USB memory for Xbox 360 due April 6
Console will accept third-party hardware; official flash drive due in May
Support for USB memory storage on the Xbox 360 will go live on April 6 courtesy of a system update.
After patching, flash drives will be able to store profiles, demos, game saves and full games, according to Larry Hryb, who also said that two drives can be plugged in to the console at once, with maximum storage of 16GB each.
"USB Hard drives may work, but like flash memory, you’ll only be able to use up to 16GB of space," he wrote on the official Microsoft blog.
"Since performance on flash based USB storage is usually better, I highly recommend using flash based instead of spinning media like a hard drive…it’s just going to give you a much better experience."
Although third-party storage devices can be used, Microsoft will also partner with SanDisk for an official 360 branded USB flash drive, to be released in May.