| Mail |
You might also like: WoW Insider, Massively, and more

Reader Comments (58)

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 3:34PM copa said

  • 3 hearts
  • Report
Joystiq, you did a very nice job a few years ago of nailing Peter Moore's ass to the wall over RROD failures.

I hope you were equally merciless in your Aaron Greenberg interview over Microsoft's peripheral strategy.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 6:12PM VSpeck said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
It's a wish of mine that all the sites will get together and start reaming MS over these hard drive prices. Just a wish.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 3:34PM KAL326 said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
For the slight difference in the pricing of the physical drives, why not? Its not like they have to do extensive R&D to validate a new product, they are already using the damn things in exclusive bundles. Your current product offerings are no HDD, 120GB HDD, or limited 250GB bundles for systems. Hows about we bring back the old days of the largest available storage device is available as a separate purchase and make everybody happy?
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 3:54PM PlatinumSkeet said

  • Half a heart
  • Report
If I remember correctly the original Xbox had a 8-10gb HDD. That's farcry from the 120-250gb drives we're getting today. To be quite honest unless your buying movies or a crapload of games how are you going to fill up a 120gb drive?

Xbox 360 can't copy music/movies to the HDD from your computer like the PS3 so there's no cheap way to really fill up that space. Even with me ripping all my games and having all my DLC/Demos/XBLA Games stored on my Xbox 360 I still have well over 70gb from my 120 gb. My PS3 I only have 10 gb left from 320 gb so in reality, 120gb is more than enough for most gamers. A 250 gb is way more than enough unless your buying all your media from the Zune marketplace. Something that little to nobody does on Xbox Live especially when they can stream from their PC...
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:08PM Mmmmz said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
If it's enough for gamers, why then, do so many complain? Sure, people these days have a propensity for complaining, but there's always something behind it. For such a simple thing, you'd think Microsoft would just offer it so it would help people keep quiet.

Though, isn't the 360 hard drive just a space and game installation issue? Can't you use an external for media, or is it severely gimped that way?
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:15PM CaramelZappa said

  • 3 hearts
  • Report
" To be quite honest unless your buying movies or a crapload of games how are you going to fill up a 120gb drive?"

Lets say the average game install takes up 6gb. That means you could only install 20 games on a 120gb HDD. DLC and updates are getting more and more ridiculous. Gears 2 has almost a gig of space taken up by DLC.

I think it's pretty easy to fill up 120gb with nothing but games.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:16PM Dr Blight said

  • 2.5 hearts
  • Report
@Skeet

42GB out of 120. That's with less than half my games ripped. There's ALWAYS a market.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:30PM seishino said

  • 3 hearts
  • Report
It's pretty easy to fill 120GB on the 360. The 360 will cache games to the HDD if you ask it, which speeds up loading and reduces that annoying DVD spinning noise. It also reduces failures. That can be 10GB per game. Add in 2 - 4 GB demos, and 120 can go pretty quickly.

The bigger issue, I think, is that I can walk down to the electronics store on the corner and buy a 1 TERRABYTE drive for 100 bucks. Even just counting the laptop drives like the 360 uses, a 500 GB drive can be had at 80 bucks. The "special" 120 GB drive for 100 dollars, or the "special special" 250 GB drive only available in bundles, really looks like the shortbus kid at a Mensa meeting. It's sort of like a Hyper Special Deluxe Massive Power edition Wii that does 720i. Or charging an extra 2,000 dollars for a car because it has 75 horsepower instead of 50. The 250 GB Xbox 360 really is the tallest midget in class, and it commands a premium because it is the least embarrassingly small of the pack.

But it's still embarrassingly small.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:35PM PlatinumSkeet said

  • Half a heart
  • Report
@Dr. Blight
@CaramelZappa

If it's such a huge deal then whoever;s complaining can just go on Ebay and buy a 250 gb off there.

And before you get into the "oh Microsoft can ban the fake HDD's" no they can't. It's impossible for them to do because they're copied exactly the same bit for bit as the 250 gb's they're trying to restrict. Since there's no attached codes to the drives MS can't do anything about taking them away...
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:41PM CaramelZappa said

  • 3 hearts
  • Report
It's not that big of a deal, I'm just starting to buy my games on PS3. MS needs to put they're prices in line with reality if they want to stay competetive. I'm not relying on some shady ebay guy to stick with my platform of choice, I'll just move on.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:56PM Fhaze said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
@Platinum_Skeet

That is how they "could" ban them. You have thousands of gamers with the exact same hard drive serial number. It is a simple call to query the serial number of any device, (processor, cd-rom serial number etc.) They have not banned anyone, but to say the can't is wrong.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 6:12PM Ballistic H said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
My 120GB has 74GB filled. I don't have any video or XBLA game at all. Barely some DLCs and only 3 disc-copy games installed. I'm glad I sold the 60GB HDD that came with it on eBay.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 3:37PM N1Anon said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
Exactly, that's what I use my Xbox for, Facebook and Twitter. In fact that's the only reason I bought it. Besides who needs space for demos and DLC. Nobody actually plays games on their Xbox.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 3:39PM NaeemTHM said

  • 3 hearts
  • Report
The real question is would we WANT a 250GB 360 HD sold separately? I mean it would probably cost around 200 bucks...that's just insane!

