HD DVD Xbox 360 already in the works, due next year?
posted Dec 14th 2005 11:50PM
We've been rumoring HD-DVD for the Xbox 360 since day one, and even though we got word in November that the drives might not be intended for gameplay, IGN is reporting that Microsoft is planning to launch an HD-DVD version of their console early next year. At least that's what they're hearing from Jiji News in Japan, though of course Microsoft is keeping mum about it. The word is that Microsoft is in the final stages with Toshiba developing HD-DVD 360, and plans to release post Spring sometime, which, if true, might "conveniently" land it in the timeframe of Sony's Blu-ray clad warrior, the PS3.
Update: As pointed out by xumdeo, this has been denied by Microsoft Japan. According to Impress Watch, Microsoft said "at this point in time, there are no plans to release an Xbox 360 with a next generation DVD drive." No plans? At all?
I hope this doesnt mean that those of us who already have a 360 will have to buy a new one to play the latest games next year...
I'm just curious, what happens to those who have already bought an Xbox 360? I'm still waiting till all three are on the table so I can decide which one I want but still...Wouldn't that piss a lot of people off?
What are they thinking? Way to go Billy, you've missed the curve before it even began. What kind of message does this send to all of the people who just bought an X Box 360 or all of the prospective buyers. Should they wait for you to fix your mistake and buy the new version? Even the rumor of this admits to a huge mistake and makes it really easy to go for the PS3. Besides, HD-DVD is going down the toilet anyway.
Yes that would piss me off. The least I would ask for is to be able to have MS upgrade your console if you so choose. Of course it wouldn't be free, although it is sad to be punished (so to speak) for being an early adopter.
IT WOULD JUST BE TO WATCH MOVIES.
Its Fake
Microsoft hasnt confirmed it
So early adopters are getting penalized? That bites. It makes me resent staying up all night and getting to know people that I'd never see again....
I gotta join in, how the heck do you release a new optical drive for a console? Ship your 360 into MS and wait a few weeks for the upgrade?
Or go to any retail store and exchange your "slightly used" 360 DVD-based console for a 360 HD-DVD-console? (I guess you'd keep the hard drive...) Then are the exchanged (DVD) units upgraded, refurbed and sold at retail again? And if so, at a discounted price?
Maybe I'm just dim (possible) but this seems like a really confusing thing to do. Oh well, I don't have one anyway, but curious to see how this plays out...should it actually happen.
HD-DVD is a failed format anyway. Everyone knows Blu-Ray is the high capacity format of choice.
One of the best things about console gaming is the no-fuss aspect of it. Having such a major part of the hardware changed at this period of the product cycle is crazy.
I've been looking into this, whats going to happen is either u can buy a new console that has an HD-DVD drive in it. Or if u remove your faceplate from the front of ur 360 u will see that on the left and right sides of the dvd drive there are tabs which once pressed in one can slide out their old dvd drives and slide in a new hd-dvd drives. As for the older dvd-drives, either 3 things will happen to them,
1.) Collect Dust
2.) Thrown Away
3.) Traded in at EBGames
Once the hd-dvd drives are out games will be make so that they can either be read in the standard dvd-drives or in the hd-dvd drives (which if read with this drive would provide better graphics, sound, gameplay).
I've been looking into this, whats going to happen is either u can buy a new console that has an HD-DVD drive in it. Or if u remove your faceplate from the front of ur 360 u will see that on the left and right sides of the dvd drive there are tabs which once pressed in one can slide out their old dvd drives and slide in a new hd-dvd drives. As for the older dvd-drives, either 3 things will happen to them,
1.) Collect Dust
2.) Thrown Away
3.) Traded in at EBGames
Once the hd-dvd drives are out games will be make so that they can either be read in the standard dvd-drives or in the hd-dvd drives (which if read with this drive would provide better graphics, sound, gameplay).
The games that need the extra space for lots of FMV could come on the dual DVD/HD-DVD discs that store each format on a separate layer.
http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news.php?newsId=709
"Toshiba has announced a dual layered disc that will playback both HD-DVD and DVD formats.
