CES: Seagate meeting affirms Xbox 360 HDD limitations
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Jan 5th 2006 at 4:00PM }
Seagate, the makers of the Xbox 360 HDD, were on display at Digital Experience last night. It was clear that the
Seagate rep was impressed with Microsoft's next-gen console, but also felt that the relatively small and sluggish hard
drive that his company manufactures for the console is junk. Yes, the 360 HDD reflects the desire for cost efficiency,
but it's also evidence that the next-gen is caught in limbo between traditional console gaming and the online model
that Microsoft is slowly pushing.Seagate was surprised that Microsoft didn't enlist them to build a HDD capable of housing full versions of next-gen titles. For now, the Xbox 360 is ill-equipped to support a move towards downloading games instead of picking up a hard copies. Surely cuts in manufacturing costs would pay for beefed-up hard drives and better download speeds. But as it stands, the system is a very slow platform for importing game demos and movie trailers--and with just 13 GB of free space on HDD out of the box, it's essentially a download-and-delete process. Will consoles ever lose the "cartridge" concept?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
SK @ Jan 5th 2006 4:15PM
I've gone through 2 HDD that have yet to work (both from Best Buy). I settled on a Memory Unit but with all the cool demos coming out I may have to bite the bullet again and go for a 3rd try.
Evil Inside @ Jan 5th 2006 5:03PM
So are bigger hard drives planned for the future?
I can see Microsoft not wanting people to be able to copy titles to the HDD for piracy reasons, but what about HD movies?
Ian @ Jan 5th 2006 5:06PM
13 gigs is still more then the original xbox and at least you can upgrade later
Scotius @ Jan 5th 2006 5:47PM
I understand you can attached your own external hard drive to the system, provided it's fat32. That would be preferable, wouldn't it? Why bother with the small stuff?
As well, why do we really need more space? If you intend to make the 360 a media center...you're going to need a media-center pc to get the most out of the system. And at that point, all files are on your pc and streamed to the 360. Again, no need for space.
It IS slightly irritating, in theory, that I can't have 30 non-arcade demos on my 360 at one time...but why do you need that many? The 360 isn't game-heavy yet, nor will it be any time son. I suspect this COULD be a problem in a year or so, but it's doubtful, right?
The UI doesn't really handle large amounts of files very well, anyway (big, irritating lists). The only use I could see for a big hard-drive is music at this point, and again...you can use external hard drives for that. Only reason I have any hard drive at all is for backwards compatibility.
yada yada.
Superzapper2000 @ Jan 5th 2006 7:55PM
Why would Seagate even give such a comment on the Hard Drive ?.Isn't that like kicking yourself in the nuts .The Xbox 360 should just have been a darn game console that plays online instead of a media BS thing that doesn't do anything well.All the Media garbage is for over 40 geeks with too much money and flashy Tv's and stereo systems ,What a bunch of nerds.I hope Sony gets the PS3 right and leaves all that stuff alone. Microsoft are such wankers and the over paid geeks who buy into that crap deserve everything they get and that includes crappy hard drives that need to be upgraded .
SuperDooper @ Jan 5th 2006 10:11PM
So wait, the guy tending to the Seagate booth at CES said...
How is this news? Am I the only one that wouldn't be surprised if this guy weren't in the booth tomorrow or if the next round of 360 hard drives come from western digital?
MV @ Jan 5th 2006 10:40PM
Interesting. The hard drive inside the Xbox 360 that Anandtech disassembled was Samsung, not Seagate. It's also SATA which I really wouldn't consider "junk".
http://www.anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=2610&p=5
Is there a source article or is this story just based on hearsay?
e @ Jan 6th 2006 7:27AM
In response to the guy whinging about the 360 aimed at over 40's with their flashy TV's etc.... Go get a job and stop bitching about those who have the choice to indulge in something they enjoy. It is the gamers like you who are possibly holding this system back when you think about it, because MS can't just go over the top with all the best stuff otherwise you idiots will be complaining it's way out of your price-range and they won't sell any. They are trying to reach a wider audience so give it a rest with the complaining.
In regards to the guy linking the anandtech site. The report doesn't state that it was using a Seagate HDD, just that he thought it wasn't good enough in his opinion.
Superzapper2000 @ Jan 6th 2006 5:23PM
Bite me.Because i have a job and i'm so rich i can sit in my office and screw around on here because it my company.So don't even pretend you have a lot of money assmunch.
