Xbox 360 HD DVD drive hitting States for $200
By Paul Miller 
posted September 27th 2006 2:25PM
posted September 27th 2006 2:25PM
posted September 27th 2006 2:25PM
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You people who are bashing the $200 HD-DVD drive for the 360 saying the PS3 is a "better value" are forgetting the fact that the HD-DVD drive for the 360 is OPTIONAL. If you don't want it (which I don't) you don't have to get it. Whereas with a PS3 I have no choice but to spend the extra money for the blu ray drive, which I don't want.
The argument is directed towards people who will buy the add on with the 360. If you are definitely not going to buy the add on nor want a next gen movie player, then buy an Xbox 360. However, for those that do want one, getting a PS3 is a better deal that an Xbox 360 and the add on.
Lots of fanboy braggadocio here, but allow me to remind you all that neither Microsoft nor Sony have the best track record when it comes to movie replay-by-game system.
Too many DVDs look awfully scratchy coming out of those drives for me to invest part-and-parcel in a game system as my primary movie playback unit. Especially on first-generation units.
How's this for strategy?:
1. When you go to buy a next-gen system, decide which one has the better playing games.
2. Buy that one.
3. Repeat as necessary.
The Xbox 360 is still a better choice. I personally do not yet need the ability for HD movie playback. I have an HDTV but Ill probably wait a year or two until HD movies are more prevalent, for this reason I would rather not spend an extra $200 on a PS3 with a Blu-Ray drive that may go obsolete, and I really dont want right now in the first place. Ill probably wait until the Xbox HD-DVD attachment fall to about $100.
If this $200 device can be modded somehow to work with a PC, they will fly off the shelf and Beta-Ray is finished.
Guys, guys, guys, and girl... Come on, remember now you're also getting Peter Jackson's King Kong and the Xbox 360 Universal Remote! lolz
Why don't people just buy the damn console they want and get it over with.. hell, buy both if you can afford it. Why not throw in the Wii for a really good time.
At least then we can shut the hell up about which one is better - in ALL respects.
Having a HiDef drive already seems ludicrous to me anyway - as the format war has barely even started.
ps. BluRay is the dumbest name for a disc I have ever heard (just to start debate, haha)
PS3 looks like more of a bargain and the 360 looks more like an unfinished product.
You guys arguing about which consoles are going to be better based off of hardware are hilarious.
The same crap was said with XBox vs. PS2 vs. Gamecube and it didn't matter. When you're talking about gaming systems, it's about the games. I remember everyone making it a huge point that GC didn't support playing DVDs. Turned out to be a HUGE factor. Cough.
I mean seriously, how many of you guys actually use an Xbox or PS2 to watch your DVDs?
And like the other dude said, the HD formats are roughly equivalents of SACD and DVD-A. Why would I want to trade the ability to back up my DVDs and not have to deal with / support DRM-infested crap, and then get to pay 500 bucks for the honor? For some extra resolution? No. DVDs look fine on my HD projector at 106". HD looks better, but not better enough to justify the insane costs. The kicker is that since Bluray and HDDVD are having a format war, you could spend all of this money and eventually not even be able to buy more movies for your player.
This isn't even to mention the fact that after six or seven years of DVD, the best we can do now is less than ten times the space, yet it costs an obnoxious amount and only gets me higher resolutions. No thanks. Physical media is getting antiquated anyhow. Fatter pipes, cheap storage, and good HD codecs will lead to more downloading / OnDemand type stuff.
But to get back on track, come on. I actually like that Microsoft doesn't bundle the drive by defaulte, since it means that I don't have to pay money for HDDVD, which I don't want (at least not yet - not worth it for the extra cost).
And no, this isn't 32X. I believe MS has said they're not going to make games that use the HDDVD drive explicitly. It's just add on functionality that leverages the processing power in the 360. Personally I think it's tacky to play movies through consoles, but then again I'm an AV snob. I wouldn't buy the thing.
i was looking to purchase an upscaling dvd player and forget this whole entire blu ray hddvd fight but already owning a 360 200 bucks for a hddvd/ upscalling dvd player sounds great to me !!!!
