THE BUZZ: Microsoft spokesman Larry Hryb—often known better by his nickname Major Nelson—today announced that the company will soon have a new, bigger upgradable hard drive option for owners of the Xbox 360 Slim.

Later this month, Microsoft will release a 320GB Media Hard Drive, coming in at a suggested retail price of $129.99. The drive—compatible only with Slim models of the Xbox 360—will also include an extra bonus: A code for a downloadable copy of LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars.

While the new 320GB drive will be available worldwide, customers in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, and the UAE will not receive the free game voucher with their purchase.

EGM’s TAKE: This is, unfortunately, one of the disappointing points of the Xbox 360 for me: The proprietary accessories that end up being terribly overpriced. For me to upgrade an Xbox 360 Slim to 320GB, it’d cost $130. Over on the PlayStation 3—which can take any standard laptop-size hard drive—I could do it for $45~$65 (depending on which brand and drive speed I want).

I can’t blame Microsoft for wanting a cut of the action, but the amount of mark-up they attach to Xbox 360 accessories like this—which really is little more than a standard drive in a special case—is, in my opinion, rather ridiculous.