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No HD-DVD For 360 In The Near Future
While IGN originally reported that the 360 would see a HD-DVD update in 2006, they quickly released a response from Microsoft saying that as of the moment there are no plans for such an update. From the article: "Microsoft, in both America and Japan, has not announced anything regarding the possibility of a next generation DVD drive being placed in the Xbox 360 ... There are currently no plans to release an Xbox 360 equipped with a next generation DVD player."
Noone wants to buy an Xbox 360 now if they know a better one is coming soon...
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing -- Emo Phillips
Well, I always doubted there would be a HD-drive version of the 360. An update this soon would split the install base of 360's again, which is already split between hard drive and no-hard drive users. This kind of move would be nothing short of economic suicide for Microsoft. I think it's much more likely that the 360 will go to multiple disk games (like the PS1 and GameCube have done in the past). Multi-disk games are annoying, but they don't split your userbase into different camps, leaving developers wondered which base to shoot for.
only one everything
Take a lookat the whole buzz around the 360. Not having an HD-DVD upgrade is a no-brainer.
Look at it from the consumer's side. Why in hell would anyone want to buy a 360 *now* knowing that there would be a "better" version in the future? I'd wait a few months as well! Not only is it possible that prices would drop due to increased inventory, but there will be more games out and probably some bug fixes. So, even though I'm not one of those morons (I say that unapologetically) who feel this inexplicable need to be on the bleeding edge, waiting for a few months after something this new comes out is a good idea anyway.
Now, look at it from Microsoft's side. They already have millions of 360s in circulation. They will kill their sales of existing systems if they announce an upgrade because people will wait. So, they could always offer an HD-DVD upgrade to systems that are out there, waiting to be purchased. But, then what about the bleeding edge people who just HAD to have an 360 NOW? They'll shout "unfair" (and rightfully so) and demand a retro-fit. Both of these situations are compounded because Microsoft said that they made the unit as compact as possible excatly to prevent people from getting into the unit. So, a certified shop (or Microsoft themselves) would have to do an HD-DVD refit. That would cost a huge amount of money.
Either scenario would end up costing Microsoft a ton of money in both revenue and PR. Besides, this gives Microsoft the excuse that they needed to rush to market the Xbox 720 -- comes with HD-DVD! w00t! And as proven by the last craze, there are clearly millions of suckers who will buy it as soon as it's released just because they can. So, delaying HD-DVD on the Xbox will just produce yet more marketing and potential revenue from "re-purchasers" in the future because they now can use HD-DVD as their excuse to call the Xbox 720 the "next generation" console.
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Maybe with Blue-Ray discs starting Microsoft may be halting HD-DVD in the 360 to see how Blue-Ray will take. Microsoft may support HD-DVD, but it is still a money making company. If Blue-Ray makes money, they may switch to Blue-Ray.
Click Click Bloody Click PANCAKES!
Notice the wording of the Microsoft response: There are currently no plans to release an Xbox 360 equipped with a next generation DVD player. They didn't say HD-DVD, they said next generation DVD.
Microsoft probably sees Blu-Ray gaining an advantage and don't want to trap themselves with a dead end technology. One of the reasons many people bought a XBox or PS2 was that the consoles also played DVDs, the newest media of the time. If XBox 360 had HD-DVD, but Blu-Ray wins the format war, many people would buy the PS3 over the XBox 360 because of the ability to play the next generation of media disks. Microsoft is waiting for a winner befor they install a next gen drive.
Those things are an albatross that Sony would have never accepted without a perceived HD-DVD threat, brought on partially through Microsoft's disingenuous shrugging and saying "maybe we'll use it in the 360, so what ya gonna do about it?".
Now that Sony can't back out of the Blu-Ray on PS3 commitment, MS goes "psyche!" and gets to giggle while Sony has to spend big bucks to prematurely birth Blu-Ray to consumers who don't even care about it yet. Those are bucks that they could have been using to fight the 360.
Finally and editorial comment: I usually don't like MS business practices, but I have to respect this play. Maybe because its victim is Sony, who showed recently they can play dirtier than MS themselves. Also, to some extent the customers do benefit though a new technology being rushed into affordability at corporate expense. This means we'll have cheap Blu-Ray sooner, both players and media.
My first thought was that Microsoft may be looking to steal some of Sony's thunder by releasing their own HD-DVD next year.
But thinking on it further, I just don't think there's a need for HD-DVD or BluRay yet. Sure, it might help with marketing, but I think it's still a bit too early to take sides. Most people probably don't even HDTVs yet, which defeats the purpose of an HD-DVD to begin with. Most contemporary PC games, which are more advanced than any console game, still fit comfortably on a single DVD. The only ones really pushing the limits are MMOs. And that doesn't even take into account the fact that there isn't yet an agreement on an HD-DVD standard.
Sony is trying to force BluRay down everyone's throat making it the de facto standard. Microsoft is probably just biding their time to see where things go, maybe hoping that the alternative will gain more support. Not that it matters, the Revolution isn't going to have any HD-DVD support either. I dont think this is going to be an issue for quite a while.
The 360 will have enough space on their 9gb dual-layered DVD's for any game. The only reason why a next-gen DVD drive would be required is movies.
"One unnamed yet "highly anticipated" game in particular is said to currently occupy a full four 9Gb DVDs."
My guess is that this will give the PS3 real advantage when it comes to big budget RPGs.
Spell cheek you've failed me four the last thyme!
A few comments over the last couple days have been to the effect that few people own HDTVs.
While that's true now, the things are at the commodity level ($299 for cheapo 27" HDTV) and I can't see why anyone wanting a new TV would buy SDTV any more.
So, by the end of '06 people are going to be eager to get some sort of player that plays their DVDs and some sort of HD DVD. The guys at avsforum.com can argue ad nauseam about the technical merits of blue versus red ray but the consumer doesn't give a rat's 6, as long as it plays.
Now: The 360 is still not going to adopt a HD player in its box. I think MS wants to sell everyone "Media Player" PCs for that purpose, which can be equipped with blue or red players at will. This is an OK business decision for them. They can sell XBox 360 now and not be accused later of screwing their initial customers. MS was on the HD-DVD train but they weren't going to lose the 2005 buying season for it.
Sony wants to win the VHS/Beta wars this time around; a victory on this front is much bigger cash than some share of the game console market. So, for them, a PS3 which leverages the existing PS2 owners (backwards compatible) and gets people into Blu-Ray is a good business decision. So, they want to sell a gameplayer that is also a media box.
Even though Sony and MS are competitors in the console arena, both of them have larger agendas which are best served by their different decisions here.
Badly phrased, but a smart move by MS.
The format wars aren't won, they haven't even hit the shelves at Hardly Normal yet.
What most of the slashbots here haven't recognised is that the XBox 360 architecture is quite extensible.
In fact, no matter how you look at it, the MS plan is to make the Core system upgradeable to match any other higher powered bundle. So no matter what support they add to the 360, it will be available for retrofit to older packages.
Given that there isn't a HD-DVD/BD player on the market yet, it seems wise for MS to not have any definite plans, instead to wait and see if HD wins, or BD wins, or if there's a deadlock and hybrid players start appearing, then decide to back the clearest winner.
I believe Sony is going to shove a BD player into the PS3. They, unlike MS, are certainly betting the farm on Blu-Ray winning the format war - the format war that isn't even properly started yet. Why take a risk you don't need to take? I think MS has got it right here.
I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me. -- G.I.R.
I think that it would probably end up like the PC gaming market now, with games released on either multiple DVDs or a single HD-DVD.
In Soviet Russia, backwards is everything.