Xbox 360 USB Sticks Will Likely Be Overpriced

[Tom Goldman]

Xbox 360 USB Sticks Will Likely Be Overpriced

Microsoft's addition of USB drive support to the Xbox 360 is evidently another way for the giant to make a couple more bucks.

Microsoft will be adding USB hard drive [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/99454-USB-Drive-Support-Coming-to-Xbox-360] support to the Xbox 360 next week on April 6, and of course will be selling its own official flash drives to use to commemorate the occasion. As if this is any surprise, Kotaku has noticed two GameStop listings that hint at hefty prices for each of the two sticks to be made available.

Microsoft's 8 GB USB memory stick is listed at $69.90 [http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=77578]. These aren't official prices yet, but GameStop tends to get things approximately right when posted. The only thing that throws me off is the price of $69.90 for the 16 GB stick, but this is likely to be changed to $69.99 rather than to an actually reasonable price.

Not that companies like Microsoft and Sony are expected to provide a good value for accessories (*cough* the freakin' expensive Xbox 360 Network Adapter *cough*), but this article can serve as more of a public service announcement to anyone actually planning to buy a Microsoft branded drive. USB sticks with the same capacity go for around half the price on Amazon.com, Newegg.com, and other retailers. Even Microsoft's Xbox 360 hard drives seem like a great value at these price points.

Granted, the prices could be very different when made official, but does anyone expect them to lower at all? The fact remains that it would be a miracle if Microsoft, Sony, or any first-party put out a storage product that was reasonably priced. I'm not bashing Microsoft at all as I understand the pricing methods used. It needs money and the gaming giants usually go into massive money pits just to get consoles onto the market. I want them to survive so I can see better and better games in the future. Still, as a consumer, I hate to see anyone get ripped off unnecessarily. These sticks highlight the ability for companies to make money off of providing new console functionality and selling peripherals to people who don't know any better, but at least we have other choices due to the USB interface that we didn't in previous generations.

(Via: Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5505029/rumor-xbox-360s-usb-flash-drives-are-yes-expensive])


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[uppitycracker]

I seriously doubt the prices will be any lower than what the gamestop listings are. As you've pointed out, they always tend to be horrendously overpriced. The hard drives and the network adapter are prime examples. No shocker here.

 

[MR T3D]

And the sun will rise tomorrow.
not surprised in the least.

 

[newguy77]

Did I read the initial report wrong or what? I got the impression from the initial report that any flash drive could be reformatted to the type it needs to be for the 360. Does this article mean that only the Microsoft flash drives will work with the 360?

 

[Worgen]

HA, I knew it

 

[Jared]

And the sun will rise tomorrow.
not surprised in the least.

Certainly...Microsoft are used to ripping people off...and, people will continue to let themselves be ripped off

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Ah Micro$oft, evil in public so you don't have to be.

 

[Regiment]

Ah, all companies do this. I bought a second PS3 controller, and found it didn't come with a cable. I could have spent $10 on an Official Sony Brand Charge Cable Accessory, or perhaps about $2 on a USB-to-Smaller-USB cable in Radio Shack. As it turned out, I had such a cable lying around.

It beats Nintendo's tendency to give each rechargeable handheld a different-sized and uniquely-sized charging port. Remember the GBA and the GBA Micro? The Micro had a smaller link cable port than the GBA. They only made female-Micro-to-male-regular adapters. If you owned a Micro (which wasn't too popular), you'd need to buy a special Micro link cable and adapters for every regular GBA with which you wanted to connect.

 

[The DSM]

My 8Gb USB cost me £10.

Its a rip-off who is going to look at your USB and say "Made by Microsoft ,impressive"?

 

[Irridium]

Microsoft overpricing something? LIES!

But seriously, it makes me sad people will actually buy these.

Ah well, at least I know better...

Did I read the initial report wrong or what? I got the impression from the initial report that any flash drive could be reformatted to the type it needs to be for the 360. Does this article mean that only the Microsoft flash drives will work with the 360?

No, pretty much all usb storage devices will work. Microsoft's are just already pre-formatted.

You can format other USB devices as well.

 

[Digikid]

And the sun will rise tomorrow.
not surprised in the least.

Took the words out of my mouth.

Just use a GENERIC USB STICK. Problem Solved.

 

[johnman]

Didn't mircosoft file a lawsuit agsinst another company that made cheap USB storage for the 360?

 

[Deathfish15]

Anyone surprised by this? I mean, Microsoft milks it up with their proprietary devices and system so that they and only they can make the most money. When the 360 first came out in it's 1st month or so, the official Xbox360 controller (by M$) was the only one available. They charge all their console developer's close to 10% or more for licensing fees to have their games on their systems (then again, so does Sony and I think Nintendo does too), which explains the $60 price point compared to PC's $50 price point.

And the sun will rise tomorrow.
not surprised in the least.

Took the words out of my mouth.

Just use a GENERIC USB STICK. Problem Solved.

Can't do it. M$ has hardcoded and used software updates that makes their systems only recognize their hardware pieces or licensed 3rd party companies only. And, with this, they most likely won't license it out to anyone.

 

[Tom Goldman]

Did I read the initial report wrong or what? I got the impression from the initial report that any flash drive could be reformatted to the type it needs to be for the 360. Does this article mean that only the Microsoft flash drives will work with the 360?

No, sorry if I gave you that idea. It means that you shouldn't buy Microsoft's drives and just use your own

 

[lacktheknack]

Unsurprising announcement is unsurprising... and boring.

 

[Ben Legend]

So?

Overpriced it may be, but i'm happy as i've pre-ordered my 250gb Hard drive for my 360. All for only £69.99. =D

 

[DeadRow]

lol people who would by a USB stick at the price are mugs. $39.99 for an 8GB? My 9GB cost me £7 ^_^

 

[Virgil]

USB sticks with the same capacity go for around half the price on Amazon.com, Newegg.com, and other retailers. Even Microsoft's Xbox 360 hard drives seem like a great value at these price points.

When compared to the 512mb Xbox Memory Card, which still sells for $30 if you can even find them, either of them are a bargain. But comparing GameStop's list price with the price you get at newegg or Amazon isn't really fair. 8gb drives frequently retail for about $30, and 16gb drives can go for anywhere between $40 and $80 at brick-and-mortar retailers (try Best Buy or OfficeMax).

Add in the fact that the branded drives will come pre-formatted for the Xbox 360, which makes them more expensive to manufacture, and that they likely won't be using cut-rate memory, and the price isn't too surprising.

Smart people will just use a cheap one. People that don't know better, or who are afraid to 'mess with' things, will go with the branded ones.

 

[WestMountain]

THIS IS BLASPHEMY!!

 

[The Rockerfly]

Can we use our own memory USB sticks though?