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Microsoft flip-flops once again on Blu-ray Disc on Xbox 360

When Toshiba officially threw in the towel in the high-definition format war, eyes turned to Microsoft to see what the software giant would do about the Xbox 360’s support of HD DVD. Some expected Microsoft to quickly change gears and back Blu-ray Disc, but no such plans are in place.

“Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience,” Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox 360, told Reuters.

The quote from Greenberg’s runs slightly contrary to comments made by other executives. Sony Electronics president Stan Glasgow said that Sony and Microsoft are currently in discussions over adopting the Blu-ray Disc format.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer also confirmed Blu-ray Disc support, though it was no directed at the Xbox 360. Ballmer said at a developer event, “We've already been working on, for example, in Windows, device driver support for Blu-ray drives and the like, and I think the world moves on. Toshiba has moved on. We've moved on, and we'll support Blu-ray in ways that make sense.”

With Toshiba no longer producing HD DVD hardware, and by extension no more HD DVD add-on drives for the Xbox 360, gamers with Microsoft’s console are left with one fewer option for new high-definition movies. That won’t change Microsoft’s strategy, however, of focussing on supply high-definition content for rental over Xbox Live Video Marketplace.

“We're the only console offering digital distribution of entertainment content,” Greenberg said.

During the events leading up to the fall of HD DVD, Microsoft expressed little worry as it had an arguably more lucrative digital download business to fall back on.

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Not surprising
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 3/14/2008 6:11:34 PM , Rating: 2
Sony and Microsoft probably couldn't come to any sort of satisfactory agreement and Microsoft told them to pound sand. It's not like the X360 cares much about HD movie playback, otherwise they would have included a player internally. Xbox Live downloads is their model and they have proven it works, very well.




RE: Not surprising
By SandmanWN on 3/14/2008 6:16:28 PM , Rating: 2
Think this all comes down to two things...

1. Microsoft's general backing of down loadable movie content.(a given to support their own financial backings)

2. And the most important, they have to use an open source platform to back BluRay. No way around it they have to use Java and platform independent software which will only vindicate open source as a viable platform. To MS this would be like intentionally poking yourself in the eye, you just can't bring yourself to do it.

My 2 cents.


RE: Not surprising
By BZDTemp on 3/15/2008 10:09:58 AM , Rating: 2
I think you're #1 is the real reason since not many consumers how about the technical stuff.

As I see it Microsoft will do anything to confuse consumers regarding HD physical media and that includeds them making the HD-DVD add-on. Basicly anything making people wait to go HD means the world is one step closer to wide scale adoption of on-line content only. And Microsoft has a good chance of being the big dog in on-line content = they will basicly get a cut of anything with moving pictures just as they pretty much get a cut every time a computer is sold!


RE: Not surprising
By P4blo on 3/18/2008 1:48:54 PM , Rating: 2
I dont think MS has quite nailed it with this online movie download angle. It's possible they're using it as bravado in the face of the HD-DVD failure.

1). Each HD film (if you want to compete with Blu-Ray or HD-DVD for quality) must be around 25+ GB. That's HUGE people. It would take a couple of days on an 8MB broadband line going full tilt to get one film down. Hardly on-demand! I'll go down to B-Busters thanks.

2). Where are you going to store all the films? If they DRM you into oblivion and you cant a). get them off the XBox in decent quality or b). store the films long term then I forward that it's a complete turkey!

3). If you were into movies and wanted to get the HD experience surely you're either going to buy a PS3 (for best of both worlds) or a dedicated BD player so you can build a big movie collection and play it whenever you like.

I'm sorry but I think MS is way off, it's much too early to be spouting about HD movie downloads. With BD winning I think the X360 is going to take such a pounding in the future. I dont think they quite realised the importance of the format war.


RE: Not surprising
By Inkjammer on 3/14/2008 6:20:12 PM , Rating: 3
As an HD DVD add-on owner, I think Microsoft made the right choice. Besides, anybody who would probably get the Blu-Ray add-on would more than likely would have a PS3 (or is planning to get one). I have the HD DVD drive and a 60GB PS3. There isn't a huge target market for it.

