9:33 AM on 01.07.2008
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With Blu-ray now kicking HD DVD's proverbial, you can forgive Microsoft from wanting to distance itself somewhat from the ailing format. While Microsoft rarely gives any comment of substance when it comes to answering rumors, it has addressed the gossip of a future Xbox 360 with a built in HD DVD drive quite emphatically: We have reiterated multiple times since launching the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player that we have no plans to integrate an HD DVD player in to the Xbox 360. We feel that offering the drive externally is the best way to give consumers the ultimate choice to create their own high-definition experiences.
There, so shut up about it. Makes sense, really. There's no way Microsoft would want to tie itself so heavily to HD DVD now, and seriously, do we need another SKU on the market? Hopefully this is the end of that one. Now let's bring on the Xbox 360 with Blu-ray rumors.
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I never understood the HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray debate. I know Blu-ray holds more information or some shit but whats the difference, there both HD right?
Do you need to buy a Blu-ray DVD player to watch Blu-ray only or is there any players on sale that play both?
Guess its just like Mini Disc vs. MP3.... that was a fun discussion topic.
Well, physical media will be obsolete within the next two generations. Everything will become virtual media and will be downloaded onto memory units.
I heard a rumor that the 360 was going to have a Blu Ray player in it...
Maybe the big announcement is a Blu-ray drive for the 360. If it's motion controls, someone's getting a wiimote to the head.
It's like MS has always said though. If Blu-ray takes off, they will just make an external Blu-ray drive. Either way it's no biggie.
well that's a big relief for me, not another SKU! lol, well it was a smart decision by microsoft to sell the HD-DVD externally, now they can easily hop the fence and join the victors of this format war.
You guys ARE joking about the possibility of Blu-Ray in the 360, right? That's stupid. Sony would not sell one of the key factors of their console to their largest rival.
Another sku=another product I have to explain to dumbass people while I'm at work.
derr whats the difference between an elite and the go pro bundle?
Get the fuck out of the store, that's what.
For about 5 months I regretted buying a PS3, hell I don't think I turned it on in 5 months, now I'm quite happy I got it.
hey, you guys think microsoft will ever release a 360 with a built in hddvd player??
Rpg_worshiper: Welcome to business.
@JACK: Me too! I heard they're calling it the Xbox Ultimate!
rumor has it, microsoft is working on a top secret xbox 360 that will come with its own built in Laser Disc player. if this is true, its gonna be sweet!
This post was made awesome just because its got the soup nazi tag! But yeah Sony don't own Blu-ray in totallity many other companies developed it and they would sell it for the right price to Msoft.
[i]Spectral originally posted:
derr whats the difference between an elite and the go pro bundle?
Get the fuck out of the store, that's what.[/i]
Hahahahahahaha.
They knew it was going to fall so they didn't integrate it.
Blurayp!
I have this source who works in the upper echelons of Microsoft, but I can't say who 'cuz he'll get fired if MS finds out. Anyway, he says: "There will be a new 360 SKU called the 360 Platinum. It will include the 360 with a Blu-Ray drive, 4 wireless controllers, a 500GB hard drive, Halo 3, Gears of War, and best of all it will cost $249! ($800 in equivalent Euromonies)"
Just doing my part to keep the rumor mill running.
lol@Jack: Two generations?! That's thinking in the long term, isn't it?
I estimate it like this: how long will it be before everyone has good, fast internet connections. Fast enough so that 50 gigs can be downloaded in half an hour or so, or streamed with very little buffering? Going on current levels of tech, it'll be a while. Optical storage is still going to be very userful for the foreseeable future, at least until they can put out 50 gig memory stick movies for a competative price and with decent copy protection.
I'm very much with MS on this one. Wait it out, find the winner, give support to them.
i find this funny. An x360+bluray=PS3 imho. It seems awfully familiar to Mr. Garisson turning gay then getting a sexchange then turning lesbian.
Also, blurayp.
lol@Jack: Two generations?! That's thinking in the long term, isn't it?
I estimate it like this: how long will it be before everyone has good, fast internet connections. Fast enough so that 50 gigs can be downloaded in half an hour or so, or streamed with very little buffering? Going on current levels of tech, it'll be a while. Optical storage is still going to be very userful for the foreseeable future, at least until they can put out 50 gig memory stick movies for a competative price and with decent copy protection.
