4GB Xbox 360 Can't Do Halo: Reach Online Co-Op

[aethm]

It's annoying, and they should definitely allow flash drives to shoulder the burden. It's possible that the flash mechanism isn't fast enough, but I doubt it.

 

[Guest]

Or they could just adopt what the PS3 Has... Any 2.5" SATA Hard Drive works...

Or any PC... Any 3.5" Hard Drive or 2.5" Hard Drive.... really not that difficult, they are just being greedy with the whole certified hard drive.

 

[tolham]

consoles LOL

 

[random_guy417]

1) Why is Microsoft working on this issue? It seems to have been created by Bungie, not Microsoft. Bungie should be fixing this issue with their game.
2) Why is everyone dissing Microsoft? They are not the ones that made the game. The developer is responsible for making sure their games work on all 360s or advertising that it may not work for some configuration.

 

[eddieroolz]

I have to wonder why this was not caught during testing.

 

[megamanx00]

Doh!

 

[husker]

[citation][nom]random_guy417[/nom]1) Why is Microsoft working on this issue? It seems to have been created by Bungie, not Microsoft. Bungie should be fixing this issue with their game.2) Why is everyone dissing Microsoft? They are not the ones that made the game. The developer is responsible for making sure their games work on all 360s or advertising that it may not work for some configuration.[/citation]

I agree with your comments

I'm guessing the hard drive requirement is DRM related.

MS is probably trying to come up with an update for the XBox firmware that will allow Bungie to then develop a patch to use flash memory or whatever in place of the hard drive.

 

[Matthias99]

[citation][nom]random_guy417[/nom]1) Why is Microsoft working on this issue? It seems to have been created by Bungie, not Microsoft. Bungie should be fixing this issue with their game.2) Why is everyone dissing Microsoft? They are not the ones that made the game. The developer is responsible for making sure their games work on all 360s or advertising that it may not work for some configuration.[/citation]

The fact that MS is working on it implies that it might be an issue with some core functionality of the XBox360, not a problem with Bungie's code. e.g. Halo might be querying the system to see if there is a storage device present, and sometimes they're getting the wrong answer due to a bug in the XB360 firmware/OS. Bungie couldn't really fix something like that. (But that's just speculation; MS might also be helping Bungie fix a bug in their code simply because Halo is such a high-profile title.)

As for not catching it in testing? It's harder than you would think. I'm pretty sure that they at least ran it on every type of stock XB360. But it wouldn't surprise me if they did most of their testing on systems with internal hard drives. While in development, they would probably want to load new builds of the game over the network onto the hard disk and run it from there, rather than having to burn copies to DVDs.

If the issue is something that only happens in one type of configuration, and also needs some other unusual set of circumstances, AND maybe only happens in certain game modes, I can see how you might not run into it during testing. It's unlikely that Bungie extensively tested every possible combination of multiplayer game modes with every possible combination of XB360 hardware configurations, especially if they knew that their code shouldn't behave any differently. I'm sure they were more concerned with testing the game engine itself and things like their netcode, not how they query the storage devices.

 

[jgiron]

hmm, I would assume that if you made a game for the xBox 360 that it would work on all xBox 360s. Now there is a disclaimer for those that don't have says you can play this but you have to have an Xbox 360 with a hard drive. Personally, I would be pissed off and start a lawsuit claiming for misrepresentation of the product and false advertising. (Halo Reach for the Xbox 360....but not your Xbox 360).

 

[isamuelson]

Ahh, my PC has a hard drive and no Halo. I love it!

 

[WyomingKnott]

"But can it do Crysis?"

 

[ulysses35]

If MS had gone down the stanard laptop HDD route this could have easily been avoided - but you know they would never do that.... too much money to bemade selling MS Xbox drives.

 

[ksharp25]

Ok it has to be said.

WHY would any serious gamer buy a Xbox 360 4GB model? The price for it is not all that cheaper than getting the stand alone 260GB model. I know, the argument will be because its offered in the Kinect bundle. So buy the Kinect bundle that comes with the full on 260GB XBox 360. No one buys an Xbox for the first time with the Kinect in the hopes of playing hardline games like CoD, Halo Reach, etc. Do they?

 

[Avro Arrow]

This only serves to prove that consoles can't game as well as PC's. With a PC, you don't have to pay the same price for a hard drive as an Apple Owner (poor schmucks) the way you do with an XBox. Let's face it, the only difference between a PC hard drive and an XBox hard drive is the firmware that allows an XBox to read it. Consoles are such crap, you pay little for the console itself and they a$$-rape you on the games and accessories.

 

[belardo]

[citation][nom]steelcity1981[/nom]Even if 20gb hard drives aren't being mass produced to the public anymore Microsoft has corp ties to hard drive vendors that could produce 20gb hard drives pacifically for them. 20gb would be good enough for not only basic storage but at the same time wouldn't cost anymore then putting in a 4gb internal storage unit like they are doing now.[/citation]

Er... no. You do not understand manufacturing. A 4GB Flash Card costs about $1~2 to make (SDHC 4gb sells for $8~12 and 16GB are hitting $25!! My first 64mb flash key costs me $65! 6+ years ago)

A 20GB HD would costs more to make SPECIAL than buying 60GB standard drives. All the mechanics are there, its the platters and value that adjust for the price. And HD manufactures are not making 20GB platters.

Pricing on 2.5" notebook drives
$110 = 1000GB
$ 60 = 500GB
$ 45 = 250GB
$ 40 = 160GB
$ 40 = 120GB
$ 40 = 80GB
$ 20 = 16GB Flash Drive
$ 10 = 4GB Flash Drive

Notice that at $40, thats the end of making a HD any cheaper. Its not worth it. They CAN'T make a 20 or 40GB HD if they wanted too, without wasting millions on retooling for OLDER design.

This is MS's failure to test their own software with their OWN Hardware... and creating a standard XBOX without an HD so they can sell the unit at a price point.

Easy solution, buy $40 HD and stick it into the Xbox SLim.... they take normal drives now, don't they?

 

[Supertrek32]

The main problem is that the 4GB is basically a flash drive, and detected as such, not a Hard Drive. The game needs a HDD to play coop.

And it says right on the back of the box:

"Xbox 360 requires up to 256MB for system updates. Storage requirements subject to change."
"I available games, paid subscription required for online multiplayer; some features and downloads require additional storage, hardware, and/or fees."

For those of you with this problem, go buy a 20GB HDD off ebay for $10. You can then open the plastic shell (torx 6&10 screwdrivers needed... or a hammer), and take out the sata drive inside. You can then plug it into the slim where the HDD normally connects. Problem solved.

 

[Supertrek32]

Darn you lack of edit button...

I should also add that you can make your own 250GB xbox HDD using a $50 computer drive. I'm not sure on the policies on doing so, though so I'm not going to give any tutorials/links.

Also for both my above comment and this: You assume all liability for your actions, I'm not responsible for anything done as a result of this information. For educational purposes only.

 

[belardo]

Uh oh. Just checked, even with the Xbox360 Midget, you still need to pay MS the rape fee of $130 for the 250GB HD upgrade. Nevermind that normal 250GB HDs go for $45~50.

Ah... PS3... just drop in any-ole $60 500GB 2.5 drive when you want. (I don't own PS2 or PS3).

 

[jgv115]

Or... you can play on the PC!

 

[alextheblue]

[citation][nom]soldier37[/nom]Enough with the madness please, how outdated is the crapbox now? and kiddie halo, talk about milking the cow jeez![/citation]
^^ Living proof that Trolls have regeneration.