Microsoft's NXE storage solution: Free 512MB memory card or $20 for 20GB HDD

by Ross Miller { Oct 13th 2008 at 10:16PM }

Since the New Xbox Experience requires 128MB of free space, Microsoft is offering a storage solution for those who may lack the proper storage with either (a) a free 512MB memory unit or (b) a 20GB hard drive for $19.99. If you purchased an Xbox 360 console with no memory solution (i.e. no hard drive or memory unit), you can enter both the 12-digit serial number and the 12-digit Console ID here to see if you're eligible for the offer. We're not sure if there might be an issue with replaced Xbox 360s and proper serial numbers; if you're one of the eligible few, let us know your experiences in the comments below.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Tags: breakingnews, new-xbox-experience, nxe

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Brymo @ Oct 13th 2008 10:21PM

I would like a cheap offer for the 120GB now, please.

anonim1979 @ Oct 13th 2008 11:24PM

I would like cheap ink for my cheap printer.

I would like cheap blades for my cheap razor

I would like cheap original parts for my cheap car.

I would like cheap peripherials for my cheap console.

etc.

Vidikron @ Oct 13th 2008 11:29PM

By "cheap" he means "not absurdly marked up".

anonim1979 @ Oct 13th 2008 11:36PM

I know what he meant.
It's not happening in this kind of bussines.

Also high price 120GB HDD is practicaly only thing differenting Arcade/Pro from Elite.
If you would drop price of 120HDD people would buy Arcade+120HDD for cheaper than Elite - and it is only model that makes money for MS up front.

The price of 120GB HDD WILL drop down ONLY when price of Elite will close to Arcade.

Vidikron @ Oct 13th 2008 11:43PM

I know. It just sucks for those people that want to upgrade. They are forced to buy an overpriced hard drive just so MS can keep a buffer between the Elite and Arcade.

Odog4ever @ Oct 14th 2008 12:22AM

@ Vidikron

I was just think the same thing about getting screwed on upgrading to a bigger HD just so Microsoft can justify the elite sku. What they need to do is throw the wireless adapter in with the elite and lower the cost of the stand alone 120GB drive down to $100
Heck I would even settle for a $100 bundle with a 60GB drive,6 months of Xbox Live Gold and 1200 MS points, or something to that affect.

Si @ Oct 14th 2008 3:22AM

When they giving out the free Blu-ray drives?

As I understand this, the ONLY people that can get this offer, are those with original Core units, not Arcade, as it's got sufficient space on the memory card (expect you won't be able to save any games).

Anyone else get the impression Microsoft are making this up as they go along?

j.howlett @ Oct 14th 2008 4:42AM

isn't it already cheaper to get arcade + 120gig HDD

bobbygbear @ Oct 14th 2008 5:46AM

all i have to say is: just another instance where i'm delightedly surprised at how MS is standing up for it's xbox customers. extending warranties, improving content, constant upgrades to box firmware with increasingly valuable features; i'm just pleased as punch, and, to be honest, as a linux dude i'm downright shocked

kaneda26 @ Oct 14th 2008 9:54AM

@bobbygbear

I preface this by saying that I play my XBox more than my PS3, so I do not speak out of fanboyism. While MS does a stronger online service that PSN has yet to match, as a Linux guy myself, I hold the opinion that the PS3 is the better of the two products, in terms of hardware options. The PS3 always included a hard drive, HDMI, optical out.

While I must admit MS has turned the RRoD fiasco into an oppertunity to show strong customer support, the PS3 would never have to resort to giving out free mem cards or upgrade discounts. The lowest lowest level sku had sufficient space, and even if it didn't, you could add any standard 2.5" sata drive withing the terms of the warranty or you could use any USB drive for storage. I fault MS for cutting the hard drive as a standard option in order to cut costs. Currently, anyone who buys the cheapest 360 is only losing the value of the hard drive, ethernet cable, headset, and HD cable. The hard drive is the only part to justify the $100 difference. As developers make more games for 360 that require the hard drive and with this new requirement for using XNE, is there really any good reason to save the $100 if you want to play these games and use these features?

SecretAgentHam @ Oct 13th 2008 10:21PM

my serial would tell them i have an elite... i guess theres no luck in getting a free 512mb card eh? might be worth a try though.

Cody @ Oct 13th 2008 11:26PM

Not unless you have a friend who has a core console. Then you could "borrow" his or her console id and serial number. :)

Clinton RRoD sept.3 @ Oct 13th 2008 11:59PM

im gonna try

Sub Zero @ Oct 16th 2008 1:56PM

Bought an Arcade as (RRoD) replacement. I'm eligible to "upgrade to a refurbished 20 gig HDD + (bonus) 3 months Xbox Live" for $29.99.