I agree with others in that I like the choice.. HD-DVD is ahead at this point.. What if HDDVD wins out and BluRay goes the way of Laser Disc, BetaMax, MiniDisc, UMD, etc.? Then if you buy a PS3, you're still going to have to buy an HDDVD player, and the price for BluRay discs for PS3 games won't come down as Sony is expecting..
I own a 360, so getting this is a no brainer, but the ability for MS to, in the future, do a Blu Ray add on is intriguing..
Also, for those calling this Sega32X, that's ridiculous on many levels.. It might be like SegaCD if you had to have it to play games, but you won't. This is would be more like if they added on a DVD player to the Sega Dreamcast for nothing more than watching DVD's.. And releasing it a 40% of the cheapest DVD player on the market.. Try to make some better comparisons..
eric
Why don't they pack a Zune with it.
I may be a little confused here but i want to play games on my X360 like many other people. I also dont own a HD TV (something on my shopping list after christmas) but when i do get one i can wait to see who wins the format wars and microsoft can provide me with a reader for that format.
Dont you have to buy some cables for your PS3 to have access to HD resolutions as HDMI or component are not included in box? am i right or maybe ive just read too much fanbox B$ to know whats right or wrong....
"Steven @ Sep 27th 2006 3:58PM
...the 360 is still left with the obsolete dvd9 format..."
Is the DVD Video obsolete? as far as i know i can go to the store and buy on of thousands of DVDs. Surely the only that will be going obsolete any time soon will be Blu-Ray or HD-DVD.
Just my 8 pence
whatever happened to a console being just a console? if you wanna watch movies get a DVD player for that, oh wait, get a Wii.
Comparing Xbox360 and PS3, which one would have a bigger game library? The answer is obvious isn't it? Don't give me the Gears of War and Halo 3 crap, PS3 has more good franchise (final fantasy, mana, resident evil, devil may cry, tales, fire emblems, winning elevens, just to name a few) than MS will ever come up with. Please note that I'm talking about franchise that withstood the test of time. I know it's not a fair comparison b/c sony has been in the console market much longer than MS, but that doesn't affect most people's buying decision.
And of course there is always wii. :)
PS3 ... Wii
What a joke.
Xbox 360 is the clear winner in my pockets.
Is it me or is connecting this and anything else M$fT adds to the 360 (Camera, wired controlers, Wireless wi-fi adapter, etcs.) starts to look ugly? Unless you get a USB hub, The 360 starts to run out of connection ports quickly. I already have the Wifi adapter hooked up on the back, and now I'm suppost to add the HD-DVD player..to the front ports? If your system is one of the center points of your home theater package, have wires hanging out of everywhere doesn't look next-gen. M$fT should have added more ports or connections in the back. Unfortunatley, the PS3 has the upper hand on this argument for connectivity.
Abs- first of all, the hd-dvd add on has a usb on the back of it for the wifi adapter. second- the 360 is a much better buy. if u dont want to spend 200 more to watch better dvds, dont. sony isnt giving you the option - theyre forcing u to buy the gay blu-ray add on which a lot of people wont use because they dont have and hdtv with an hdmi port
What does the $500 PS3 lack that the $600 one has?
$600 has WiFi and 60GB hardrive vs 20GB and ethernet port on the basic.
