MS won't release standalone 250GB 360

By Ellie Gibson Published 15 February, 2010

It's exclusive to bundles, says Greenberg.

Microsoft spokesperson Aaron Greenberg has said there are no plans to release the 250GB Xbox 360 outside of limited edition hardware bundles.

A Final Fantasy XIII package was announced just last week. Previously, the 250GB unit has been available as part of Modern Warfare 2 and Forza Motorsport 3 bundles, but never as a standalone product. Greenberg told Joystiq that limiting the release of the console is "part of what makes it special".

"We're always evaluating, but for now we feel like the 120 is serving us very well as the standard offering," he said. "And then having the 250 as a limited edition is a good balance."

So there you go.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (63) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Fab4 #1 2 years ago

    Pathetic.

  • SBfistfun #2 2 years ago

    Good balance my arse.

    More like they would have to price the 250 GB drive at a level where the cost of the 120GB would look ridiculous.

    Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining sonny!

  • Paperghost #3 2 years ago

    And yet now you have DLC that isn't just an "optional extra", but setups like the Ten Dollar Project which are now effectively an essential part of purchasing games brand new. If you reach a stage where you can't even grab *that* content because you're eternally having to juggle HDD space - it seems Bioware / EA are serious about shunting a lot of potentially space consuming data for ME2, for example - then this strikes me as an even more baffling decision.

    Do MS want you to spend lots of money on their digital download services or not?
    Edited by 2 at 15/02/10 @ 09:49

  • MaxiSleep #4 2 years ago

    This is a ridiulously dumb move. With installs 360's eat space, and since I am pretty noise sensitive I install pretty much all my games. Glad I have a bundle 250 but really wish I could get bigger capacity.

  • Eraysor #5 2 years ago

    Looks like Microsoft is back on the slippery slope to complete retardation again.

  • pingu #6 2 years ago

    How can they be happy with how the 120gb is performing? It's impossible to actually find one.

  • des #7 2 years ago

    "for now"

  • Retroid #8 2 years ago

    Well that's bloody stupid.

  • altitude2k #9 2 years ago

    Does anyone seriously need more than 120GB at the moment? I never get anywhere near maxing out that capacity. I guess I could do if I was worried about saving 5 seconds loading time for every game I own....but I'm not.

    EDIT: I guess it would still be nice to have the option, I guess.
    Edited by 1 at 15/02/10 @ 09:36

  • thegamesthething #10 2 years ago

    Well the improved loading times are secondary, compared to the reduced noise and longer lifetime of the console.

    A good example of MS demonstrating that they are a mature, experienced console manufacturer, and can behave just as stupidly as Sony when the mood takes them.

  • TeaFiend #11 2 years ago

    The reason for 250 is future proofing.

    MS have said the 360 has a good few more years of life in it. the 20gb HD was seen as big when it came out, now it is seen as small. The 120 is going that way soon.

  • Buztafen #12 2 years ago

    Another justification for buying that (overpriced) Forza 3 Super Elite! \o/

    /dies from severe food deprevation
    Edited by 1 at 15/02/10 @ 09:45

  • ignatiusjreilly #13 2 years ago

    The reason for the 250GB is that it is probably as cheap or cheaper to produce than the 120GB. I'm sure it will be available standalone and as part of a console bundle once all the old hard drives have sold through.

  • Darren #14 2 years ago

    Looks like Microsoft want people who require the additional hard drive space to buy a new Xbox 360! A typically shrewd Microsoft move there! Describing the 250 GB HDD Xbox 360 as being "limited" edition is a bit confusing though. Are they saying that it will only be available for a short-time only? :?

    Sony have done a lot of things wrong this generation but one thing they got 100% right was allowing PS3 owners to very easily upgrade the console with a cheap third-party hard drive. A 500 GB HDD can be purchased for the PS3 as a result for less than the cost of Microsoft's own (IMO overpriced) 120 GB HDD. True, the PS3 needs a hard drive more than the 360 for those nasty mandatory game installs (tut!) but in its own way so does the 360 because of the racket it makes when playing discs!!!

  • chessboxer #15 2 years ago

    Sounds like a timed exclusive.