Plus, given the price of the 40GB model, it wouldn't make sense to retail a new Blu-Ray drive at $200. That'd be like charging people $400 for a version of Windows just so you could have animated desktop backgrounds. Stupid and useless.


RE: Not surprising
By JSK on 3/14/2008 6:22:05 PM , Rating: 5
I see what you did there.


RE: Not surprising
By Orbs on 3/14/2008 7:34:12 PM , Rating: 5
There are other features unique to Vista Ultimate, such as the ability to run both Media Center and join to a domain. MCE 2003 and 2005 didn't allow joining to domains and Vista Home Premium can't join to domaons. The Business SKU's don't include Media Center.

Other Ultimate Extras include enhanced bit-locker capabilities and some games (note, again some features focused on the enterprise, some for the consumer).

I'm not arguing that Vista Ultimate is the right choice for everyone. It's clearly a premium SKU aimed at users that want the absolute best of both enterprise-class features and home/consumer scenearios. There are people that want the features it offers and are happy to pay for those features. If you are one of those people, you're glad Ultimate exists with those capabilities. If you're not, you likely won't buy Ultimate. There's no good in complaining that it happens to exist.

Why do people seem to think choice is a bad thing? I'd rather have the option of Home Premium and Ultimate at two different price points than be forced to buy the only SKU available whose price is somewhere in the middle simply because it's the only option.


RE: Not surprising
By MrSmurf on 3/15/2008 1:46:47 AM , Rating: 1
There is no point of them going to Blu-Ray. no one is going to buy the expensive add-on. the only reason they did it with hd-dvd is to compete with sony.


RE: Not surprising
By Oregonian2 on 3/18/2008 4:23:22 PM , Rating: 2
Also one might consider that Microsoft has sold around 20 Million Xbox 360's so far. The sold about 0.3 million HD Drive accessories. That's all of 1.5%. Whether they add a Blu-Ray or not doesn't seem to be a big deal one way or the other considering the rate hi-def disc options are bought at.


RE: Not surprising
By prenox on 3/14/2008 7:00:25 PM , Rating: 3
I am sure if Microsoft released a Blu-Ray addon for the 360 that Sony would then make an advertisement adding the two prices together and comparing it to the 360 and trying to show a savings of the PS3 over the 360.


RE: Not surprising
By prenox on 3/14/2008 7:01:03 PM , Rating: 2
I mean comparing it to the PS3


RE: Not surprising
By daftrok on 3/14/2008 7:01:11 PM , Rating: 2
I agree to an extent, however I feel price is the main issue. My predictions are that by the end of the year the 360 will finally go towards a 199/299/399 price point, the PS3 will go towards a 299/399 price point, and if 360 considers a Blu ray add on they will aim for a $99 price point to bridge the gap between the consoles.

Also I highly doubt its a supply issue with the 360. They probably are tired of them crashing and are working on trying to fix the issues.


RE: Not surprising
By eye smite on 3/14/2008 7:53:14 PM , Rating: 2
If Sony keeps blu ray prices high like they did with betamax in the 70s, it's not going to go very far either. To say nothing of the fact that standard dvd is so cheap now and plays more than well enough for most americans. I don't see blu ray making much of a dent anywhere in America til it gets really cheap like standard dvds.


RE: Not surprising
By daftrok on 3/14/2008 9:18:15 PM , Rating: 3
Don't forget that DVD was pretty expensive when it came out too. The prices will drop for Blu ray soon enough.


RE: Not surprising
By probedb on 3/17/2008 12:39:34 PM , Rating: 1
Yep, people nowadays don't seem to understand that new technologies cost money when they first come out.


RE: Not surprising
By daftrok on 3/17/2008 4:23:53 PM , Rating: 1
I think its because people weren't as internet oriented back in the day. I didn't know anything about the PS1 and PS2 motherboard until I saw it on Wiki.


Misleading Title
By Aaron M on 3/14/2008 7:09:12 PM , Rating: 5
The article is just playing off of fanboyish interest. It attempts to create the illusion of contradicting statements from different executives. However, one must realize that "Microsoft adopting Blu-ray" and "Microsoft incorporating Blu-ray into the X360" are two separate things. With Blu-ray poised to become the next standard physical medium, it's in both the BDA's and Microsoft's interest to work together to make Microsoft technologies work with Blu-ray.

