No Hard Drive? No Halo: Reach Online Co-op or Firefight for You [Updated]

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[Update 6:40pm] A Microsoft spokesperson has told Shacknews, "We are aware of the issue and are looking into it." The wording here makes it seem like the game may not be functioning as intended. Perhaps it was supposed to be able to function on flash memory, either internal to the new 4GB Xbox 360 or connected via USB. We'll keep you updated with further developments.

[Original Story] Hoping to jump online with friends for some online co-op in Halo: Reach? You'd better be equipped with an Xbox 360 hard drive. Kotaku received a user tip that online campaign and Firefight play is not possible without an Xbox 360 HDD and Shacknews has confirmed that this is indeed the case.

Also, through the course of testing various modes, Xav and I determined that it is no longer possible to watch saved films with friends as theater mode now supports just one player. Halo 3 supported multiple players in a shared theater viewing lobby.

The back of the Halo: Reach box declares that "storage requirements are subject to change," and that "some features and downloads require additional storage, hardware, and/or fees." Older titles like Battlefield: Bad Company 2 said, "hard drive recommended, and is required for some features," but newer titles like NHL 11 match the wording on Halo: Reach's box.

Though Microsoft is likely in the clear with the disclaimers printed on the box, it would have been nice to inform users that a hard drive would specifically be required for major features in the company's biggest game of 2010. Users with Arcade and Arcade S systems will need to purchase Microsoft's official HDD to play online co-op, Firefight, or use Theater mode as connected flash memory or USB-based external hard drives will not be sufficient.

Shacknews has contacted both Bungie and Microsoft for more information on this issue.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    September 15, 2010 11:13 AM

    Would using an external hd as storage correct this for people or does it "need" to be an actual 360 drive?

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      September 15, 2010 11:16 AM

      According to the MS support page it has to be an official drive. Totally lame.

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      September 15, 2010 11:20 AM

      [deleted]

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        September 15, 2010 11:32 AM

        That's pretty shitty for people who just bought the slim arcade.

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          September 15, 2010 11:44 AM

          Yep, a friend of mine got a 4GB S just for this and is taking it back today. Wouldn't even go with a USB drive attached. Didn't ODST have similar issues for firefight or something?

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            September 15, 2010 11:49 AM

            [deleted]

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              September 15, 2010 11:54 AM

              That's what I kinda figured too but I've seen more than a few tweets and stuff in the blogosphere saying this is not the case :(

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                September 15, 2010 1:02 PM

                I thought the 4gb internal was actually a hard drive, was scratching my head on were they got 4gb drives. Really odd that that wouldn't be enough support for Halo Reach.

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              September 15, 2010 1:52 PM

              probably a software issue. things are streamlined for the developers, if you make the 4gb flash a "fake" hard drive, then what happens when you put in a real 360 HDD, software-wise you got to write code to distinguish that. I guess it was easier to just list the 4gb flash as a simple external storage device for xbox live games, saved games, etc. I have no doubt the actual cache bungie needed was probably 500mb-1gb, the game itself is 6.8gb it's totally not a storage size issue.

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      September 15, 2010 12:51 PM

      I thought a flash drive would work too?

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