@dadeisvenm: neither do i. when you'd be wasting money ps3 wise anyway buying a 320gig hdd when the ps3 maxes out at 250 gigs anyways.

DarkTravesty

Why does everyone keep bringing up Home? What the 360 avatar feature is supposed to be looks nothing like what Home is supposed to be.

justhesh

the x360 hdds are 90 (20GB)and 180 (120GB) bucks and a WD Scorpio 320GB Hard Drive (ps3 compatible) for $116. I don't see the savings.

dadeisvenm

I dont really like the whole avatar idea ting lulz

But 8 people chat appeals to me greatly~!

Shall be looking forward to that

kopakauk

Microsoft's really shaping up on the 360.

Shin-san

Well, i had a feeling MS had to try to do something about PS and the Home situation.

If this is it count me happy!

nottsville

16x10 monitor support! Finally! I'm gonna have to buy a 120GB drive now, though... My current 20GB has 9.8GB free, just enough for a single 8.7GB game. And with all the XBLA titles and Rock Band tracks I have, space has pretty much just become a precious resource. Hopefully, the 120GB drive will further drop in price.

Altersparck

So 8 player private chat? Thank god. I hate having to listen to xbl jerks when I want to play online with more then one friend.

Vager

@hollowfreak:

I know reviews had said pop up in GTA4 was a little worse on the 360, so this would definitely help. Maybe Saints 2 will use this feature?

OGHowie

Good news, yes yes.

Gambly

yes finally they add the resolution of my monitor! i want to see more on the new dashboard and i wanna know more about these installs...i just have 20gb pro i'm thinking i'm might trade my 360 in for a new 60gbs and then trade that 60gbs hdd in for a 120gb harddrive.

Marked

not bad, MS, not bad at all. But i can't help but feel, a lot of this is an effort to steal Sony's thunder. since they were technically the first to offer the party jump as a part of home. seems like they decided it was a viable offering now, after claiming it wasnt feasible, not so long ago.

Anyways, i just think its pretty interesting that they offer this service which is probably going to be incompatible with the arcade and 20gb units due to the space constraints involved. Good way to shill the 60gbs and maybe just maybe, add the hds to the arcade units to help sell em off, once the 60gb HDs hit

meltyman

@bobtheduck:
(plays small violin for you)
Good luck, hopefully your parents will get you something better next time.

Tepoz

Man, if this could work without the disc in there it'd be SO rad. I'd have Rock Band and GTA4 preloaded since I'm playing them ALL THE DAMN TIME and having to swap discs...

Demaar

On the hard disk thing, developers have always had access to a hard disk cache they could use for hteir game to speed loads. Play Halo 2 the first time and see how long the first load is. Turn off the machine and try again -- notice how fast it got? the first time they were copying data to the drive. What has never been allowed -- and likely still won't be -- is for a game to have a mandatory install required just to play the game. The new feature will allow -- not require, ALLOW -- users to copy any game to the HDD init's entirety whcih should: make load times faster, allow the box to run more quietly since the high spped spinning of the DVD goeas away, and allow hte DVD drive to wear out less quickly.

I think it is brilliant.

wheezo

I have to say, although I'm sure a lot of reception at the new design and features will be lukewarm to start, I think a lot of people will find it for the better after everyone adjusts and the kinks get smoothed out. It's a bit of a different parallel, but the same sort of thing happened when facebook updated - it was met with a lot of resistance - a LOT. Rabid petitions to change it back, etc. But now that everyone has adapted to it, people seem addicted and it has surged over myspace, which has become a messy, shoddily programmed, spam-infested networking application by comparison (although of course it remains ever as popular).

Now, this is not to say that the new 360 dashboard interface is going to be some end-all application, I just think that people will warm up to it after time.

I personally am looking forward to it, despite the blatant rip-off of the Mii's, simply because I think change can be entertaining for this sort of thing. Oh. And there's the Netflix. That, I cannot wait for.

I'm also stoked about the ability to transfer games onto the HDD for smoother running - my 360's disc drive is far too noisy and I'm just waiting for it to overheat and give me my third-red ring (particularly on Culdcept - I think something is wrong with the disc - I've gotten red-ringed twice playing that game and am a little hesitant to run it all now). I hope putting the games on the harddrive will fix all this... although I'll probably have to buy the larger HDD.