Also, while I don't think that Blu-ray is needed for the X360 at this point in its lifecycle, you can be sure that Blu-ray will be in the next-generation Xbox, barring an unforeseen collapse of Blu-ray support.




RE: Misleading Title
By overzealot on 3/14/2008 9:50:42 PM , Rating: 2
The quote was "integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience".
That doesn't mean "integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox console".
The Xbox experience probably includes peripherals.

Microsoft has a habit of double-talking like this, so that they can deny that they said yes/no at a later date.


RE: Misleading Title
By Aaron M on 3/14/2008 10:08:04 PM , Rating: 3
That doesn't change the point of my post. That is, the current denial of talks to "integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience" does not rule out Microsoft and the BDA/Sony working on incorporating Blu-ray with other Microsoft technologies. Microsoft and Sony are much more than Xbox and Playstation, you know?

Also:
" Companies have a habit of double-talking like this, so that they can deny that they said yes/no at a later date."

I fixed your last sentence, for you.


RE: Misleading Title
By overzealot on 3/15/2008 11:54:30 AM , Rating: 2
I managed to misread your post 3 times.
My apologies.


RE: Misleading Title
By Alexvrb on 3/15/2008 2:32:24 PM , Rating: 2
I'd give you a +1 but you're already at 5.

I also fail to see how they are flip-flopping, since I haven't previously read anything from MS saying they were adding Blu-ray to the 360 or even producing an add-on. I DID see talk of them adding support for Blu-ray to Windows, which is NOT what they're denying here.

So unless you count "random internet speculation and/or comments by Sony executives" as "comments by Microsoft executives", then no, they haven't yet committed to Blu-ray on the 360 .

That doesn't mean it will never happen, but so far they've said nothing to confirm it will happen.


RE: Misleading Title
By Staples on 3/16/2008 3:54:31 AM , Rating: 2
Give this man a six.

MS never confirmed anything other than they will support Blu Ray. What does that mean? It could be something as simple as adding standard codecs to Windows to play Blu Ray discs. This notion that it ment that they were going to put a Blu Ray player into or addon for the Xbox was never confirmed or hinted at.


Stick to gaming..........
By crystal clear on 3/16/2008 4:09:27 AM , Rating: 1
quote:
but surprisingly it is their oldest current product that is leading the way. The PlayStation 2 sold a surprising 351,800, while the PlayStation 3 sold 280,800.


http://www.dailytech.com/PlayStation+3+Outsells+Xb...

Year after year the PS2 regularly surprises everybody including Sony of their impressive sales figures/performances,to a point
its no more a surprise anymore rather expected .

Sony with all its marketing & promotion for PS3 fails horribly to beat its own product.

Microsoft does note these sales figures & analyses them to figure out its future stratergy on whether to take on B.R. or not.

Ask a simple question "Why does the PS2 (a previous generation player) sell so well even today"
(it has NO Blue Ray player! & other high tech components like in PS3)

The buyers want a game console with a impressive range(quality & quantity) of games to play,also cheap .

The buyers/consumer give a crystal clear message to Sony & the rest ...what they exactly want.

Microsoft does get the message very clearly & draws its conclusions.
focus stickly on gaming & dont waste time on B.R.
Consumers/Mainstream buyers are still on DVD format & prefer to continue with this format,they really dont care about B.R.

They want lower prices & need a game console to play those games.

Does anybody bother to ask the buyers what they want ?
Dont take them for granted as they will simply not buy !

A trade secret - the MOD chip on PS2 does it all...




RE: Stick to gaming..........
By TerranMagistrate on 3/16/2008 9:55:47 PM , Rating: 5
Yet another anti-PS3 / anti-Sony diatribe from you, what a shock...

How does it make you feel that now the PlayStation 3 is outselling the Xbox 360 in all regions worldwide? Or the fact that the PS3 is projected to exceed the total install base of the 360 by mid-2009 if not sooner? Reality can be tough to accept sometimes.

Let it sink in, Xbot.


RE: Stick to gaming..........
By crystal clear on 3/17/2008 3:14:03 AM , Rating: 1
quote:
How does it make you feel that now the PlayStation 3 is outselling the Xbox 360 in all regions worldwide?


