http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/ Engadget Comments for Xbox 360 with integrated HD DVD drive? No way. http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/Jul 4th 2006 8:43AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/Jul 4th 2006 8:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/Jul 4th 2006 8:49AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/Jul 4th 2006 8:52AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/
M$ from political suddenly got technical. I think we should thank that flip for solid Xbox performance to date.

The fight at moment is all political - nobody even has the need for that amount of information in industry. I would love to have something like that at home to keep my anime collection, but that (un)fancy $1k price stiker would keep me on DVD media for a long time. You hardly can beat current price of DVD-R.]]>Jul 4th 2006 9:52AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/Jul 4th 2006 10:01AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/
Wouldn't Microsoft kill current 360 sales if they said "We'll be scrapping the DVD drive and start shipping 360's with integrated HD-DVD in 6 months".

I don't know about you, but this "external drive" stuff sounds like a non-starter; its a ruse to make sure that people don't decide to wait for PS3 on the basis that it can play HD movies and xbox can't, but still without creating a massive osborne effect...]]>Jul 4th 2006 10:50AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/
You saw last night's Seinfeld... didn't you?]]>Jul 4th 2006 10:55AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/
We already have movies exclusive to each format, which is a real pain.

Do I care to own a disc anymore? Not really. I'm renting via Netflix more these days anyway. Am I needing more storage on disc? Not really. I'm fine with portable hard drive/flash storage for storing files. Do I really need an expensive player and more expensive movies? Not really. I receive HD channels already, including movies not already released in HD, and I don't have to worry about having a player that can only play movies from certain studios. Oh, and my current player upconverts.

So I'm indifferent to whoever wins or loses. I'm just not planning to buy either option anytime soon.

I still say digital distribution is the future.]]>Jul 4th 2006 12:44PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/
Even better if they could do it for cheaper than the PS3.]]>Jul 4th 2006 4:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/
It's starting to really remind me of computer gaming.


]]>Jul 4th 2006 5:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/
Sorry but companies join and leave competing boards all the time. HP and Sanyo are both members the Blue-Ray and HD-DVD group.

We all know how well add-ons work with consoles. SEGA-CD, PlayStation HDD, 64DD, the list goes on. Once a console ships, it's almost set in stone. Developers won't support peripherals without decent adoption rates and gamers won't adopt then without compelling games. Microsoft know this and doesn't want to split it's audience.

From the official microsoft statements, I get the impression that the HD-DVD drive is a marketing ploy. It has no HDMI and connects to the xbox through a usb port.

Has there been any mention of any HD games? The press releases says:

"The new drive will offer millions of Xbox 360 owners the ability to easily enjoy HD DVD movies and will provide consumers with even more choices for experiencing high-definition content, in either physical or digital form."

HD movies Yes; closest for games is "high-definition content," sort of, but not realy.]]>Jul 4th 2006 5:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/Jul 4th 2006 5:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/
Regarding an HDMI interface, there has been no announcement from Microsoft the HD DVD add-on will not exploit HDMI. Perhaps because there is no HDMI available now, the assumption is there will never be such an option. But the 360 is certainly technically capable of such an option. Microsoft specially designed the video interface in the back to host any adapter they specifically design for it.

Basically it boils down to whether or not you want you watch HD movies on your game machine. If you do, it's an add-on. If not, you don't have to pay extra for the option you may not use. It should be noted the 360 is capable of playing existing DVDs upcoverted.


]]>Jul 4th 2006 5:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/Jul 4th 2006 9:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/
^^^ *ahem, large tangent ^^^ sorry.

If Microsoft chose to not integrate the HD DVD drive until much later, when are we going to see the real 360? Do all the people that bought the one without the HD DVD drive have absolutely no chance of using their 360 as a dedicated HD DVD player? If add-on drives will in fact be released, when the hell will that be?

$600 PS3 = next-gen system + dedicated BR player and HDMI output

$400 360 = next-gen system, no HD DVD in sight

........skip a few months to a year........

price dropped $500 PS3 = same

price dropped $300 360 = next-gen system with possible integrated HD DVD player...HDMI? who knows.

So for a while the 360 will have the price strength. If MS can integrate the HD DVD player sooner rather than later, the 360 will in theory be ahead for people that don't need HD and don't care about games (which is never the case). However this all depends on the outcome of HD DVD vs BR and what the market will look like. But hey, if you want to see GT5 or Halo 3, that will make all the difference.
]]>Jul 4th 2006 11:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/
Yes but Microsoft has more invested in HD DVD, seeing as all HD DVD movies use their VC1 codec and they receive a commission on each movie sold. Whilst Sony is still using older MPEG2 compression and not paying Microsoft a commission.

]]>Jul 5th 2006 12:18AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/ I hate to say this I know it will be an unpopular statement but I think the companies are trying to make these too flashy and more and more its becoming your whole entertainment system.. I just need it to play games!! I dont have 600 for a new PS3 and I will not shell out for the cheaper version too lose features.. which means I will wait and play things like GOW2 and FF12 in the meantime. I will hope the price will go down and it will eventually. Games should be a happy escape not a huge complication. I dont care if HDDVD or BR wins I care about games]]>Jul 5th 2006 10:27AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/if MS were to intergrate it then game developers would get the idea of possibly releasing games in 1 HD-DVD vs 2 or 3 dvds be it much farther into the future it would segment the market more than MS has already done.

PS3's BD advantage in tearms of gaming is that its beent there form the start.(all tho it costs a LOT more) Sony isnt fragmenting their market.]]>Jul 5th 2006 11:14AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/Jul 5th 2006 11:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/Jul 5th 2006 2:15PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/
Actually, Sony has mandated that all games ship on Blu-ray discs from day one. Having the games lineup split between DVDs and BDs would make the drive seem even more unnecessary...]]>Jul 5th 2006 3:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/
As Jared just mentioned, all PS3 games must be released on Blu-Ray. I'm sure the PS3 will play DVD movies, but not all Blu-Ray players will support DVDs or CDs.

As far as Microsoft allowing games on HD DVD, I really don't see that happening. They've stated time and time again, the HD DVD add on is for movies.

I've yet to encounter a game that requires more space than a dual-layer DVD can handle. With modern compression techniques, and a good set of software tools, it should not be an issue.
]]>Jul 5th 2006 5:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/
At least the PS3 has a HDCP port on the $600 model and you can actually use the thing to watch movies at 1080p.]]>Jul 9th 2006 6:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/Jul 20th 2006 11:22AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/
Cheers,

Jason]]>Aug 9th 2007 11:49AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/xbox-360-with-integrated-hd-dvd-drive-no-way/
Thanks,

Jason]]>Aug 9th 2007 11:52AM