USB storage for Xbox 360 in spring

By Robert Purchese Published 18 March, 2010

Anything up to 16GB, says report.

A new report claims Xbox 360 will support USB mass storage devices as soon as this spring.

Apparently anything up to 16GB will be usable as the de facto console hard drive.

The report, published by Joystiq, claims to have come from a software engineer at Microsoft. The piece says USB Mass Storage Device Support will be added through a system update.

Any piece of Xbox 360 content - even full game installs - can be done on the USB device, provided it has enough space. You'll still need the disc in the tray to be authenticated for play.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (68) Latest comment 2 years ago

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

  • zombies #1 2 years ago

    OOoh nice

    Hold on... 16 GB?!?
    Edited by 1 at 18/03/10 @ 17:31

  • GaryHoward #2 2 years ago

    Pretty handy I must say and yes there are 16 GB pen drives zombies. There are USB drives as high as 128 GB!

  • agparrot #3 2 years ago

    Are you sure it won't only use the Microsoft Offical USB Memory stick adaptation storage thingumijig, priced from £59.99 upwards?

  • EgbertoTheGreat #4 2 years ago

    Hope that's true but it would mark a departure from MS's previous policy on peripherals. I.e. Bespoke wifi adapters, bluetooth & harddrives

  • jaywalker3010 Verified Mastering Manager, Square Enix #5 2 years ago

    As long as its formatted to a supported file format it should work with any brand of USB device..

  • ignatiusjreilly #6 2 years ago

    Apparently anything up to 16GB will be usable as the de facto console hard drive.

    More like a de facto memory card. They've artificially limited it exactly so that they cannot be a satisfactory replacement for a hard drive.

  • Skurmedel #7 2 years ago

    Wow they are getting frivolous with the storage, 16 gigabytes... that's an enormous amount of information, several millions of characters. Who would store such amounts of data?!

  • Jayke #8 2 years ago

    LOL

    first of all USB bandwidth is slower than SATA, considerably...so loading and all HDD activities would take an eternity...second..16GB?? you'd have to change hard drives to play every other game LOL

  • Invisible_Cow #9 2 years ago

    Got very excited when I read the headline, but this is just a typical Microsoft bait-and-switch. 16GB limitation means there's still no competition to their stupidly overpriced hard-drives.

  • asharkman #10 2 years ago

    That's gotta be a typo surly 160gb is what they meant?
    where the hell am i going to find a 16gig hard drive?

  • ignatiusjreilly #11 2 years ago

    ^ USB stick.

  • uglygamer #12 2 years ago

    You can use two sticks to double up the memory to 32Gb
    Edited by 1 at 18/03/10 @ 18:00

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #13 2 years ago

    USB2.0 is probably faster than the DVD access speed.

    Edit: some research shows USB 2.0 can be up to 480Mbit/sec and 12xDVD is up to 120Mbit/sec. Plus seek time is probably reduced, too.


    I wonder if the 16GB limit means that on larger devices, up to 16GB can be used for storage? That'd be handy for me since I've got an old 80GB hard drive plugged in to mine with all my MP3s on it, but there's easily 16GB I can spare.

    Edit2:
    According to Engadget, that is exactly what will happen, subject to setting up partitions and stuff.

    Oh, but wait, that probably means the xbox won't recognise the FAT32 partition that I keep my music on if I put a game partition on it. Tricky decision... unless they're really kind to us and recognise game and non-game partitions on the same device.
    Edited by 2 at 18/03/10 @ 18:13

  • mad_caddy #14 2 years ago

    @ uglygamer and there is a third USB slot on the back of the console so 3 USB sticks.
    Edited by 3 at 18/03/10 @ 17:46

  • neosalad #15 2 years ago

    wow. you'd nearly have though it was April the 1st.. if this is true, fantastic news! and maybe now the hard drive limitations will stop holding us back... i have a 20 and a 60, and wasnt relishing the idea of having to get another one.... but they easily fill up, and i'd much rather stick more game sont he drive and spare my discs, it still makes some weird noises, and i often cringle.. espeically when my halo mythic disc is in!!
    Edited by 1 at 18/03/10 @ 17:54

  • uglygamer #16 2 years ago

    @ uglygamer and there is a third USB slot on the back of the console so 3 USB sticks.

    The article states you will not be allowed to use 3 slots. So 32Gb maximum.

  • WinterSnowblind #17 2 years ago

    @Jayke
    You're not going to be keeping installed games on lots of seperate memory sticks though, are you?
    Sounds like it would be more useful as an addition to your HDD.

  • Pastici #18 2 years ago

    Nice, no more annoying gamertag recovery :).