That really needs to come down in price... or MS should offer some sort of upgrade program where you can trade in for a new console with your old for a discount. It sucks having the old, shitty one with no real option to update.

sir_carrot

@hatedinamerica:

Unless it only works when "Disk 1" is in the drive. Although that wouldn't stop your friends from just playing different parts of the game at the same time, that's an inherent problem with all multi-disk games.

TheHeeyyy

wow the whole copy games feature would be awesome on PS3 (since the HDD is just a standard labtop)

of course some games have mandatory installs games like UT3 offer to install the whole game on the HDD for a faster smoother game experiance

kmg90

@OGHowie: "less pop up?"

The only games I can really think of where it is severe enough to ruin the game is Gears and maybe Bioshock. (both U3 engined games) It was really bad in Gears, the texture pop-up was inexcusable, yet we still loved the game. :)

hollowfreak

@bobtheduck: bye..you wont be missed...on topic..at least its a choice and not mandatory

Snukadaman_

@CarbonFalcon:

let's say it's four discs long. you, and three friends all go in together on a single copy of the game, take turns installing it, and then everyone keeps a different disc.

that's assuming quite a bit, of course, but it's a possibility.

hatedinamerica

@bobtheduck: Sorry to hear that. Have fun with your new endeavors. Me? I'll continue enjoying the medium.

vanderblade

@RadicalAns:

Same here. I wanted to play again as a Renegade and get my level to 60. I'll just sit back until MS releases this update and then I start Mass Effect up again.

And think about Oblivion running on this setup. (Drool running down chin)

Draco Basileus

My 20gb hd is looking so sad right now. ='(

Kajiba

@Sammo21: Beats having a 40gb (europe only has this model too) and losing it with crap tons of mandatory installs. Plus there's a new 60gb hard drive on the way.

This is kind of cool but I won't be buying an MS hard drive till I see them on offer since they are over priced and having only a 20gb hard drive means I can't install many games (especially since I've purchased a few XBL arcade titles, Halo map packs and Ninja gaiden black so half my space is gone unless I want to delete purchases).

Llost

@Tepoz: Yeah, ok, you can think whatever the hell you think... I hate the way MS runs their gaming business, and I don't mind as much the way Sony does, and because I don't want to see the gaming industry be a MS / Nintendo split, that makes me a troll... Whatever makes you feel superior at night, I suppose.

bobtheduck

@bobtheduck: Hey there little troll. I haven't seen your comments in 360 sections in a while. Can't say I missed them though.

Tepoz

@Draco Basileus:

Oh man, I've been putting off a second playthrough of Mass Effect. I guess I'll have to put it off a little longer.

RadicalAns

This is awesome. Knowing that all this is coming in the fall makes me significantly less annoyed at the lack of a spring update. Kudos, Microsoft!

kylenalepa

@bobtheduck: I'm sorry you're a fanboy and can't see what a great thing it is that games like FF13 and Bioshock are getting a wider audience.

Callidux

@bobtheduck: You know what? Then stop playing them. No one is forcing you to be here, or to play video games. I get so sick and tired of this wahhh wahh crap when you damn well have the option to play or not play.

If it bothers you that much, stop buying them. You people and your drama, Jesus Christ.

mva5580

@Walker: Haha, Detre's reply was win.

There's not enough info on this for you to be certain about anything. If they're allowing developers to copy entire games to speed read times, then it might as well just be half the game, or a fourth. Who knows? Things change. Either way, I think it's a good step for MS. It's just funny how opinions change when the tables turn. "You can have your Final Fantasy, it sucks and I wouldn't play it if it was on the 360 anyways!"

everybest

@bobtheduck: Yeah, you're right. Sony, a faceless multinational corporation, cared about you a million times more than Microsoft or Nintendo. Now that they're a has-been, your gaming life is ruined.
/sarcasm

DaPress

I like these announcements better than the Mii stuff. Hopefully future interviews will shed better light how the installations are supposed to work.

Tepoz

Fast load times in Fallout 3 will make me a happy boy

RadicalAns

Mass Effect without the long elevator rides? It just won't be the same game!

Guess I might have to pony up for the 120 GB drive.

Draco Basileus

Its funny. PSN v 2.41 comes out with a lot of cool additions to the FREE service, and then MS announces these to JUSTIFY the pay service.

The COMPETITION during this gen has some wonderful aspects as these results. Looking forward to the new XBL.

DARTH_TIGRIS

@OGHowie:

Also less noise.

Queasy

@Mal-Content: XBM accessable anywhere function is nice for those times when maybe your xbox is...I dunno...out for repairs and Rock Band has some $.99 tracks you wanna get while they're still cheap

Either that, or personally, I just find it flat-out easier to browse and purchase content from my computer rather that using a game controller to navigate through menus on my television.

