Microsoft has confirmed the long-standing rumors of a larger memory card for the Xbox 360, according to 1UP. The new units will be 512MB, a sizable upgrade from the 64MB cards that are currently available for $39.99. The 64MB card’s price will drop to $29.99 to make room for the 512MB card, which will run you $49.99. As the 1UP story pointed out, paying $50 for a memory card is going to make the price for the larger hard drive–which we hope is announced at GDC–much more expensive than it really should be.
Additionally, an immediate increase in the size limit for XBLA games–now 150MB–has been put into effect. Previously, the limit was 50MB, which was in place to ensure that all XBLA games would be playable on Core units with the 64MB memory card. This is more of a formality than anything else, as we have known for some time now that Castlevania: Symphony of the Night would be larger than 50MB.
Both of these announcements have been expected for quite some time, along with the announcement of a larger hard drive, which hasn’t come to fruition–yet. You have to wonder if fans now regret purchasing the Core unit with the surplus of content available to them on Xbox Live. While they can very easily upgrade with a larger hard drive, the current pricing model ($100 for a 20GB HDD) isn’t particularly kind to the wallet. And those gamers who own the Premium system may be upset when they see an even higher price on those unconfirmed larger hard drives.