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #19 2 years ago

    The reformatting isn't the problem. The issue is whether a fat32 partition on the device will be readable to the xbox as well as the Xbox 360-formatted system and user partitions. If my (more than 16gb of) music can live in the spare space on the drive and still be read by the 360, then I shall be happy as larry.

  • Bruce_One #20 2 years ago

    Meh.

  • Bruce_One #21 2 years ago

    Just put a lovely, huge 500Gb SATA in my PS3. Workin like a DREAM! Love havin all my media on there with room to spare. Gets used every day. My Elite, however, (which just arrived back from Frankfurt with a new dodgy whistling sound after being fixed fir RROD!!) is getting used less and less...

  • Dizzy #22 2 years ago

    Paving the way for a non disk next gen system. Finally!

  • WinterSnowblind #23 2 years ago

    @Bruce_One
    Gloating is a sign of insecurity.

  • des #24 2 years ago

    Good news for current and future Arcade owners.

    And it is very obvious that device won't be using FAT32,since it allows installs.

  • RobotRocker #25 2 years ago

    It's probably a reaction to their own storage media is dropping in price like a bad habit (I've seen pre-owned 120GB drives go for as low as £40 recently) and them losing ground to Hong Kong sellers and those who create their own externals. 16GB should be enough to keep the people who just bought Arcades happy for now.

    Eventually they will probably open up to all externals as what is making the money is the Downloadable content and they will need something to combat the PS3's status as a media hub. Again, with the usual Microsoft boundaries (You will probably have to partition into their own file format) but its probably not going to be too long. Maybe the post E3 summer update?

  • comissars_handgun #26 2 years ago

    Good stuff, though I could have used this a couple of months ago when I had to transfer all my saves from my old 20GB HDD to my new Elite using a 64MB memory card. If I could have used my USB stick instead I would have been spared an eternity of hard drive swapping.

    They also need to update to allow you to transfer original Xbox saves as well. Not that I object hugely to having to complete San Andreas for about the 5th time...

  • Lusterpurge #27 2 years ago

    They should have said "flash drive" as "USB storage" can be confusing.

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #28 2 years ago

    Add this to the leaked slim board with apparently fewer MU slots & two sata ports and it looks like MS may finally be opening the system up a bit!

    About fucking time to be frank. ;)

  • Sunyavadin #29 2 years ago

    I'll be able to save to my USB sticks? About time....

    But you'd think after all the work they put into shutting down third party memory stick providers this is an odd U-turn. Especially when this makes the OFFICIAL reason for banning them (Hacked game saves) EASIER.
    Edited by 1 at 18/03/10 @ 20:06

  • Retroid #30 2 years ago

    If this is true it's very good news for people.

    Two points:

    1) I'll be staggered if this doesn't require the USB device to be formatted to XFAT, the Xbox (and 360) filing system which'd make it far harder to read on PCs. There'll probably be other security in place to try to stop any hacking & save-game tampering.

    2) Is this another hint towards the 360 slim?

  • Colin8703 #31 2 years ago

    I'd be happy from the view that i can put my XBLA games on it and then take my gamertag as well.

    That suits me fine as you'd have to take the disc with you if you were on the move anyway.

  • Alkeno #32 2 years ago

    It's great news coming from Microsoft, they have loosened their grip a little bit.

    This is still quite lame from them, but it will be good enough for many users. I have the 20gb drive (13gb actually) and it's always full... one installed game plus a couple of demos and some DLC. Adding 16 gigs is more than doubling the available room, which is just what most people need (as long as you don't expect to have every game installed and lot's of music and videos).

  • GrandpaUlrira #33 2 years ago

    About bloody time.

  • GrandpaUlrira #34 2 years ago

    Actually, I assumed this would finally make it possible to backup my games in a relatively inexpensive way (as memory cards don't seem to be on the High Street at reasonable prices). That's the case, right?

  • FortysixterUK #35 2 years ago

    USB stick = NO
    External HD 1GB in size = YES.

    WTF are MS playing at ?....oh of course, they are going to find some way to rip off the Xbox faithful...again.

  • Gastrian #36 2 years ago

    @mentalist(air)

    It doesn't quite work that way. USB2.0 does have a max transfer rate of 480Mbits per second but thats across the whole bus, not a single port and as the 360 controllers are USB and unless the 360 has multiple USB2.0 bus(es) they are going to take a chunk out of that 480Mbps.

    Also its not commonly known because they were never intended to be used that way but memory pens, like all solid state drives, have a write lifetime. That is they only have a finite number of writes and comparatively its not that big. So if you use a USB pen instead of a hard-drive there's going to be constant writes to it through Xbox Live updates, perpetual saves and if it uses it as a cache then that is going to replace that chisel with a railroad spike and sledgehammer.

    In principle it sounds good but there just maybe more than a few drawbacks as well.

  • ybfelix #37 2 years ago

    I hope they let us change HDD in 360 Slim, not too hopeful, though.

