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]
Comments on Xbox 360 "Games on Demand" coming in August
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2 Posted by ytech_patterson on Wed Jun 3, 2009 12:46PM EDT Report Abuse
@david_lmt: Don't forget that you can re-download items on Xbox Live, meaning that if your hard drive up and dies (which still wouldn't be any fun), you'd at least be able to download all your games and videos again.
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3 Posted by nerd160 on Wed Jun 3, 2009 1:51PM EDT Report Abuse
I know this doesn't relate to the 360, but is it possible to swap a hard drive out of a 80GB PS3 for something bigger (say 250GB-320GB)?
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4 Posted by coolkyle4@snet.net on Wed Jun 3, 2009 4:12PM EDT Report Abuse
i would love the feature, but im not spending that much on a hard drive, i only have the 20gb
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5 Posted by alkasi2000 on Wed Jun 3, 2009 5:01PM EDT Report Abuse
I like electronics that actually work, which is why I bought a ps3. As for the choice between a hard drive and a disc, I'll stick to the disc thank you.
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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.
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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.
1 Posted by david_lmt on Wed Jun 3, 2009 11:52AM EDT Report Abuse
I like the idea of downloading the games to the hard drive (for the sake of not hearing the DVD drive sounding like a rocket taking off), but if the HD ever died, you're SOL. I think I'll be sticking with the DVD's unless it's one of the cheap games you can download off of xbox live.