I'm very much with MS on this one. Wait it out, find the winner, give support to them.
Damn you Back button! I pressed you ages after I'd posted that comment! Sorry all.
@glipe
If everyone waited it out, both formats would fail due to lack of funding.
Needs money to ween!
xbox 360 with blueray? w00t?
Just got my 360 a few days back .. wanted the hd-drive because you get 5 free movies with it.. but now? .. i will think about it ;)
@mix I don't expect everyone to wait it out, just people who don't actually manufacture either! Third parties are already choosing sides (Paramount and WB, for example) and these will be the soldiers who decide the war. I personally think it was risky and portentially rash of Sony to throw their chips in behind another brand-new optical media format (see UMD for details of that sort of risk) but I can also see that, when you're the company making the disks, it kinda helps you get behind the format! The DVD and PS2 combo paid off for them in the past, looks like that's what they're going for again.
watching talladega nights on the 360 hd-dvd drive ...that must be something cool right ??? .... guest not :)))
@glipe
I hear ya, seems like Sony is a big risk taker, or maybe they have an oracle at their disposal...hrmmm
Oh, if they even released an external BluRay drive for the 360, the PS3 would very quickly find itself relocated to my bedroom, left to gather dust.
360 costs less than ps3 cause it doesnt offer high definition and its games are dvd only.
Whenever somebody wins this handbag battle wake me up, by then some holographic disc format will be cheap enough to shit all over the competition anyway. I hate this video format war, can we all not just get along.
ive seen a lot of people who think blu ray beating hd-dvd means sony is going to win the "console war". this may be just me but that just means im going to buy a blu ray player at some point (not a ps3) wii doesnt have blue ray or hd-dvd, so its in a distant last place? right? man their logic is tough to follow.
i'll say it again, call me what you will... the next xbox will come faster because of this.
Is it safe to come out of the bunker yet? I've been holed up here since they announced the great format wars... Until one format is put out of it's misery and buried I have little interest in the next gen formats. Of course I also have little interest in the next gen formats until the price is well below the $200 mark.
Hell the only reason I want a HD player is to rent movies and see how great they look in HD. I'm really not a "collector" of movies so I just want an inexpensive solution for watching movies in the HD format. I wonder how long it will take before blu-ray DVR style recorders become available.
A smart decision, but they're going to have to integrate something for their next console. Hopefully one of the new formats will be the clear winner, by that time.
@ Rpg_worshiper: "Sony would not sell one of the key factors of their console to their largest rival."
Just like Microsoft didn't let Zony use their operating system for their computers? I'm pretty sure Sony will be willing to let Microsoft put a Blu-Ray player in their machine. It'll push Blu Ray higher and I'm sure Sony will take some of that money. And if it does become the standard, they can't not let Microsoft.
I'm pretty sure the big M will throw a big fuck you to Sony's PC department if they don't. Despite the fact that they're rivals in the gaming market, they still eat at the same table when it comes to PCs.
@ lostalaska
"i'm really not a "collector" of movies so I just want an inexpensive solution for watching movies in the HD format."
The 360's video marketplace? 300 in HD. That's what I'm using to watch HD movies during this war. The big bitch is the fact that I have to leave my 360 overnight and watch it the following day. Good thing is I can leave my 360 on sleep mode while it downloads. Also, a lot of the movies they have suck.
It was nice seeing Microsoft using SONY VAIO's at the keynote last night-NOT TOSHIBA's. I own several blurays and they blow dvd out of the water on a nice 1080p plasma. Better than the celluloid at the theatre.
@jackofnotrades, Damn, how many times must people say it in order for people like you to believe it? The mass consumer doesnt own a connection to the internet fast enough to cater this type of media distrubution. You say it will come in the next 2 generations? Ok, well you try convincing the typical consumer that has a cable connection (which still isnt whats needed to enjoy hd content on demand) that they need to stop paying 40 bucks a month for their hi-speed internet which is more than sufficient for there needs, to a much faster, more important pricier fiber optic connection so they can enjoy hd movies? Yea, i dont see this happening till about 2020.
sorry, i meant +2020
@hammburglar
I think the reason poeple say that is because they are mainly looking at PS3 vs 360 which is really the only true DIRECT competition going on in this generation, where as the Wii sits nicely on the sidelines reminaing successful no matter what either of the two other systems does.
