Upgrade your Xbox 360 HDD to 120GB for $85

Disclaimer: This can’t be confirmed until someone actually gets their hands on the new 120GB HDD, but in theory this should work.

Remember back in January when TheSpecialist released HDDHackr, a tool which allows you to use a non-certified hdd in your Xbox 360? It wasn’t that big of a deal at the time because you were still limited to 20GB of usable space. The reason being that you need to rip the security sector of an official drive, and write it to your new, unofficial drive. The security sector has the drive size, and although you could use a larger HDD, only the amount of space indicated in the security sector is usable.

With the dawn of the 120GB HDD from Microsoft, we will now be able to obtain a new security sector allowing you to upgrade your current drive to 120GB. This has been the assumption since TheSpecialist released the first version of HDDHackr.

The current version of HDDHackr is limited to using a Western Digital SATA BEVS HDD. If you plan to upgrade to 120GB, you will need a drive of at LEAST 120GB. Larger will also work, but only 120GB will be usable. Newegg carries the ideal drive for $84.99 shipped.

Before you go making any purchases in haste, keep in mind none of this is proven yet. It is possible Microsoft has added additional security, or at least changed it enough to disable the hack in it’s current state. I don’t think this is very likely, because replacing the drive doesn’t create any security risk for Microsoft or their content suppliers. By applying this hack you are rewriting your drives firmware to match that of the stock drive, security and all. Content on your unsupported drive is no more or less secure.

Rejoice, because in all likelihood the crafty among us will be able to upgrade our current drives for a mere $85. I just wish you luck trying to not lose all your game saves and content in the process.

When the new drives are in the wild, we will keep you posted on how this develops.

Two Microsoft announcments, tonight and tomorrow UPDATED

On10.net, an official Microsoft blog, is breaking what they are calling “two of the coolest Microsoft annoucements [sic] since CES.” The first will be tonight at midnight EST, and again tomorrow at midnight. There are no hints, but I have strong reason to believe one if not both will be Xbox related. This also coincides with GameDaily BIZ’s most recent rumor mongering that the Xbox 360 Elite will be officially announced tomorrow.

Tune in to On10.net tonight at midnight, or of course just check back here.

Update: Xbox 360 Elite officially announced.

EBgames.com lists Halo 3 Xbox Live card

EBgames.com is listing a Halo 3 branded Xbox Live 12 Month Gold Card (pictured left), with a release date of 4/20/07. Is this part of the Halo 3 hype train, or will this specially marked card include an invite to the Halo 3 beta? It’s pure speculation, but it seems like a good way to move Live subscriptions, and there aren’t many other reasons to sell a special Live card. Could the 4/20/07 release coincide with the Beta release?

We want answers!

MSFT confirms HDMI, 120GB HDD adverts

A poster on the XNA Game Studio Express forums posed the question, “Will the HDMI output on the revised 360 require any code changes?” Microsoft employee Shawn Hargreaves replied, “No changes required.”

Is this definitive confirmation? All the signs recently have been pointing towards yes, it’s just a matter of getting official word. The existence of a 120GB HDD upgrade is also being supported by this promotional poster hanging at a Gamestop store.

Let’s quit the speculation. Microsoft, send out the official press release already!