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Xbox360: "We're Not Ruling Out an External Blu-ray Drive"
Bamelin
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I know alot of us have speculated in the past that if MS would put out an external Blu-ray drive for the system if blu-ray wins the format war.
In the article below it appears we have confirmation that indeed Microsoft would. To be fair, MS is still stating their support for HD DVD ... however the fact that they are even mentioning what was once unthinkable ... an external blu-ray drive on the 360 ... to me that say's alot.
At the very least Microsoft appears to be hedging their bets.
http://www.betanews.com/article/Microsoft_stands_behind_HD_DVD_for_Xbox_360/1199822503
In the article below it appears we have confirmation that indeed Microsoft would. To be fair, MS is still stating their support for HD DVD ... however the fact that they are even mentioning what was once unthinkable ... an external blu-ray drive on the 360 ... to me that say's alot.
At the very least Microsoft appears to be hedging their bets.
Microsoft stands behind HD DVD for Xbox 360
by Nate Mook 7 CommentsJanuary 8, 2008, 3:01 PM
Microsoft's director of global marketing for the Xbox 360, Albert Penello, told BetaNews this morning that the company will continue to push an HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360, but acknowledged the external nature would enable it to ship a Blu-ray drive if Sony's format became the new high-definition standard.
Penello also said that despite the rumors, Microsoft has never planned to ship an Xbox console with an integrated HD DVD drive, but the decision has nothing to do with the uncertainty in the format war. Because neither standard was finalized when the Xbox 360 shipped, Microsoft opted to use DVDs.
Changing that now could lead to confusion among consumers, Penello added, especially if game developers were to make use of the larger space on HD DVD discs. He admitted that Sony's inclusion of Blu-ray in the PlayStation 3 has helped that format, but said Microsoft's add-on HD DVD drive alone has outsold all standalone Blu-ray players combined.
Moreover, Penello noted that any customer who purchased the HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360 was doing so solely to watch movies, while only a comparatively small number of PS3 owners have been purchasing Blu-ray films.
While Warner Bros. decision to drop HD DVD and speculation that Paramount would follow suit clearly hindered the format, Penello said that Microsoft would remain committed. "Until Toshiba goes out of business, this war is not over," he stated.
"Consumers are choosing HD DVD, but Hollywood isn't listening. While HD DVD has been trying to sell the format to consumers, Sony has focused on selling the Blu-ray brand and company." That strategy has proven very successful when it comes to dealing the movie studios and led to a perception of dominance in the marketplace.
And if HD DVD did pack up and go home? Then Microsoft would have the option of offering an add-on Blu-ray drive, said Penello.
http://www.betanews.com/article/Microsoft_stands_behind_HD_DVD_for_Xbox_360/1199822503
Bamelin on
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Is what really bothers me about the format war. Microsoft, you have ONE production house left on your side, 1.5 if you count Columbia. Paramount WILL activate the escape clause on their contract, and then it will be over. Please don't go down with the ship. You can push HD-DVD all you like, but if you keep it up, the only thing people will be watching on their HD-DVD players are old copies of Transformers and "What's New at Microsoft, vol. 5."
Hedge your bets, join the rest of us, and embrace Blu-Ray.
Oh, and stop using guilt-ridden phrases like, "Consumers want HD-DVD, but Hollywood isn't listening." That just makes you sound petty and whining.
CURRENTLY PLAYING:
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Michael Bay was right!
"What you don't understand is corporate politics. Microsoft wants both formats to fail so they can be heroes and make the world move to digital downloads. That is the dirty secret no one is talking about. That is why Microsoft is handing out $100 million dollar checks to studios just embrace the HD DVD and not the leading, and superior Blu Ray. They want confusion in the market until they perfect the digital downloads. Time will tell and you will see the truth."
And Jesus, how many HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray threads does PA need? 3 here, 1 in Moe's and another in D&D.
Look under the quote.
EDIT: Oh, you mean topic title? no, that's not a real quote.
Microsofts plan all along has been to ditch both formats and embrace digital downloads. The money paid to movie studios was a delay tactic to give them time to both weaken Blu Ray and to finalise their distribution service. This is already taking shape with the XBLM stuff, but expect it to ramp up even more. Some kind of netflix or even an actual partnership with netflix is probably going to happen before long.