Yes how does it make you feel that now...

Sony with all its marketing & promotion for PS3 fails horribly to beat its own product.

namely the PS2 as quoted in comment............

PS2 has repeatedly outsold PS3 over the years & continue to do so.
So as I said earlier very crystal clear.

Ask a simple question "Why does the PS2 (a previous generation player) sell so well even today"
(it has NO Blue Ray player! & other high tech components like in PS3)

I focus on the consumer/buyers & by the way I own a PS3 myself.
I dont use it for gaming rather loaded on a Linux O.S. to use the processing capacities of its CPU & graphics.

No fanboyism here..........


RE: Stick to gaming..........
By robinthakur on 3/17/2008 5:14:56 AM , Rating: 2
A mistake amateurs often make is judge the situation as it applies to you. This is incorrect, first of all. You must look at the target market and split it into demographics, dispassionately. I would be willing to wager good money that 99.9% of users do not run Linux on their PS3 and do in fact play games on it witha bit of Blu ray thrown in.

You have to look at points for and against both Sony and MS right now, because its a very fluid market (though I own both consoles, plus a Wii, this concentrates more on Sony. It discounts the Wii, as its already won)

Cost:- About equal now. The average buyer will be swayed by the fact that the PS3 has got Blu-Ray playback integrated and is now slightly stronger than the 360 in terms of lifecycle and end-of-life time approaching. The price-point which did hold the PS3 back is now gone and consequentially the sales are now on the up. In terms of back catalogue, the 360 still wins against a PS3 with no backwards compatibility. MS would look a bit weak adopting a format so closely associated with Sony in the past on a product VERY strongly associated with Microsoft having failed to get adoption of their own format. Its not going to happen.

Subjective popularity of both consoles - PS3 has the psychological advantage that the BR format won, and microsoft's perceived format (HDDVD) didn't. Of course it wasn't strongly associated with the 360 due to the addon nature of the drive, but still...PS3 is staging a resurgence as its big hitter titles come out and has none of the reliability worries which have seen wide exposure in mainstream media for the 360. Both platforms mostly now have a similar title roster with many cross platform titles. Playstation has always held a bigger brand loyalty and they market their products better and more aggressively, generally.

Prediction-The PS3 is going to have a very strong year and sales will rapidly ramp up with all the exclusives, eclipsing those of the 360 sooner than everybody thinks. Mainstream products always outsell niche products, and the PS3 is closer to being mainstream than the 360 in all bar price-point. By this I mean that its not perceived as flaky and unreliable and is from a console manufacturer with a proven reputation for quality japanese games for the gamers plus fodder american titles for the mainstream in most genres. By contrast the 360 has focused on rather hardcore genres such as FPS's mainly which not everybody even likes. i.e. its a cheapo high-end pc platform. The sales of the 360 when it had no competition (i.e. before the Wii and PS3 launches) were not exactly explosive and the biggest sales peaks for the console by game launch has been Halo 3 and will in the future by GTA4. The sales of the console during the halo 3 launch were not as awe inspiring as you'd expect, given the advertising budget. This was probably because not everybody felt that the genre was approachable, and they had saturated their restricted target markets. You might recall that even the Dreamcast sold 10 Million units in its lifetime.

I also think sales of the PS2 will remain strong with the lack of backwards compatibility on the PS3. It's free money for Sony after all. No marketing spend, profit on each unit and building brand loyalty ready for when people want to upgrade.


RE: Stick to gaming..........
By crystal clear on 3/17/2008 7:34:45 AM , Rating: 1

You certainly analyse the situation very well giving the plus & minus of both the products.

As for the Linux on PS3 ....I was telling about myself in specific & not the mainstream users.


RE: Stick to gaming..........
By crystal clear on 3/17/2008 7:43:42 AM , Rating: 1
Hey Robin,
Just curious ! are you from India ? if yes, I would like to ask you a question.


RE: Stick to gaming..........
By robinthakur on 3/17/2008 9:34:49 AM , Rating: 2
I'm half indian/half english lol. I live in the UK though...for my sins. Ask away


RE: Stick to gaming..........
By crystal clear on 3/17/2008 4:18:05 PM , Rating: 1
OK then tell me-

India is the largest producer of Movies(Indian languages) & India is a huge market by itself for these movies.

