It seems like perhaps the Core was not a good idea afterall then? What will Microsoft do? Give everyone with a Core a hard drive now and lose further money? Or offer 512mb memory sticks to those with a core?

Either way Microsoft will lose a lot of money over this, to me it seems Microsoft is quite content on making some loses but what gets me is why have they put themselves in this embarrassing situation?

The core console has always struck me as false economy. Likewise I am so used to having my premium 360 hooked up to the net, it is now part and parcel in terms of receiving patches and updates. Take Burnout Paradise as an example - you're really missing out if you've not downloaded the additional content for that...

Nail and Head are words that spring to mind. Don't forget Microsoft never forced anyone to purhcase a core console it was only those that wanted to take the cheaper option and should realise the sacrifices for no memory as memory for saves etc is nothing new in the console world.

I'm sure for those that still have no memory device and have not previosuly been interested in any updates etc and generally play offline that they can continue to use the old operating system on the console without any issues and continue to play the games they are playing

Microsoft are just trying to help those that would like to upgrade to NXB but do not have the memory to do so.

So unless you are a Sony Fanboy why the negative attitude ??? Surely this is a thumbs up to Microsoft and its excellent they are trying to help those who decided to purchase machines without memory (again totally the customers choice). Something Microsoft have no obligation to do !??!?

So a big thumbs up to Microsoft again thinging of the customer.

Oh trust me I can tell you that I am no Sony fanboy I much prefer the 360 for many many reasons.

My argument is how everyone else will see this, a hard drive this gen was and still is crucial however those that purchase the Core console and not the newer arcade packs that come with a memory stick are going to be a little stuck but unless they have already bought a hard drive or a 512mb memory stick then they should be fine, no?

If Microsoft is going to do something about it then great but I doubt they will give all core users a 20gb hard drive if they did it would then mean all games could be made with the hard drive in mind...

I would imagine that MS will sell 128/256/512mb Memory sticks with the new dashboard pre installed.(for the same price as a normal 128/256/512Mb stick)

That way people with the Core/Arcade can install it, and people with no Network connectivity can install it too.

Simply really.

Now.. . where's my prize.

Then technically they would not be 128mb/384mb/512mb if they had 128mb pre-installed...And lets not forget once formatted you lose space.

What I do not understand is why these companies opt for obsolete memory sizes, this day and age you can get huge space hard drives cheap and memory stick in gigs cheap too yet Microsoft opts for small hard drives at huge prices and small memory sticks for huge prices - 512mb memory stick for the 360 is £35 you can get 4gb memory sticks for less!

@6

True, But for £35 you can shop around and get a 20GB 360 HDD. It's not exactly that expensive, Yeah it's more than you should pay, But it's still affordable, as is the 60GB HDD at £50, You can even pick up the 120GB for £75.

As I say, yeah it's more than you should pay, But I think if people really wanted the memory they'd pay those prices.

I would think its possible that Microsoft would offer a free memory card with just the new operating system installed.

they could opperate it in the same fashion as the current online console repair system. If you have an arcade system prior to memory cards being included you can log on enter the serial number of your console (which will confirm manufacture date and which type of console it is) and they will send you a mem card with the update installed or something along those lines.

The point I was trying to get across earlier was that I totally agree not to memory in this gen is not really an option but it was the "customers" decission when the console was released if the purchased one with no memory. I had that decission and opted for the premium for that very reason.

@6

Memory is always overpriced, hell PS2 memory cards are still like £12-15 for 8Mb of memory! You can tell me thats overpriced :p

@8: I agree. The lack of a hard drive in the 360 is a major problem for the consumer AND the developer. However, if you read what Peter Moore said about how the inbuilt Hard drive killed the original xbox, then you can see why they left it as an option.
Hard drives don't get cheaper, they get bigger for the same price.

@10 hard drives don't get cheaper they get bigger? Sorry but that statement is 100% false. Hard drives have become cheaper and bigger because technology has improved and costs have come down greatly.