    @ Darren

    You can get a 640GB HDD for£84 or less but you can also do many more things with the PS3's HDD than you can with the 360's.

  • metalangel #16 2 years ago

    Idiocy. I've got a 60Gb drive and it is just about adequate for a few installs. Add the DLC and GOD stuff they're pushing and I can see a 120 running out of space.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #17 2 years ago

    Well done, Des, I was about to type "for now", too.

  • Geordiemp #18 2 years ago

    Agree with most posters, have 2 x 80 GB jaspers and they are always full as we install everything to HD and have to juggle disk space constantly.

    Listen MS, we also have 320 GB Ps3, if a multiplat is similar, often buy for Ps3 as cant be arsed to juggle the HD space.

    If you made 250 GB Disks cheap, people might buy more arcade / DLC and actually use some of the multimedia features...

  • McBradders #19 2 years ago

    I have a little space left on my 60gig and was ready to be done up the bum for a 250gigger day one. You don't want my money, Microsoft?

    Fair enough.

    :(

  • BobsUncle #20 2 years ago

    You can make your own anyway. It's really not difficult.

  • Distributor #21 2 years ago

    Bobsuncle: that maybe the case but not for the general consumer.

  • BobsUncle #22 2 years ago

    Distributor, yeah that's true, but it's probably within reach of most people complaining here.

    You can also get them on ebay for 60 quid.

  • RobotRocker #23 2 years ago

    You can make your own anyway. It's really not difficult.

    And get banned for it too since MS are cracking down on those drives as well. Dick move, but their console IP I guess.

    Dont buy a 120GB off E-Bay either. Particularly from Hong Kong.

  • alimokrane #24 2 years ago

    There will be a 250GB harddrive as stand alone. The 360 will also come with one as standard possibly in a Natal bundle (another relaunch of the 360). The 120GB Elite will be phased out just as the 60GB Pro was. This is just the usual MS "We dont have anything planned" comment.
    Edited by 1 at 15/02/10 @ 11:01

  • gynsu2000 #25 2 years ago

    And get banned for it too since MS are cracking down on those drives as well.

    Not really, I haven't see anyone using a self-made HDD been banned so far. Unless you have proof of what you're saying.
    Edited by 1 at 15/02/10 @ 11:14

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #26 2 years ago

    RobotRacker, have you got any links stating that MS are banning people with hacked harddrives?

    This is MS's biggest fuckup this gen (along with scrapping the mid priced 360). What annoys me most is how all these so called journalists (Joystiq in this case) never grill people like Greenburg over it. Sort it out!

    "Why is your drive so expensive?"

    "I know from research that there really isnt anything special to justify this price? So WHY ARE THEY SO EXPENSIVE?"

    "Have you not read the negative reaction to this price universally from all gamers? Do you not think you would be better off making the drives cheaper from a PR perspective?"

    "Do you not think that any profit lost from reducing the price may be recouped from selling more DLC? Tell me again WHY you can charge THREE TIMES more for a standard drive with different firmware and a plastic case?"

    Don't let them get out of it with bullshit responses. I'd rather the prick walked out with a "This interview's over". That would be a good news item in itself. ;)

    Give me the job, I'll have the bloke crying into his latte. :)

    Edited by 1 at 15/02/10 @ 11:18

  • RobotRocker #27 2 years ago

    @ gynsu 2000, SpaceMidget 75

    [link url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/micr osoft-bans-unauthorised-memory-units
    ]http://ww w.eurogamer.net/articles/micros...[/link]

    Right here.

    What annoys me most is how all these so called journalists (Joystiq in this case) never grill people like Greenburg over it. Sort it out!

    Two things wrong with that.

    1 - You Dont piss off the company that provides exclusives to your games news company with hostile questioning.
    2 - Always realise they will have a prepared response like having to use different protocols to interface with the 360 etc, etc.

    You wont win and the blog/site/magazine you work for will swiftly boot you up the ass and out the door. Gamasutra or Gamesindustry.biz might get away with a nicer worded version of it but would get response number 2 up there.

    Games Media: A shameful business.