Anyway, Greenberg is kinda right. My 360 HD is mostly filled with demos and DLC and the 120 is fine for that. The PS3 on the other hand is more or less my media hub and I NEED the 250 for all the movies and TV shows I watch.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 3:41PM waynski1457 said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
As any paranoid gamer who has had their system fail would tell you, game installs take up a lot of space. It would be really nice to be able to get my hands on one of these, if only for that purpose.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 3:42PM 3c4ea5de said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
Make your own Xbox 360 250 GB hard drive thats what I did. I can still play xbox 1 games and I have a faster hard drive than the one Microsoft currently uses.

I bought a 250GB hard drive of of amazon and use a sata cable on my pc to transfer clone my 20GB hard drive to my new 250GB hard drive that i made. It's really simple.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 3:45PM GoldandFinal said

  • 2.5 hearts
  • Report
Didn't Microsoft recently discount their 120 gig HDDs among the remaining ones in circulation? That pretty much means they'll stop making them soon. It would only make sense for them to sell the 250 gig HDD by itself.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 3:50PM Spike Spiegel Humble Bounty Hun said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
Between DLC, Arcade games, and Rockband songs/export, I am running out of room on my 20 GB HDD. I just can't pay the price for a 120 GB HDD. The thing has been out for ages, along with the wireless adapter, and it's just too expensive. $150 for 120 GB? $100 for wireless? It's nearing $100 more than an arcade unit. I'd gladly pay the fair price and they are holding sales back with gouging such hardware upgrades.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:02PM TheOtherJames said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
Come on, Microsoft. Not selling a 250 GB drive is like saying, "No thanks, I don't want free money."
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 3:57PM h0mi said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
I don't get this. Today I can't find 120gb drives in stores. I can find 60gb drives in stores though. Admittedly I have about 50gb of storage left on my 120 so I'm in good shape but that's room for maybe 10 on demand titles. Are all zune videos streamed? I thought some were full downloads you can keep?
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 3:59PM Snarf said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
The problem is, if they release the 250 gig drive as a standalone drive they have to price it at a) $200ish, almost the cost of a new X-Box or b) below that, and way too close the 120 gig drive, meaning they would have to reprice the 120 gig drive and lose out on the outrageous profits they are making on that. Releasing the 250 gig drive isn't about production or need, it's about the money they are making hand over fist on the cheaper to produce 120 gig drive.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:02PM Spike Spiegel Humble Bounty Hun said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
What's wrong with dropping the price on a HDD that's been out for almost 3 years? If you ask me they would make more profits by allowing people who can't afford such high upgrade costs because people would rush out the door to get them, rather than them sitting on the shelves for ages.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:05PM Snarf said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
Makes plenty of sense to me, but I'll bet the guys working the numbers at MS have found that more than enough people have sucked it up and bought a 120 gig drive that there is no need to drop the price. Personally, I'm still rocking my 20gig mini-drive because I can't bring myself to pay a dollar a gig for anytype of storage anymore. It's 2010, not 1995.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 3:59PM Haon said

  • 3 hearts
  • Report
Bullshit.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:09PM Sweet Dude said

  • 3 hearts
  • Report
**** you, Aaron Greenberg.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 5:49PM daytripper said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
Sent from your nexus one?
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:10PM Matrixxxx said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
Today I picked up a used 60GB HDD for my 360. 69.99 minus the lousy 10 dollars they gave me for my 20GB that I traded in. If you buy the downloadable 360 full games having a large drive is nice for sure. I wasn't about to buy a 120 for what they are charging for the damn thing.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:13PM Dr Blight said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
That sucks. I paid 70 for my 60GB, traded in my 20 for 45.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:11PM Clatu6 said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
Really? Then where are the 120s?
My local Best Buy has been out of stock of those drives for well over a month. They have even removed the spot on the shelves where the price sticker was.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:11PM Dr Blight said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
Silly Greenberg.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:12PM (Unverified) said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
Anyone who uses their Xbox on the regular knows it sounds like a Jet Aircraft when the disc is spinning, making game installs incredibly necessary. Claiming there is no reason to fill up 120gb is crap. Man, my Fallout 3 + Expansions installation must be approaching 10GB alone. Jesus.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:14PM Dr Blight said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
The newest ones with Lite-On drives are rather quiet, but it's also a wear issue.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:18PM SitriStahl said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
with RB2 installed, along with my DLC, mine is exceeding 10GB, and that's just rock band, i still have borderlands installed, brutal legend, halo CE, all of my halo 3 stuff, and a bunch of arcade games
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:14PM strommsarnac said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
I have bought an Elite a few months after it was release (RRoD'd and replaced, but I have the original 120GB HDD). I typically run under 20GB free. I like loading my games to the HDD. I only game on it. No music or movies.

