Joystiq

Official Xbox 360 USB drives priced by GameStop

Mike Schramm — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:20:00 EST

GameStop has leaked information about those official Xbox 360 USB hard drives we've heard about (first rumored and then officially), and they ain't cheap. According to the confusingly similar GameSpot (who saw the prices temporarily listed on GameStop's website), there will be both 8GB and 16GB drives available, the smaller for $39.99 and the larger for $69.99. According to Major Nelson, we'll see them in stores in May.

Of course, the system update will also allow you to use any USB drive (not just the official Xbox-branded ones), but before you get visions of 1TB of storage plugged into your Xbox, remember that there's a 16GB limit on each of two possible devices, so you can have only 32GB total. Fortunately, an unofficial 16GB flash drive is about half of Microsoft's price over on Newegg. You may have to tweak things a little bit, as the official drives are meant to be "plug and play," but it can't be that complicated. The GameStop listing is down for now, but we'll see these drives officially in just over a month or so anyway.

[via Engadget]

Official Xbox 360 USB drives priced by GameStop originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xbox 360 gaining USB storage support in 2010 update

Alexander Sliwinski — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:59:00 EST

Documentation obtained by Joystiq - and subsequently confirmed with two separate sources - reveals that "USB Mass Storage Device Support on Xbox 360" will soon be a reality. The document, authored by a senior software development engineer at Microsoft, states that due to "increased market penetration of high-capacity, high throughput USB mass storage devices, a 2010 Xbox 360 system update" will allow consumers to save and load game data from USB devices. The update is purportedly coming in Spring 2010.

Once the update occurs, Xbox 360 owners will be able to download Xbox Live Arcade games, Xbox Live Indie games, Games on Demand, DLC and Title Updates to the storage device. "USB storage devices may, however, have far greater memory capacity than MUs (at the date of writing, the largest MU is 512 MB), and may therefore support previously infeasible operations-such as installation of a full disc-based title." That's right, you can also store disc-based games to the USB device; however, it will require the disc to be in the tray for authentication, identical to the current functionality.

Gallery: USB Mass Storage Device Support on Xbox 360

Continue reading Xbox 360 gaining USB storage support in 2010 update

Xbox 360 gaining USB storage support in 2010 update originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MS confirms no Spring update, a DRM fix and an XBLA restructuring

Dustin Burg — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:45:00 EST

Filed under: News, Xbox Live Arcade

In an exclusive interview with Next Generation, Xbox Live general manager Marc Whitten announced the rather disappointing news that they will not be releasing a Spring update this year. This of course means that the rumored Spring update feature set that was leaked last week was complete bologna. Whitten says that instead of putting their resources into a Spring update, they decided to focus their energy into "building the proper infrastructure and scale for the service" (ahem, more reliability). But all is not lost in the land of updates, as Whitten confirmed Microsoft will be rolling out a change to their DRM policy in June that'll allow content owners to re-license XBLA and XBLM content to a single console. This move will make said content available when disconnected from Xbox Live.

Finally, we learn that the Xbox Live Arcade will get a metaphorical Spring cleaning as Microsoft plans to remove under-performing Arcade titles. Games that have been on the market for over six months, have a Metacritic average lower than 65% and a conversion rate below 6% will be targeted for de-listing. A move that Microsoft hopes will streamline the service and open it up to bigger and better things.

MS confirms no Spring update, a DRM fix and an XBLA restructuring originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 22 May 2008 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumor: Spring update adds game installs, DRM fixes, "motion sensor" features

Xav de Matos — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:15:00 EST

Filed under: Rumors

If history remains true the Xbox 360 Spring update should be on its way soon, but unlike previous updates we've heard nothing about new features. According to a tip sent to Joystiq regarding the spring update there are nearly 80 new features and tweaks possibly incoming for the Xbox 360.

The completely unconfirmed list can be found after the jump but we can tell you it includes some features we've dreamed for. Voice chat conferences for up to four people, an Inside Xbox Portal which includes news, entertainment, weather and various community features, downloading audio from feeds (such as the Xbox 360 Fancast, or other podcasts we guess), a DRM check for downloaded content which lists items that will not be accessible when disconnected from Xbox Live and a new (hopefully working) way to correct the DRM issue are some of the features on the list.

Other notable features include being able to delete games from your played games list if they list a gamerscore of zero (and zero obtained achievements) and the ability to save game data onto the hard drive for faster loading (presumably the way PS3 handles the feature).

The most interesting addition is the ability to calibrate motion sensor based peripherals again pushing the Wii-like controller rumor into the limelight.

Keep in mind that this all squarely falls under the category of "rumor" for the moment. We'll let you know as soon as we hear otherwise. Find the full list of (rumored) features after the break.

Continue reading Rumor: Spring update adds game installs, DRM fixes, "motion sensor" features

Rumor: Spring update adds game installs, DRM fixes, "motion sensor" features originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 14 May 2008 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumor: 360 dashboard update to support game installs, 'motion sensor devices' [update]

Ludwig Kietzmann — Wed, 14 May 2008 08:30:00 EST

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360

It's becoming increasingly difficult for us to shamble out of bed and avoid stubbing our toe on some unconfirmed list of Xbox 360 features, fixes, enhancements and/or tweaks meant for the system's Spring dashboard update. Though we usually avoid the ones promising "full compatibility with Metal Gear Solid 4" or "online racial slur filters," this latest one proved unavoidable. Thank you, dear tipster, for leaving a concrete block at the base of our bed.

You'll find the "incomplete" list of unconfirmed features after the break, though we'll draw your attention to two in particular. "Calibration options for motion sensor devices." That certainly brings to mind the numerous Newtonian rumors of a Microsoft waggle wand we've encountered over the last few weeks. As for allowing games to "store installation data on Storage Device for faster loading?" We'll go make a sandwich while you guys discuss.

Update: Microsoft says: "We don't comment on rumors or speculation, but what we can tell you is we've never seen this list before."

Continue reading Rumor: 360 dashboard update to support game installs, 'motion sensor devices' [update]

Rumor: 360 dashboard update to support game installs, 'motion sensor devices' [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 14 May 2008 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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