This is why MS didnt put the HDDVD drive internally, or at least one of the reasons, and why they have always emphasised it as an optional extra.
Microsoft is in no way legitimately in support of HDDVD media, they want the format war to be as prolongued as possible, as they will swoop in with digital downloads and win provided no single format becomes standard quickly. Hence why supporting HDDVD was a wise move, as Blu Ray had the initial edge.
I dont mind really, I truly do see DD as the future, probably not from Microsoft though. Some company will come along with a perfect service at the right time and kill Blu Ray, which will undoubtedly win the war.
The point being, I see by the time Blu Ray 'wins' it will have 'lost' because technology will have advanced. Its going to be probably 4 or 5 years before Blu Ray even rivals DVD in sales, and thats 2012-2013.
This is true, though I think you're combining two different issues - one is why did they release an add-on hd-dvd player instead of incorporating it, and the second is why MS threw a bunch of money behind HD-DVD... but whereas the second is due to the digital download issue you describe, the first has more to do with MS making a choice that getting the 360 to be successful was more important than pushing the HD-DVD format.
There's no big conspiracy behind not using the hd-dvd drive for the 360 - it would've probably delayed the launch, definitely would have increased the price, and wasn't necessary. They were trying so hard to drive the cost down (or be cheap, either description works) as to use a noisy as fuck DVD drive, and crappy cheap heatsinks, and they even cut OUT the hard drive this time to drop the cost of the lower-end version even more, but they're going to put in an HD-DVD drive that less than 50% of the users of the console will use to play movies?
Hah... actually, I don't know how it'd work out, but that would be quite a shrewd move if it came off. It'd undermine Sony's attempts at pushing the PS3 on the Blu-Ray angle.
Obviously I'm about to be slain and told that's impossible, but if you search your feelings Luke, you know it to be true.
edit: If we're going to talk about the distribution debate in general, with HD-DVD, Blu-Ray and digital distribution, did anyone else see the comment from Valve about how they'd be ready to use Live and the PSN to distribute their games, they're just waiting for permission? I thought that would be really cool.
:x
I was given Planet Earth on HDDVD (The Attenborough one!). I feel it has paid for itself.
But is there truly any other version worth a damn? At Costco, we only sell the BBC version.
Also, they have a little more interest in HD-DVD than solely because it's an opposing format to Sony's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDi_Interactive_Format
Their technology is running a good portion of it.
Yup. There's also a really interesting article from 2006 that talks about HP trying to get the Blu-ray camp to adopt HDi, but failing. Basically, Microsoft and Intel (among other backers) thought that HD-DVD was ultimately a more open and consumer-friendly format. Many of the movie studios, though, preferred Blu-ray because it was more secure, and they're in fear of piracy.
It is theorized that if Blu-ray had adopted HDi, as well as more the more lenient copy-protection schemes that Microsoft and Intel were hoping for, then the format war would have been over years ago and we'd all be singing the praises of Blu-ray (well, everyone except Toshiba).
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No, no it won't. Why do people keep thinking DD will be a viable format in 2-5 years? As much as we here, in the utmost minority, would like it-most people, including just about everyone I know, prefer to actually own a physical copy of what they pay for.
People need to stop throwing around this term because it won't be widely accepted, nay-accepted at all, anytime soon.
Oh no. I'm not falling for it again. I spent half a day railing against people that thought the same away about digital/online distribution in this thread. I'm not about to do it again!
Screw it. I'm going to play Rock Band.
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Sure it will. And has. Visit Paris. They have 30gb internet connections there with a set top box which streams TV and HD movies down the connection. You can record live TV, pause movies, skip to any point in a streamed DD and it will play in HD.
All is requires is a fast internet connection. The technology to provide and distribute Digital Downloads has been around for years and years. Once broadband catches up DD will slot in with no fuss for low prices. In contrast, BLU RAY and HDDVD is new technology requiring expensive new hardware. DD services dont other than a set top box (free with the subscription)
Digital Downloads will probably run concurrently with Blu Ray when they both get into their stride for a while.
