Sony and Microsoft’s latest iteration of their home entertainment system, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One both just celebrated their first birthday – and both are performing exceptionally well. When they were released last year, one of the most frequently asked questions Seagate was asked was whether our products could be used to replace the default 500GB hard drive with something bigger. We responded with a resounding “yes.”
Sales for both systems have gone well, and that’s expected to continue for Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo heading into the home stretch of the holiday season. For stragglers who’ve not joined the “next gen” train or those looking for a second system for the house here are some simple storage options from Seagate that will keep you saving princesses, answering when duty calls, maintaining your creed and fulfilling your destiny.
Let’s take a look at the three platforms and recommendations.
Sony
Like the PlayStation 3 before it, the PlayStation 4 allows you to upgrade the hard drive without violating the system warranty. You can easily replace the default drive with an SSD, currently fastest type of drive on the market. However, SSD capacities are still smaller and if you’re a hardcore gamer, you’ll fill that space pretty quickly. For the trifecta of speed, capacity and price, we recommend the Solid State Hybrid Drive. For ~ $120, you’ll get up to 1TB of space for all your games, movies and music.
When the system first released, Tested did this great comparison video to highlight the differences in a PlayStation 4 between the HDD, SSD and SSHD.
Installing the drive is simple – so much that IGN did this how-to video and will have you up and running in about twenty minutes. Once installed and after conducting a few system boots while playing, you should quickly notice a difference in performance.
Microsoft
The Xbox One handles storage a bit differently. This past spring, Microsoft announced that the Xbox One would receive an update to support two storage external devices at once. Because the only requirement is that the drive support USB 3.0, it’s easy to recommend these devices:
With these portable devices, your games and stats are no longer confined to your living room.
Nintendo
While the Nintendo Wii U is in its second year on the market, showing no signs of slowing down, and releasing great games such as Super Smash Bros and new titles like Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. Similar to the Xbox One, the Wii U also allows for external storage support and we recommend the following:
It’s important to note is that the Wii U does not recommend using an SSD or SSHD as an external storage solution, but an HDD with an external power source. The size of the drive you do select, however, should be determined by your gaming style and how active you are in downloading content.
Whether you’re a first-time gamer just getting your feet wet, or someone who’s been playing long enough to remember when Pong was 2D, video games are a hobby and passion to millions – and they aren’t going away. So jump in, get fit and have fun with great systems and great storage products to support them.
