This makes me happy and proud as you don't necessarily have to buy the hd-dvd player and a later model is not planned, but then again, hd-dvd technology wasn't planned for the 360 but there you go and addon cameout.DCharlie said:no, there is no price announcement for the add on , or the PS3.
HOWEVER, the base HD-DVD player is in at $499 - now, as long as the add on comes in under $499 (!) then there is some sort of saving available!
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Microsoft announces external HD-DVD drive for Xbox 360
- Thread starter thinkjose1
- Start date
DenogginizerOS
BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
I think the reason the HD-DVD player is not in the X360 is because months ago, it was looking like BR was going to win based on the amount of support it was getting. I think MS did not want to marry the X360 to the HD-DVD technology for fear that if it were contained in the XBOX 360 from the get-go and HD-DVD fails, then the X360 would have a big negative associated with it from there on out. Essentially, the X360 HD-DVD player will be able to compete in the marketplace as an independent player in the format war, and the X360 can remain being focused on being a games console.
Bottom line for me: I will get an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player when the war is won by one or the other.
Bottom line for me: I will get an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player when the war is won by one or the other.
MS has been fraternizing with the HD-DVD camp for quite awhile now and attempting to bolster their position through a number of actions. They've committed to building support into Vista for it. If they're willing to back it in their bread and butter OS segment, I doubt fear of failure would be the reason why they didn't back it with OOTB support in the X360. More than likely it probably just came down to timing - MS didn't want to budge from 2005 launch of the X360 and HD-DVD spec wasn't finalized by this time. Meanwhile, Vista is a late a 2006 product and the HD-DVD spec should definitely be finalized well before that.DenogginizerOS said:
DenogginizerOS
BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
kaching said:
True. PC Magazine just published a report stating that Microsoft officials have not ruled out Blu-Ray support. They close the article by postulating how better consumers would be if an agreement could have been reached between the two warring parties. It really saddens me that this format war has come into gaming.
Link to article
DenogginizerOS
BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
Blaster1X said:
Which begs the question then, "Why is this thread so long and bitter if this format war and the fact XBOX 360 will have an optional HD-DVD player available has no impact on gaming consoles?"
*shrug* Format wars are commonplace across IT and CE markets - many times they manage to sort themselves out without too much pain to the consumer. There's already been announcements of chips that support both BD and HDDVD and players that would play both discs, for example.DenogginizerOS said:
And the game console marketplace has been aggressively competitive for several generations of hardware, with competitors touting ANY competitive edge they can. Game consoles are the very definition of proprietary - I don't see how BD/HDDVD being in the equation makes things anymore sad than they have been.
open_mouth_
insert_foot_
What are the chances of dual-format HD drives coming into the market in '07? This way, people won't have to decide.
indianajonz
Member
this is what happens when you have the ex head of sega running things.
I have to admit it is a bit surprising that gamers on a gaming message board don't like the upcoming movie format 'war'.
Why have 2 or 3 different consoles doing the same thing? Why spend over 1000 bucks on hardware where if Nintendo, Sony, and MS reached some sort of agreement we could get all games on a 300 to 400 dollar piece of hardware. If anything this movie 'war' will help drive prices down, and help bring Blu Ray in the limelight as the format of choice sooner than later. Let the strongest format win!
Why have 2 or 3 different consoles doing the same thing? Why spend over 1000 bucks on hardware where if Nintendo, Sony, and MS reached some sort of agreement we could get all games on a 300 to 400 dollar piece of hardware. If anything this movie 'war' will help drive prices down, and help bring Blu Ray in the limelight as the format of choice sooner than later. Let the strongest format win!
Mrbob said:
I like movies MUCH more than games. A format war will always be the absolute worst case scenario for movies, delaying mass adoption of a format by years, and perhaps even permanately. There is zero to benefit to the consumer, because the PRICES will drop down on their own even with one format, guaranteed. And no, it doesn't make prices drop down faster. All this does is divide the format, the content, the consumer, and creates lasting division that can sour mainstream audiences for years.
People who want such a thing to occur make me cry inside.
monkeyrun said:
Hell, why would a multi-million dollar company bother with hiring personel with worldwide console experience, Japanese connections, and know-how when they can get anybody fresh from college! Brilliant!
Better yet, lets hire you...you clearly have all the answers.
indianajonz
Member
if you think peter moore has any idea what he's doing then you're delusional. the man is an idiot. all that experience and all those "japanese" connections did wonders for the dreamcast here, eh?
MassiveAttack
Banned
It's either Maruyama or Moore who will take the fall for the disaster in Japan.