And whats this about people preferring to own a physical copy of stuff? iTunes is making a shitload of money off of music and TV downloads with no physical copy. Why not movies aswell? That is a poor excuse. Noone cares about physical media. If anything, I would think they would be opposed to it, as I have so many fucking DVDs Id love to get rid of them and replace all 200 or so with one HDD. It would save me a shitload of space and there is no way Im filling my house with piles and piles of discs.
Printed media is also far far easier to pirate than digital downloads. Even Blu Ray with its awesome protection will be far harder to regulate or enforce than online digital downloads.
Yes, and Bizzare Creations is the only one who's ever brought this up. Mostly due to the way they design their tracks in game.
Hey, I'm just sayin'.
*shrug*
:P
And yes, the 360 having only a DVD drive could potentially be a problem. Unless games like Lost Odyssey set a precedent for multiple disc copies being not a problem.
The disc space is only really a problem with sandbox games. Linear RPGs or Adventure games it makes no difference really. Heck, it reminds me of the good old days where completing a disc was its own achievement.
(iirc Lost Odyssey actually devotes half its achievement points for completing each disc. Which is awesome)
Everyone "Just Says". It gets brought up all the time, and yet the only person complaining about the size is the people who (from what I gather) retexture the entire level to do a night version of it.
None of what you saids matters if it isn't being adopted. Give me numbers of its success, not the AVAILABILITY of it. The fact is, hd movies are being adopted and will continue to do so. As much as I'd like to just download a movie and play it, it's not going to happen for quite a few years, that being at least 5.
I'm pretty sure he DID say it happens. Like, right where I bolded it.
Of course, North America is a different market when it comes to this sort of stuff. The lower population density causes problems with set ups like this.
Of course it happens, but you aren't seeing how I'm referencing it. Yes, I would be an idiot to make the statement that it has never happened in light of xbox live and services like rentals online. What I'm stating is that MARKET PENETRATION won't happen for 5+ years. You should, you know man, like read.
I did read your post. You said "None of this matters if it's not being adopted". Well, it IS being adopted. He gave an example from France. There's tons of examples of "Movies on Demand" up here in Canada. That's all digital distribution. Don't be such a cock just because you don't like the answers your getting back.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2246933,00.asp
And that matters... how? It costs like 3-4 bucks to rent a movie, no fucking shit there are going to be more rentals than sales. If someone wanted to watch a movie more than once, what makes you think they would want to pay for a rental every time they wanted to watch it? Ask Circuit City how that whole Divx thing worked out for em.
People like to own stuff. If Average Joe American pays $20+ for a product, he is going to want something physical to show for it. This is going to continue to be true so long as hard drives are reliable as a 90 year old's dick, and so long as downloading and redownloading movies is a pain in the ass. Most people would rather put a disc in a player and press play, no dicking around. No worries about hard drive space. No worries about massive downloads and finicky internet connections.
You know, I bet the music industry felt the same way you did 5 years ago: "No one's going to buy music online! People love their CD collections, with album art and stuff. Bandwidth is too slow anyway, since most people are still on 56k connections. And hard drives aren't large enough to fit people's collections of hundreds of albums, not to mention reliable enough. We have nothing to worry about!"
Gee. That type of attitude didn't work out very well for them.
Granted, the infrastructure, services, etc. for online video distribution isn't quite all there yet, nor is it far from perfect. But it's getting close. 5-10 years is a damn long time in the world of technology. Do you remember what 1998 was like in terms of technology? If so, yeah we've come a long way haven't we?
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And what kind of selection do you have? I have a total of about 20 HD movies available to me VOD, maybe three or four of which are significant recent releases and none of which I'm interested in. It's going to be a very long time before these libraries come anywhere close to rivaling what you can get from a store on disc.
The SD content is a little better, but if I'm in a mood to watch a non-new release there's about a 2 percent chance the movie is available on demand.
If this is the kind of DD you are talking it has no chance of catching disc formats anytime soon.
PSN ID : HBoxx
There's a big difference. The storage technology was there. People had ample storage space t for their whole music collection. I don't think most people have storage space enough for their movie collection in SD, let alone HD. I don't see that changing for a while, long enough for an HD disc format ro have its day in the sun.
PSN ID : HBoxx