...the new disc will have a single-sided, dual-layer structure. The upper layer, closer to the optical head, stores data in the DVD format, and the lower layer stores HD DVD data. The DVD layer has a 4.7GB capacity, satisfying the specification of current DVD discs, while the HD DVD layer can store up to 15GB. The DVD layer can be played back on DVD players that are currently available."
If a game has many hours of pre-rendered FMV then it will probably need to be rendered in a lower resolution/bitrate for the regular DVD layer and they can put the full HD version on the HD-DVD layer.
i think people who overpaid for the system would be even more mad lol
Get over it you guys, would you rather that MS waited until HD-DVD drives were out before releasing the 360? I think its good there are updating the machine, hopefully they'll finally add a digital HD connector like HDMI.
First off, the idea, from Microsoft's standpoint, is pretty flawless. They've got their console out before xmas at a reasonable price and will have sold quite a few before the PS3/Revolution. If they decide to release and HD-DVD 360, it'll be at a premium price but not at the ridiculous price it would've been if they decided to launch with it. They've already said that if an HD-DVD drive were to be put into the 360, the games would all still come on standard DVD. Besides, most PC gamers here should remember when games started being released on DVD, you had the choice of a single disk DVD or a 4 disc CD set - whose to say the 360 developers won't start releasing huge games requiring more than 4 DVDs (as has already been hinted at) that could easily be released as a special HDDVD disc. This allow the early adopter to still have working boxes and gets MS more money if those consumers want to buy the 'new' console. Next spring/summer is an ideal time to release a competing high def DVD format as Sony is releasing BluRay and I'm sure Toshiba is backing this plan more than anything, since the console market will likely be the biggest seller of nextgen DVD. And even though BluRay does seem to be the winner of this format round, that doesn't mean that Toshiba is just going to pack up and go home.
So the early Xbox's overheat and are going to be outdated before MS's competitor's even reach market? I'm glad I didn't pick one of these up when I had the chance even though at the time I was tortured over the decision to wait. I'll sleep better tonight.
man, I could have sworn the 360 already had an HD-DVD drive. Next-Gen? I think not.
it's already denied by Microsoft Japan, according to Impress japan (go to the news section under audio-visual today dec15)
press announcement will be published in a few hours
Ryan Henry...Sorry but it is not flawless, you are forgetting something very important. IT WILL PISS OFF THOSE WHO WENT OUT OF THEIR WAY TO BE EARLY ADOPTERS. Such that when the Xbox 720 comes out, no one will want one...
Sounds like a lot of Sony people hating on M$. (well, there's usually reason...)
It would be to watch movies on. Do you think they would alienate all their early adapters and release games on a new format disc after a year?! Of course not. Seriously, bunch of paranoid people.
Microsoft put all their bets on two aspects of the 360:
1. Live play
2. Utility as an all-in-one home entertainment system.
What better way to accomplish the second than to allow people who would never otherwise pay for an HD-DVD drive to get one? They'd HAVE to use it!
Way to go, MS... and really stick it to you early adopters! Sony seems to botch everything they do lately and MS is pissing me off with their rushed xbox 360... looks like the big N will get my $... and hopefully not much
One of the best things about console gaming is the no-fuss aspect of it. Having such a major part of the hardware changed at this period of the product cycle is crazy.
Of course Microsoft won't say anything about that coming out, why would they jeopardize sales now? It looks like there are another 300,000 Xbox 360s coming our way this week so keep your eyes peeled if you want one. A guy came out with a pretty cool inventory calculator for Best Buys in your area and for online stores: http://xbox.clambert.org/
---------
-Ryan
http://blog.cyberwags.com
Well thats MONEYsoft for ya...
This past October in NYC at the DigitalLife Expo, I asked many Microsoft goons as well as Peter Moore himself as to why Microsoft, being the biggest backer of HD-DVD, would not include a HD-DVD drive in the 360. (It was even advertised in the brochures that the Toshiba goons handed out, showing a picture of what looked like an XBOX 360 and said "Next Generation Consoles") His reply like all others: "It all boiled down to money, getting it out for the holiday's and being the first to market. Also, that HD-DVD is not even the next confirmed format for DVD." Fine, understandable, neither is Blu Ray but come on, you work for a company that is backing them 100% !!!!
So to answer your question #2, you'd be assed out. Spent $400 on a unit, only to have a newwr model replace it and unless you have some way of conning them into getting a new one you'd have a nice paperweight. I got my 360 for free, I like the machine a lot but there is no way right now I woulda payed $400 for it. I am very grateful to have one but I do not like the methods Microsoft took to get this off the ground. I haven' touched it until this past Tuesday when finally, they put the patches up for Splinter Cell Chaos Theory. It's messed up what Microsoft did, making all these claims and such and not fully delivering. They should have repeated what they did back in 2001 and waited and worked on the unit more. I love my PS2 but I saw how graphically better XBOX was with having 18 months to work on a unit and try to crush the PS2. They should have dropped the 360 around the time the PS3 launches for Japan, Spring 2006 or whenever. $400 was a lot for not that much. Where are your BIG launch titles?? Where is Halo 3!!?? I see why Ubisoft keeps pushing back the release of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and I am happy to say I can wait. They are gonna work that game apart.
It would be even better too if they had the 30/60 GB discs from HD-DVD to work with. Come on now, games that will have 4 FULL 9 GIG Discs? This isn't 1997 ala Final Fantasy 7 anymore, where we have to change numerous discs.
Zenigata
One interest way to look at this issue is the following....
In the short run, this decision looks poor for all of the reasons mentioned above.
Imagine the future for instance.
Assuming HD-DVD survives (doubtful anyway), people will be buying HD-DVD players the way they buy DVD players today. At this point, adding the HD-DVD feature to new X Box 360s (which by then would be cost-efficient for Microsoft), will make the purchase of and X Box seem like a no brainer since it will seem to be killing two birds with one stone.
Hence, the increased functionality would be aimed at prospective HD-DVD player buyers who may want and X Box and vice versa.
The only question is: does this potential benefit outweigh angering millions of old X Box owners.
Ad-hoc additions to the current X Box is like growing another asshole on your elbow. Its useless and looks ridiculous. If we were meant to have them then we already would.
JUST LOOK AT HOW SILLY SEGA-CD LOOKED....
"HD-DVD is a failed format anyway. Everyone knows Blu-Ray is the high capacity format of choice."
All the more reason to use it for video game discs. How much has piracy been a problem for the Game Cube with it's proprietary mini-dvds ? I don't actually know, but I'll bet is substantially less than it was for the DC or PS2.
But then again, the PSP has a proprietary disc, and it's games have been successfully pirated. I suppose now that all these devices are network enabled proprietary physicalites are not much of a protection, as the proprietary hardware itself can be bent to the pirates will in most cases...
As for this POTENTIAL move on MS's part...meh, they wouldn't be the first to do it. How many car manufacturers release a new or from the ground up redesigned car model one year, and the very next year offer some REALLY desireable feature (different transmission, ABS, GPS, bigger engine, etc...). Early adopters get soaked all the time...that's a big part of why they are the minority. Most other people take the "wait and see" attitude to varying degrees because of this very phenomenon (and many an early adopter that I've met has been BURNED good at least once and thus converted to the W&S camp...).
That said, while I think peeps should take responsibility for choosing to buy an unknown untested device for an agregious sum of money, I don't think the injustice in this potential situation is ALL the consummer's fault. It suqs that companies DO screw people over like that because it best suits one particular business model or another.
Common SEGA, just whip us up the DCP (Dreamcast: Prime) with an HDD and VMD drive and OWN the market once again!
Dare to Dream(cast)....
all i kno is, i want an xbox 360 right now, maybe 2 or 3... so i can sell them on ebay for 800/each
nobody complains when they bring a new ipod out do they???
It will only be for movies and perhaps they will offer an internal upgrade for current users (at a cost though)
This doesn't bother me because I dont want a games console for a movie player anyway, whats the point in having HD on a games console anyway 90% of them will go into kids bedrooms and for those that end up in front rooms, people dont want a noisy player to play their movies on with the internal fans running they'll want a stand alone player.
Toshiba will see this as a main tactic to get their HD-DVD's in ahead of Blue ray, if they can get their HDDVD players in the 360 by spring say in the US and Europe and get HDDVD on the shelves maybe 6 months (probably more) ahead of the PS3 and the blue ray discs then perhaps they do have a chance of winning the next gen format war.
Although many studios back Blue-ray they also back HD DVD and many would prefer HDDVD because the commissions on each disk is lower and they can use their current DVD presses which will save them a fortune.
Um, wouldn't surprise me if it was someone like Sony spreading this information. Nothing kills early adoption of a rivals console like news it "might" be improved in a month or three...
If MS does include an HD-DVD at a later date, as rumored in July 05, it affects only movies. The final standards for all aspects of the drive remain undetermined, which is why Toshiba pushed them out this week to an undetermined time.
http://news.com.com/Toshiba+to+delay+HD+DVD+player+launch/2100-1041_3-5992869.html?tag=cd.top
As for games, they could stream extra video over Xbox Live Silver if they had to. It would save costs on distributution media and allow for single point bug fixes and updates. A live Internet connection is a very powerful tool if MS provides a good API set.
I think MS's biggest mistake was basing their whole strategy on getting to market first. Had they took more time a put an even more competitive box on the market with next gen DVD playback capabilities I think they'd be better off in the long run...
A lot of folks forget one of PS2's biggest selling points besides being a next gen gaming system was that it was a next gen movie playback system also...DVD. The Dreamcast was out waaaaay before the PS2 and got trampled by it partly on the strength of DVD playback...the graphics differences were not that big.
I know for one that Blu-Ray is one of the major reasons I'm getting a PS3
My consolation to all of you who stood in long line to buy your microcrap. Of course Bill is now denying future Xbox360 will have HD DVD playback. There's nothing to be gained by admitting that at this time when there are unsold Xbox360 in Japan and in Europe.
Placate the early adapters with a lie and pull a stunt on Sony later. Of course Steve Jobs denied Ipod Video didn't he?
As other posters mentioned here, Microcrap will not be able to compete with Sony without nextgen DVD in their system. They do not want to follow Sega to their early grave.
Bill's statement is a double edged sword. Gamers now have more reason to hold off on their purchases until PS3. Christmas is the only saving grace for Bill. If I was Bill, I would concentrate all my consoles where the demand is today to sell as many units before Christmas.
I don't think it would even be possible to upgrade a current 360 because it only outputs over component...I thought HD-DVD/BR would only output over HDCP compliant outputs..either HDMI or DVI. The current 360 owners would all be out of luck.
This just proves to me that they released the 360 prematurely, without any regard for the consumer. First a bunch of units are reported as buggy, and NOW they might release a different version with HD-DVD capabilities? If they think that will cut into PS3's audience, they'll be sorely mistaken.
I call BS. Seems like anytime a new system comes out rumors like this spread. i.e. When the psp was released to the public people were talking about a hard drive version coming out within a year. Marketing, Fanboys, BS, call it what you will.
my friend bought a ps2, and guess what, when games started taking advantage of dual layered discs, he couldn't play it!!! he had to go buy a brand new ps2 with a new dvd drive, because the first generation didn't support dual layers!!!!!! if microsoft does it, then sony is bound to come out with some hd for the psp, which is another crazy thing too, go ahead, flame me, but it's true, they like to brag at SHIPPING 100 bajillion systems, but hey, wait a minute, how many systems have you all bought, at least Microsoft didn't have too many problems with the first XBOX dying out, or breaking down, and we all know who makes the most durable systems, NINTENDO, my friend dropped his NES in the toilet, and it still works!!!
Say it ain't so!
I'm an early adopter. I have a first-gen? Xbox 360 with a DVD drive. I'm scared by the idea of Microsoft releasing the same console with higher-capacity discs. I've read some of you, who have written, "It's only for movies! It's only for movies!" Who says? Cite your source! I know that what I'm scared by is only a rumor, but I need consolation. If the new 360s DO only release the drives for movies, I don't care, because I don't plan to adopt Blu-ray or whatever, until it's ubiquitous, like the DVD has become.
Should I worry?
If Microsoft does do this, SO HELP ME GOD, I'LL NEVER BUY ANOTHER 360! EVER!! LONG LIVE NINTENDO!!!
P.S. Wouldn't releasing games on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD raise the cost of the games from $60 to $70 or $75? That's nuts!
#34. Microsoft has stated that they will come out with an HDMI cord/adapter when it becomes necessary.
Good thing I bought mine at costco
I havne't bought my XBox 360, mostly becuase I can't get one plus the reported problems with overheating, etc. Now this just makes me hold off more. I'd like to think that a HD-DVD drive will be added that can be plugged into a USB port but I'm not sure if that's even technically possible. It'll probably be an entirely new machine. for now I'm going to have to sit back and wait.
upgrading sounds like a good idea to me. I've always thought consoles should be more flexable in terms of upgrading and growing with the advancements in technology over the consoles life time. Whats the average life of a console nowadays, 3- 5 years? And to all the early adopters....stop complaining, thats what happens when your an early adopter, it comes with the territory. When you buy a product before its totally sorted you get hit with the problems first (overheating) and your equipment getting obsolete fast. And the more consoles become like PC's the more we're going to have to deal with the same issues like PC's, i.e. upgrading and your equipment becoming obsolete right out of the store. You want to be on the bleeding edge, well thats what its like on the edge. But I guess if you had waited for the HDDVD 360 we'd have to hear you complian about the wait. I would rather buy a console now and then have to upgrade it in 6 months to a year then have MS "dumb" down the console and keep it behind the curve of technology for its lifetime just to satisfy the winos out there who are mad that the console they bought 6 months ago is obsolete. As long as you can upgrade it whats the problem? It's just like if you bought your 360 without the harddrive and then you find a game that needs the harddrive, so you UPGRADE and play the game. It'll be the same with the optical drive, get over it.
If MS puts out an upgrade for DVD 360's and makes it cheap enough that the price of your DVD 360 plus the upgrade is the same or less than the price of a brand new HDDVD 360, you'll all be foaming at the mouth and singing songs about the wonderful MS. Even if you end up spending a little more cause you had to upgrade, think of all the time you spent playing from now to when the HDDVD units hit, isn't that worth something. Look at it like this, you pay $400 for a xbox 360 now, then in 6 months it's another $100 for a HDDVD upgrade, so you paid $500 for your system. But wait, a new HDDVD system costs $450, so you get mad, why? you got to play the newest system for 6 months, for only $50 bucks. If you'd waited you would have paid $50 less but you would have been playing you first gen xbox for 6 months, I'd say you got rewarded for buying the 360 early, like a 6 month preview of what is coming for only $50 bucks. Now I'm not saying thats how its going to be price-wise, but they can't make the upgrade too cheap or too expensive, maybe they'll offer the HDDVD upgrade at a discount to owners that have registered with them. Main point, buy a system, enjoy it, and don't complain when it gets old (especially if they offer a upgrade path), thats just the way the bleeding edge is.
#33, I don't know what astonishes me more; your ignorantly refering to Bill Gates as "Bill" (like you know him or something), or the fact that you actually think at this stage in Microsoft & Bill Gates relationship that he has much to do w/ the 360.
what is the difrence betrween hd dvd disc and dvd disc just the amount of data it can hold right i wouldnt think most games are gonna be more thern 15 gigs anyways so ..but as far as hd movies that are goan comeo ut soon what format are they goan be in hd dvd or blu ray or both i mean this is goan get confusing do i get a hd dvd player or a blu ray player