That, is the full report.

Hafk @ Oct 13th 2008 10:21PM

Kudos to Microsoft on this one. They did the right thing. I am suprised.

Tiptup300 @ Oct 13th 2008 10:57PM

I would personally be 100000x more impressed if they made the 20gb required then gave everyone who doesn't have one free.

Although they are a company. I'm sure the xbox 1080 won't have the whole hD problem.

joeybeast @ Oct 13th 2008 10:59PM

Now, where the hell did they find all the refurbed 20 gig HDD from?

David @ Oct 14th 2008 12:32AM

Looks like those RRoD 360's are actually worth something now! :D

I kid, I kid.

BIGGEN (LIVE-PSN: BIGGEN1103) @ Oct 14th 2008 7:16AM

you all do know you keep your HDD when you send the 360 in right?

kaneda26 @ Oct 14th 2008 10:14AM

the right thing would have been to make the hard disk drive a standard option. it is more in line with their xbox live service of downloads and multiplayer games that require drives.

Sesur @ Oct 13th 2008 10:21PM

Now that is not a bad solution at all. If only Nintendo could work out a real solution like this.

Foetoid @ Oct 13th 2008 10:39PM

Like downloading games to and playing directly from an SD card?

Oh wait....

TFoK (Naked Peach Defense Force) @ Oct 13th 2008 10:55PM

Hey, uh, Foetoid, I remember bringing this up in that Monster Hunter comment thread (I think) where you called us morons for 'not doing our research' and claiming that the storage solution sucked...

http://wii.ign.com/articles/916/916979p1.html

That, and another interview with GoNintendo, pretty much confirmed that you don't play directly from SD cards with this 'storage solution' - rather, you'll be able to download games straight to the SD card and pull them to the Wii's memory faster.

GG

iofthestorm @ Oct 13th 2008 11:11PM

Yeah, I love Nintendo's first party games but damn if they don't know how to write good software for their consoles. Homebrewers have had USB mass storage support for ages, so it's not a technical problem, and they could probably just employ one of the coders who did it if they really wanted to. They make great games and seem to be more willing to take risks this generation, but bah.

TFoK (Naked Peach Defense Force) @ Oct 13th 2008 11:23PM

Sorry 'bout the negative inflection, turns out it wasn't you who called us morons and that you're actually quite civil.

Monkey Thing?!!? @ Oct 14th 2008 8:45AM

It's not about software problems, its fear of piracy, quite simply. Nintendo thought they lost $1.3 Billion in GameCube piracy (as Sheppy so perfectly called it, "that thing that could not be done,") and they want to avert that as much as possible, which means no easy solutions. No direct playing, no external storage

I, however, don't think that what Iwata described is as bad as the pessimists think, i think what he described is the Guitar Hero IV solution, invisible background loading of SD games into a System Memory buffer

But i doubt we'll know until the solution rolls around somewhere.

brother.rope @ Oct 13th 2008 10:31PM

My dad has an Arcade, so I am going to use that to get a free 512MB memory card! XD

SoulBlade @ Oct 13th 2008 10:23PM

I wonder if this now means devs can assume storage on all 360 models - wow MS just bumped up their lowest common denominator.

Nicely done

Chin-Poh @ Oct 13th 2008 10:24PM

You'll all laugh but I've been using my Arcade the entire time with its puny 256meg memory card. I couldn't afford anything more after my PS3 disaster.

Getting a 20gb HDD for $20 is great. Which means that Microsoft really has been assraping us on the prices for them the whole fucking time. Now I can finally get demos!!!!!!

How about making this price cut for ALL 20gb hard drives you guys?

SuperGayParade @ Oct 13th 2008 11:06PM

Yeah, $20 for 20gb is a really great deal.

Well actually, considering I paid $90 for a 320gb drive for my PS3...

Or a 120gb drive for $50.

Chin-Poh @ Oct 13th 2008 11:13PM

Well, getting a 360 HDD for $20 is great. : )

I would love to be able to use any hard drive in a 360 instead of the overpriced proprietary ones. Same with not buying their charger but using any mini USB cable like the PS3's controllers.

Zeus.:God @ Oct 13th 2008 11:29PM

Wait- what happened with your PS3?

Chin-Poh @ Oct 13th 2008 11:31PM

Trust me, if I talk about what happened with my PS3 one more time, many people will jump on me and stab me in the neck, they've gotten really sick and tired of me saying it even though its been quite a while since I have. : )

Vidikron @ Oct 13th 2008 11:32PM

His BR drive died or something. Seriously though, don't get him started on it. He mentioned it for weeks and, as you can see, still does.

Vidikron @ Oct 13th 2008 11:33PM

LOL...

