Xbox 360 "Games on Demand" coming in August
Wed Jun 3, 2009 11:12AM EDT
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There's been such a flood of news coming out of E3 this week that I'm only now getting around to this tidbit: Full downloads of Xbox 360 titles—including Mass Effect, BioShock, and Call of Duty 2, for starters—coming to Xbox Live this August. Now, if Microsoft would just cut the price of the 360's outrageously expensive 120GB external hard drive ...
So here's the deal: Starting in August, we'll be able to purchase and download full Xbox 360 titles over Xbox Live. The initial lineup will include classic titles such as "Mass Effect," "BioShock," "Call of Duty 2," and "Assassin's Creed." Live already offers a series of original Xbox games for download, but this'll mark the first time that 360 tittles have been available online.
Xbox execs didn't give details on pricing or how soon new 360 titles might be available via "Games On Demand"—although, as MTV Multiplayer notes, a Microsoft spokesman "didn't rule out the possibility that new games could become available on Xbox Live right on launch day." Now that's cool; no more waiting by the window for the UPS guy to arrive with that new release.
Of course, one of the downsides to the Games on Demand plan (besides the fact that some titles tend to be buggy when running off a hard drive; Microsoft is promising a "rigorous" testing process for upcoming on-demand titles, Kotaku reports) is that hard drive space on the 360 comes at a premium, especially for those of us with older consoles.
The current, $299 Xbox 360 bundles comes with a relatively roomy 60GB hard drive, while the $399 "Elite" boasts a 120GB HDD. But I have an older 360 with a 20GB drive, and with 360 games taking up anywhere between three to seven GB of disc space, my old 20GB HDD is looking pretty tiny. The only way to expand your Xbox storage? Microsoft's 120GB Xbox hard drive accessory, which costs a cool $149—more than a few 1TB hard drives I've seen on the market. If you ask me, it's high time that Microsoft stopped gouging us on hard drive space; otherwise, I'll be skipping the new On Demand feature.
Anyway, what do you think: Would you buy old—or new—Xbox 360 game downloads over Live? Or do you prefer a physical DVD, or a bargain-priced used disc?
Related:
Microsoft To Offer Full Retail Games on Xbox Live [MTV Multiplayer]
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7 Posted by mchavezd7 on Wed Jun 3, 2009 6:05PM EDT Report Abuse
I already have the 120gb hard drive so that wouldn't be stopping me from buying games on demand. What really would stop me is the high price of these games. Most of the time you can get them cheaper if you just buy them used.
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8 Posted by smokydoggg on Wed Jun 3, 2009 8:35PM EDT Report Abuse
Yes the ps3 will take bigger hard drives and you don't have to go out and buy a special one
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9 Posted by andydg86 on Thu Jun 4, 2009 8:17AM EDT Report Abuse
Nerd160...Yes you can. The PS3 accepts laptop style HDD's and from what I hear it takes 5 mins to do the swap.
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10 Posted by mfellion on Thu Jun 4, 2009 11:27AM EDT Report Abuse
What a business model. Charge for the game, make sure it only runs or your computer, charge a monthly fee to play it, charge for the computer to play it, get the game addicts to play 24 hours a day, make sure the games have no moral values except murder and violence and to top it off claim this preverse form of mental drug addiction is the wave of the future.
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11 Posted by mkeith714 on Thu Jun 4, 2009 11:51AM EDT Report Abuse
I wish this feature were on PS3. Imagine, downloading Warhawk, or even Burnout Paradise on the Playstation Store. ;)
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12 Posted by mfellion on Thu Jun 4, 2009 12:00PM EDT Report Abuse
Nerd160, andydg86 is right. You have to take the computer case apart. Just be careful with the wires, unplug the old drive and put in the new. You can get a large 300 gb drive discounted for less than $50 off the internet. Make sure your new drive has the same plug as the old 360 drive as they have different plugs depending on system. Go to Frys or some other retailer to look at the new drives plug and compare it with your old drive. I don't know if the operating system is on the old 360 drive. If it is you will have to copy it over to the new drive which will take a computer a y cable and old and new drives. Ask around and you will find someone to help you. If the system is in firmware when you connect the new drive the system will recognize it and you will be up an running without having to copy anything. Incidently, Microsoft might consider this copyright infringement to copy the old drive but I will let somebody else decide that.
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13 Posted by archastrel on Thu Jun 4, 2009 1:10PM EDT Report Abuse
I've only got 11 Gb left on my 120 Gb drive. When can I get a larger drive?
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14 Posted by northvalleyhvac@sbcglobal.net on Thu Jun 4, 2009 3:35PM EDT Report Abuse
I have a 20 Gig XBox, but when I go to download something I am asked which drive I would like to use. I have linked my X-Box 360 to my wireless network in my house and I have downloaded games to the external hard drive on my gaming computer. When I bring that game up, my X-Box takes it right from that drive and I have not had any problems playing it at all. I have a ton of games and maps and still have over half of the 20 Gigs left on my X-Box drive.
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15 Posted by robbydposey on Thu Jun 4, 2009 5:09PM EDT Report Abuse
Another thought, if you end up not liking the game you downloaded, you couldn't sell it on ebay or to gamestop/gamefly.. So, to justify it I would have to see that the download version was less expensive that the disk version. A rental service might be nice to. Download and the game is available for 7 days... Who knows.
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16 Posted by steelfan88@ymail.com on Thu Jun 4, 2009 5:35PM EDT Report Abuse
im right with you on the 20 Gig hard drive...so until the price lowers on the 120 gb hard drives i'll be using discs :/
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17 Posted by fireonthewire on Thu Jun 4, 2009 11:05PM EDT Report Abuse
yeah ill stick with discs and my old 20gb drive
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18 Posted by george_sepmeier on Fri Jun 5, 2009 1:03PM EDT Report Abuse
Now I truly will never have to leave the house again.
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19 Posted by byron_72@sbcglobal.net on Sat Jun 6, 2009 11:52AM EDT Report Abuse
I picked up the 120GB drive at Target a couple of months back. It was on clearance for $125! ok, that's not much better, but that's about as cheap as Ive ever seen em. Its still a rip off. But what could I do. I needed more memory just because of the arcade titles i had on my hard drive.
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20 Posted by krkrsca on Sun Jun 7, 2009 1:51AM EDT Report Abuse
can you ps3 owning noobs talk about this somewhere else! If you brag that "you want a console that actually works," ill brag that I have a console thats actually fun. Why dont you go talk to ur friends over the psn ( o yeah thats right no one uses it)
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21 Posted by krkrsca on Sun Jun 7, 2009 1:52AM EDT Report Abuse
btw your articles are very good b patterson
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22 Posted by remember.daname on Sun Jun 7, 2009 9:14PM EDT Report Abuse
now that would br pretty cool
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23 Posted by somebodys_here on Wed Jun 10, 2009 3:11PM EDT Report Abuse
I'm already out of room...
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24 Posted by x_splice_x on Tue Jun 30, 2009 1:26PM EDT Report Abuse
The games should be linked to your gamertag like how the arcade games are, where you can re download them at any time as long as you have the gamertag you purchased them with.
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25 Posted by dborg40 on Tue Jul 7, 2009 12:48PM EDT Report Abuse
All of the little fanboys of the sissy ps3 should stay off the xbox360 boards, your lil snide comments only goes to prove how immature you really are.
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6 Posted by willievr69u on Wed Jun 3, 2009 5:32PM EDT Report Abuse
I would stick with the new games from the game store so I can trade them in for cash or in-store credit when I get done playing them. Plus there is the swag and extras that come with special editions when you buy them as well as pre-order.