Topic: Xbox 360 "Memory Update" program

[idolminds]

Site

According to the thread on neogaf, you go online with your 360 and they check how much memory (storage) you have. If you have less than 128MB (you bought a Core or Arcade unit with no HDD) they will sent you a free 512MB memory card or sell you a 20GB HDD for $20.

[Quemaqua]

Right after I bought a 512MB card for $24.  I want to fucking punch someone.

[gpw11]

Unplug that mother, go on there, and buy the 20GB for $20.  That's a steal.

[Pugnate]

I have to say, that is really fucking incredible of Microsoft

[Quemaqua]

I'd be more apt to say that if I wasn't pretty sure that my 360 is dying.  I don't think Microsoft is ever going to be able to make up for that shit.  It's nice they extended the warranty, but there should have been a fucking recall.  And this is really just a scheme to get more people to buy and download shit, which is stupid because Microsoft never should have taken the HDD out of the core units in the first place, and I think this is just them showing how much they regret that.  I highly doubt they'll make that mistake in the future.

[Cobra951]

Well, they sure are trying to make up for it.  I've talked about it before, more than once, and they finally acted on it.  Their intentions for the system absolutely call for mass storage.  They can't reach their full profit potential without it.  This is an investment for MS.

If you feel bad about it, think of me buying that 13-GB drive for its full original price.  Yikes.  Is it really as simple as unplugging all storage to get a freebie?  I doubt it.  I have a gold account and all these XBLA downloads to my name.  And could booting up the system without the current setup and updates screw things up when I try to go back to normal?  I think I'll leave well enough alone.  I really don't need another 512-MB card.

[idolminds]

Ive read that this is because the next big dashboard update requires 128MB of space. They pretty much have to do this to keep people up to date.

[Cobra951]

Sure, but why do they care if everyone updates or not?  Because if they don't they're excluded from online activity.  No accounts, no downloaded purchases.  Think of all the people with core and arcade systems who can't be reeled in.  XBL is a pure profit machine.  Anyone who won't participate because he bought into the cheapest tier is a lost customer.  That's their greatest mistake.

[Pugnate]

So it isn't MS being generous, but it is rather a business decision.

[Cobra951]

I'm applying a simple principle here: follow the money.  Generous?  Out of the goodness of their hearts?  Seriously?

[Pugnate]

hhah... well I am sure there are some companies out there out to create good will.

[Quemaqua]

It doesn't matter to me either way for the simple fact that I won't waste money on their motherfucking wireless dongle that should have been free.  So I'll never take this thing online, ever.  My PS3 handles that quite nicely for me, and PSN is the online console service getting my money.

[scottws]

While it's also not free, you can configure a wireless router/access point that supports either wireless bridging, WDS, or both to supply wireless networking to the 360.  This solution will be a lot bigger than the 360 wireless adapter, but it's also a lot cheaper and you can use it for other things.

I use one of my two Linksys WRT54GL routers with the Tomato firmware in WDS mode to act as a sort of wireless switch to get my 360 on the network.

[K-man]

Que, I'm tempted to just buy the 20 gig for you so you can actually experience the console the way it was meant to be.

[Quemaqua]

I really should have just bought one since it was only a couple bucks more than the memory unit was (the pricing on these things is fucking ludicrous), but at this point I really hate to invest in the thing at all.  I sort of hate it.  It hasn't officially gone out on me yet, but that's part of the problem... I'm just waiting for it to die.  And now Viva Pinata Trouble in Paradise has crashed on us twice, much to Julia's fury, and it doesn't appear to be a common problem (I couldn't find anyone else reporting the issue).  So either we got a bad copy or the console is finally starting to fuck up.

[K-man]

Buy the HD.  If it dies just purchase another Arcade unit on the cheap if Microsoft won't cover it.

[Ghandi]

So it isn't MS being generous, but it is rather a business decision.

I was trying to decide if this was sarcasm or not. In the end, I gave you the benefit of the doubt.