PollockRoc

Wow - all this is just wicked. Microsoft is just drop-kicking Sony today. I unabashedly love the 360 right now.

DaPress

Microsoft's Press Conference actually wasn't bad. A solid set of news and promises. E3 might not be dead after all. So far it is leaps and bounds better then last years.

Quicksilver4648

I'm sorry, after MS buying off SE, If MS is going to be in charge of the games I love and Nintendo is going to rule the games industry and piss on real gamers, I don't want to be a gamer anymore...

bobtheduck

@OGHowie: Not having to switch disks on FF 13.

Guild_Navigator

Love you...XBOX

yashichi8bit

@TheHeeyyy:

Yes. Yes. That's what I want to know. Especially with a game like Final Fantasy XIII that is guaranteed to be multi-disk. Hopefully, it should work out that you only need one disc. I mean, who would have one disc and not have the others anyway? Besides, to install the other discs, you would have to have them in the first place, so it makes sense that Microsoft would allow you to install all the game discs in a multi-disc game, then play the game with just one disc in the drive.

CarbonFalcon

4, 3, 2, 1....

and the DVD-in-drive security has been cracked.

Chriky

@KaoKing:

Faster loading, less pop up? That's all I can think of for now.

OGHowie

Would accessing LIVE from the net be a way to watch movies on your computer? This also could be a way to bring over the PS3 exclusives if they allow the hard drive install of games.

CrazyEcho

@Detre: Nice try at a sarcastic comment. The thing you failed to even realise is PS3 installs are mandatory. This is optional and is the entire game. They aren't even the same thing.

Walker

So any news on a price cut for the 120GB hard drive? No. Damn it all.

Master_Achilles

@Luuey: Presumably it'll queue up for them the same as it spools for you, from the Netflix server. They can't possibly be talking about P2P streaming all this video. That'd be an infrastructure train wreck.

wild homes is a box-offfice disaster

nice

YesILikeGuys

Why can't they use some sort of PC related install restriction so that I can free up my disk drive? The laziness in me doesn't like changing disks.

ThisCharmingMan

Heh, Im not a fan of the new look, but I love the features. Also, what would be the point of the hard drive if you needed the disc?

KaoKing

I might upgrade to the 60GB model after hearing about this and the Netflix thing...

panfriedcharlie

M$ has been doing alot of copying from what ive seen. Lol, people said that about Sony.

darkstar5555

@sircrowbar:

They didn't say this would be in game... Just on the Dash... I hope it comes out that it's in game though because that would be fucking sweet.

B-Tizo

@everybest: comeon man everyone knows installs only suck on the ps3. When it comes to the 360 installs are the bees knees *High five*

Detre

Oh hell yeah! I've been wanting this for ages.

I guess keeping the disk in would be required, but if they have a way of avoiding that (while still keeping out the scurvy pirate dogs, arrr) I would be doubleplus stoked.

I have all of my (legally purchased, thank you) movies ripped and available to play at a moments notice. There's no going back to switching disks around once you get a taste for having things installed and on tap.

It's a good thing.

Yonderboy

I wish you could upgrade the Xbox Harddrives as easily as the PS3 ones. The 20 gig drive is looking measly right about now. And no, the entire user base won't get a new xbox, and i don't want to pay more than 20% markup on a 60 gig drive. With xbox i would have to pay 2x to 3x the price of the drive.

KaneBaker

So can we get a really large HDD? I mean bigger than 120. Much Bigger. Although DVDs are what, 8gb? Still with a reasonable size collection and with so much DLC that could be filled up relatively quickly.

jacksinn

i still dont understand the netflix thing entirely. Does this mean that one person can buy the subscription and then share it with whoever is in their party via streaming?

Luuey

They actually say at the site that you have to have the disc in the tray to verify that you own it. I hope you can take the disc out once the game is loaded though, just for my own convenience I suppose.

bwwardiii

This better mean that they're going to re-align their standalone HDD units (60GB/120GB) to be reasonably priced.

I will potentially accept the concept of bundle bonuses (i.e. "free" months of LIVE, etc) to make up the difference in "reasonable" cost. Perhaps.

Jazhuis

I think we all know the big unanswered question regarding copying games to hard drives:

"For multi-disk games, will only one DVD be required to be in the disk drive to authenticate the game?"