What format they use ? Are they on B.R. or D.V.D. ?


Big deal
By electriple9 on 3/14/2008 6:37:26 PM , Rating: 2
I think they making a big deal out of these bluray drives. They should lower prices of movies, so that people actually start buying bluray movies. Here in Canada at least, I see 1 in 10 people buying bluray movies, and thats because they got a PS3.
Thanks




RE: Big deal
By tjr508 on 3/14/2008 9:18:14 PM , Rating: 2
One in ten people have a PS3 now?


RE: Big deal
By 9nails on 3/15/2008 1:18:39 AM , Rating: 2
They're talking Canadian people, the going conversion rate is about 1 in 1000 normal people.


RE: Big deal
By BruceLeet on 3/16/2008 6:04:41 PM , Rating: 2
We are normal people, don't act like a nazi and believe you are superior.

I don't want to see a romance comedy in HD anyway. Thats all that is coming out of Hollywood these days, boring senseless comedies that have no backbone, just a spineless movie about a dude trying to get a girl back who makes an azz out of himself in the process and thats not entertaining. Spielberg, Lucas, Shyamalan and Jackson is all Hollywood needs.


RE: Big deal
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 3/17/2008 8:32:18 AM , Rating: 2
Ridley Scott and Antoine Fuqua do a decent job as well (Kingdom of Heaven, King Arthur, Gladiator, etc...)


RE: Big deal
By BruceLeet on 3/21/2008 6:03:17 AM , Rating: 2
I forgot Tarantino and Eastwood.

Reservoir Dogs and Mystic River were really well written and directed movies.


important thing here
By tekzor on 3/14/2008 9:11:09 PM , Rating: 2
People keep pushing on with the BR xbox ad dons and don't realize that the 360 has zero need for it. Its the future that should be discussed. What should really be in question is will the future xbox use blu ray or will they have no choice but to use it?




RE: important thing here
By Nekrik on 3/14/2008 9:49:22 PM , Rating: 3
Good point.

I'm getting a 360 soon, I didn't want or need the HD-DVD add on and don't want or need a BR add on either. For all I care Blue-Ray as an entertainment delivery medium can go the same way as HD-DVD did.

As for the future of XBox I hope to see an alternative delivery method other than DVD or BR.


RE: important thing here
By HrilL on 3/15/2008 12:30:23 PM , Rating: 2
I bet the next gen consoles will have online content downloads so there will not be a need for a optical disk although I bet they will have them also so that people without internet can still go buy the game. But if they take the steam example I think they could make a lot more money since there is a lot of cost savings moving in that direction.


RE: important thing here
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 3/15/2008 2:23:18 PM , Rating: 1
Also alot of bullshit savings for computer people on Steam. I get a new computer, I log into steam, I let it download. All my games reinstalled just like that. Or I can take the shorter method and copy over the GCF packages. God what a concept, no more swapping out 50 different CD's to reload all my shit.


I'm Not Buying It
By rasmith260 on 3/14/2008 7:31:54 PM , Rating: 3
I don’t believe it for a minute. I think Microsoft is just afraid of missing sells if people who haven’t yet bought an Xbox360 (like me) deciding to wait for the one with the Blu-Ray drive built in. While I agree that movie downloads are the future, that’s still at least 7 or more years away for a few of reasons.

1- A HD movie is about 18 to 25GB in size, the average hard drive size of an xbox360 is just 20GB so you’ll need to upgrade just to fit one movie.

2- High Speed internet service for most people is really not all that “high speed”, so downloading a HD movie for most people is going to take 6 or more hours, that’s fine if you don’t plan on watching the movie immediately, not so good if you do.

3- How are you going to store it; while Music Studios are giving in as far as selling DRM free MP3’s, don’t look for the Movie industry to give in any time soon. It’s a lot easier to share a 5mb song than it is a 25gb HD movie. So you download all these movies and you can’t back them up because of DRM and your hard drive breaks (ok now you’re screwed).

4- While most of us (I suspect) have pretty fast computers, the biggest selling PC’s are also the cheapest ones (with built-in graphics), certainly not capable of running a HD movie. Plus the fact that most people are not going to want to gather around the PC and watch a movie, and the average consumer is not going to be able to figure how to attach their PC to the TV to watch the movie anyway and if they could, who wants to go to that much trouble.