    It's strange that PS3 users often says they can change HDD up to 500GB. What's the use? My 160G PS3 still have 90G free despite dozens of demos and DLCs. It's 360 need HDD most, since it can download full retail games and INSTALL WHOLE games onto storage. My 120G has multiple game installed and only 8GB left for "emergency".

  • CosmicFuzz #38 2 years ago

    Could be good for downloading something from marketplace on your pc, stick it on a USB stick and play it from there on your xbox.

  • Fab4 #39 2 years ago

    "It's strange that PS3 users often says they can change HDD up to 500GB. What's the use? My 160G PS3 still have 90G free despite dozens of demos and DLCs. It's 360 need HDD most, since it can download full retail games and INSTALL WHOLE games onto storage. My 120G has multiple game installed and only 8GB left for "emergency"."

    Many PS3 owners use them as media centres...so movies, music, por...er, pictures of loved ones.

  • Darren #40 2 years ago

    I have a few 8 GB and 16 GB USB sticks lying around so it's nice to know that I'll have another means of backing up most of Xbox 360 save games because even the official 512 MB memory unit, which I currently use, is limited.

  • Darren #41 2 years ago

    @Fab4 - Yeah, that's right.

    I have a 250 GB HDD in my PS3 Slim and it has 60 GB of music stored on it, transferred over from my PC. That means that I don't have to leave my PC on if I want to listen to it so it makes the PS3 a great standalone media centre.

    The Xbox 360 isn't quite as useful IMO as it can only stream content from external devices (HDDs, USB sticks, etc.) or media centres (such as a PC), which isn't quite as convenient, plus it lacks the option to copy media such as music and videos directly onto its hard drive. Music *can* be copied onto the HDD but only by ripping it from a CD, which is painfully slow on the 360 compared with a PC or even a PS3.

  • Darren #42 2 years ago

    @ybfelix - So you admit that your own 120 GB HDD is almost full yet ask why people want large capacity drives? :?

    All it takes is a few pieces of DLC for a game, some of which can be several GBs in size, an Arcade title (many are 500 MB+ these days) and rent a movie from the Video Marketplace and you'll soon find yourself running low on space even if it's only temporary. True, you can delete an installed game to make more room but then if you decide you want to play it then you'll have to endure the racket the Xbox 360 puts out when it loads games from a disc.

    IMO, you can *never* have enough disc space, that's why Microsoft released a 250 GB HDD for the 360, knowing that people might want the extra space for their game installs, DLC, Games on Demand, etc., etc.

  • Bealsy #43 2 years ago

    I think this is awesome. Joystiq has the images as well. Great for backing up my save games on an external hard drive. Very impressed if true Microsoft :)

  • kangarootoo #44 2 years ago

    @Fortysixeruk

    "the Xbox faithful"

    What on earth does that mean?

  • kangarootoo #45 2 years ago

    Good news as far as I am concerned. I was on the brink of buying a new HDD to replace my 20GB (despite their ludicrous pricing that makes me mad with rage... MAD). A few cheap sticks for game installs will mean I don't have to anymore.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #46 2 years ago

    As far as I am concerned...

    The facts:

    * It will work with a USB storage device of any size greater than 1GB
    * It will put a 512MB Xbox system partition on, and an up to 16GB Xbox User partition.
    * It will also allow you to put whatever other partitions you want on it.
    * The formatting software will have some capacity for preserving data you already have on the device.

    The unknowns:

    * Whether you will be able to access the data that was on the device originally, stored in a FAT32 partition, they way you can at the moment for media files as well as using that device for Xbox data storage.


    To be honest, if you can't, I'll probably just format the USB hard drive anyway and have an excuse to buy one of those NAS things that are compatible with consoles for media streaming.
    Edited by 1 at 19/03/10 @ 09:18

  • kangarootoo #47 2 years ago

    @Mentalist(air)

    Any idea whether this will work with USB converters (for miniSD and so on)?

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #48 2 years ago

    I suspect it'll work with anything that can currently show up as a device to play music, videos and photos off when you plug it in, that would include SD card readers.

    It would appear that the device will also need to let the xbox format it, I don't know enough about USB storage device protocols to know if that's likely to rule some things in or out.

  • orangpelupa #49 2 years ago

    sd card reader should works. its use standars isb mass storage.

  • actionfitz #50 2 years ago

    "Anything up to 16GB, says report."

    make that anything up to 2TB and we can talk.

    I've also heard you can only register a max of x2 16gb drives per system.
    yep. they're still a bunch of cunts.

  • altitude2k #51 2 years ago

    It's a good move in the right direction. But I agree that it should be open to all sizes of USB drive.

  • FortysixterUK #52 2 years ago

    kangarootoo
    19/03/10 @ 09:03

    "the Xbox faithful"

    What on earth does that mean?