TheHeeyyy

Now I really wish the HDDs were non-proprietary.

Wolfers

So, how will the 8 player party work with future games? Does that mean we can simultaneously launch a game and go directly into a party together? Because that would be FUCKING AWESOME and sound a lot like the oft rumored Dashboard Clan Support...

B-Tizo

Unless MS decides to un-tether their Ultra-Expensive, under capacity HDD or allow users to self-upgrade to larger drives, the idea to d/l games (in their entirety) whilest bypassing the loud and surface-scoring mechanical DVD drive is moot.

Netflix- please buy Gamefly. Then we can buy games as direct d/l and kill Gamestop in one, fell swoop!

SigmundTheSeaMonster

The most important point in this? Eight Person Private Chat.

Finally, I can CoD4 and talk to my friends (Instead of friend) from afar in peace. Well, relatively.

sircrowbar

"Among the innovative new features is the ability to load your games from the disc directly to your hard drive, bypassing the disc drive to allow games to run faster and smoother. Going to assume that the disc would still be required to play the game - otherwise Blockbuster would be seeing a huge, one-time spike in rentals."

This sounds like a serious piracy red-flag to me, I'd like to hear more on how this works. Will people figure out an easy way to bypass the disc drive check? Hmmm.

mva5580

So that extra 40gb I could get on a new $350 might be a lot more useful than I had previously thought...

My360broked

I definitely need to get that 60gb hdd soon <_<

deft0k

"Then there's the ability to access Xbox Live Marketplace via the web on your computer or any other web-enabled device (PS3?), allowing you to purchase new games, demos, DLC and the like from the relative comfort of wherever you happen to be at the time."

Completely useless? Might help a few handful of people with no internet connection (cavemen?).

Does this mean this mean the whole "blah blah blah, have to wait HOURS for it to install on a PS3" is invalid now? I'm sure developers are going to take advantage of this, unless MS limits it to optional.

everybest

Wish the HDD's were cheaper, my 20gig isn't going to do so well with this, but still...wicked!

rljohn

Well this potentially solves the ridiculous noise problem of the 360 which is mostly the DVD-ROM drive. Just need to make sure to have the biggest hard disk possible.

kasplat

Yay! Finally! 16x10 support-- but he only notes specifically 1440x900 and 1680x1050. Hopefully he just forgot to mention 1920x1200.

And playing the games off the hard drive seems weird, since you've got to have them in the tray for validation anyhow. Maybe it's a good solution for those with older, jet-engine drives?

wild homes is a box-offfice disaster

16:10 support<3
Not needing disks all the time for my console that thinks everything's a DVD about 10 times before it realises I'm trying to play the game. <3

Mustakrakish

Wow... it's a good thing I've been so paranoid about letting my hard drive drop below 95 gigs... I have lots of room now!

NachoDude

Sweet, so that 20GB HDD, which is really around 14, will be able to hold like 2 games!!!! BADASS

Sammo21

wicked! =D

rljohn

Finally a way to shut up my Xbox!

AnotherGamer

I wonder if this will make it quieter, since it's the drive that makes most of the noise.

JakeDunn

Sure would be nice to be able to install some games on my HD.

Guild_Navigator

I think these additions are much more newsworthy than avatars and the like.
Hopefully MS is moving toward better HDD/game intergration and the XBM accessable anywhere function is nice for those times when maybe your xbox is...I dunno...out for repairs and Rock Band has some $.99 tracks you wanna get while they're still cheap

Mal-Content

A great feature, ruined by the fact that I can't go grab a 1TB drive, put it in an enclosure, and attach it to my 360 like the XBOX brand ones.

brokenscope

16X10 monitor support <3 <3

hungry_for_worms

Excuse me, I'm going to go hug my two 120GB 360s...

XbhaskarX

"Going to assume that the disc would still be required to play the game - otherwise Blockbuster would be seeing a huge, one-time spike in rentals."

I lol'd.

But seriously, things are looking pretty good for MS right now.

gamadaya

I can't wait! I helped tip this! Yay for M$ today!

bwwardiii

@brokenscope: exactly. MS needs to really get their shit together in that regard. Even a 120GB in the Elite isn't good enough for all of the content they want you to download.

@BoringJob: dude, kudos to you. I have a 750GB ps3. 250GB internal and a 500GB internal drive. When the 2.5in 500GB drives become reasonably priced (read: dirt cheap) I'll upgrade to one of those as well. Just backed up my Ps3 last night to on the external. I won't need additional storage for a loooooooong time especially since the 500GB external drive I bought was on sale for 100 bucks so I bought two.

