New Xbox Arcade units to pack 256MB internal storage
By Jacob Schulman 
posted Dec 2nd 2008 9:12PM
posted Dec 2nd 2008 9:12PM
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right. netflix HD. with the arcade's hard drive and included HD cables and all.
Isn't the point here that the 256mb embedded memory gives you the ability to watch Netflix without the HDD?
Netflix doesn't require a hard drive, and HDMI cables can be had on Amazon for less than five bucks.
it's a pity I can't just slap whatever SATA 2.5" drive I might have laying around. I just pulled a 160GB from my PS3 and upgraded to a 250GB drive.
Also, don't you need XBOX LIVE GOLD....to stream movies?
"...don't you need XBOX LIVE GOLD....to stream movies?"
If that's true, that is the lamest bullshit I've ever heard of. You can be sure if this feature lands on the PS3, it won't require any extraneous subscriptions. If I have a Netflix account, I should be able to stream for free, period.
Wait, I'm getting all worked up and don't even know if it's true. Someone confirm this?
"This movie-watching innovation is available to Xbox LIVE® Gold members who are also Netflix members and allows them to instantly watch movies streamed from Netflix via Xbox LIVE for no additional monthly fee."
Source:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/netflix/
lol
"Innovation."
Innovating new ways to get me to use a PS3 instead of a 360 as a media center.
ummm... xbmc on orig xbox ftw?
How the heck of 256MB of non-volatile going to enable anyone to use Netflix? MPEG-2 DVD movies would be 4-9GB in size and MPEG-4 versions would be about half that unless they over-compress or down-resolve the content. As such, how will a 2-4GB MPEG-4 DVD movie going to fit on 256MB of non-volatile?
I can only imagine this will allow streaming for live viewing and not through queued-storage for time-shifting behavior. I think Microsoft needs to market the cheapest non-Arcade version of the 360 (the one with the 20GB hard drive) as the Netflix 360 package and stop trying to milk the poorest of 360 owners.
256MB?
I think my wrist watch has more memory than that...
So you got a wrist strap for your iPhone?
And yet, even with 256MB storage and 512MB of ram, the 360 plays more, and higher quality games than the best MAC can at a much, much lower cost.
MAC... you mean Media Access Control?
i dont understand
its the same amount that Wii has.
@nohone
Why are you bringing up PCs?
There's one extra variant of the 360 kickin around now... must be causing havoc with the product lifecycle management
Yes, because these 256MB internal memory models are also 'Jasper' chipset, i.e. the GPU is 65nm along with the CPU. Therefore it runs with less power, is cooler and quieter, albeit with the same DVD-ROM, and should be less prone to RRoD.
The Osborne Effect is in action, which is that many people are waiting to get their hands on this new model and are avoiding the older Falcon models; annoyingly (for customers) Microsoft make it hard to identify and find the new variants.
So, wait... You won't need a hard drive to use Netflix on these new 'arcades'? and 256MB is enough room to hold the buffer?
The expanded memory is to allow the NXE to all fit in the internal Memory as it's larger then what the older 360 systems can fit which is why a part of it is put onto the Hard Drive or Memory Card. With the new 360 with the larger Internal Memory, this is now not needed. This is where the 360 system files/Dashboard is stored at. Don't confuse this Memory with the other 512 Megs of the Normal Ram.
Netflix is buffered in the normal RAM, NOT the Hard Drive or a Memory Card. No need for either, just a gold Subscription. If your hooking up to a HDTV, and want to watch HD content also, then a cheap $5 HDMI cable and your set.
See, MS keeps adding features to the XBox while keeping prices the same or lowering them. Adding HDMI, Larger Hard Drive, Larger Internal Memory and not loosing a thing!! Sony keeps cutting out features. Memory Card ports, Backwards compatibility (Hardware and then software) what else.
Whoa, Microsoft! Don't go crazy with the internal storage. Wouldn't want someone to get hurt, now.
man up MS. just include the hdd.
Why don't they just use the 20GB hard drive on the arcade?
20GB Arcade
60GB Premium
120GB Elite
That seems like a pretty good lineup, no?
And lose an entire market base? Few people use more than 20gb as it is, and the majority of people with 360s don't use the HD features on a regular basis, so either the prices will be close enough that no one will buy the arcade, or the prices will remain as is, and no one will buy the premium console.
Actually, with no installed Xbox 360 games and very little video (five at the max), I've almost maxed out my twenty gigabyte hard drive. Those Rock Band tracks eat up a ton of space. Not to mention downloadable content for other games too. Can't forget Arcade games.
In fact, it's so ridiculous, that I use streaming and portable media players to watch and listen to stuff through the Xbox 360.
either your movies are bigger than they need to be, or you downloaded an insane number of rock band songs, because from my experience, the average song size is around 30 mb
though I suppose hd movies are going to be pretty big, but when would you ever need that many movies stored on your xbox?
Just how expensive would it be to toss a 1 or 2 GB chip in these?
2GB $3.77 retail + free shipping:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208244
wholesale manufacturing cost for MS, 50 cents?
Probably.
I'm sure the modding community will right this wrong.
Dude there are mobile phones with 32gb of memory now and these twats will not even give out more than 256mb? truth is that IT COSTS THEM MORE to create individual 256mb USB's with the plastic case around it then it will embedding a storage device.... M$ is not out to 'help you' once again they have milked a tiny little extra for a few cents...
oh ye and now its less portable.
how have they milked anyone for a few extra cents?
they put the flash inside the xbox for no extra cost, and how does that make it less portable?
They give you a piss poor excuse for internal storage so you'll want a larger HD to make up for it. Don't ask me how that works, only the consumer knows. I'm guessing it has something to do with "storage is storage."
