E3 2011: Xbox Live getting cloud storage and “Beacons”

Cloud storage and Beacons were two features that Microsoft left out during its E3 2011 press conference a couple days ago. We’re not sure why though because cloud storage is a big deal for people who don’t want to go through the hassle of manually transporting profiles to another console. Beacons are another form of communication with friends. Setting a Beacon lets friends know what you want to play in addition to showing them what you’re currently doing on Xbox Live.

Cloud storage on Xbox Live will do away with gamertag recovery. Sometime later this year, you’ll be able to log into your Xbox Live account from any console while maintaining access to Achievements, friends, game saves and Microsoft Points. Anything that Microsoft stores on its servers will be available for your convenience on any Xbox 360 console.

The PlayStation Network also has a cloud storage feature, but it’s only available to PlayStation Plus subscribers. Storage is also limited to 150MB in the PSN cloud.

Beacons allow you to tell your friends on Xbox Live and Facebook what Xbox 360 game you want to play. Sometimes your friends may have the same urge to play a game, but they won’t ask you to play because they can see that you’re watching something on Netflix. Regardless of what you’re doing, Beacons will serve as a way for you to tell friends it’s okay to interrupt what you’re doing with a game invite.

Via [Major Nelson's Blog] Read [Gamertell @ E3 2011]