    The xbox faithful are those that buy MS hardware and branded software. Those that don't hack their system to run a pirated version of that xbox or arcade title. Those that pay premium price for everything on xbox.

    Soz, thought it was all in the phrase.

  • StooMonster #53 2 years ago

    Will I be able to download DLC to a USB device to use on both my Xbox 360 consoles?

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #54 2 years ago

    "the Xbox faithful"

    Ah, I see, a less pejorative word for a fanboy.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #55 2 years ago

    Will I be able to download DLC to a USB device to use on both my Xbox 360 consoles?

    It'll work the same way as it does for memory cards.

    Which is, if I understand correctly, that the content is authorised for the xbox it is downloaded to, and also to the Live account that downloaded it. So if you download it on one machine, but want to play it on another machine, you'll have to have your live account user profile transferred to the removable device, and be signed in to Live on the internet (not just signed in to the account locally) for the content to be accessible.

  • BM #56 2 years ago

    So my take on this is that by opening up the storage, they must now also be supporting NTFS formatted drives surely? If you install a game onto a USB stick, I'd imagine it's going to be over the 4Gb file size you're limited to on FAT32.

    If this is true, it's a big thumbs up from me :)

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #57 2 years ago

    You're thinking of FAT16, FAT32 gives you at least 2 terrabytes.

    And the full article, which Eurogamer really should have copied more out of, tells us that it will involve two Xbox-proprietary formatted partitions. I believe they won't be readable from a regular PC, unless you've got the Xbox 360 SDK installed like the guy taking the joystiq screenshots has.

  • Sunyavadin #58 2 years ago

    A more practical thing from MS for the 360 would be LETTING US MANUALLY CONTROL CACHE SIZE.

    That way I could set it to about 50GB and forget about having to redownload updates for games that have been overwritten by the updates to the most recent games I've played.

  • Sunyavadin #59 2 years ago

    You're thinking of FAT16, FAT32 gives you at least 2 terrabytes.

    Technically. However under windows you're limited to a fairly small size (32GB) before it loses the ability to format FAT32 and demands NTFS. I discovered this problem when trying to get my 1TB external drive to hook up to my 360, as the 360 IRONICALLY cannot recognise the superior format which MS were so keen to get us all using.
    Thankfully I discovered a handy app called fat32format which allows you to format drives over this limit.

  • kangarootoo #60 2 years ago

    @FortysixterUK

    As Mentalist(air) said, it has an air of fanboy to it. I have a 360, and use it in the way you describe. But I'm not faithful, I'm just a customer, and I have a PS3 as well.


    @StooMonster and Mentalist(air)

    The way the DLC security used to work (don't know if it is still the case) was as follows.

    If you buy some content (lets say an XBLA game), it useable by anyone on the original 360 on which it was purchased (the serial number is recorded I guess). You don't have to be signed in yourself for it to work. Any user can play the XBLA game.

    However, if you migrate or recover your XBLive ID to a different 360 and re-download the same content again from your purchase history, it will only work on that new 360 if you are signed into XBLive.

  • kangarootoo #61 2 years ago

    @Sunyavadin

    I also used fat32format, to format a large drive for use with my PS3 (which obviously can't see NTFS, it being a MS format).

    Very handy app.

  • Spungles #62 2 years ago

    @kangarootoo
    'If you buy some content ....'

    You can go on Xbox.com and change your licenses to be tied to your new Xbox, then it all can be played without being connected to Live. Sometimes you need to re-download stuff but it works.

  • kangarootoo #63 2 years ago

    @Spungles

    This is true. Though I think that is limited to 5 changes, before you have to call up MS and explain yourself :)

  • Spungles #64 2 years ago

    Yeah, and I think there's a once per year limit as well now you mention it.

  • ybfelix #65 2 years ago

    @Darren: No, I was questioning more storage for PS3 since it seems doesn't needs badly as 360 do. Well, media center is an answer(I use my PC as that.). As for 360, yes, the more the better, I stated I wish they allow HDD swap on Slim 360.

  • telboy007 #66 2 years ago

    This will be very useful for saving your profile and arcade games to and going round a mates, if you have any mates obviously. Unlike me, I don't have any friends.

    In terms of bigger drives and media shenanigans. If you've got more money than sense (me) you could get a Windows Home Server which is perma-on, usually air cooled so they don't make any noise, very low usages on electricity and you can merrily stream mp4s, mp3s, pics to the 360. Gave me a geekgasm anyway.

  • Gastrian #67 2 years ago

    @mentalist(air) any idea if this is hot-swapable?

  • metalangel #68 2 years ago

    A shame this probably won't work with iPods. Running a game stored on the iPod while it also plays my entire music collection would be too good to be true.