Toshiba HD DVD player to have game controllers?
- Thread starter NANOTEC
- Start date
Serenity Painted Death
Regular
MS honestly can't be stupid enough to come out with a HD-DVD 360 unit.
This implies HD-DVD games, which, you know, all the faithful who bought the damn thing in the first year will have to purchase entirely new systems. Right. Not happening.
Coming out with a 360 with the external "movies only" HD-DVD drive makes no sense at all.
This implies HD-DVD games, which, you know, all the faithful who bought the damn thing in the first year will have to purchase entirely new systems. Right. Not happening.
Coming out with a 360 with the external "movies only" HD-DVD drive makes no sense at all.
scooby_dooby
Legend
It makes sense, it makes financial sense.Serenity Painted Death said:
If you already own a 360, and would like to get a HD-DVD player, you can buy the cheap external drive.
The only way it's non-sensical is if HD-DVD is DOA, if HD-DVD goes on to be successful, than it's a great add-on. It has nothing to do with game, but provides a cheap alternative to a standalone player.
It also does have some advantages over a combined system like PS3, for example you're laser will last longer as the movie playback is confined to the external drive, so you don't have to worry about wearing out your drive watching movies and eventually be unable to read discs.
edit - i will say though, and external BR drive for 360 would probably have been smarter at this point, it would essentially end the format wars and ensure the add-on is not deemed useless in 1-2 years. They're gambling on hd-dvd somewhat, we'll have to see if it pays out. It may turn out to be smart, if somehow BR loses the format war, this will have been a factor (albeit small) and sony will be in a very bad/costly position with their console.
Also, if they do it right it can also double as a PC compatible HD-DVD USB drive, which makes it an even better purchase.
I think it's a smooth move by MS, don't burden down the costs of the core console with unreliable expensive cutting edge disc drive, but still offer the functionality to those that want it by means of an add-on.
Last edited by a moderator:
scooby_dooby
Legend
It makes sense, it makes financial sense.Serenity Painted Death said:
If you already own a 360, and would like to get a HD-DVD player, you can buy the cheap external drive.
The only way it's non-sensical is if HD-DVD is DOA, if HD-DVD goes on to be successful, than it's a great add-on. It has nothing to do with game, but provides a cheap alternative to a standalone player.
It also does have some advantages over a combined system like PS3, for example you're laser will last longer as the movie playback is confined to the external drive, so you don't have to worry about wearing out your drive watching movies and eventually be unable to read discs.
Also, if they do it right it can also double as a PC compatible HD-DVD USB drive, which makes it an even better purchase.
I think it's a smooth move by MS, don't burden down the costs of the core console with unreliable expensive cutting edge disc drive, but still offer the functionality to those that want it by means of an add-on.
edit - i think a BR drive would've been a safer bet at this point in time, it would essential end the format wars, but they're gambling somewhat on hd-dvd. If it pays off, and somehow hd-dvd emerges as the successful format (doubtful) it will be looked back on as a brilliant move, sony will be put in a bad position with the PS3 the BR will remain costly for much longer. If BR wins, well MS hasn't really lost anything, except maybe some consumer confidence for selling them $200 paperweights.
This strategy ought to be doomed to failure as the hardware is loss leading, so who's going to sell XB360 hardware at a loss while MS make profits on the software licensing? But in this case it could benefit Toshiba as a distribution platform for HDDVD movies. They'd make the loss on the hardware, same as MS, but make profits on the content. I'm very doubtful though, and go with Titanio's reasoning of an interactive HDDVD layer.pc999 said:
Of course, with the power of the Cell Supercomputer BBE, Toshiba could release a Cell HDDVD player with full XB360 emulation at 5x the orignal XB360's power...
scooby_dooby
Legend
Of the top of my head form this months OXM, Merril Lynch estimates that MS can reduce the cost of 360 by 50% by the end of this year. They estimate it costs around $550 now, so are guessing at ~275 manufacturing cost for the premium at the end of 06.Shifty Geezer said:
I don't see any reason why toshiba would have to sell at a loss...with that said I don't see this combined unit happening. Next xmas you'll see Toshiba TV's bundled with 360's + HD-DVD playback kit if anything.
MS will probably have a HD-movie bundle that includes cables, remote, and the HD-DVD external drive, something like that.
well you could see this as the panasonic gamecube back in the days
a HD-dvd player that happens to play xbox360 games also on DVD FORMAT
not the other way around
games still on DVD format, but xbox360 in a nice AV caseing
but then again, why should you bother....
a HD-dvd player that happens to play xbox360 games also on DVD FORMAT
not the other way around
games still on DVD format, but xbox360 in a nice AV caseing
but then again, why should you bother....
By loss, I guess I really mean with insubstantial profit margins. A Toshiba HDDVDXB360 would be competing with the MS XB360 and PS3 and standalone players, so couldn't be expected to sell many millions, and at a small profit per unit at best for the duration, wouldn't be worth the investment on it's own. If it will help to establish the HDDVD format int he same way PS3 is expected to for BRD, I can see them considering giving it a whirl, maybe.scooby_dooby said:
scooby_dooby
Legend
No it wouldn't generate any real profit, it would simply be meant to push the HD-DVD format, which is probably a very worthwhile investment for Toshiba in and of itself at this point in time, considering how much they've already commited to the potShifty Geezer said:
>>>This is one of their strategys (others producing Xbox360 too) as they said in a old Eurogamer interview.<<<
I'm pretty sure that they were referring to ways of keeping the Xbox (1) afloat.
That said, I don't really expect the HD-DVD attachment for 360 to be widespread if released at all.
I'm pretty sure that they were referring to ways of keeping the Xbox (1) afloat.
That said, I don't really expect the HD-DVD attachment for 360 to be widespread if released at all.