Your article is misleading. You are suggesting that this gives you added abilities over the old way, but that isn't true at all. The Arcade system has ALWAYS come with 256mb of memory, it just used to be removable so you could transport it to a different system if you wanted. Now it's just internal.
Exact same amount of storage out of the box, exact same abilities "as soon as every last cord is connected," just now you lose the portability.
The "portability" you're touting isn't really relevant. Most items downloaded from XBL aren't usable on systems other than the one you downloaded them on. So unless you're talking about trial versions, free content, or user profiles, content wasn't ever really "portable".
Jer (can I call you Jer?):
You must be thinking Sony.
You can use any Xbox DLC you have purchased on any 360 console when you are logged into Live.
You can transfer the DLC with a memory card if you don't want to wait, or you can re-download it to ther other console to play. What you purchase gets tied to your Live ID and the licenses will follow you around.
I believe Netflix streaming requires 8mb of free space for the buffer.
Flash memory generally doesn't make a good buffer for video. It would burn through the limited write cycles.
"It would burn through the limited write cycles."
It's not 1995 anymore. Truly modern flash memory has so many write cycles it would take you a lifetime to burn it out.
Normally I would agree, but video buffering puts considerably greater demand on the memory. Consumer-level Flash is still noticeably limited in this regard.
Why the heck would your write a stream to the HDD/flash memory when you have 512MB of ram to work with! I am pretty sure they have to have at least 64MB of ram available if not 400MB+ to store the streaming video temporarily.
Hmm, I'm pretty sure we knew this when the Jasper consoles will found. Might want to mention that in the post; all of these consoles with integrated storage are Jaspers...
Do we still get a memory card?
i just ordered an xbox arcade - i doubt i have this version though -
I kind of resent those quotation marks around solution.
I think that giving out free memory cards to all is a pretty good customer service solution, instead of just leaving them out in the cold.
I mean what else would they do? There isn't much until they reach a point where you can download physical memory off of xbox live. (probably about 3 years away).
The xbox arcade + madden 2009 bundle is available tonight at Dell for $208.99 with free shipping. A phenomenal deal. Here's the link: http://www.techdealdigger.com/deals/microsoft-xbox-360-arcade-208-at-dell-home--home-office/5304
XBOX 360 arcade cannot do HD. It does not have the port for it and the Netflix you get is the SD version, so you cannot stream HD content even if you mod it. According to MS, the arcade version is for the casual gamer and that's it, nothing more.
hum....arcade is EXACT same hardware as all other versions, it just does not come with an hd cable.....buy the cable and do HD
I wonder where people get so much nonsence
No you fool, the arcade has added an HDMI spot, it's just that there is no HDMI cable included and the cable included is just standard definition and does not include the component add-on. All xbox 360's contain the same hardware configuration, it's just add-ons, colors, and names that change the prices.
He is right. Unfortunately I got BS'ed by BestBuy (suprised?!). Wikipedia said that it does have an HDMI port and Netflix does support it. Sorry everybody.
This is an interseting solution following the failure of the Memory Upgrade program. But, will the Arcade units still come with a memory card?
MS's policy on the HDDs is asinine. The 20gb should've been dropped last year and MS should've gone straight to 120gb for the premiums, while pushing 160gb drives on the elite. I can't imagine its cheaper for MS to sell 60gb drives that are otherwise hard to find than to sell 120gb drives.
It can be argued that most people didn't use up the 20gb hdd on the old consoles. That's because the way MS used HDDs, it was little more than a glorified memory card. You couldn't unless you downloaded a ton of xbox original games, and a lot of videos you were able to keep. NXE changes this so much; I'm down to about 80gb on my 120gb already and I've only installed less than 6 titles. I personally dont see the value in copying music to the console but with a 20gb drive, space is too much of a premium to do that. With 120 or more gb available, it's more doable.
It's not that the arcade is such a bad deal, it's that MS's hardware accessories are terrible deals. At 280, the arcade + HDD was a rip off. At 200, it's more reasonable because MS put so much distance between the SKUs. An arcade +120gb is a better deal than the elite unless you like chrome, like black and need the optical out or Component cables. (nevermind the preference of bundled games).
Windoze sucks. iPhone all the way.
How is Windows related in this article?
microsoft created it
256mb hey thats just enough to finish my avatar, wait no its not.
Hopefully there won't be a hard limit on how much memory the system can recognize internally. It'd be awfully nice to rig up 32 GB of flash memory in there.
With MS having a system without a HDD, MS can have a low cost HD system for sale. Hell it's $50 cheaper then a Wii and a better system! You can add all the extra hardware one piece at a time later if you want and basically turn that arcade system into a Elite system!!!
Last generation, MS had problems trying to price match with the PS2. The PS2 had NO Hard Drive, while All Xbox did have a Hard Drive. MS was loosing a lot of money trying to keep up. This time the shoe is on the other foot! The PS3 will AWAYS be the most expensive system this generation. Besides stuck with having to sell a system with a hard drive, Sony is also stuck with a Blu-Ray drive in every system.
As for Nintendo, Hell they made money from the Start. Have had ZERO price drops and their costs have also gone down and yet they are in no rush to lower prices with such demand. I've played the Wii, Looks like garbage on a HDTV, it's boring after a few times, and the 360 is just a better system and yet cheaper! Have to give it to Nintendo though. Found a whole new market to sell to.
The XBox360 Arcade is looking more and more like the Wii every day...
I got one of these already. Its ruling. I bought the 60gb drive as well.
It runs so cool and quiet I can barely tell its on.
i've been had. i just bought one last week. :(
I just got an Arcade after my old 20g crapped out and wasn't under warranty anymore. If it has the 256mb internal memory does that mean that it is the Jasper configuration from that article earlier this week?
My power brick is still the 175 so I thought it probably wasn't.
Thanks.