Unfortunately, it's Maruyama who will get the axe first even though Moore deserves it just as much. Has any Western executive spent so much time talking about the importance of Japan, the need to correct past mistakes and the importance of building a Japan-centric software library only to fail so spectacularly?
The ad campaign for Japan was so misguided it's nearly inconceivable. And putting an XBOX lounge in Omotesando was like relocating CBGB to Times Square.
Unfortunately, it's Maruyama who will get the axe first even though Moore deserves it just as much. Has any Western executive spent so much time talking about the importance of Japan, the need to correct past mistakes and the importance of building a Japan-centric software library only to fail so spectacularly?
The ad campaign for Japan was so misguided it's nearly inconceivable. And putting an XBOX lounge in Omotesando was like relocating CBGB to Times Square.
indianajonz
Member
i understand that, and i need no history lesson from you. but he was brought in to turn things around and failed miserably. even worse than bernie stolar, who i personally met incedentally... facts are fun
Suburban Cowboy
Member
did it hurt them?xsarien said:
obviously there were multiple reasons why xbox failed in japan, just cause they did one thing right and still fell short doesnt mean it was a waste of time.
indianajonz said:i understand that, and i need no history lesson from you. but he was brought in to turn things around and failed miserably. even worse than bernie stolar, who i personally met incedentally... facts are fun
In 2000, EA had long decided not to support them, Sega had a terrible history with customers, and Sony launch a little console called the PS2. How in the hell do you "turn things around" when an elephant is pulling you in another direction?
Shogmaster
Member
3rdman said:
Don't bother. They are on full FUD mode. Logic does not fit into those.
indianajonz
Member
so then if all was lost, using your logic why did they bring moore in??? if all was lost then wtf was the point? Jesus!
indianajonz
Member
anyway i do not wish to debate the history of the ridiculous sega dreamcast with the likes of you at this time. i merely mention that peter moore is a senseless fool. i know he probably had little to do with the decision to launch an add on hd-dvd system, but at the end of the day he will be the scapegoat when it fails miserably.
consider this:
they have shortages which are of epic and historic proportions. they have released almost no new games since launch. now they feel they must "add" hd-dvd to catch up with a system that's not even released yet. do you think in redmond somewhere someone is thinking, "man, maybe we should have waitied and launched in the spring"...? they could have launched in march or april with hd-dvd built in, a nice crop of games, a healthy supply of hardware, and they would have had a great success. but peter moore and company felt it would be better to go in another direction...
consider this:
they have shortages which are of epic and historic proportions. they have released almost no new games since launch. now they feel they must "add" hd-dvd to catch up with a system that's not even released yet. do you think in redmond somewhere someone is thinking, "man, maybe we should have waitied and launched in the spring"...? they could have launched in march or april with hd-dvd built in, a nice crop of games, a healthy supply of hardware, and they would have had a great success. but peter moore and company felt it would be better to go in another direction...
Shogmaster
Member
indianajonz said:
By that then, the sales in JP for DC was such a sad state that Sega was planning to exit the traditional console manufacturer role at that point (Naka and others hinted at set top boxes or portable DC with the casual announcement of the SOC version of DC architecture on many occassions), and would have still needed a good CEO to lead them in whatever role they morphed the company into.
It just happend that MS was about to enter the console scene as a maunfacturer and decided to head hunt Moore as he was to lead Sega into that new role. Like all execs that are pretty much free-agents, Moore took that opportunity and went on to greener pastures.
indianajonz said:
Jesus man. Do you really think PS3 having BR play capability was a news to MS back when they were designing the X360? Or the launch timeframe of BR? They knew all about this shit WAY before you read about them for the first time on an internet messageboard.
They consciously decided to keep HD-DVD out of the core machine because it would have made the machine even more expensive than it is already. They needed to strike a balance between reletive low cost and power. Launching 4 months later and then including HD-DVD drive in the X360 would have raised the price of the machine and/or would have compromised other components to make up for the cost (namely the RAM count, but possibley the clockspeed of the chips to increase the yields to lower the costs on those parts as well).
And what would the inclusion of the HD-DVD drive really have gotten them? Consider:
- MS has no personal stake in the HD-DVD standard itself like Sony does with BR.
- HD-DVD is no where a guarantee of a success (many here would argue that it's guaranteed to fail). If it does fails, then you could not hope to lower the cost of that part over time, making it a huge future cost risk.
- The DVD replacements are launching in mid 2006 amongst a bitter format war, and will not help to bolster the sale of your console to a significant degree until at least year 3 or 4 when the winner would have been declaired and the media and the hardware would have been solidly established into the market, which would be 2009~2010. By then, the sales trend for the next gen console race would have been solidly established. Too late for the HD-DVD nor the BR drive to make a solid contribution to that console race.
