• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Microsoft announces external HD-DVD drive for Xbox 360

what would be interesting is if it's priced at something stupid like $50.

but it's not going to be is it?

the big punch line is

"ENJOY HDDVD MOVIES ON YOUR X360 FOR ONLY $300!"

(2 days later , a sony exec walks on stage at a Sony conference, does a tap dance, a barber shop quartet come out and they sing....

"Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitss.............. twooooooooooooo .... niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiineeeee..... (waving hats in finale) .... niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiineeeeee"
 
Redbeard said:
Uh, what?

This has no effect on anyone, other than people who want to watch HD-DVD movies, who will now have the option to do so.
Click to expand...


you don't honestly believe in the lifetime of X360 there won't be, at least 1 game in HD-DVD format. come on, duder.
 
Jo-El said:
Sounds good to me, as long as its not really expensive I'll get one.
Click to expand...

That is the thing, I see it being 299.99

Since its not built into the system, its designed to be a profit item.
 
xaosslug said:
you don't honestly believe in the lifetime of X360 there won't be, at least 1 game in HD-DVD format. come on, duder.
Click to expand...

No, there won't be. Theres no way Microsoft would allow any developer to do that.
 
I think this is a great move. I currently do not have an HDTV, but when I do, I can buy the add-on if I choose. I feel that $399.99 is the right price for what I have so far in the X360, and and HDTV add-on for $100-$200 is a choice I would like to have rather than have a $500 console.
 
JackFrost just said to me: "If it plays games they're fucked. If it doesn't play games it's pointless."

QFT.

If this plays special HD-DVD games it is a terrible move. If it is only for movies... it had better be really cheap.
 
"Sega CD"? Why must you set your mockery so LOW?

Pioneer_Laseractive.JPG
 
m0dus said:
Personally, I'm amazed at how the pillbugs come out of the woodwork like this. If you ask me, I think blue ray is the clear winner as far as format goes. The fact that MS isn't risking huge financial losses by throwing their full weight behind a competing format, and are instead offering an add-on to cover their bases and satisfy potential consumers, is as wise a decision as anyone could make. How is this worse than offering A)no option at all, or B) pissing off early adopters by rendering the current launch models immediately obsolete by announcing a new version coming at the end of the year? that would be market suicide.
Click to expand...

Is is possible that a Blu-Ray add-on could be made available for X360?
 
I was planning on picking up a 360 soon, but this news makes me want to wait just to see if later models get a built in HD-DVD.

Also, I wonder what this external drive will look like. I mean there isn’t anyplace for it to “latch” onto. Will it simply be a loose HD-DVD drive connected to the 360 by a cable?
 
DenogginizerOS said:
I think this is a great move. I currently do not have an HDTV, but when I do, I can buy the add-on if I choose. I feel that $399.99 is the right price for what I have so far in the X360, and and HDTV add-on for $100-$200 is a choice I would like to have rather than have a $500 console.
Click to expand...

$399+$200=$599
 
Kobun Heat said:
JackFrost just said to me: "If it plays games they're fucked. If it doesn't play games it's pointless."

QFT.

If this plays special HD-DVD games it is a terrible move. If it is only for movies... it had better be really cheap.
Click to expand...

At this point, this is exactly it. I think MS is, at least, smart enough to realize that fracturing their base with different software that requires something like that in order to play is just asking for the Reaper to come knocking on X360's door.
 
so, does thismean it will ship with a new hdmi cable for your 360? Will it use component output for 720p and 1080i and not support 1080p? Lots of questions yet to be answered. price? Cable? Resolutions?

If its 200 and works with the vga and hd cables already available to us, many people with hdtv's already in their homes wont be left out. Thats something blu ray cant touch as it requires hdmi, right?

hmm..this could get interesting..but then again, did ps2 and xbox ever play dvd movies at the same quality as a full fledged dvd player? I didnt think the quality was even close to my panny progressive scan dvd player/recorder. Will hd/blu ray be different? Even the dvd player in the 360 isnt as good as the panny I have.
 
sonycowboy said:
Does HD-DVD even support 1080p? I haven't seen that ANY of the news released so far state that.
Click to expand...

HD-DVD disks (like BD-ROM disks) are authored @ 1080p....

The only word for output video sofar is 720p/1080i.....no 1080p output video has ever been mentioned for HD-DVD AFAIK...

Of course, up until today, there have only been about 3-4 HD-DVD prototypes floating around various trade shows, so perhaps 1080p will be in the cards for the format someday??