  • WyatEarp #28 2 years ago

    Seems a daft decision by M$ - plenty of people want the option of a bigger HDD. I've just bought a new 250gig from broadband buyer for £79. Official M$ drive taken from a 'Super Elite'. Works fine and I haven't been banned from Live.

  • gynsu2000 #29 2 years ago

    The ban you're referring to didn't apply to "home-made" HDD.

  • Murton #30 2 years ago

    I'd pay good money to see one of these games company execs get grilled by Paxman, it would get a million hits on youtube within hours.

    On the subject of drive space, it doesn't make sense for MS to push the GoD service without the 360 having an adequate HDD to actually make use of it. Between GoD and DLC MS stands to make massive gains from making larger HDDs available and affordable but for whatever reason MS thinks to the contrary. Personally I think the HDD units are priced to recover losses being made elsewhere in the business, just my opinion.

  • RobotRocker #31 2 years ago

    The ban you're referring to didn't apply to "home-made" HDD.

    Yes it does.

    Quote from here [link url=http:// gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2009/11/12/news-Microsoft-Ba nning-Up-To-1-Million-Modded-360s.aspx
    ]http://ga meinformer.com/b/news/archive/2...[/link]

    This wave of console castration won’t result in bricked units, but gamers will definitely be unable to connect to Live. If you think that terabyte of extra hard-drive space you custom added to your 360 is passable by Microsoft’s standards, you better think again, as non-Microsoft storage devices also raise the ban flag.

    So yes, a modified Hard Drive, even if it has nothing to do with piracy, marks you for termination.

  • ignatiusjreilly #32 2 years ago

    As long as you don't put in a bigger hard drive than is currently available, I don't think they can tell one way or the other.

    But the fact is, their terms of service say they can ban you for "using unauthorized hardware peripheral devices" and you never know what MS will do in future, plus your warranty is voided if you do it anyway, so it's probably not a good solution for lots of people.

  • RobotRocker #33 2 years ago

    As long as you don't put in a bigger hard drive than is currently available, I don't think they can tell one way or the other.

    Allegedly, but apparently MS have security spotchecks that can catch out modded drives (One of the big problems with modded drives is that some games don't read the cache properly) even if they are at the right size. A guy I know who partitioned a 120GB drive on an external got the console banned off XBL during the last banhammer wave. They are disturbingly good at it.

    I'd pay good money to see one of these games company execs get grilled by Paxman, it would get a million hits on youtube within hours.

    One of the SCEE execs was put into the watchdog arena of death with Anne Robinson before. It was a miracle they were allowed show the bloodshed before the watershed. Horrifying.

  • riz23 #34 2 years ago

    Such a stupid position. Here I sit, a launch day purchaser of a 20G 360. Currently on my 3rd one and out of warranty now. I'd like to download a HD movie, buy some fat DLC, extend my XBLA collection, but I can't. Space is now at a premium. I float at around 3G worth. What does Microsoft want me to do, buy a new Elite? Buy a 'special edition' console? That's not going to happen. When this Xbox dies, and we all know it will, then it may well be time to trade in the massive games collection and go for a PS3. Silly, silly Microsoft.
    EDIT: To help those who seem to want to downgrade this comment because it does not support Microsoft, let me add that I enjoy playing on my 360 very much, yet this position is not rewarding this long term customer, hence the possibility of changing console.
    Edited by 1 at 15/02/10 @ 15:23

  • Peew971 #35 2 years ago

    Yet you can get them as a standalone in Japan, what's going on there?
    These are "region free" anyway so you can keep an eye on Play-asia.

  • metallicorphan #36 2 years ago

    i am not bothered about the bundle,but i wouldn't mind the option of having the 250gig HDD on its own so i can stick it on my 360...haven't there been a big cutprice recently on the 120gigs?

    i have about 40 gig left,but i have deleted a few things...Ninja Gaiden Black(G.O.D)..that was something like 6.9 gig(big for a xb1 game),i thopught that had better go,and if i wanna play it again i would download it again...if i had the 250 gig,i would of kept it on

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #37 2 years ago

    Sorry RobotRocker but that EG link only mentions Memory Units and the second link doesn't really say anything other than the writer mentioning a 1TB drive off his own bat.

