Note the l33t Halo Reach theme
Setting up a cloud save game is very simple. From the System Settings menu, choose Storage, and then Enable Cloud Save Games. This will create a cache on a local storage device, so be sure you have 512 megs of storage space available on your hard drive. Once this process is completed, you can then start saving your games to the new cloud storage. As you play, the data is stored to your local cache, and then the next time you power down your Xbox 360, it stays in a low-power state just long enough to upload the new data. It’s quite seamless and very easy to set up.
So what about your Gamertag? Well, you can’t store the Gamertag on your cloud drive; that’s just not how it works. But you can sign in to your Gamertag from another console very easily. Just press the Xbox Guide button and choose the download profile option (you’ll need to be signed out of any profile to do so). You’ll be prompted to enter your Windows Live ID and password. Once you’ve done so, you can save any Gamertag associated with your Live ID to local storage on the new console. Your cloud saves will now be available! Easy as pie.
Can you tell I don't have a fancy video capture device?
The benefits of cloud saves are tremendous. Now, my kids and I can go back and forth between our two consoles without taking any storage with us. Everything is updated and synchronized via the cloud. I can go to a friend’s place, download my profile, and within moments, have access to my saved game data. Perhaps the best part of cloud storage is not worrying about losing data if a drive fails for any reason. No crying over the loss of game progress anymore! Just remember you have to have internet access to retrieve your saves from a new location.
While this editorial has focused on the cloud storage options specific to the Xbox 360, the Playstation 3 has a similar service. Playstation Plus members have access to 150 megs of online storage. PC gamers have more options for cloud storage, but perhaps the easiest is Valve’s Steam Cloud service. Any way you look at it, the cloud is a tremendous benefit for gamers. Never has having ready access to your favorite couch or online co-op save game data been so easy. As the next generation of consoles looms on the horizon, let’s hope that the trend for cloud storage continues.
Header image attribution: Flickr user cwwycoff1