Striderhayasa - Phillyyakk on PSN and Live.

Good stuff, can we call it Xbox 3PC now?

EnigmaNemesis

@BoringJob: Way to go unnecessarily hostile.

justhesh

Dear MS-

While adding this feature, can you do us all a favor and for those of us with an HD-DVD add on drive... let us use that to daisy chain the discs... so if I put halo 3 and cod4 into the DVD drive and hd-dvd respectively, I can install both on the HDD and the xbox will be able to easily tell I own both games?

I know it's a stretch but it'd be a way to encourage people to buy the rest of those hd-dvd drives.

h0mi

wow, this is why MS has been kinda quiet lately...they have been trying to make the xbox expirence a lil better. Good for them! Now, they need to make sure people with refurbished units get a new xbox to enjoy this neat stuff!

kablammyman

@DarkTravesty: You are wrong. the PS3 has no such limitation. the confusion stems from when the PS3 came out, those were the largest 2.5" drives available.

You can get some extender cables and have 3.5" Terabyte drive if you so choose.

I personally have a friend with a 320 GB HDD and he had no problems getting his PS3 to read it.

but since I know you're a 360 fanboy whose knowledge of the PS3 is limited to ridiculous rumours instead of facts, I'm sure you'll ignore this post.

BoringJob

Hopefully they will drop their HD prices, otherwise i won't be making frequent use of this.

TheHun

Well...I would love this. The sound of the DVD drive is pretty irritating. Glad i have an Elite. Although i doubt i'll fill the 85GB i have left. Really looking forward to see what Sony have to offer...May have to get a bigger hard drive for the PS3 next.

Woylez

@dcuk7: Yeah, Sony's system updates suck. They take fuckin forever. I go on my friend's 360, and when he has an update it takes seconds-1 minute or so. I'm like, "That's it?!?"

kadaj24

I really upset with the 360 right now. Microsoft keeps adding all these features that encourage hard drive use, but charge more than half the price of the system to update a existing 360's hard drive.

Also theres the fact that they keep rushing out new features when they still have not made a hardware configuration that isn't riddled with problems.

That said, non of these new features seem very piratical or useful. That is unless you really really hate load times, in which case, how have you survived the last fourteen years of gaming?

Wii-Tard

@anonim1979: Good luck trying to do that with all games on a 20gb HDD formatted down to 15-16gb (what most people have). Not a big deal either way. It'll help but it'll hurt your storage at the same time, so you can maybe do this one game at a time. This is good new for Elite/120gb owners though.

@Andronix: I still think you'd need to do the swaps because it'll need to know you own the game, or else it'll be like he said where everyone will just rent games and save them on the HDD.

kadaj24

I still find it amazing that the 360's OS offers all this and is less than 16MB in size!

Bloody Sony and their 95MB System Updates really naff me off. They usually update when my provider have gone overzealous with their capping!

dcuk7

@EnigmaNemesis:

INSTALLS are for PC an PC3.. sorry PS3

----
I must congratulate Kotaku.

You are ONLY site today that know difference between COPY and INSTALL!

anonim1979

Install FFXIII and no need for 5 DVD swaps

Andronix

Wow Microsoft coming through with their "it's all about choice" mantra. ;) I'm sure some games are going to have a manual install at some point. Yes I know about ffxi.

Gunloc

I like the idea, but I'm afraid this is going to create even more hard drive space issues for the 360. Granted, I'm a freak that downloads every demo and video, but I've already about filled up my 120-gig hard drive.

Microsoft, figure out a way to let us use our own hard drives, like Sony! And give us a defrag program as well. My system is starting to bog down when I try to load up arcade games, read messages, and access the download menu -- activities that used to load quickly when my HD wasn't so full.

DugDawg

How many people are they going to rip off of in one day?

man in gauze is king ramses II, silly.

Anyone notice that they havn't annouced a date?
So for the next 6 months I have to keep refreshing kotaku to see if it has been released.

QuickPick

How is MS ruining the gaming industry. I actually think MS in the industry helped push Nintendo into deciding what sort of path they wanted to take in terms of their new system. As for Sony their long-running hold as the top dog in the industry shows that with competition from another company willing to spend to stay in the industry has made it make mistakes they thought would be glossed over because of their brand name and people's loyalty to said brand.

They miscalculated in that in the end most gamers (even some fanboys) will buy games and consoles if it gives them hours of enjoyment. I think third-party developers are starting to see that now which is probably part of the mass exodus to go multiplatform instead of exclusives.