5- Cable companies are now pushing to limit downloads (they say because some people are using too much and slowing down the experience for others, which I don’t believe), but if they get their way (and they usually do) you might find yourself limited to 100gb a month, then having to pay for every mb you go over, like on cell phones. So you could easily end up paying more to download a movie than buying it if you go over your limit.

Finally, Microsoft can not allow Sony to be able to make the argument that their console is the only true home entertainment console; especially when sells are finally picking up for the PS3, their console is the only one with a built in Blu-Ray drive (so you won’t need to by one separately if you want to watch HD movies, like you would with the xbox360), their finally adding Dual Shock Controllers, they’ve got exclusive titles coming out like MGS4, Killzone 2, and GT5; and the price has finally dropped to a sane level, and even though they dropped the hardware that allowed for compatibility with PS2 games I’m sure their working on software emulation that will allow for it the same way the xbox360 does it. I’m just not buying this story or the rise of movie downloads at all (at least not for another 7 yrs).




RE: I'm Not Buying It
By aeroxander on 3/17/2008 8:56:15 AM , Rating: 2
Well put, downloadable content for HD content is just not a mainstream reality yet. Sure there are us geeks who've got their media centers and whatnot all connected with massive amounts of storage who will use it right now, but mainstream... not likely and not likely for several years. Take your average Best Buy customer whos going in to buy their first HD tv and give them two choices, XBox 360 and downloadable HD (with explanations of everything your going to have to do) or PS3 with built in Bluray and which do you think they'll pick.


RE: I'm Not Buying It
By duthoy on 3/17/2008 10:48:58 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
5- Cable companies are now pushing to limit downloads (they say because some people are using too much and slowing down the experience for others, which I don’t believe), but if they get their way (and they usually do) you might find yourself limited to 100gb a month, then having to pay for every mb you go over, like on cell phones. So you could easily end up paying more to download a movie than buying it if you go over your limit.


all the internet providers in belgium are limiting your download amount, if you are a cable subsriber you only have 20 GB each month. there is only one (1!!) cable provider, and a lot of DSL providers, who alle have to rent telephone lines from the phone company, who also is the biggest dsl provider.
so you can't download a HD movie here!
also you pay about 40 euro (60 dollar) each month, just for 20 GB :-s
just stupid!!


HDMI déjà vu
By aju on 3/14/2008 7:38:09 PM , Rating: 4
I seem to remember mass denials of HDMI support on the 360. One moment they had no official plans to add HDMI support and the next there was a spy picture with an obvious HDMI port. They then claimed it was a test unit with no production plans. Then wham!! Out rolled HDMI support on the 360. I have had three 360s (due to RROD) and I now my 3rd one hooked up to my 52” 1080p LCD TV via HDMI. Heck they played the same game with 1080p support.

The key here is they will do whatever they think will sell more Xbox 360s and they are not going to admit it to any of us until they actually roll it out. If they think a stand alone Blue-Ray player will make money on its own or cause more 360 sales then they will sell it. It is just good business.




RE: HDMI déjà vu
By JAB on 3/15/2008 11:58:26 PM , Rating: 2
True MS loves to hold out on until an event or trade show to announce new products for the Xbox. It is just good marketing to denie it untel it can make a splash. That is he second oldest trick in the book and it works well.


Waaaaiiit a minute.
By BruceLeet on 3/14/2008 10:34:54 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Sony Electronics president Stan Glasgow said that Sony and Microsoft are currently in discussions over adopting the Blu-ray Disc format.

Now why does Sony have the right to hold "discussions" on the situation, have they forgotten which O/S Sony Vaio's use?

Quid Pro Quo




RE: Waaaaiiit a minute.
By MrSmurf on 3/15/2008 2:12:31 AM , Rating: 2
There are different divisions within Microsoft. And if they denied Sony the ability to buy their OS, that would be illegal.

There is a difference between buying a product (OS from Microsoft) and using a company's patent.


RE: Waaaaiiit a minute.
By BruceLeet on 3/16/2008 5:57:21 PM , Rating: 2
Blu-ray is an 'official' format that many media companies adopted so I'd think its kind of like an OS (relatively).

