Xbox 360 getting 250GB HDD in Japan

By Tom Bramwell Published 2 February, 2010

Due for release in March.

Microsoft plans to release an external 250GB hard disk for Xbox 360 in Japan.

The new hard disk will go on sale alongside other accessories on 11th March for 15,540 yen (£107 / €123), according to Watch Impress (thanks Kotaku).

It's not the first we've heard of the accessory - it also featured in a Modern Warfare 2 bundle - but it is the first time we've seen it sold separately. Microsoft previously denied having plans to do that.

We've contacted Microsoft UK to see whether it's changed its mind.

The largest available hard disk for Xbox 360 is currently 120GB - either as a standalone accessory or as part of the top-end hardware bundle, formerly known as the Xbox 360 Elite.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (43) Latest comment 2 years ago

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

  • Jonathan_Fakenham #1 2 years ago

    Sweet. Surely if it's released in Japan, Europe is not far behind?

    Seeing as I install my stuff and like to keep a constant collection of 10-12 games installed on my current 120GB disk, I would consider an upgrade to this one.

    Now all they need to do is let you play your games without having to pull out the game disc first.
    Edited by 1 at 02/02/10 @ 08:49

  • onyxbox #2 2 years ago

    So does this mean the HDD is more expensive than the console?

    /the mind boggles

  • Johnhost #3 2 years ago

    It's a shame everyone is so afraid of retail. Microsoft should be selling their entire Xbox 360 library on demand including new games on release day. They should be offering a choice to upgrade to a 500GB drive and price games to the market allowing consumers a TRUE choice between a physical copy and digital.

  • muscleblade #4 2 years ago

    I dont care about the price. I want a 250gb HDD! 120GB is not enough anymore.

  • actionfitz #5 2 years ago

    "The new hard disk will go on sale alongside other accessories on 11th March for 15,540 yen (£107 / €123),"

    well one thing is for sure, if it does go on sale here, they wont be selling it for anything close to £107.
    Given that they are still wallet-raping people for £90 for the 120GB drive in the UK.

    --

    ebay, 120gb hdd from china, £40, still works a treat, /win.
    Edited by 1 at 02/02/10 @ 09:00

  • Distributor #6 2 years ago

    The 120gb HDD has been discontinued. Its a no-brainer what that means.

  • lennon #7 2 years ago

    Music to my ears. Although really wish they had gone a step further and gone for 500gb or 1TB but still an improvement.

  • Doctor_What #8 2 years ago

    I'd quite like to upgrade my HHD from the 20GB launch model I've got, but not for the silly prices MS charge for their drives. I'm not too confident about Chinese imported hardware though - I've had a fair number of bad experiences with it (my favourite was the MP3 player that has a trojan pre-installed that tried to infect my PC when I plugged it in!).

  • andywilkie35 #9 2 years ago

    I had to upgrade my hard drive from 20gb to 120gb because of Rock Band, I've only got about 30gb left on that! A 250gb HD would be very useful

  • SBfistfun #10 2 years ago

    I don't get MS with this, surely they are holding back their digital services by pricing small hard drives at ridiculous prices!

    I refuse to pay the current price for 120GB model even though I really could do with more storage.

  • LHH #11 2 years ago

    Japan get the sweet deals from Microsoft though so if and when it's released over here it will probably retail (standalone) for something like £240, knowing MS' price per gigabytes
    Lucky for me I bought a 120GB from ebay for £45

  • schnide #12 2 years ago

    I can see that flying off the shelves in Japan. I bet both the 360 owners over there are stoked.

  • Darren #13 2 years ago

    I'm mildly curious to see what ridiculous price tag Microsoft will attach to the 250 GB HDD when it is finally released here in Europe. I'm going to guess at something like £149 seeing as the Japanese prices are usually much lower (where it'll be £107)?

  • miiiguel #14 2 years ago

    The price is something I'm also curious about, but my bet it will be same as 120gb (they really can't go any higher, otherwise we'll be talking 360 level prices), like the new "n" wireless adaptor which is the same price as the previous "g" one.

  • LeemanRuss #15 2 years ago

    Like andywilkie35, I'm running out of room on my 120gb drive due to all the stuff I have for Rock Band... Let's hope the price isn't too steep (oh wait, it's MS... Never mind...)

  • Doctor_What #16 2 years ago

    @ SBfistfun : I know exactly waht you mean.

  • neonxaos #17 2 years ago

    Please tell me why this is not a 1 TB drive. Is this not supposed to be the HD age? Content is king, but nobody can fit it onto their drives. I have one of the old 20GB drives, and I can barely install one game on that, even if I delete all my demos and vids. A 120GB drive is nice, but not big enough to give me the incentive to upgrade. And 250GB - well, yes, but at that price? I don't really know what MS are thinking. The more space we have, the more we can buy and store. I sincerely believe that cheaper hard drives would end up being financially beneficient for MS.

  • lennon #18 2 years ago

    If you buy the standalone drives do the transfer cables come with it?

  • Jonathan_Fakenham #19 2 years ago

    Yeah, you might be right there Neon.

    But the thing really is, they're selling their consoles at a loss, so they have to rip us off on the accessories.

  • jag10 #20 2 years ago

    or you could just install a 500gb drive for your PS3 for £30.

  • SBfistfun #21 2 years ago

    ^ That's the only thing Sony got right with the ps3 in my opinion

  • jag10 #22 2 years ago

    ^ lol, if you say so.

