It has been revealed Halo 4's multiplayer modes will require 8GB of hard drive space to work "optimally," a move meaning users owning 20GB or 4GB Xbox 360 consoles may be unable to play. However, there are solutions available.

Microsoft recommends using a hard drive, but an 8GB flash drive can be used instead. Microsoft said SanDisk Xbox 360 USB sticks, though any can be used, or there's the option to buy a hard drive. 320GB hard drives are relatively cheap - costing $118.19 - though 250GB hard drives are available.

Of course there's also the option to buy the Xbox 360 Slim console which includes a 250GB hard drive, or even an older model of the console with a 120GB hard drive since there's likely only a year left before Microsoft announces the next-generation Xbox console.

Halo: Reach had a similar issue where multiplayer needed additional space to work, freezing out Xbox 360 4GB console owners. That model of the console was never designed to store a huge amount of games, though Microsoft is offering the console in it's $14.99-a-month subscription package, so users losing out on 2012's biggest games may feel a little cheated.

On gaming forum NeoGAF, Frank O'Connor - franchise development director at developers 343 Industries - posted that the case of people not able to play the game is a small percentage and the team ensured: 1) that the game delivered the best experience, even if that means requiring 8GB of storage and 2) 343 Industries made sure almost any USB stick would work.

Formatting a USB stick for Xbox 360 use is pretty simple: plug the USB stick into the console, head to System and then System Settings, select Storage or Memory, then USB Storage Device and then choose either Configure Now or Customize.

Configure Now erases the USB stick for 16GB of storage, while Customize allows users to move the Reserved Storage slider to configure how much space is available on the stick. The formatting guide suggested some USB sticks might reduce performance, but the Xbox 360 does test a stick to see if its compatible.

Halo 4 releases November 6 on Xbox 360.