Denying Microsoft a physical medium should be illegal as well? I doubt the EU will intervene, they dont like MS that much.


Xbox and HDMI
By krisGolden on 3/16/2008 5:03:56 AM , Rating: 2
Large numbers of Xbox's do not support HDMI. Isn't HDMI mandatory for Blu-Ray certification?

It seems that only an entirely new version of the XBox 360, with an internal Blu-Ray drive, would be possible given the licensing restrictions for Blu-Ray...or am I missing something.




RE: Xbox and HDMI
By robinthakur on 3/17/2008 11:22:01 AM , Rating: 2
Hmm, you make a good point actually which I certainly hadn't thought of...I *thought* that Blu Ray didn't mandate an HDCP connection unless it was above a certain resolution, hence you can play it back on pc over VGA? The situation at the moment is not all that restrictive as regards HDCP but might well turn that way in the future...I couldn't see Blu-ray coming to Xbox 360 anyway, as the console is nearing end of life.


Bluray whatever...
By crazyblackman on 3/15/2008 12:31:36 AM , Rating: 2
Forget the issue of Bluray for the 360. Wait until the NEXT nextgen system from Micro-overcharge you for everything-Soft. Microsoft only needs to worry about MAKING A BETTER PRODUCT. PERIOD. Bluray drives on 360's is the LEAST of their concerns. Right now, they need to improve their image with the more frugal consumers(which WITH ALL UNDUE RESPECT, doesn't include you bunch of gullible XBOX fools with money). More and more people are moving towards the PS3 and realizing what a QUALITY PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY it is. And...the people that are now buying PS3's that don't already own 360's are NOT shelling out for both. However, the people who DO own the unreliable, pay to play 360 are starting to realize that the Bluray BUILT in, FREE online play, PS3 is the BETTER value. So...WHY are you even discussing this? Better start saving for Microsoft's future poorly designed, rushed to the market console. It's coming sooner than you think. Sooner than a Bluray drive for the 360. Now go ahead and hate the messenger. I'm used to it.




It was only a matter of time
By bsd230 on 3/15/2008 12:50:02 PM , Rating: 2
It would only benefit them to at least make people think they will have a blu-ray attachment. I can guarantee you that it's hurting their sales that PS3 has Blu-Ray already built in and it's the choice to stay. HD-DVD might have stood a chance if M$ would have installed it from the get go on the 360. I told my wife that is was a mistake and Blu-Ray would win out because of the PS3 being sold vs HD-DVD players, not to mention more theoretical headroom. Most people who want a blu-ray player like me will just buy a PS3 and kill 2 birds.




By Steve Guilliot on 3/16/2008 12:11:21 PM , Rating: 2
The only controversial part of this article is Marcus Yam's notion that "Microsoft has flip-flopped once again". Maybe the article just isn't finished yet, but I don't see ANY contradictions from Microsoft cited. If you're going to add your own content to these pieces, it should at least sound plausible.




Windows might be all they need
By trisct on 3/17/2008 2:19:22 PM , Rating: 2
If Microsoft integrates support for Blu-ray into Windows, that may be the only hook they need to be able to claim blu-ray support for the Xbox as well. Maybe they plan to play remotely, as with Media Center.

Of course, you'd have to run upstairs to put the disk in your server first...




By bsd230 on 3/17/2008 2:22:20 PM , Rating: 2
If they had made HD-DVD standard on the 360, we wouldn't be having this discussion right now. Now they will have to eat crow and add a Blu-ray player, or risk losing the HD crowd. I own both systems and can say without a doubt the PS3 is the better system. 40GB HD, Blu-ray, built-in wireless, and rechargeable controller for $399.00, more powerful and reliable to boot.




By kilkennycat on 3/14/2008 7:29:21 PM , Rating: 1
.. an Xbox360 with an integrated Bluray drive is announced. Otherwise nothing will come of Microsoft's ambition for the Xbox360 being the media-center of the living room. The announcement will not make any current Xbox360 owners happy. Especially those who have taken the plunge of buying the external HD-DVD drive. But hey, when has Microsoft ever cared to make anything other than superficial gestures towards customer-satisfaction? 20 years ago ?




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