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Larger hard drive again expected for 360

by on24 June 2009

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Could arrive as soon as late August

Once again we have our sources ringing us up, saying that Microsoft will finally release a larger hard drive for the Xbox 360. It seems that the major stumbling block for Microsoft to get a larger hard drive out has been the price, but with the latest focus on more downloadable content, our sources tell us that Microsoft has finally decided to move forward with their new hard drive offering.

According what we are now hearing, Microsoft has elected to start offering the new drive in the same time frame as the August release of the new downloadable “Games on Demand” service, which will allow users to download popular Xbox 360 titles directly to their hard drives. Of course, with most Xbox 360 titles needing roughly 3GB to 4GB of storage, the company really has no options other than to offer a bigger drive.

Our sources are now suggesting that Microsoft has elected to offer 320GB model and has already qualified and tested drives from several different vendors. Of course, pricing could play a role between now and the expected August announcement, and Microsoft might elect to go with a 500GB model, but we suspect that it will instead stick with the 320GB model for the time being.

It is expected, according to our moles, that when the 320GB drive is introduced that it will retail for $199 starting out, with the 120GB drive to continue at $149 until supplies are depleted; and then Microsoft will move the price of the 320GB drive down. The 60GB drive will continue to be available, but only in the bundle pack and only from select retailers. The 60GB drive will continue to be targeted toward Xbox 360 Arcade buyers and will continue to be bundled as the “60GB Live Pack” which includes 3 months of Xbox Live, an Ethernet cable, and a wired headset.

We are also hearing some vague rumblings that since Microsoft dropped the price on the 512MB memory card and has added additional flash to the latest Xbox 360 consoles, the company will also be adding a new 1GB or 2GB Memory Card to the lineup, as well. While the exact size has yet to be decided, Microsoft has recognized that a larger memory card is, in fact, necessary for the company to offer. We suspect that the new memory card will be released at the $50 price point, and depending on the price of flash memory when it gets closer to release will dictate which size the company will go with. Recently, the company has dropped the price of the 512MB memory cards to $40 in an effort to move inventory.

The need for bigger and cheap storage is necessary if Microsoft wants to be truly successful with all of the digital downloading that the company has in store. Many Xbox 360 owners have been begging the company for larger storage devices for a long time, but the company has been slow to respond due to the high cost of larger storage options. It seems now, however, that they have little choice but to move in this direction if the company wants to extend the last of this platform far into the future.

Last modified on 24 June 2009
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