It's true that Blu-ray beating out HD-DVD won't win the console war for Sony; The wii is a very different console from either the PS3 or the 360 and as such if rather immune to how good either one does... no matter how good PS3 or 360 does, it's own sales will not suffer. However, the format that comes out on top will probably play a fairly big role in the future of PS3 vs 360... unlike the wii, the two consoles are considered to be very similar... where as some might think "wii360" or "PSWii" not that many people consider 'PS360"; many games between the two multi-platform on each other and it's damn expensive to get both. So the PS3 and 360 can be seen as being in competition.
It's true that the 360 does not rely on HD-DVD as PS3 relies on Blu-ray, but HD-DVD failing will still hurt the 360 and give support to to PS3. As the popularity of HDTV increase poeple will want something to play it, and the PS3 is a good deal since it's both a console and a player; it may also be cheaper than 360+blu-ray external drive. Not to mention, with the failure of HD-DVD their is bound to be some backlash coming from gamers who forked over the extra cash for an HDDVD external drive; and this just piles on to past frustrations with red lights and such. If PS3 really starts picking up it's game, the failing of HDDVD could lead to the PS3 gaining some huge strides over the 360 in the long run... grant it, since the 360 can come out with an external blu-ray player, HDDVD's failure won't hurt them as much as a blu-ray failure would hurt PS3 (practically game over for PS3 should that happen)
So no, Blu-ray's victory won't "win" the war for sony as Wii will ALWAYS remain a constant source of competition, but it may play some serious roles in the future of the PS3 vs 360 war
Not shocking really. They offered it seperatly for a reason which the quote states. Including it in another model and a new sku is not only a bad business move, but it would also have been a kick in the nuts for those that just bought a high end 360.
i hear the 360 is getting a Blu ray player this Spring!!
//rumor started//
Fuck blu-ray. Skip it and bring on hi-def downloadable content. screw Sony up their bums.
So, I don't have to worry about my new-ish 360 being dated. I'm happy.
No Necros, you need to worry about it being date BluRaypd.
@monte
those are very good yet wordy points.
i was just addressing the people that seem to believe blu-ray victory = ps3 victory. which could happen if sony does, like you say, pick up their game. but they cant sit there fat and happy just because they have super awesome blu ray. because shouldnt this console war be about next gen gaming not next gen movie viewing. but hey maybe im just crazy.
@hammburglar
Well, it should be, and that's indeed what it is for the wii, however for the PS3 and 360 is a little bit of both really. with the rise of HDTV people will want players for their HD-movies and as such it becomes a factor. Some parents and gamer will want to look to the 360 and PS3 as a way of killing two birds with one stone; satisfy both movie and gaming cravings. I would guess, that down the line, as HDTV becomes cheaper to afford and more common the format the gaming systems play will gradually more influence on console decisions. So the format is pretty much bound to have an effect in the long run
though i do agree, blu-ray winning will not win it all for Sony, it only serve to help even up the playing field (though a timely launch of a 360 blu-ray add-on will help slow down sony's rise). Finally getting in a good gaming library, comparable to the 360 is what it will need to finally go over the top.
:(.
Picking up Blu-Ray ASAP would be a good idea for Microsoft; Sony has had a few strong titles but no real online experience (at least not compared with Gears of War, Halo, and Call of Duty...which there's no reason to own on a PS3 unless you hate the idea of online play or don't mind having the experience ruined by a nonexistant infrastructure and completely absent player base).
Microsoft doesn't have as strong of an exclusive lineup this year, while PS3 is getting MGS4, Final Fantasy, and LittleBigPlanet (Not to mention finally getting Lost Planet). They're catching up, and deterring the massive sales that Blu-Ray playback has steered towards the PS3 would be a really bad move.
Picking up Blu-Ray ASAP would be a good idea for Microsoft; Sony has had a few strong titles but no real online experience (at least not compared with Gears of War, Halo, and Call of Duty...which there's no reason to own on a PS3 unless you hate the idea of online play or don't mind having the experience ruined by a nonexistant infrastructure and completely absent player base).
Microsoft doesn't have as strong of an exclusive lineup this year, while PS3 is getting MGS4, Final Fantasy, and LittleBigPlanet (Not to mention finally getting Lost Planet). They're catching up, and deterring the massive sales that Blu-Ray playback has steered towards the PS3 would be a really bad move.
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