Expert: Brian Jay - 12/2/2009

Question
I bought a xbox 360 arcade that has around 200 mb of memory. How much will this save for games live madden 10 and nhl 10 and other games like that. Are there any cheap memory additions?

Answer
Hi Nick.

In regards to memory, game saves are not really that large in relation to other media, but you will be limiting yourself to the full experience. I cant speak specifically for Madden and NHL, but my FIFA 10 file is in the low double digits in mb, and that is just for one game. It really depends on the type of game though. Some of mine range from under to 10 to over 30.

However, you wouldn't be able to install games with NXE (disk sizes are in the gig range), and lets not talk about Halo 3 either. If you wanted to play that any time soon, your 200mb will be sapped real quick (through Forge, Viewed Games, Screenshots etc). All those extras add up. Like I said, it is very much game dependant.

Your best bet is to look at a refurbished HD from somewhere like EB games. Their US store sell 20gig ones for $49.99, so for the price of a cheap game (or average game depending on where you hail from) you'll be able to open yourself up to the full experience.

Not to mention you'll be able to use your 360 for other things such as music and videos without any problems with a bigger HD, so it is very recommended.

I hope this helps you. Sorry for the lateness of the reply, but I am currently rapping things up for our FSAE competition next week. Google FSAE if you want to find out more :)

~Brian Jay