Xbox 360 hits 60GB in UK

After rumours that were later confirmed for North America at E3 2008, Britain's time has come. From August 15, UK customers will find that new Xbox 360 consoles now come with a 60GB hard drive, a 200-percent increase in capacity from the 20GB drive that currently ships with the standard model. The recommended retail price remains unchanged at £199.

This upgrade may come as no surprise to UK Xbox 360 owners. Xbox Live Arcade downloads, game add-on packs, and the Video Marketplace all vie for the rather limited hard-drive space on the 20GB hard drive.

In a statement, Neil Thompson, senior regional director of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, said, "We know consumers need increasingly more and more space to store the amazing digital-entertainment content we provide."

Meanwhile, there's no change to the storage capacity or pricing of the other Xbox 360 models. The Xbox 360 Arcade includes a 256MB memory card--but no hard drive--for £159.99, whereas the Xbox 360 Elite boasts a 120GB hard drive for £259.99.

Although the 20GB model received a $50 price reduction in the US following the 60GB announcement, a Microsoft UK spokesperson confirmed to GameSpot UK that Microsoft has no current plans to reduce the price of 20GB models still in stores on this side of the Atlantic.