The HDDVD Drive will be a great buy if you already have a 360, its a no brainer, HDDVD, remote, and I have heard that King Kong HDDVD will also be in the box, and HDDVD has twice as many titles and twice as many announced titles, yes Blu Ray has more studios but thus far they havent delivered, this could change of course. By year end there should be about 2 million PS3 and 10 million Xbox units, if 1 out 5 360 owners get this drive there will be the same number HD drives in gaming consoles for both sides, and you have to remember, every 360 owner with an HDDVD drive is getting it for HD, not true for the Sony, some will still just be playing games with no HD TV. Now if your a new customer, the PS3 is a good deal, for $500 you get Blu-Ray, 20GBHD, wireless controller with charger vs a HDDVD and 360 Core, no harddrive no wireless. At $600 you get 60GBHD, WiFi, wireless controller with charger, Blu-Ray vs $720 for a Xbox premium, WiFI apdaptor, Wireless controller, charge kit, HDDVD, and headset.
$600 has WiFi and 60GB hardrive vs 20GB and ethernet port on the basic.
The HDDVD Drive will be a great buy if you already have a 360, its a no brainer, HDDVD, remote, and I have heard that King Kong HDDVD will also be in the box, and HDDVD has twice as many titles and twice as many announced titles, yes Blu Ray has more studios but thus far they havent delivered, this could change of course. Also there will be far more 360 gaming titles for some time. By year end there should be about 2 million PS3 and 10 million Xbox units, if 1 out 5 360 owners get this drive there will be the same number HD drives in gaming consoles for both sides, and you have to remember, every 360 owner with an HDDVD drive is getting it for HD, not true for the Sony, some will still just be playing games with no HD TV. Now if your a new customer, the PS3 is a good deal, for $500 you get Blu-Ray w HDMI , 20GBHD, wireless controller with charger vs a HDDVD and 360 Core (I also dont know if the component cables will come with the HDVD drive as they dont with the core system), no harddrive no wireless. At $600 you get 60GBHD, WiFi, wireless controller with charger, Blu-Ray w HDMI vs $720 for a Xbox premium, WiFI apdaptor, Wireless controller, charge kit, HDDVD w component cable, and headset.
The PS3 is a smoking deal, but at the moment there is not alot of support for Blu-Ray of PS3 gaming titles, this could and should change, but in the 360s defence I expect a 360 price drop start of November, I know they have denied it, but thats because you simply dont pre announce a price drop, its bad business if they told you systems were taking a price drop of $100 or more would you buy one today or wait the extra month, if there is a price drop I expect it to be a day of all at once announcement.
One more thing to talk about, HDMI. Yes its nice in the PS3 and I use it from my Toshiba HDDVD and will use it from my Sony Blu Ray player. But I really dont think its a big deal, I have a 1080p TV and unless your tv can do 1080p/24fps and if the PS3 can do this you will get benefit besides that its a moot point as 1080p/60fps looks the same as 1080i/60fps, and HDMI gives you Dolby TrueHD vs DDigital Plus, I have used both on my toshiba, you cant hear all that much of a difference and I have a $25000 home theater system.
Just as a note for those who dont know, 1080p/24 is better because movies are encoded at 24fps and not 60fps by keeping everything at 24fps and 1080p you avoid all video processing but at 60 frames which most tvs are, you need to bump the 1080p/24 to 60 frames, so if 1080i is a half frame, you get 60 half frames per second, giving you 30 full frames, covering the full 1080p/24 frames. This is why the Samsung Blu ray looks the same on 1080p and 10080i because it works on 60fps.
Cheers All
So umm, hypothetical situation. Lets just say for a moment that BluRay fails, crazy I know. I mean, whats not to trust from the company that brought us such long lived formats as Betamax, MiniDisc, Video8, MicroMV, HiFD and most recently UMD, not to mention a few others. So in this hypothetical situation in which BluRay fails, where does that leave all the people that got raped by Sony on the price of the PS3 due to the inclusion of a BluRay player "they" decided everyone had to own. If I buy a 360 "addon", then that's me making a choice to pick a side in the format war and putting my money on the line, not some arrogant company making that choice for me. Me for one, I appreciate that choice being left to me. Am I a M$ fanboy? Dunno, maybe. But if so.... Sony made me into one.
Why are you guys trying to defend Sony!? its so damn sad that you have to protect it.
And some guys defending 360 are just as bad.