Planning lead for Xbox 360, Xbox One and Kinect Albert Penello has talked about the idea of the Xbox One’s storage being “open”. This was in response to the limited freedom that gamers have with their data on the console – we know that external storage solutions are on the way but no fixed release thus far.
Responding on Reddit, Penello stated that, “We have said all along our intent is to allow users to ‘bring their own’ external storage. That is still the plan that we will ship.
“I’m cautious around using words like ‘any HDD’ or ‘unlimited storage’ until the final plan is baked. That type of statement can come back to haunt me if there are exceptions.”
Which drives will be supported though? “As you guys know – not all 3rd party products are equal. There may be some cases where performance of a certain drive may make for a bad experience, or there may be some other limitation we uncover during testing of the feature. Even on 360 with our USB storage I believe we didn’t work with some older units where the transfer speeds were really low, for example.
“Besides that, you should be fine with off-the-shelf brand name drives. Until we have more details to share, I can’t get more specific. Hope that helps!”
As for whether existing equipment, like the stereo headset from Microsoft, would support virtual surround sound if the update comes, Penello said, “If we do a virtual surround update the existing equipment WILL support it.”
A new console update could be coming sooner than we think but we’ll need to wait and watch. What are your thoughts? Let us know below.