OK Microsoft. You’re on a roll. The 360S rocks. XBLA is better than ever! And new games like Castlevania: LoS and NBA 2k11 prove you’re not going anywhere this generation despite lacking Blu-ray and HD Audio.
You know what, I’m not missing those things. With the quality of Netflix HD Streams, the ability of Xbox to play any videos on my PC as well as Media Center Extender, maybe you were right about Digital Downloads. The Jury is still out, but clearly, the Xbox continues to do its thing without a hitch. With Brink, Crysis, and Gears 3 coming, and XBL and XBLA setting the online community and Digital Download standards, the path to the next generation is clear. You’ll make it, and most likely still ahead of the PS3.
But, there is one area in which you are lacking, that the PS3 has set the standard for. Storage. By standardizing on industry standard SATA drives, Sony has give freedom to its users to add as much storage as they feel they need, cheaply. While I agree that consoles really don’t need a ton of storage unless you are downloading lots of movies, it’s nice to have the option. The 4G Xbox is a great option for those on a tight budget. To be honest, no one “really” needs 250GB on their console. Anyone with that much music and videos are probably stealing it anyway. However, without Blu-ray, a game such as Castlevania requires disk swapping. Yeah, it’s no big deal to swap it, people aren’t that lazy. What it is, is an unnecessary @#!^#$ nuisance.
I have a 4G Xbox with 2 8G microSD cards the size of a dime. Very cool. They meet Xbox performance specs and I prefer them to a hard disk any day. The problem is, you have limited the number of USB storage devices to 2 16G devices. Yet, the 360S model has 5 USB ports. While I understand the 16GB size limit, beyond 16G USB Flash Drives and SD Cards can’t meet performance requirements at reasonable prices. Two 16G SD Cards that meet performance specs will cost about $100; Might as well get the Hard Disk.
However, 8G SD and Flash Drives are cheap and most, even bargain brands, can meet the performance requirements and that size. So why limit it to 2 devices? Clearly, this is an attempt to encourage purchase of the over-priced add-on hard disk. At an average cost of $127, the official Xbox 250GB Hard Drive is a ripoff. PS3 users can add a 500GB 7200RPM drive for and average cost of $75. You cannot justify this. It simply cannot be done and is like a dark cloud lingering over all of the good things you’re doing with the Xbox.
No, 500GB isn’t needed. But since more games will benefit from being installed of Hard Disk for Flash Memory storage, 32-64GB of cheap flash storage would be quite nice and maybe necessary on the Xbox. And all you have to do to enable it, is to remove the 2 device limit on the Xbox. You can’t be making that much from the Hard Drive sales. And if someone wasn’t going to pay the extra $100 to get the HD model, they’re probably not going to do it after. They’re just going to realize what a ripoff the HD is.
Xbox users have been good to you. Look at the success of Live! Yes, yes, it delivers plenty of services for the $3 a month, but still, we pay when there are free alternatives. They may not have all the services, glitz and glamour, but free is free. Yet Xbox users have made Xbox Live! a great business for you. So give something back.
Do the right thang! Give up the storage. Allow unlimited USB Storage Devices on Xbox NOW. What do you care? Users will buy their own USB Storage, and you can sell more 4G Xboxes which are cheaper to manufacture.
Anyway, I have Castlevania: LoS on two SD Cards the size of dimes and couldn’t be happier, but now I need to add a third storage device, and I have one. But you won’t let me use it. And despite all the good things, all I’m thinking is A$$holes.
FREE XBOX STORAGE LIMITS or Allow Standard Hard Drives. Do it!
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uhh, apparently you dont know the company you are talking to
how much for live a year
how much for wifi
how much for a play-n-charge
how much for a hard drive
They will never give up their business model. it works for dumb consumers
One of my biggest problems with Microsoft's storage options is that you can't take your own video files and play them on the 360. Microsoft always claims to give gamers options, but they really only give gamers THEIR options.