Source: Eurogamer's hardware-focused blog Digital Foundry.

　　What we heard: Disc-format changes aren't exactly the sexiest of features that can be included in a firmware update, but Microsoft's new method, announced yesterday, may be more attractive than it seemed on first blush.

　　Digital Foundry reports that "a highly placed development source" has informed it that Microsoft's new format will include an extra 1GB of storage space for Xbox 360 game discs. According to Eurogamer's hardware blog, developers are currently able to allocate 6.8GB of game data out of a maximum of 7.95GB on a typical dual-layer DVD.

　　It's no Blu-ray expansion, but the extra 1GB would certainly be nice. The remaining 1GB is reportedly allocated to DVD Video and antipiracy. According to the site's source, Microsoft will be doing away with the video segment of this 1GB partition, thus being able to free up more space for game data.

　　As part of the new System Update Preview Program for US-based Xbox 360 owners, Xbox Live users can sign up to test the program and receive a free copy of Halo: Reach. However, there's a catch: Microsoft warned that it is possible that the beta test will result in a nonfunctioning console.

　　The official story: "We don't have any additional details to share at this time," a Microsoft representative told GameSpot.

　　Bogus or not bogus?: It's possible, but there's not enough information to say one way or the other. However, it seems likely that the extra storage space would be a boon to many developers.