Hard Drive Storage for Consoles

[Peench]

Microsoft apparently started a trend when they added a hard drive to the original Xbox console back in the day. Oddly enough they seemingly stepped backwards with the bottom rung Xbox 360 console offering this generation.

Sony, on the other hand took the cues from gamers and offered a 60GB model right out of the gate (and has since created 14 additional possible models to purchase). But Sony also made it incredibly easy to swap in any size hard drive you want. Big brownie points in my opinion.

Nintendo, on the other hand, chose to release the Wii with no storage whatsoever. Then they created a virtual store and dozens of games to download to... uh... the 512MB of flash memory within the Wii? Strange. While they've promised a solution is on the horizon, the move seems a bit odd to me.

All of the major players are shifting focus to downloadable games, media, entertainment and just about everything else. All that data needs to be stored somewhere.

So what do you all think is the future? Will future consoles be released out of the gate with massive hard drives? Or will all of the consoles have the ability to drop in any size hard drive like the PS3? Or will the consoles have interactivity with your home network allowing you to store games, data and everything else on your home network? What do you think?

[dmiller68]

I'll say one thing.... SSD (Solid State Drives)

While they are not fast enough and have a few other draw backs I think it is the future finally... Net gen consoles will most likely have them and I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see either Wii sized consoles or more electronic based look and feel. Arts look of the PS3 and 360 don't have the right feel for the home theater or living room.

[lovekeiiy]

I'm not familiar enough with SSD to agree or disagree with Dave. I highly doubt any future console system will allow storage with any integration of a home network. The companies behind the system and content providers are going to be to worried about pirating of content. Personally, I think it would be a great option to be implemented.

I would say a HDD in the system is more than likely, but it's going to boil down what the console maker is trying to achieve and what price point they're trying to hit. It's part of the reason why the Wii doesn't have it; remember, they're were trying to hit a $100 street price.

I don't know why, but I think we may see some kind of virtual drive or online system.

[Lord Geoff]

I don't see online storage for larger files as being all that practical until everyone is on fiber. Online storage would still bring us download times for video. I want instant access. I don't want to not be able to load a save if Live is down or if my provider is having issues. The network sharing for me works very well, but then there is the problem of my not being able to access my content if I am not at home.

Actually, now that I think about it, I voted incorrectly. I put network storage, but that is actually impractical also, especially when looking at the benefits gained by loading textures onto the HDD and then streaming them in game. Where would the PS3 be without that?

[Quo]

I think they'll try to continue to control choices, like they do with anything else. Thus, I voted Big HD release with system.

I'd rather they allow you to put whatever drive you want in it, including networked drives. I'd be in heaven if I could access my 1 TB network drive for use with my 360...

[KEEZY]

Indeed, using network HDD would be awesome, but I think that only a low percent of the users will have that in the near future. Keeping it simple (including a huge HDD with the system) will keep consumer confusion down.

[AlphaQ GehaD]

Another cool idea; allowing you to hook up any external HD to your console. the 500-750gb drives are cheaper than a single 20 gb HDD from Microsoft

[lovekeiiy]

thus is some of the complaints MS is getting about the HDD. It's nice Sony lets you change the HDD in the PS3. Still a slight issue of how to move files to the new drive; there may be a solution, but I don't know it off the top of my head.

I was thinking more a long the lines of how the companies can really control how the end user can use the content or distribute it. I don't think they'll get rid of the HDD totally, especially with the movie/tv rental/purchase services because of the fast forwarding/rewinding. Streaming video works quirky with those functions.

To me, ideally, they'll include a HDD, have an easily swapable drive, and have, for those who choose and can to do it, NAS option for saving content such as movies, game saves, and whatever else. This will keep the console HDD free for whatever the game may need for low/no load times, game memory usage, and so forth.