Seagate released “Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X | S” from December 24th. It has a capacity of 1TB and is available at major mass retailers, and for reference, it is sold at Amazon at a price of around 30,000 yen including tax. Overseas, sales started with the release of the Xbox Series X | S, but it is finally available in Japan.
Co-developed with Microsoft, extended storage for Xbox Velocity architecture
The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S use the “Xbox Velocity Architecture,” which reduces game load and download times in terms of both hardware and software. The “Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X | S”, which was jointly developed by Seagate and Microsoft, is the only external storage that supports that architecture. The biggest feature is that you can add 1TB of capacity without compromising the comfort of the Xbox Series X | S.
The Xbox Series X has 1TB of internal storage and the Xbox Series S has 512GB. I’m sure I was a little worried about installing multiple of the latest blockbuster games that are getting bigger, and some were wondering when the Xbox Series X | S storage expansion card would be available. Let’s go.
Xbox Series X / S also supports external storage connection with USB 3.0 connection, but in that case, games for Xbox Series X / S only support saving. Normal external storage doesn’t support the Xbox Velocity architecture and can’t boot. In other words, it can only be used as a temporary storage place when not playing the game. If you want to actually play the game, you have to move it to the built-in storage.
On the other hand, if it is a backward compatible title for Xbox One or Xbox 360, it can be installed and started without problems even if it is an external storage connected to Xbox Series X / S via USB.
Actually connect the storage expansion card for Xbox Series X | S and see the performance
Now, from here on, I’d like to actually use the Xbox Series X | S storage expansion card on the Xbox Series X. The connection is really easy, just insert the expansion card into the dedicated slot on the back of the Xbox console. If you check the “Data storage device” in the settings, it will be recognized as a “Storage Expansion Card”. To make the Xbox Series X | S storage expansion card the standard game installation destination, select “Storage Expansion Card” on the controller, press the menu button, and select “Make it the default installation location” from the menu that appears. Just do it.
Of course, you can also move games that are already installed in your internal storage to your Xbox Series X | S storage expansion card. I tried moving the 50.2GB Assassin’s Creed Valhara, but it took about 1 minute and 12 seconds to complete. This would allow multiple games to be moved without much stress.
The biggest question is, “Is there a difference in game launch and load times between the internal storage and the Xbox Series X | S storage expansion card?” Here, I would like to try using Assassin’s Creed Valhara. “Launch” is set from the start of the game until the title screen appears, and “Load” is set by pressing “Continue” from the menu screen until the game actually starts.
Both startup and load times are error levels. Even if you install the game on the storage expansion card for Xbox Series X | S, you can get the same performance as the internal storage, and it can be said that the game play will not be adversely affected.
Approximately 30,000 yen is not cheap for 1TB storage, but it is easy to use just by inserting it, it is compact and does not get jammed, and it has the same performance as the internal storage. If you want to enjoy a game-filled life on the Xbox Series X / S during the New Year holidays, you should consider introducing it.
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