MS to release Xbox 360 with HD-DVD in 2006

[randycat99]

how anyone can see this as a bad move is beyond me


it's an option (add on) not necessary for games and a mighty nice option at that.

I think the sentiment is not that it is actually "bad", rather "why even bother at this stage of the game". The user could just as easily just wait for an HD-DVD drive to add to their PC, save it to hdd using the copy management features, and stream it on-demand to their TV...or just wait for a simple HD-DVD player to arrive to the market. Ultimately, does this move by MS actually gain them anything for the X360? Will it sell more console units? Will the add-on drive even reach comparable numbers to the X360, itself (think "Live")? If not, does it even benefit HD-DVD adoption in the CE market in the slightest? It's just not quite the same situation as if they went the built-in HD-DVD player with every console unit route.

 

[wco81]

If they're not showing a mockup at least, they may not have an actual design yet.

It might be one of those last-minute PR statements they decided to make, to stem the Blu-Ray momentum.

 

[g35er]

No no, games will remain on DVD.

Then what's the point of it? If someone were interested in getting an HD-DVD player for whatever reason, why not just get a standalone? Unless it's significantly cheaper than a standalone, the add-on is not very compelling since it likely will not be able to offer the same features as a standalone.

The news sources say MS hasn't officially said anything about it's use yet.

 

[Hardknock]

Then what's the point of it? If someone were interested in getting an HD-DVD player for whatever reason, why not just get a standalone? Unless it's significantly cheaper than a standalone, the add-on is not very compelling since it likely will not be able to offer the same features as a standalone.

The news sources say MS hasn't officially said anything about it's use yet.

It'll be cheaper of course. This is not rocket science folks.

 

[Tap In]

....It's just not quite the same situation as if they went the built-in HD-DVD player with every console unit route.

you make some good points but waiting for HD DVD would have meant releasing around the same time as Sony rather than 6-10 months ahead of them, with a feature that frankly I am not yet sure will impact GAMES (just movie play) to any measurable degree in these machine's current usable lifecycle.

 

[expletive]

I think the sentiment is not that it is actually "bad", rather "why even bother at this stage of the game". The user could just as easily just wait for an HD-DVD drive to add to their PC, save it to hdd using the copy management features, and stream it on-demand to their TV...or just wait for a simple HD-DVD player to arrive to the market. Ultimately, does this move by MS actually gain them anything for the X360? Will it sell more console units? Will the add-on drive even reach comparable numbers to the X360, itself (think "Live")? If not, does it even benefit HD-DVD adoption in the CE market in the slightest? It's just not quite the same situation as if they went the built-in HD-DVD player with every console unit route.

It realyl depends on the price. If the thing is $99 then a lot of people will jsut as well not find more shelf space for another device, while some will prefer the stand alone unit. For me, now i dont need to have 3 devices on my rack (360, PS3, HD-DVD player) if i dont want to in order to play back both HD movie formats. FOr MS is about options and choice, pay for what you want, maybe a BR add-on is in the future...

 

[mckmas8808]

how anyone can see this as a bad move is beyond me


it's an option (add on) not necessary for games and a mighty nice option at that.

Guys think about it. We ALL know Sony are the kings of hype (in a good way too me). All Sony will be saying is "The Xbox 360 is $499.99* dollars with core system + Wi-Fi + HD-DVD drive and the PS3 is $399.99*"



*dollar amount pulled out of my ass

 

[expletive]

If they're not showing a mockup at least, they may not have an actual design yet.

It might be one of those last-minute PR statements they decided to make, to stem the Blu-Ray momentum.

Like i said in one of the 3 threads spining about this, there is no way MS got as far as release and hadnt even thought about this. They had to know where an HD optical format fit into their plans, if they were going to have it by launch, if they wanted to wait, if they could offer it later as an add-on or seperate SKU, etc. This whole thing didnt catch them by surprise seeing as they would ahve had to make sure they COULD have an add-on drive if they wanted to.

 

[speng]

I think the sentiment is not that it is actually "bad", rather "why even bother at this stage of the game". The user could just as easily just wait for an HD-DVD drive to add to their PC, save it to hdd using the copy management features, and stream it on-demand to their TV...or just wait for a simple HD-DVD player to arrive to the market. Ultimately, does this move by MS actually gain them anything for the X360? Will it sell more console units? Will the add-on drive even reach comparable numbers to the X360, itself (think "Live")? If not, does it even benefit HD-DVD adoption in the CE market in the slightest? It's just not quite the same situation as if they went the built-in HD-DVD player with every console unit route.

And this friends, almost says it all.