    Do you have any links to something showing that a 20, 60 or 120GB HDD that isn't officially from MS will get you banned?

    As for my hard interviewing comments.

    "1 - You Dont piss off the company that provides exclusives to your games news company with hostile questioning. "

    I realise that they have to tow the line up to a point and my post was made rather tongue in cheek. I do however feel that they don't pehaps push as hard as they could.

    "2 - Always realise they will have a prepared response like having to use different protocols to interface with the 360 etc, etc."

    Which is clearly BS and they should be told as much.
    Edited by 1 at 15/02/10 @ 12:44

  • gynsu2000 #38 2 years ago

    If there is indeed a ban hammer for modded HDD, it's not live yet. The fall update was just going after Datel memcards.

  • StooMonster #39 2 years ago

    I bought a second Xbox 360 this weekend, Elite for £180 in game with three titles (only one of which I already owned and could trade-in) wasn't bad; wanted to hook it up to my projector after my PS3 owning buddy showed me his, gaming at 120-inches is fantastic and highly recommended.

    Now, the trouble is I have an Xbox 360 120GB with a bunch of DLC on it in my home-office / games room and another in the living-room / AV room. How do I manage DLC across two devices?

    Should I unplug the 120GB and shift that from room to room, or can I only use the memory card (bloody hell that was expensive, makes HDD look cheap) to copy save files from one to another?

  • CrunchinJelly #40 2 years ago

    That's odd...

    I thought they were releasing the 250GB standalone drive in Japan?

    Edit: Yep, March 11th: http://ww w.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-eo-4...
    Edited by 1 at 15/02/10 @ 12:53

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #41 2 years ago

    Stoomonster,

    Yeah, your best bet IMO is to use a Mem Unit (don't get me started) and keep your profile and gamesaves on there. You can then move between 360s and leave the harddrives where they are. You'll have to be signed into Live on the second 360 to use the DLC though.

  • Distributor #42 2 years ago

    Being in the industry I can say that in my neck of the woods the 120GB standalone HDD is EOL, which only means a 250gb HDD is coming. Its only a question of when.

  • schmung #43 2 years ago

    Outrageous TBH. Drives are stupidly hard to get hold of as it is - I can't get a 120gb (at a reasonable price) anywhere and don't want to risk the homebrew unit because you never know what M$ is going to pull. Since the firmware on 'em is cloned then I don't doubt that they'll have some way of identifying and therefore blocking them at some stage. It's an absolute joke and it's a situation that would never have arisen if they'd just priced the 120gb unit more fairly.

  • bonker #44 2 years ago

    "But the fact is, their terms of service say they can ban you for "using unauthorized hardware peripheral devices" "

    I'm pretty sure that if someone took them to court on that then MS would lose ...

  • Phredreeke #45 2 years ago

    They're waiting for existing HDDs to sell out before releasing new larger standalone HDDs.

  • McBradders #46 2 years ago

    If you do buy a 250gig how do you transfer data across? I though the 20 > 120 gig only worked on 60's and 120's... seems a waste to spend £80 on a new drive only to have to re-download everything again and, in some cases, lose your saves :(

  • northernlights #47 2 years ago

    Yeah i need to know about the data transfer part as well ! How are people going about doing this ? memory card option seems very long winded

  • ignatiusjreilly #48 2 years ago

    I think the official hard drives come with a data transfer cable, don't they?

  • northernlights #49 2 years ago

    no only the 120gb one. The 60gb one doesnt it comes with ethernet cable, headset and three months gold. I assume if you purchased a 250gb one off ebay even if its official there would be no cable.

  • RobotRocker #50 2 years ago

    Which is clearly BS and they should be told as much.

    A journalists job is not to pontificate, despite what Fox News tells you.

    If there is indeed a ban hammer for modded HDD, it's not live yet. The fall update was just going after Datel memcards.

    The ban hammer came down on the people running amounts in excess of the drives around Forza 3 time. MS can usually check if you are running a 250GB+ HD. MS are ridiculously secretive of their ban methods though so its hard to tell it from the people running pirated copies. There was a couple of cases running around NeoGAF at the time.