I suspect that MS is waiting for the 3-year RRoD warranty to pass. At that point, they know that people will start buying 250GB systems. So they have no reason to cut pricing on individual HDDs. Not to menton, breaking contracts for supply of ancient drives.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:15PM Dafrety said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
Why would anyone want to buy an HDD from Microsoft anyway? They charge an insane amount of money for them. You're better off just making do with whatever you have, or you can simply put together your own/buy a knockoff for much, much less.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:16PM Nicknin10do said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
I put this up last time, so sorry if you've seen it before.
But, Dealextreme has the 250 HDD's for about 70 bucks online.
Be it a risk, as I haven't bought one yet, but you really can't complain for that price.
But I'm not pushing anything, just letting people know .
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:17PM CaramelZappa said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
We all know they're gonna release the 250gb. They're phasing out the 120gb, they're going to have to replace them with something. They're just denying it until it's released to try and help sales of the 120gb so they can get rid of their excess stock faster.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:21PM JinZX1 said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
bagh. If only they understood how bad I need that storage. Upgradeable storage is the only thing holding me back from buying an XBOX360 at this point and I'm hoping I can get one in time for Alan Wake.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:29PM charleytony said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
this is just the standard Microsoft response. They don't want to get stcuk with 60GB and 120GB HDD on the shelves. 120GB HDDs are on clearance right now to make "room" for the 250GB that will be available soon (holiday 2010).
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:31PM Istari Spartan said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
It would make sense for them to bring it out by itself.
Also, it would make even more sense for these harddrives to
work with the next xbox console.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:43PM HighFiveJesus said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
exec: HAHAHAHA

oh he was serious. Alright, we need to release a 250 gig hard drive for 150 dollars.

other exec: brilliant, simply brilliant
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:45PM Dafrety said

  • 3 hearts
  • Report
Or for the next Xbox they could go the consumer friendly route and allow you to use any off the shelf HDD of a standard physical size and connector. Pftht! Who am I kidding?
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:34PM evolgenius said

  • 2.5 hearts
  • Report
So it makes sense to release the 250GB HDD in a country where 360 sales are a complete joke, but not in America? Surely MS knows better than that. Unbelievable.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 4:45PM Jayeffaar said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
As usual, it's important to note the difference between "we have no plan to..." and "we plan not to...". All he's saying is that they haven't announced a plan to sell the drives, which they obviously will do, sooner or later.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 5:00PM KazamaSogetsu said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
Meanwhile, if you have a PS3, you swap your drive and go home. I don't feel a champ having a 360 - and being legit, which keeps me from using an alternative HDD.

It's pretty sad that all that keeps the 360 from getting an empty HDD case with a SATA interface is to minimize potential exploits.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 5:02PM bioadam said

  • 3 hearts
  • Report
What Greenberg doesn't get, and maybe not getting this is just the Microsoft way, is that folks like me with a 20GB drive and those with no hard drive for their Xbox 360, aren't buying as many games and downloading as many demos because we don't have the hard drive space. We're not going to lay down a Benjamin for it either. The strategy of overpricing peripherals does not mesh with the strategy of providing downloadable content. Cripes, to think that Sony, of all companies, figured this out already is just icing on the cake of irony.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 5:24PM SpydaKat said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
I agree. Money isn't a problem really but it's just that I refuse to spend that much money on principle alone. Me and my 20gb HD will continue strutting along just fine.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 5:26PM (Unverified) said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
Bullshit!

Everyone should be using HDDHackR to make 2050GB HDD's anyway.
£50 to make a 250GB HDD, instead of paying £100 for a 120GB HDD.
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 5:29PM CyberKnight said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
"...but for now we feel like the 120 is serving us very well as the standard offering..."

Which is exactly why they're discontinuing it. Typical Microsoft marketing strategy at work.

I love my Xbox, but I have a permanent bruise on my forehead from all the times I've had to facepalm at their stupid marketing decisions...
Reply

Posted: Feb 12th 2010 5:51PM daytripper said

  • 2 hearts
  • Report
I like this idea. I don't want to know how much they would charge for the 250GB one.
Reply
Sorry, you must be logged in to leave a comment.

Featured Stories

Rhythm Heaven Fever review: Crazy into you

Posted on Feb 9th 2012 12:00PM

Remedy not done with Alan Wake

Posted on Feb 9th 2012 10:30AM

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW