Toshiba Denies 360 With Built-in HD DVD

A few days ago we discussed the possibility of Toshiba working on an Xbox 360 with a built-in HD DVD component and HD tuners. Today, GamesIndustry.biz has word from Toshiba denying that they're working on that unit. "'It's got nothing to do with us,' said a spokesperson to gadget site Stuff. 'But we know Microsoft doesn't want to include the HD DVD so as not to limit the user's experience.' Microsoft currently sells the HD DVD player as a separate peripheral for the Xbox 360, and offers various deals for users who want to upgrade their console to a hi-definition movie player."

Comments

Re:Good

[Jeff DeMaagd]

I really don't see how any developer would make HD-DVD 360 games because of that very reason. Why cut most of your market out like that? Just take a look at how long it took for a lot of game distributors to standardize on DVD even if the drives were only $10 and you couldn't buy a computer without a DVD drive for years now.

I can't find anything that said that the XBox tuner would be QAM-only. Over the air works just fine and can't legally be encrypted.

"I'll put hd-cable to the same place in my heart as Hidef cable."

I wasn't aware that "hd-cable" was something different from "Hidef cable".

QAM not as limited as you think

[SuperKendall]

The HiDef TV market is currently locked into Encrypted QAM in North America and the only way to bypass the "rent/buy box from provider" is to use a cablecard decoder....

Actually, this is not entirely the case - on Comcast I get all basic digital channels, including local HD channels, on clearQAM. It's true more advanced channels or premium HD content require encrypted QAM support.

Also of course, there is over the air HD in a number of markets now...

A built in HD-TV tuner is of more use than you think.