    See, the thing is that its all well and good running modded drives. Its cheaper, its not piracy and I sure as hell would want one since its more affordable. But MS will probably figure a way soon enough through stealth code in a big release or running serial batch numbers vs actual HD size. If there's anything that is absolute on the 360 (Other than the RROD f'narr, f'narr) the Ban Hammer will come for you if you even dream of modding it.

    As always, Caveat Emptor.

  • KayTannee #51 2 years ago

    *Sigh* Wish I bought a PS3. I'm a PC gamer, and I refuse to pay for online gaming, especially if have to play via matchmaking, which is laughable. And I refuse to pay well over the odds for a Western Digital HDD stuck in a plastic box. I bought an Xbox Arcade, BTW. Just wanted it for splitscreen gaming. But been a few DLCs and other bits wouldn't minded getting, BF1943 for example, but no way on this shiney green earth am I paying to play it online on P2P or spending over the odds for the HDD to store it on.

    Even though PS3s graphics card isn't as good and its more expensive, in the long run it seems like better money. Adding to that my Xbox has RROD'd. Sat on shelf, far too much effort sending it back for something I never use.

  • captainrentboy #52 2 years ago

    I guess I'm one of the very few out there that's still clinging onto a 3yr old 20 Gb Premium 360, and I've still got 4Gb of space left :)

  • penhalion #53 2 years ago

    Relax people Aaron Greenberg is simply trying not to kill the sales of the 120 until they have managed to get rid of the bloody things, otherwise Microsoft will find themselves stuck with a huge load of 120s and no muppets to buy them!

  • StooMonster #54 2 years ago

    SpaceMidget75 & STDK: thanks!

    I wish Xbox Live was a bit more like Steam: keep your saves in the cloud, and let you download your DLC to whatever console and be tied to your ID.

    Wouldn't it be better for them if say I went to a friends house, logged into my live and showed a game I had purchased by downloading it, then if my friend wished to purchase it they could simply do so (and it's already downloaded). Surely better than locking DLC to hardware? Lock it to account!

  • VibratingDonkey #55 2 years ago

    Sorry Mr. Greenberg, but the cat's out of the bag. "while supplies last" and all that.

    I imagine he's spouting this stupid PR BS because Microsoft wants you to continue buying the lesser version instead of waiting for the 250GB one as it would be more profitable for them.

    It's really quite astonishing. Are people really buying those ridiculously overpriced 120GB hard drives to the point that a price drop doesn't make sense? I just can't believe it. It's a 120GB 5400rpm hard drive, for €130. You can't even buy hard drives that small any longer. The smallest is 250GB, for 37.5% the price. Baffling. I am baffled. We're all doomed.

  • Numbat #56 2 years ago

    I really have never understood MS strategy on hard drive capacity.

    Do they want to sell download or not? If so, get big hard drives out as cheaply as possible.

  • Mnia786 #57 2 years ago

    Lol greedy bastards...

  • Dillinger #58 2 years ago

    more bullshit excuses and spin. What with this and Remedy's outright lying, today isnt a good day to read press releases..

  • metalangel #59 2 years ago

    Here's a question: why the hell, when you go into the memory manager on the dashboard, can you not see how much space music you've got stored is taking up? Yes, you could do some mental arithmetic, but why not just show us?

  • Loghorn #60 2 years ago

    And they're wondering why Sony is starting to catch up to them in sales. This is one of those reasons.

    Microsoft, pull yourselves together, damn it!

  • irve77 #61 2 years ago

    chinny rekon !!

  • geeza2020 #62 2 years ago

    i agree with a few people posts here, MS have handled the whole HDD thing really badly, and i have been stuck on a 20gb hdd since i bought my console two years ago. Its just started to run out of space over the last few months, and i now right on the edge after a bit of juggling and a ME2 install, but i cannot believe that MS get away with these prices for new HDD. I refuse to pay that much money for a frankly laughable amount of space. With more and more genuinely attractive exclusives popping up over on planet ps3, im seriously considering switching over in the summer. Cant take MS's bullshit anymore.

  • actionfitz #63 2 years ago

    ""We're always evaluating, but for now we feel like the 120 is serving us very well... in the Realm of Wallet-Rapery"

    FIXED.