DopeyFish said:
what if it's a hard drive hookup that just has the final roms/decoders or whatnot and the drives in the 360s were actually HD-DVD ready? now that would be interesting. I'm just waiting to see what they mean by external, because There's really no hookups on 360 that have the bandwidth for HD-DVD
Click to expand...


Still doesnt solve the fact X360 lacks a 405nm blue laser required for reading pits on HD-DVDs....that, and the fact it only has an analog video output makes an HDMI connection somewhat problematic...
 
colinisation said:
Raises the price of the system and PS3 will be quite literally right in its ass.
Click to expand...

I've always found the argument of "Sony had a headstart!" to be rather dishonest. If anything, history proves that branding and available software are more important.
 
Once again, instead of taking care of its small fanbase and keep a good image of its console in order to gain sales, MS does the unthinkable and releases a piece of hardware that makes the system look even more crippled.

Most motherfucking clueless company in the industry.
 
JackFrost just said to me: "If it plays games they're fucked. If it doesn't play games it's pointless."
Click to expand...
Unless they bundle it with Halo 3! ;)

I think we need to see the cost - the redemption might be that the cost of the drive is heavily proped up by MS and the cost is pretty trivial.

They surely have to keep the combined cost ot the X360+HDD+HD-DVD below what the PS3 is going to cost.

Wonder if they will do something crazy like "DVD version of game on DVD sector of HD-DVD - hires texture packs and models on HD sectors" ?

eitherway, it's not pretty.
 
DopeyFish said:
what if it's a hard drive hookup that just has the final roms/decoders or whatnot and the drives in the 360s were actually HD-DVD ready? now that would be interesting. I'm just waiting to see what they mean by external, because There's really no hookups on 360 that have the bandwidth for HD-DVD
Click to expand...

:lol :lol :lol
 
if its cheap i dont care, ill pick it up just because of the market split between BRD and HDDVD. sure it would have been nice having all the systems come with it as an internal , but im playing FIGHT NIGHT 3 right now and next gen is here already, not in 6+ months when the ps3 drops
 
DCharlie said:
Unless they bundle it with Halo 3! ;)



They surely have to keep the combined cost ot the X360+HDD+HD-DVD below what the PS3 is going to cost.

.
Click to expand...

You think they can keep this cost under $399?
 
Heres to hoping they make a revised 360 with it included, I'll be holding off on buying one until then.

It was seriously a bad move in the first place, for this console that is supposed to be the ultimate uber media center in your living room.

Good job on a horrible launch M$.

And this thing won't be cheap, I mean we are talking the first generation of these players.
 
m0dus said:
Personally, I'm amazed at how the pillbugs come out of the woodwork like this. If you ask me, I think blue ray is the clear winner as far as format goes. The fact that MS isn't risking huge financial losses by throwing their full weight behind a competing format, and are instead offering an add-on to cover their bases and satisfy potential consumers, is as wise a decision as anyone could make. How is this worse than offering A)no option at all, or B) pissing off early adopters by rendering the current launch models immediately obsolete by announcing a new version coming at the end of the year? that would be market suicide.
Click to expand...

How about this?

a) It shows that they maybe launched too early, and this looks like damage control to handle what the PS3 will handle with every system.

b) Is an add-on like the harddrive that splinters the userbase, such that no developer can assume that people have one, thus is has absolutely no use besides movies.

c) The system only has analog output support, thus the required HDMI support would most likely have to be in the external drive. So what's it hooking up to the Xbox for? (This will most likely have a pretty good answer, actually, but it's still a question for now)


In addition, if you think Microsoft isn't risking anything financially with HD-DVD, you're crazy. They are going to eat royalties for each and every PC system that has that drive so that it has some penetration chance against Blu-Ray. Make no mistake, Microsoft has tied their wagon to HD-DVD in a major way. Not as major as Sony, but then again, Blu-Ray appears to have an early lead (in terms of support and the PS3, but behind in consumer pricing at current)
 
I fail to see how this has any impact on anything at all.

Oh goody, the 1% of people with the ability to watch "next-gen" movies on their television can now do so through their Xbox 360?

Uh............. OK?
 
It seems that the haters are out in full force. I'm sure we'll never see any games released in HD DVD format so that pretty much kills the 32x comparisons and comments. This is likely the best option for MS at this point. If HD DVD fails all they have to do is stop making the HD DVD add-on.

The lack of common business sense on this forum is sometimes staggering.
 