Dylan @ Jan 6th 2006 6:26PM
#8. I think post#5 must have hit a nerve with you and you are actually a sad loser over 40 with no life and too much money to spend on yourself because there are no other people in your life.Enjoy making rich people richer and if buying gadgets fills the holes in your life then you need help.
Anonymous rep @ Jan 6th 2006 8:31PM
Regarding the HD only having 13GB of free space -
Didn't we go through this once before? There are certain required elements that are on the HD, and then there are other things that you can just delete with impunity, depending on your need.
And as for space - unless you're trying to hack and store a full game on the HD, 13GB or 15GB is plenty of room for game saves. (Although I will admit that the dev kits did have 60GB HD's on them, but that was for debug purposes.)
0time @ Jan 7th 2006 9:24AM
To be honest, xbox 360 is today the best console. It's obvious that anything in this world is far from perfect. But I think consoles are made for playing games, and If they have any other functionallity, that's a wellcome extra. So if 20 gb drive space is not good enough, don't get an xbox 360. I got 6 arcade games, 8 demos, 5 trailers... what's the point of storing all that more than the time you spend using it?, would you really get a 60 gb hard drive just for storing demos or mp3s?... In case Microsoft decides to distribute games online, then it will be worth to have a bigger hdd, and you'll probably get cheaper games due to absence of distribution costs. So in my opinion, xbox 360 it's a well design game system, and its cheaper in terms of power vs PC. If you don't live online gaming, or console optimized titles, then stick to a PC. If you want to wait until 2007 for the new ps3 to come out, you are free to do that. Personally I love online gaming, I love to download demos, and xbox live arcade its just excellent service. (no I don't work for microsoft).
Kendal @ Jan 9th 2006 8:12AM
#12, your comment is flawed. The xbox360 won't be the 'best' console until it fulfills what makes a console the best in the first place!
i.e. GAMES - needs top games to make it the best console; NO BUGS- if the system crashes a lot, and the discs get scratched easy, and all kinds of other crappy things, it negates this 'best' title you esteem it to be.
Telling people not to buy a 360 because 20gb isn't enough for them is stupid. Just because it may satisfy you, doesn't mean the majority will follow the same logic and figure it's enough for them. Don't tell them what they need. If they need more than 20gb (and let's face it, a lot of the gamers want to fit a decent amount of games on their system, should the feature be possible- we're talking games, moreso than casual gamers...).
If it were well-designed, it wouldn't be buggy. Nor would it restrict the user to 2000-styled generation technology (20gb? Come off it!)...
Thain @ Jan 12th 2006 12:33PM
Meh. As I see it, Microsoft is still in the experimentation phase, and it wont be until the next XBox (or at least the next big 360 upgrade) that their full business plan is realized.
Live Aracde and the availability of game demos are creating a fully-functional, DRM-enabled gaming environment, but only the stupidest of companies would go all-out without testing the idea first. As long as customer satisfaction is high with completely digital content, Microsoft has the option to eventually release a larger HDD to allow for more than just mini-games, demos, and old arcade ports. If customer interest is high at first, but then bottoms out, Microsoft hasnt wasted millions on a larger HDD for the system.
And for #8, Its the over-40 desperate loser demographic that is ruining gaming. Lonely morons who dont know the first thing about taking care of delicate equipment, and instead expect everything to work perfectly out of the box and call tech support at the first hint that the computer is acting like a computer, instead of some magical game box.
Im sorry, but I dont see putting in higher-priced parts and charging more for the system as reaching a wider demographic. The main demographic that reaches are morons with more money than brains. Even $400 is pushing the acceptable price point for a console. Ultimately, this is a product for general consumers, not people who have no reservations about blowing $20,000 in one go for their media room. If the price isnt affordable, the demographic will be missed entirely. Honestly, thats a part of good business sense that I would assume someone with a job that allows him to indulge in something [he] enjoy[s] would understand.
Bobby @ Feb 2nd 2006 9:22AM
I have tried to attach a hard disk drive (external) to my xbox 360 and can not get it to be recognized. I have a wd160 with 2 75G Fat32 Partitions in a Venus case (I think). Can't get the thing to recognize the drive for anything. If you have gotten it to work more power to you and how bout some advice. But I have yet to see it work.