Chin-Poh @ Oct 13th 2008 11:33PM

Oh 60gb PS3, how I still miss thee. : (

Chin-Poh @ Oct 13th 2008 11:34PM

Oh 60gb PS3, how I miss thee. Why must GTA4 have killed your precious Blu-Ray drive after only two weeks of usage? And now you are long gone and shall never return. :(

Vidikron @ Oct 13th 2008 11:37PM

See what you've done, Zeus.

SuperGayParade @ Oct 13th 2008 11:46PM

Aw Chin-Pooh, you responded incredibly nicely. It's true, I don't think it's right for a company to charge for things like that.

I hope one day Msoft can loosen their vice-like grip, and also that you'll let the PS3 back into your heart.

Chin-Poh @ Oct 13th 2008 11:59PM

LOL Vidikron! XD

Vcize @ Oct 14th 2008 12:02AM

"Well actually, considering I paid $90 for a 320gb drive for my PS3..."

Yeah, that will fit great on your $199 PS3.

Zeus.:God @ Oct 14th 2008 1:27AM

That sucks, NinjaKamster- I heard about that, but I had no clue it was true.

That's just shitty, though. Did they refuse to fix it or something?

Chin-Poh @ Oct 14th 2008 1:42AM

I bought my 60gb PS3 refurbished from Gamestop. Reason being because I never heard of PS3s massively breaking, they have great build quality and it was the only place in my area to get a 60gb for a not exorbitant price. I wanted the 60gb model specifically.

I bought GTA4 after it came out and it broke my PS3 two weeks later. Google "GTA4 broke my PS3" and you'll see LOTS of people with my story, this game, MGS4 and some others somehow damage the Blu-Ray drive on it. But it still read my PS1/PS2 games because the CD/DVD drive is separate from the Blu-Ray drive.

Sony refused to fix it because it was refurb from Gamestop. I googled and found out lots of people had and are having problems with the PS3 now, especially its drive crapping out, whereas ironically, the 360's build quality problems are gone now, no more RROD issue.

So I was fed up and just sold it at a loss and very sadly got a 360, when I've owned the PS1/PS2 and am a bit of a Playstation fanboy. And now, the 60gb model is long discontinued, as is the first 80gb model, so the new models are gimped vs the 60gb one. I'm sure they've fixed the drive issue but lack the functionality of the launch units.

Sony is also charging people $150 to fix the PS3 if its outside the 1 year warranty, its not fair because this is their build quality issue, there needs to be a big recall and them fixing it for free and refunding those that already paid for it.

Sorry for my very long post. I put up with all the bad PR and delayed games, lost exclusives on the PS3 but its build quality has pissed me off.

Maybe I shouldn't have bought it refurbished, but I never heard of PS3's breaking on a big scale before mid 2008 so I thought they were rock solid vs the 360, but now its the opposite. : (

Vidikron @ Oct 14th 2008 2:40AM

Gaaaaahhh!

Anthony S @ Oct 14th 2008 12:39PM

This happened to my brother and about 6 of his clan members as well. I thought it was an isolated incident because they all live in Tyler, Texas so I just assumed they got a bad batch. Sony gave him the same send 150.00 for repair spill and he did it. If I recall correctly he also had to pay to ship it there. I guess it wasn't a bad batch after all. I don't know if he will be happy to hear that or not.

I have had two 360's crap out on me, but I haven't paid a dime if you exclude time lost playing, but I guess they made up for it by giving me two 30 day gold cards even though both collectively were gone less than 25 days.

SimbaDogg @ Oct 13th 2008 10:24PM

so i'm guessing this is one step closer to the demise of the arcade in the future?

Chin-Poh @ Oct 13th 2008 10:26PM

If their going to now sell these 20gb HDDs for $20, they should discontinue the Arcade or bundle all future models with it.

PeterF @ Oct 13th 2008 10:27PM

I say just get rid of it and drop the other two more!

SimbaDogg @ Oct 13th 2008 10:47PM

@ Peter
i'm w/ you 100%. I'm by no means a 360 fan, i am and always will be a playstation fan. but one think i can say is, i hope that down the line MS ditches the arcade all together and implements a minimum 20 GB hd for the arcades (Whether it be for the 20 bucks or free down the road). two reasons 1) space is always good 2) it will def help developers in making games if they can rely on a lil HD space. better games for everyone is always good.

miyagi @ Oct 13th 2008 10:26PM

@JOYSTIQ

These are the options the program offers

CORE Unit Serials will receive these options:

A) Free 512 Memory Card

or

B) Xbox 360 20GB HD for $19.99

ARCADE Units will receive these options:

A) Xbox 360 20GB HD + 3 months XBL Gold for $29.99

The reason is that ARCADE units come with a 256mb card which is sufficient for the NXE and doesn't qualify for the free memory card.