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Why Does the Xbox 360 have an Upgradable Harddrive?

G

golem

Member
I don't really see why, from Microsoft's initial specs, the 360 would need a removable harddrive. It doesnt have the rumored TIVO features, nor apparently is it necessary for Backwards Compatabilitiy and its multimedia capabilities seems to max out at streaming content from other devices. Are 20+ gigabytes of music really necessary on a console and worth the cost to manufacture? Or do they have something else coming down the line..?

My hope is you can choose to load games on the HD for minimal loading times but im doubtful.
 
golem said:
I don't really see why, from Microsoft's initial specs, the 360 would need a removable harddrive. It doesnt have the rumored TIVO features, nor apparently is it necessary for Backwards Compatabilitiy and its multimedia capabilities seems to max out at streaming content from other devices. Are 20+ gigabytes of music really necessary on a console and worth the cost to manufacture? Or do they have something else coming down the line..?

My hope is you can choose to load games on the HD for minimal loading times but im doubtful.
Click to expand...

I'm going to be putting a lot of movies and music on my X360 HDD, so yes it's important to be upgradeable (20G won't cut it down the line).
 
You CAN stream content from other devices, or put it on the xbox hard drive, that's why it's there. MS also expect a lot more downloadable content, user created content, etc this gen, so thats why a decent size flash drive wouldnt have sufficed.

I wish they'd let you copy games to it as well but i doubt its gonna happen.
 
Because for some people, 20GB just isn't going to cut it. People who will be using their Xbox to store all of their media (music, hi-def videos, etc) are gonna want much more storage.
 
I'm sure they have extra features with the upgradeable harddrive. Maybe you'll be able to unlock a PVR feature or have games preloaded on the HDD.
 
golem said:
can you put movies on it without a mod chip?
Click to expand...


movie files, yes, unless it has some DRM 'features' they havent explained yet. It wont have a "Rip movie from DVD" function or anything like that though.
 
I think it's for consideration of an accumulation of stored data and personal content throughout lifetime of use. MMORPGs and other titles will certainly require the use of the HDD and as you play more games and stuff more personal shit into the existing one, you'll like want to upgrade in capacity for other stuff you'll want to download, rip, and save game data for.

Also, I think it's entirely possible that additional features using the HDD could very well be possible. There won't be some a form of time-shifting functionality now, but that might change down the road. Also, I like the fact that if there's ever a problem with the system, I could simply hang on to the HDD and put it in a new replacement system. You could also take it to another person's system for use there.

It's to basically futureproof the console. Just in case something else down the road that needs more rewriteable space, you could upgrade for it.

Plus, when this thing gets cracked...and it will eventually, I believe, you're going to see people having little stacks of hard drives with different shit on them sitting next to your modded X360. One HDD could be for emulators and roms, another could be for movies, and another for music...and of course, a few others for ripped games.
 
PG2G said:
Can't you download games and game demos? I'm sure that would take a good amount of space.
Click to expand...

Bingo.

Also, I don't think there are plans for larger hard drives yet. I seem to remember Allard saying something about "if the demand warrants."
 
The Faceless Master said:
it's like they tried to clone everything you could do with a modded xbox (to varying degrees) and added wireless controllers...
Click to expand...

I know, that was smart imho.
 
seems "upgradable" (and 360 works w/o the HD) in a sense that MS is not stuck with only a 20gb drive.

They could...

* change the spec as HD prices drop and bundle in a 60gb drive for example
* offer various 360 retail packages worldwide with HD configurations
* remove the HD for a cheaper package (xmas 2006?)
* sell larger HD for heavy profit to existing users who don't have PCs.
 
chinch said:
seems "upgradable" (and 360 works w/o the HD) in a sense that MS is not stuck with only a 20gb drive.

They could...

* change the spec as HD prices drop and bundle in a 60gb drive for example
* offer various 360 retail packages worldwide with HD configurations
* remove the HD for a cheaper package (xmas 2006?)
* sell larger HD for heavy profit to existing users who don't have PCs.
Click to expand...

I really don't think that it will ever release without at least the 20 gig model. Developers are going to use it and to release a console without it would segment your market.
 
Chances are that the ones who really want to store shit will have a PC already so the use of the 360 HDD is NOT obvious.
 
I heard that the 360 can be an amazing amp/music quality, if this is true alot of my music will be going onto it, probabley more than 20gigs.
 
can you go and buy a HDD yourself and do a hotswap? That'd be the most interesting aspect - the whole streaming content off your PC to X360 as a media centre thing imo is a bit redundant. If you can do it through your pc, why go through X360? And if you can put all the files on the HD, you wouldn't need to. Hmmm

I'm sure someone will mod it/figure out a way to install a 160-200gb monster in the XBOX360 harddrive pod but I wonder if the console by default can read that drive. Here's hoping.
 
Wyzdom said:
Chances are that the ones who really want to store shit will have a PC already so the use of the 360 HDD is NOT obvious.
Click to expand...

Yes, if you're talking media. But it will also be used for downloaded games, extras, etc. You're forgetting Live Marketplace and game updates.
 
Odnetnin said:
the whole streaming content off your PC to X360 as a media centre thing imo is a bit redundant. If you can do it through your pc, why go through X360? And if you can put all the files on the HD, you wouldn't need to. Hmmm
Click to expand...

Why go through the xbox? Because all of that media can be played in another room, on an HDTV screen instead of a monitor, using a remote, etc..

And yes, that is a kick-ass feature.
 
CaptainABAB said:
it will also be used for downloaded games, extras, etc. You're forgetting Live Marketplace and game updates.
Click to expand...

I agree here. I mean, a small HDD is convenient for those exact reasons. It's the only reason so far why i would like to have an HDD in my next consoles. It still isn't enticing me into buying a console for this alone and also to pay for a 20gig disk. (even if i suppose that it's cheap)
And the live marketplace well...i can't care less because i don't want to pay for Xbox live but that's another story.
 
So Xbox360 definitely can't record TV to the hard drive? Yet it can display things on the screen over the top of a tv signal? (In some article about LIVE it said that you could watch TV while talking to someone using the headset and that you would be notified they want to talk to you by something on the screen while you watch tv).
 
byproduct said:
So Xbox360 definitely can't record TV to the hard drive? Yet it can display things on the screen over the top of a tv signal? (In some article about LIVE it said that you could watch TV while talking to someone using the headset and that you would be notified they want to talk to you by something on the screen while you watch tv).
Click to expand...

It can't record or watch live TV because it does not have a tuner.

In terms of notifications, that was mentioned about the dvd movie playing - get game invites while watching movies. It has nothing to do with TV.

The only TV it can play back is a prerecorded video.


And I'll say it for the last time, a game console will never make a good DVR. You don't want it recording a show at the same time it is streaming stuff to the hard drive to reduce load times in a game, for example.
 
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