@6

I reckon they'll permit use of a USB pen drive or EXT HDD solely for NXE (not for current content: vids, demos or game saves) & "for a limited time"...

Can't they just unlock the SD card slot? Surely they realised that the built in flash memory wouldn't take long to fill??

Free, branded USB sticks with the 'NXE" on that you can't add anything else too seem the logical step.

Here is a question, where is the current Xbox 360 dashboard data stored if you own a Core? Last I read Microsoft said the interface uses 32mb of system memory to run when they were comparing it to the PS3 which was using 96mb of system memory.

So if this new update needs 128mb again where is the current dashboard data stored exactly?

According to NEOGAF
"
For now it appears if you own a CORE console with less then 128MB of storage you are eligible for either a FREE 512MB Memory Card or a refurbished 20GB HDD for $19.99.

If you are an ARCADE owner with less then 128MB of storage it appears you may be eligible for a refurbished 20GB HDD + 3 months of Xbox Live for $29.99.

We are still trying to figure out what is eligible for what but this so far seems to be correct. Having less then 128 MB of storage may not be a requirement but we aren't 100% sure."

http://www.xboxstorageupgrade.com/hh/web/home/hhauthentication.jsp;jsessionid=F503007E36CB4BFA0214EB28B736CB52?ssLocale=en_US

@11: I thought someone would pick me up on that! "Hard drives don't get cheaper they get bigger".

Let me explain:At the low end of the market (i was talking about the death of the XBOX 1 here), it costs the same to make a 20GB drive as it does to make a 40GB drive. The cost of materials is exactly the same. There is the same amount of electronics, same amount of material etc etc. The only change is the platter, and that is a increase in density, not number. (remember this is at the low end of the market - Not 1TB drives).

According to Peter Moore they could not get Xbox drives any cheaper than what they had originally paid. They could, however, get a bigger drive for the same price (in fact the drive size did increase from 8GB to 10GB during the life cycle of the xbox- Although you could not access the extra 2gb). The xbox 1 was costed with the falling price of hard drives in mind. The base (lowest) price was just higher than imagined.

@14: I assumed the line "Users will need 128MB of storage space to run the new firmware upgrade" meant that the actual upgrade [process] needed 128MB.(Swapping files out, keepng saved data, having a backup of the original dash if the installation fails, etc etc) The actually running of the dash may take considerably less.

I could be wrong though. The wording is quite ambiguous.

Well this is what they are doing...

http://www.xboxstorageupgrade.com" onclick="window.open ( this.href ); return false;" class="comment_url" >http://www.xboxsto...e.com

Xbox 360 Acade owners: Refurbished 20GB HDD + 3 months of Xbox Live for $30.
Xbox 360 Core owners: 512MB memory card for free OR refurbished 20GB HDD for $20.

As you can see, they are US prices, So I'm not quite sure what is happening for Europe.

From further looking at the site, I can see you can set your location. So that answers that.

@18: Yeah Engadget are running the same story.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/13/microsofts-new-xbox-experience-storage-solution-free-memory/" onclick="window.open ( this.href ); return false;" class="comment_url" >http://www.engadge...mory/

So the end solution is to purchase a hard drive or memory card...So if you own a Core you can get a free memory card fine, but if you got the Arcade pack you have to buy the hard drive its very cheap but still is forcing the consumer to make a purchase whereas I thought Microsoft would give those with a core a free memory card.

@21

It seems that only applies to the US.

Here in Europe you can either get a free 512MB memory card, or pay £12.99 for a 20GB refurbed hard drive.

Just got a E-mail from MS saying i may not have enough memory to run the NXB, so i followed the links and was told i had a arcade machine, which i knew and was offered a 20gb for £13.... I bought one straight away.

@21, if you have a core and are offered a free memory card all they are doing is upgrading you to the Arcade as if you have an arcade, you should still have a 512mb card that came with the machine, i think offering the discounted hard drive is good for MS, I'm surprised they did not say delete things off your card or buy a full price hard drive.

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