Why buy this drive?
Spend $2-300 (an assumption) more and get one for your PC that will provide you with many more options in the future and connectivity and content management.

I would just wait for a cheaper real HD-DVD player if I really want one, especially if I have loss of quality from no HDMI ports.

It's a choice, but it's a choice for how MS can get more money out of the consumers. It's not a choice on which external peripheral you want for the HD Movie era.

Speng.

 

[g35er]

It'll be cheaper of course. This is not rocket science folks.

Significantly cheaper? I don't think we can determine that at this point.

 

[Tap In]

....
It's a choice, but it's a choice for how MS can get more money out of the consumers. ....

so MS is the ONLY company in the world that releases a product with profit in mind?

 

[randycat99]

you make some good points but waiting for HD DVD would have meant releasing around the same time as Sony rather than 6-10 months ahead of them, with a feature that frankly I am not yet sure will impact GAMES (just movie play) to any measurable degree in these machine's current usable lifecycle.

By that comment, I meant the user could just wait for the standalones to hit the market, not MS holding back the X360 release.

 

[one]

 

[expletive]

And this friends, almost says it all.

Why buy this drive?
Spend $2-300 (an assumption) more and get one for your PC that will provide you with many more options in the future and connectivity and content management.

I would just wait for a cheaper real HD-DVD player if I really want one, especially if I have loss of quality from no HDMI ports..

Then get one for your PC. Why is this so hard to understand? If you want it in your PC, get that one, if you want a stand alone player, get that one, if you want to save some shelf space and a few bucks, get the 360 one. You think a stand alone player is going to be cheaper than the 360 add-on? not likely.

It's a choice, but it's a choice for how MS can get more money out of the consumers. It's not a choice on which external peripheral you want for the HD Movie era.

Speng.

Yeah well not everyone can be like Sony whose corporate mission is to save the whales.

 

[Tap In]

By that comment, I meant the user could just wait for the standalones to hit the market, not MS holding back the X360 release.

gotcha

but I'd rather play it on my HDTV through the X360 rather than my Computer and I'm guesing that this *drive* willl be cheaper than a stand alone

 

[expletive]

Significantly cheaper? I don't think we can determine that at this point.

HD-DVD players launching in Spring at $499. I'm guessing throughout 2006 it will eb at least $100 cheaper.

 

[wco81]

The interesting technological quesion is, what kind of interface will they use between this external drive and the X360?

Is there an interface fast enough to stream data off the disc and then feed the XeCPU to decode VC-1/H.264/MPEG2?

Or will it have to have a dedicated decoder chip on the drive, something like a Sigma Designs or Broadcom chip?

The latter case, along with an HDMI pathway, will make for a much more expensive solution.

The other thing is that a lot of the players announced today don't support all the audio formats supported by these formats.

For instance, the difference between the $800 and the $500 Toshiba players is that they apparently ripped out some audio support in the lower-priced player, according to a posting on AVS.

So how barebones will it be?

PS3 should be barebones too but the Cell should be able to do all the audio and video decoding. Or so you would think.

 

[patsu]

It'll be cheaper of course. This is not rocket science folks.

Why ? Given that the Chinese manufacturers can also make HD-DVD players, why can't I buy a cheaper one from Walmart (assuming it got that far) ? The Xbox360 player may need additional adaptor(s) to work.

 

[speng]

Yeah well not everyone can be like Sony whose corporate mission is to save the whales.

When I say choice, if MS really wanted to give you choice. They'd offer a Blu-Ray drive too

If you read a few articles on some of the possibilities as to why MS is pushing HD-DVD you'd see it could be far more profitable for them to keep the battle going and create consumer confusion in the HD format wars.

Speng.

 

[expletive]

The interesting technological quesion is, what kind of interface will they use between this external drive and the X360?

Is there an interface fast enough to stream data off the disc and then feed the XeCPU to decode VC-1/H.264/MPEG2?

Or will it have to have a dedicated decoder chip on the drive, something like a Sigma Designs or Broadcom chip?

The latter case, along with an HDMI pathway, will make for a much more expensive solution.

The other thing is that a lot of the players announced today don't support all the audio formats supported by these formats.

For instance, the difference between the $800 and the $500 Toshiba players is that they apparently ripped out some audio support in the lower-priced player, according to a posting on AVS.

So how barebones will it be?

PS3 should be barebones too but the Cell should be able to do all the audio and video decoding. Or so you would think.

USB2.0 is about 480mb/s? The bitrate of HD is maxed out at 34 mb/s? USB is plenty or they could make something that snaps into the HD sata port with a passthrough for your HD.