Because that is all they can spare. The real goal is to provide developers more space as the complaints concerning the outdated format are growing and developers are becoming more vocal in the community.

I do not know why people believed it was a completely new type of disc when a careful reading of Major Nelson's first comments on the matter pointed away from any such possibility. In addition, no sensible developer would commit to a game that requires an add on drive.

Currently MS uses a massive amount, far more than 1GB, of the DVD9 disc for security purposes. A method that has been hacked for years. MS likely realizes they have been using far too much territory for security that no longer serves it's purpose and a different, smaller protection system that can provide a basic level of security will suffice.

Because they can't do more on a Dual Layer DVD. Essentially the update reduces the security footprint from ~2Gb to 1Gb while increasing security. That of course leads to a bump in usable space from 6.5Gb to 7.5Gb.

shady

It never should have been a "rumor". It is most people's ignorance of technology and not understanding that the word "format" is not just a physical medium. It is also the METHOD that information is stored on a medium.

Like when you FORMAT a harddrive, nothing new is physically added. You can format a drive into FAT32 or NTFS or many other FORMATS.

Similarly, they are testing new FORMATS on DVD9 discs that take less space for security and allowing that space to be used for content.

I hate how people will try to say bad or positive things about a platform and they have NO IDEA what they are talking about except for marketing terms.

Underrated comment. I used to hate that game so much that any time my siblings asked me to play it, I just picked Hom and shut myself down mid-match.