The Xbox One has a big problem. While things might not be as bad as they are for the Wii U, the Xbox One isn’t without its flaws, and its biggest issue is storage capacity.
This has been a known issue. Microsoft is working on the issue, but there’s not a solution in place right now. The 500 GB hard drive that comes with the Xbox One may seem like a lot, but it’s down almost 30 percent after formatting and Microsoft’s software, leaving you with just 362 gigs out of the gate.
That’s still a decent chunk of space to work with, but not when you consider a launch title like NBA 2k14 requires a 43 gig install (in order to, I suppose, correctly map out all of Chris “Birdman” Andersen’s many tattoos). I knew that going in. We all did. But that’s not the latest issue.
The latest issue is the obscene 13 GB patch that Dead Rising 3 released this week. Dead Rising 3 already required a 35 GB installation from day one; with this additional 13 GB patch (which lets you access the downloadable content launching soon), the game takes up more than 13 percent of your hard drive space. Sure you can delete it, but are you really going to want to re-install a 35 GB game and then re-download a 13 GB patch? Even with the killer FiOS internet I have, that’s not a quick process (especially when you consider how long it takes the Xbox One to install games).
The good news is that there aren’t enough games available right now (at least, not enough good games) for a reasonable person to fill up their hard drive. But with the updated Tomb Raider, Rayman Legends, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, Thief, Titanfall and Metal Gear Solid V all set to launch in the next two months, that won’t be true for long. Many (if not all) of those games will require massive installations on their own. I knew I’d need to keep track of the games I had installed on my Xbox One; I just didn’t realize I’d have to do that within four months of launch.
The next few months are going to be an exciting time for Xbox One owners … as long as their systems can handle the size of what their owners throw at them.