XBLA game size increases to 150 Mb, memory unit increases to 512 Mb

[8th lutz]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6166804.html?...newstop;title;1

 

Xbox 360 owners will be able to carry more with a single memory unit, as a new 512MB version was revealed today. Previously, memory units were sized at 64MB. The new half-gig units will come preloaded with the Xbox Live Arcade title Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved (for a limited time) and retail for $49.99 when they arrive in stores on April 3. At that time, the price of the 64MB units will drop from $39.99 to $29.99.

 

The announcement comes in conjunction with the revelation that Microsoft has increased the size limit of Xbox Live Arcade titles from 50MB to 150MB, a move the company says will give developers "greater flexibility in game design and [expand] the opportunity to add advanced game features while still keeping games compact." Today's news is the official confirmation of the increase, which was previously given the thumbs up for the upcoming Castlevania: Symphony of Night.

[swlovinist]

While I applaud this, the whole memory unit thing needs to go. The 360 has usb ports, and for the same price I can go get a thumb drive that holds four times as much. I dont see the "new" memory unit selling any better than the old one. Microsoft needs to allow people to use thumb drives for saves and arcade games

[zombiecraig]

While I applaud this, the whole memory unit thing needs to go. The 360 has usb ports, and for the same price I can go get a thumb drive that holds four times as much. I dont see the "new" memory unit selling any better than the old one. Microsoft needs to allow people to use thumb drives for saves and arcade games

 

You really can't use a thumb drive? Even to move a file to a PC for storage? That's a bit insane. I guess I haven't tried it yet.

[Shannon]

I agree. If they have not done so, microsoft really needs to allow stuff to be copied to a thumb drive.

 

I think microsoft is trying to rely to much on income from accessories this generation. Just look at Sony and Nintendo. They pretty much went in the opposite direction.

[+Cobra Kai]

I don't think MS is relying on income from accessories. They are in a bind with the memory units though, they have to offer their own official memory units for sale if they are going to continue to sell a bare bones 360 console.

 

Would have been better to just wait out the release of a larger HDD, and then sell the old 20gb HDD at a discounted price. Every 360 owner should have the hard drive, it should never have been offered without it.

[MCHufnagel]

I don't think MS is relying on income from accessories. They are in a bind with the memory units though, they have to offer their own official memory units for sale if they are going to continue to sell a bare bones 360 console.

 

Would have been better to just wait out the release of a larger HDD, and then sell the old 20gb HDD at a discounted price. Every 360 owner should have the hard drive, it should never have been offered without it.

I totally agree with not offering a unit without the hard drive. Since you need some sort of memory storage anyway, pay the 60 bucks extra and never worry about having enough space for game saves. But MS could have made flash drives work with the Xbox 360. They just could have done what Nintendo does and market Sandisc (or another manufacturer) flash drive that is branded for the console, while allowing third party devices to work.

 

In that regard, yes MS is trying to make big profits on accessories. $50 dollars for a 1/2 gig of memory is pathetic.

[ninjarabbit]

I'll agree that Microsoft is charging way too much for that much memory and they really shouldn't have released the core system since now they have be fair to the owners of both systems.

[MCHufnagel]

I'll agree that Microsoft is charging way too much for that much memory and they really shouldn't have released the core system since now they have be fair to the owners of both systems.

Right, that was one of the first issues brought up when the Core System was announced. The majority of people have a system with a hard drive, but can't fully take advantage of it in regards to reducing load times and having to limit the size of XBLA games. But boy I can put a lot of music or videos on it!

[Hyper_Eye]

I'll agree that Microsoft is charging way too much for that much memory and they really shouldn't have released the core system since now they have be fair to the owners of both systems.

Right, that was one of the first issues brought up when the Core System was announced. The majority of people have a system with a hard drive, but can't fully take advantage of it in regards to reducing load times and having to limit the size of XBLA games. But boy I can put a lot of music or videos on it!

 

There are games that take advantage of the hdd and cache to it. I know for a fact that Oblivion caches to it. It is easy enough for a developer to detect whether the hdd is present and cache to it. That is one of the things taking up hdd space that you can't free is the area for caching.

[MCHufnagel]

There are games that take advantage of the hdd and cache to it. I know for a fact that Oblivion caches to it. It is easy enough for a developer to detect whether the hdd is present and cache to it. That is one of the things taking up hdd space that you can't free is the area for caching.

That's good to know. We have Oblivion for the PC, so I didn't know about that feature on the X360. What other games take advantage of this feature? Either none of the games I've played do this or I've never noticed it .

[moycon]

But boy I can put a lot of music or videos on it!

 

Why not just connect your 360 to your PC and store your video's and music on that?

I just use the HD for demo's and games.... Altho I do plan on snagging that South Park episode just because it's free, I wonder can you transfer the movies and TV shows you download off Live to your OPC

Edited March 14, 2007 by moycon

[MCHufnagel]

But boy I can put a lot of music or videos on it!

 

Why not just connect your 360 to your PC and store your video's and music on that?

I just use the HD for demo's and games.... Altho I do plan on snagging that South Park episode just because it's free, I wonder can you transfer the movies and TV shows you download off Live to your OPC

My Windows Media Center PC is currently in another room. But I am re-configuring rooms and my secondary computer will be set up with the X360 for streaming media files. I'll end up with a pure gaming room with both a HDTV and a SDTV. My wife will have a HDTV for herself to watch movies on.

 

And Moycon, I was being sarcastic!