Tull

"let's say it's four discs long. you, and three friends all go in together on a single copy of the game, take turns installing it, and then everyone keeps a different disc."
@hatedinamerica:
Might be possible, but easily defeated if the game makes a disc check whenever it loads a savegame from a different disc for the first time that session.

"The only games I can really think of where it is severe enough to ruin the game is Gears and maybe Bioshock. (both U3 engined games) "
@hollowfreak:
Don't forget about Mass Effect (also an UE3 game) and Lost Odyssey (hey, also an UE3 game).

kftgr

@TheGreySpectre:
It reduces load times. This is the most excited I've been on news in a while. I'd have to consider upping the HDD due to this, but that can wait.

arstal

Support for 1440x900? FINALLY. My monitor is very excited about the news.

Libo

next week they'll start announcing mandatory installs. >.>

/sarcasm

demonknightinuyasha

While the install thing is cool it kind of takes away from it that you have to have the disk in the drive.

I am very happy about the 16x10 support though my monitor is a fair amount bigger than my TV and the 16x9 ratios or only mediocre.

I am really glad I have a 360 right now though, some happpy times

TheGreySpectre

Isn't copying games to HDD pointless if the disc is required to play? Even with "LEGIT" PC games, I try to crack it so it doesn't require discs. (Maybe some hackers will crack it for us for 360? Perhaps Dreamcast level of piracy will be reborn?)

Marketplace web access = hoping for next itune?

Netflix = very nice

16x10 support = ok, good for college kids.

MS is stepping up for sure. I wonder what Nintendo and Sony will come up with.

neo177117

I wonder if oblivion will run a little smoother

smuckers is good

@Wii-Tard: Really, they dropped from around a 25-30% publicly acknowledged defective rate to less than 10%, which can honestly be accounted for by people not taking care of their systems. The new hardware revisions were great and took care of several hardware related issues.

Now if people would read their instruction manual and not place the system vertically or not put them in an enclosed space such as a home entertainment center with no ventilation the defect rate would go down tremendously.

CapnSpank

@Gunloc: FFXI required a manual install on every single platform it was released on (remember the PS2 HDD).

CapnSpank

@Detre: Wow, you can feel the sting from a fan boys disappointment of the FF XIII announcement here. It it hilarious, you can "optionally" choose to download the disc to the hard drive on a 360 whereas you are FORCED to install games on a PS3. Basically it is the equivalent of creating an .ISO file of a disc on the HDD and running it from the HDD instead of putting stress on the DVD laser. However if microsoft does start allowing forced installs of games, then the PS3's Blu-Ray discs have lost their only advantage.

What this truly boils down too is this. Microsoft supports DIGITAL DOWNLOADS. They will start selling 360 games directly from the marketplace and you can just start downloading the game before you go to school/work/where-ever and have it ready to play when you get home. That is what Microsoft really wants.

CapnSpank

@CapnSpank: how much less that 10%?
A 5% failure rate is still considered unacceptable, at least any place I have ever worked for. Thats also still one in ten people who will have a dead Xbox 360. I own my original NES, SNES, PS1, and PS2, and all still work relatively well, where as I've had to replace my 360 once, and my currant one's DVD drive is almost dead.

@CapnSpank: Microsoft supports DIGITAL DOWNLOADS by offering up a hard drive that no one who downloads media on the PC would ever think of using?

Sure they have a bigger hard drive, but I have to start saving up for my THIRD Xbox.

Wii-Tard

Interesting. 1TB hard drive soon for XBox? I'm surprised that they haven't announced Blu-Ray support yet.

vlv723

Faster load times are nice, but the best thing about this is that we won't have to hear the 360's godawful disc drive being so LOUD.

Gam3r

This is, atleast in part, because of the issues that Microsoft has with piracy for it's games. Currently, with a firmware modification you could play burned games from disc. However this gonna change with partial installations.

Xtreme_Hindu_Cow

Id really like to see the cost of the 360 HDD reduced a lot, especailly as then i can install my most played games.

Im not sure i'd like to see any HDD like the PS3. The problem with HDDs is they are not all equal, everyone upgrading a PS3 will be looking at price and capacity, rather than speed, buffers, reliability. Exactly the same would happen on the 360, and that will just lead to HDDs dying later in their life (i've killed numerous laptop HDDs), and that'll just make the xbox forums even more of a nightmare.

Mr_Ed