According to a press release from Microsoft Japan, some Xbox 360 owners looking to upgrade their hard drives to the new 120 GB model next month may be in for a more complicated experience than they had once thought.

Following the announcement of the Xbox Elite, potential Xbox 360 owners across the world have been disappointed that the news announced so far only applies to the North American market. However, a recent press release from Microsoft Japan indicates that the Elite's 120 GB hard drive will be available in Japan for the price of 18,900 yen ($161.64 USD) starting June 7th.

But, Wired's gaming blog Game|Life recently examined the Japanese press release a little more closely and noticed some eyebrow-raising conditions that will most likely affect 360 gamers from all regions. In particular, the blog post points towards the process of transferring data from the old 20 GB hard drives to the new 120 GB models.

According to the press release, partial transfer looks to be impossible, since the entire contents of your 20 GB drive will automatically be transferred to the larger 120 GB drive. Once that transfer takes place, everything on your original drive will be permanently deleted. Furthermore, the transfer process has been made into a one-way street as it is impossible to move any transferred data back to an original 20 GB drive.

It is also impossible to transfer the data on two or more 20 GB drives to one single 120 GB drive. If there is existing data on the 120 GB hard drive at the time of transfer, the whole of that data is deleted.

The blog is also quick to point out the words of Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg, who suggested that gamers buy a second 20 GB hard drive upon the launch of the Xbox Video Marketplace. For those who have unfortunately followed his tragic advice, it seems that you're plum out of luck.

News-Source: http://www.gametrailers.com