Microsoft says X360 update better than hard drive

Microsoft on Friday confirmed its leaked plans to add USB drive support to the Xbox 360 through a firmware update. Due April 6th, the upgrade lets users format some or all of any 1GB or larger USB flash drive, up to 16GB, and set it aside for storing content that would otherwise use built-in storage or the now defunct Xbox memory cards. Some space can be set aside for a Mac or Windows PC.

As many as two drives can be attached at once for a total of 32GB of storage. Although thumb-sized flash drives are usually slower than SSDs, they should be much faster than the built-in hard drive for loading games and other large batches of content, Microsoft's Larry Hryb said.

In addition to the firmware update, SanDisk is releasing a pre-formatted drive in May that will skip the initial setup needed for generic drives.

By Electronista Staff