  • StooMonster #23 2 years ago

    What's the process for upgrading the HD? Mine is 120GB (I bought a Jasper Arcade and a separate drive) but I am hoping well see 250GB or even 500GB before too long.

    Also, if I get a second Xbox 360, how do I share my saved games across the two devices? What about DLC too?

  • lennon #24 2 years ago

    @jag10 - how does that help me install more 360 games on my 360?

  • miiiguel #25 2 years ago

    Also, if I get a second Xbox 360, how do I share my saved games across the two devices? What about DLC too?

    Every DLC is paired with a 360 - in this case any GT which logs onto the 360 where the DLC was bought can use it.
    And
    The GT which was used to buy - in this case every 360 where this user logs onto can redownload and use the DLC (though if he logs out DLC will be unavailable)


    I bet that's some dodgy english, but hope it helps.

  • TitusCrow #26 2 years ago

    What they get 250gig HDD? I want a 250HDD too! - "You'v got soup? why didn't I get any soup?"

  • freakzilla #27 2 years ago

    AHA AHA AHAHAHAHA!!!

    Got my 500GB yesterday. Shame it won't work with a 360.

    Edited by 1 at 02/02/10 @ 10:51

  • lordofthedunce #28 2 years ago

    External HDD? So will it run in addition to an existing 120GB HDD or replace it? Is it USB?

  • telboy007 #29 2 years ago

    Not that kind of "external" I'm afraid. External as in slots on the side as all existing 360 hdds.
    Edited by 1 at 02/02/10 @ 11:00

  • Sunyavadin #30 2 years ago

    If MS did bigger hard drives for closer to the regular retail price of those drives, just a markup for their proprietary casing, then priced their downloadable games to compete with the preowned market I'd bet they'd see sales (and net profits) go through the roof.

  • Toothball #31 2 years ago

    @Sunyavadin

    That is a nice thought. It's a pity they'll never go for it though.

  • lennon #32 2 years ago

    Errr yeah really sucks wish I was you....

  • Mkwone #33 2 years ago

    The 250GB also has a Forza 3 bundle from about £230 and in oz they have a Mass Effect 2 250GB bundle.

    I find it funny that last generation i needed a couple of 8mb memory cards and now i need 250GB of memory

  • chessboxer #34 2 years ago

    @ mr_writer

    For an extra £10 you can get a 640GB 2.5" 9.5mm SATA HDD for the PS3.

  • miiiguel #35 2 years ago

    I so wanted to be mr_writer and have a PS3 so I could buy a 70$ 500gb disk. Shit, life is cruel.

  • Sunyavadin #36 2 years ago

    @ mr_writer

    For an extra £10 you can get a 640GB 2.5" 9.5mm SATA HDD for the PS3.

    Cost me £80 for the 1TB drive I keep hooked up by USB to my 360. Would be nice to have it usable for installing my games on.

    This STILL does not address the BIGGEST annoyance of the 360's drives though. The fact that patches for games are stored in a TEMPORARY directory. Meaning once you have half a dozen games updated, when you try to replay the odlest one, you'll have to apply the patch AGAIN or your saves are gone.

  • miiiguel #37 2 years ago

    Tbf Sunny, that's hardly an annoyance, isn't it? I mean, since a patch usually takes 1.5 seconds to apply...

  • Murton #38 2 years ago

    Another reason why proprietary hardware is bad. For the same price as these drives, assuming that Europe pricing matches Japan pricing, you could get a drive four times the size, but because it's not in the proper casing you can't use it in the console.

    If MS opened up their platform to HDD upgrades like the PS3 and then priced their digital content competitively with regular retailers they could really corner the market and make a mint, but unfortunately for Joe Consumer MS lack the foresight to do such a thing. Then again why would they suddenly opt for finesse when brute force has made them king of the PC for so long.

  • miiiguel #39 2 years ago

    @ Murton: Aren't you mistaking it for Apple? MS doesn't have any home computer (aka PC) proprietary hardware, as far as I know.
    Edited by 1 at 02/02/10 @ 17:29

  • Murton #40 2 years ago

    Miguel: I was talking about the business sense in general. MS has pretty much dominated the PC software market through brute force rather than by being the first choice by consumers.

  • StooMonster #41 2 years ago

    @miiiguel: thanks! Shame it's DLC by hardware rather than by account (e.g. Steam).

    What about sharing saves across two Xbox 360s, how can I do that?

  • miiiguel #42 2 years ago

    @ Stoo: Saves are paired with the gamertags (GT) - I currently have two 360's and I carry most of my gamesaves on a mem card so I can use both consoles. And, btw, @ xbox.com you can transfer the DRMs across 2 360s, though, you can only do it once per year. Somehow MS registers the S/N of the consoles where each GT logs onto, so the process is pretty simple (though, if you logged onto a friends' 360, be carefull, or you might, inadvertently make him very happy).

    @ Murton: yes, that was true, but IT buisness is a bit more mature, take Vista for example, it's gone, consumers didn't like it, MS lost a lot of money and made a new product. Problem is the closest thing we have to competition is a company which its focus is design (still made in China like everything else) to pump premium prices (iPod is reaching mass market though, the lady who cleans my house has one, so kudos to that product).
    Edited by 2 at 02/02/10 @ 18:47

  • kwesleyb #43 2 years ago

    Thats a shockingly disgusting price. External HDD's for PC at 1TB cost only £70 these days... How Microsoft can get away with this kind of pricing is beyond me.