14 DAY TRIAL // Xbox 360 owners that were given entry into this year's new System Update Preview program are now receiving Microsoft's new Xbox 360 discs, which, according to the company, use a brand new format as opposed to the current dual-layer DVDs.
Microsoft knows that its Xbox 360 is lagging behind the PlayStation 3 in terms of disc space, with the dual-layer DVD managing to fit around 7GB of space, while Sony's Blu-ray discs can fit around 40GB of data.
This resulted in games like Mass Effect 2 or Dead Space 2 being shipped on two discs on the Xbox 360, forcing players to swap out discs in the middle of their campaigns.
Now, through the system update preview program, Microsoft is testing out a brand new disc format for the Xbox 360.
Owners of the console were given a chance to enter the testing stage at the end of last month, and now, the company is shipping out the new discs, pictured above via Kotaku, to those who were accepted into the program.
The discs contain a free copy of Halo: Reach, the newest installment in Microsoft's popular series, as well as a warning not to insert the disc into any console that isn't marked for participation in the preview program.
Microsoft has already given the consoles of beta testers a special dashboard update, which enables a brand new section in the menu, called Xbox Beta.
If you do insert the disc into a non-beta console, the company warns that it will disable access to Xbox Live until the dashboard update that will enable the discs are released to all Xbox 360 owners.
Microsoft only asks of beta testers to play Halo: Reach and then switch over to other games and see if any issues arise after playing with the new disc format.
According to previous reports, the new Xbox 360 disc may allow developers an extra 1GB of storage by eliminating some of the company's anti-piracy measures.