

Xbox One is cheaper than PS4? Depends on the region, I guess. Still same $299 base price in the US for both.

Either way, the lost ground is just lost. MS would have to do some extreme stuff to top PS4. None of the stuff mentioned in the piece is enough.

Neonridr2546d ago

pretty sure the article talks about regaining lost ground (ie closing the gap), not surpassing the PS4.

Razzer2546d ago (Edited 2546d ago )

Equally daunting task that would require Xbox domination for months and months. As I said, it would require extreme measures and nothing mentioned in the article would suffice.

Neonridr2546d ago

pretty sure more exclusives would definitely help. I mean it wouldn't hurt.

Razzer2546d ago

Yeah...definitely would help.

Kingthrash3602546d ago

No way will it ever catch ps4. It's far too late. Gotta wait until next gen, and if they don't start pumping out new ips the next gen is a loss as well

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 2546d ago
SegaGamer2546d ago

What is the point of articles like this ? i see them everyday on here. Microsoft can't realistically do anything now to gain ground on Sony, it's just not going to happen no matter how much they try. The Playstation brand is just too big, it's been this way since the PS1.

70°

The Power of the Cloud and its Potential Future

When the Xbox One was first announced, Microsoft also provided details of a system which will change the way we all play games; The Cloud. Alas, Gamers are yet to see it at it's full potential.

Yes, the cloud has been around for quite some time now, and we have already seen it implemented in a number of ways. One, in particular has been with us since part-way through the Xbox 360's life-cycle, allowing us to store saves in 'the cloud' and continue where we left off on another Xbox 360 console half way across the globe, providing you had access to the internet of course. After all, that is how you access it.

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xboxoneuk.com
2pacalypsenow2769d ago

3 years and were still waiting for the "Power of the Cloud" to make games run better.

DemonChicken2769d ago

Apparently they have the Scorpio for that reason.

TheCommentator2769d ago

Apparently not. The cloud helps any device that can connect to a proper cloud network. The cloud is simply extra processing that sums with the internal processing of a device, which means that XB1 will benefit just like Scorpio will. In Crackdown 3 MS claims to have 20 XB1's worth of cloud power to render physics, so that's roughly 25tf, but 25tf is only four times greater than that of Scorpio so XB1 actually gets a proportionately greater benefit.

s45gr322769d ago

5 years from now or 3 years (crossing fingers). We gamers might finally see the power of the ☁. In 2020 however we gamers will finally see an Xbox app/PS app on a smart tv set 😄. Ending the need of outdated, outperformed, unnecessary console hardware. They told me that PS Now was not coming to PC, they were wrong.