Otto said:
I was planning on picking up a 360 soon, but this news makes me want to wait just to see if later models get a built in HD-DVD.
Click to expand...
And this the perfect example of why this is a bad idea.
 
DCharlie said:
Unless they bundle it with Halo 3! ;)

I think we need to see the cost - the redemption might be that the cost of the drive is heavily proped up by MS and the cost is pretty trivial.

They surely have to keep the combined cost ot the X360+HDD+HD-DVD below what the PS3 is going to cost.
Click to expand...

What they have to do and what they will do are two entirely different things. For example, to really push the "HD-Era", they should've waited a few months to launch, but beating Sony out of the gates (haw!) was more important than, you know, common sense.

DenogginizerOS said:
$399 + $100 = $499

This is fun. What is the square root of 473?
Click to expand...

You're assuming it will be $100? That's only slightly funnier than the announcement. The wireless bridge for the 360 is $99, and that's based on technology that's been around for years. There's no way an HD-DVD player, sold as an accessory to a still expensive video game console is going to clock in at anything reasonable given that the technology is so new it isn't even out yet.
 
"c) The system only has analog output support, thus the required HDMI support would most likely have to be in the external drive. So what's it hooking up to the Xbox for? (This will most likely have a pretty good answer, actually, but it's still a question for now)"
Click to expand...

what???

the Japanese machine has D cables. I'd assume they are carrying a digital signal.

I've been advised i should be selling these for a tidy profit! :)
 
THey have long said that games will not come out on any other media except DVD. However, it's MS and GAF, I knew what to expect
 
maximum360 said:
It seems that the haters are out in full force. I'm sure we'll never see any games released in HD DVD format so that pretty much kills the 32x comparisons and comments. This is likely the best option for MS at this point. If HD DVD fails all they have to do is stop making the HD DVD add-on.

The lack of common business sense on this forum is sometimes staggering.
Click to expand...

I would say some people are miffed MS didn't just wait 6 months and launch the system with hd dvd drive inside. Could have used this for movies *and* games and not potentially cripple large scale streaming games (GTA4) due to lack of storage.
 
Kobun Heat said:
n64dd7bs.jpg

"Hey guys, did you hear the news?"

dcdvd7sk.jpg

"No, what is it?"

32x1co.jpg

"We're going to have a NEW FRIEND!"

snescdrom2wo.jpg

"Oh yay!!!"
Click to expand...
Not many things on the internet literally make me lol in real life, but this one did the trick.
 
my whole reaction to this hinges on how much the ps3 is going to be. if sony offers a BRD player out of the box at a comparable price to the x360 premium pack (sans HD-DVD), who the fuck is going to pay for an add-on HD-DVD drive?
 
For some reason, they seem willing to emphasize that their box launched without a key feature that will be found in their competitor's machine and that they are forcing their customers to spend more for.

Assuming, of course, that Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are seen as roughly equivalent next-generation formats by consumers. If Blu-Ray is seen as more desirable in the marketplace, then they're really in trouble. And as has already been pointed out, if they ever try to sell 360 games printed on HD-DVD they'll likely never be forgiven for it.
 
Pay 500 for the system, pay even more for the HD DVD add on and then cry if HD DVD players come down in price for less than what you paid?

No way.


I swear, Peter Moore should be run out on a rail. I am beginning to think that Ed Fries was much better despite his mistakes.
 
Some people are being a little over dramatic. Who gives a shit if it's an add-on. If they waited they would have had even less of a chance against Sony going head to head. If you really wanted it built-in it would probably bump the cost of the system another $150-$200 and everyone would be bitching about the price and why didn't they just make it DVD or Blu-Ray.

It seems to me Microsoft covered their asses. External is much more of a safe bet. I see high capacity HDDs and Xbox Live becoming more of a Steam like system giving another option for people to get larger size games. If HD-DVD fails then they can go Blu-Ray. If HD-DVD works then they will probably build it in.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

[WC] Microsoft and Xbox are "actively investigating" a rampant 'can't connect' issue for backwards compatible Xbox 360 games
2
57
222
reinking replied
[Tom Warren] Microsoft Announces Management Changes at Xbox
2
61
961
reinking replied
Microsoft Xbox Helix My Thoughts
45
105
Magic Carpet replied
The Verge: Microsoft brings Xbox back, scraps Microsoft Gaming
2
85
427
HerjansEagleFeeder replied
Microsoft is giving its Xbox employees an Xbox email address
News  2
92
167
Ryseer replied
Top Bottom