NOT including the HD-DVD drive into X360 was a smart decision, not a short sighted mistake, no matter how much you loons rage on about it in this thread.
Shogmaster
Member
m0dus said:
Speaking of videogames, FN3 demo is really surprising the hell out of me for it's playablity. @_0 This might end up being an awesome game. I'm also excited about playing other demos at CES, like Burnout and Dead Riding.
But that's another thread. This one is for festering mass of sweat and bacteria (and I'm all out of Bactine...).
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
Shogmaster said:
;_;
Thats the one reason why I want the 360 at this point in time. Fight Night 3 will be mine!
indianajonz said:
You're agreeing with me then...OK. Also, I guess you were hoping to see an HD-DVD enabled 360 because you were going to buy one...right? I mean...you wouldn't wait for a BR movie player if MS did everything the way you wanted or am I just being pessimistic?
Also, funny how in the end, HD-DVD will have launched first and yet its MS that is "catching up."
indianajonz said:
:lol Forget about a future in economics or merketing. Go for a major in theater.
JackFrost2012
Banned
this is the house that PEETAH built
Shogmaster
Member
Borys said:
Not if all they might possibly do in the future is releasing a single HD-DVD version of the multi DVD games. All our "damage control" works fine as long as no HD-DVD only games are released.
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
Nice
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
3rdman said:
Considering its Peter Moore, the guy thats saying Japan has gone well for the 360, his definition of "doesn't make alot of sense" is something different entirely.
Edit: Yes it fun to bold things, glad your joining in
Also, I would think "Never say Never" takes precedence over "doesn't make alot of sense". Why? It may not make alot of sense now, it probably will a year down the line.
Shogmaster
Member
3rdman said:
Shogmaster
Member
Borys said:
OH YEAH? I'M PLAYING FIGHT NIGHT 3 RiGHT NOW!
Did it sting? You can tell me.
I've skimmed the thread, and sorry if it was answered already, but if they can't find a way to get HDCP-compliant digital video out of the main X360 box, you're looking at the add-on basically needing to be a fully-fledged HD-DVD player (with drive, decoding hardware, HDMI-out) on its own?
BudokaiMR2
Member
Holy damn, every one back away from that guy. He's in business!
Love this guy.
I'm late to the party here, I've only thumbed through a few pages of this thread.
I think most people here are looking at this from "what can HD-DVD do for Xbox 360?" But really the question is "What can Xbox 360 do for HD-DVD?"
This complete's Xbox 360's role as a trojan horse for Microsoft's media agenda. Getting millions of Xbox 360's in American homes is a no brainer. It's automatic. Offer those millions of people an affordable entrance to HD movies, compared to stand-alone players, and get them to upgrade to Windows Vista... Bam, Microsoft suddenly has millions of people on board their digital media train.
This really does nothing for the 360 as a gaming platform, or even as competition to the PS3. It's purely about media. There's a reason why it was announced at CES and not E3.
It's too bad it's a rather clunky solution though, with the USB cable. What if you're using the wifi adapter? Are you gonna have to have the freaking HD-DVD drive plugged into the FRONT of the console?
I think most people here are looking at this from "what can HD-DVD do for Xbox 360?" But really the question is "What can Xbox 360 do for HD-DVD?"
This complete's Xbox 360's role as a trojan horse for Microsoft's media agenda. Getting millions of Xbox 360's in American homes is a no brainer. It's automatic. Offer those millions of people an affordable entrance to HD movies, compared to stand-alone players, and get them to upgrade to Windows Vista... Bam, Microsoft suddenly has millions of people on board their digital media train.
This really does nothing for the 360 as a gaming platform, or even as competition to the PS3. It's purely about media. There's a reason why it was announced at CES and not E3.
It's too bad it's a rather clunky solution though, with the USB cable. What if you're using the wifi adapter? Are you gonna have to have the freaking HD-DVD drive plugged into the FRONT of the console?
sonycowboy
Member
Yusaku said:
You think there is any chance at all that Microsoft will sell "millions"? I think it's a show of force to the movie studios, computer manufacturers, and consumer electronics companies that HD-DVD is THEIR CHOICE. And if you aren't with them, you are against them, and that's not where you want to be. It's more of a brave front, and to put doubt about the viability of Blu-Ray in the PS3, than an attempt to make the 360 plaform more valuable.
When Microsoft makes such a declarative statement as they have with HD-DVD (many articles the past couple of days have gone so far as to say that Microsoft took over the HD-DVD CES press conference), it's intended to make people stand up and take notice. Microsoft RARELY backs a loser.
monkeymagic
Banned
sonycowboy said: