Xbox 360 Blu-ray console shipping by September?
By Thomas Ricker 
posted May 2nd 2008 2:12AM
posted May 2nd 2008 2:12AM
For all of Microsoft's denial, the Xbox 360 Blu-ray console rumors just will not die. In fact, they are getting more and more specific. The Chinese language Economic Daily News is reporting that Pegatron, an OEM subsidiary of ASUS, has won the order from Microsoft to assemble the Xbox 360 with Blu-ray Disc ROM drive -- shipments are expected to being in Q3 of this year. Now come on Microsoft, just come clean on the matter, we won't tell anyone.
You PS3 fanbois are something else....You go on and on about the "power" of the PS3 but where is it helping? I haven't seen a single game look better than the 360. In fact, I haven't seen many that look "as good" as the 360. The PS3 controller is a worthless piece of crap. It feels a hollow toy. Oh and the PS3 has less games. That being said I'm not a 360 fanboy because I have a PS2 and I love it. I considered getting a PS3 for Rachet and Clank and the Blu ray. But if MS releases this, then I'll wait. It'd be great to have all my HD movies (I bought the HD DVD drive) on one machine. It's really about longevity of the console. If MS can get the 360 to stay in living rooms longer by releasing it and can continue to have a lot of good games, then it's worth it to them.
I like the idea.
Forget about hard media.
Give it 5-10 years and there will be no such things as "DVD" lol. All media will be subscription based through the internet/network or streaming from the internet/network.
Because:
-DVD's can be scratched and won't be able to hold as much data relative to size.
-Sub based and streaming content is easier to DRM and collect $$$$
Optical media will go the way of the cassette tape, and another type of 'write-once read many' media similar to USB flash drives will be mainstream.
I'm keeping my 360 the way it is, and making sure every device I buy is network capable. Ironically, referencing Moore's law...by the time the above happens, most of those devices will be obsolete...but a prediction none the less.
Its had to happen, I know.
My big question is what will happen to the millions of people who have 360s with HD-DVD drives? Will MS replace the drives by mail in like the Wii and SMB:B?
To all those crazy ps3 fanboys.
Stop bsing about how the ps3 is 10000000x bettr than the xbox. The ps3 came into market 1 year AFTER the 360. Of course it should have better processing power. That's Moore's law for you. Sony is still struggling with the ps3 sales when M$ is working on the next-gen xbox. I'll let that shimmer a bit.
If this is true. Then I have a decision to make.... till before this I was sure i wanted a PS3. The field is leveled.
This is never going to happen, it just isn't. Sony is not going to allow this to happen and they may not entirely own blu-ray but i think they have a good deal of control over who they want to sell it too. Give it up already stop talking about this if you want a blu-ray buy a PS3 end of story.
Like Sony is going to put a hamper on their PC business which is probably greater then their BD business.
If Sony insults or disrespects MS guess what operating system they are going to have to use on their PCs?
Symbian or some crap. LOLz...
P.S. who do you think engineered one of the codecs on every
BD? Here is a hint: MS.
Am I the only one wondering if it will have HDMI 1.3 in order to play the new lossless audio codecs (or if they add the ability to bitstream them to the AV side over 1.2)? That's the only thing wrong with the current HDMI implementation on XBox....
is this the final nail in HD-DVD's coffin?
I feel sorry for you poor, poor bastards that have to choose between the Xbox 360 and PS3 and waste all this time bickering and bitching about which is better. I own launch versions of both (and have the HD-DVD drive for the 360), and couldn't care less which one is "better" or has the "best games". It's all so silly. Just get both! How hard is that?
Just get both!?! Yea, sure that would be great if most people can hardly afford to use a gallon of gas. Sometimes I think you have to remind yourself that not everyone is as rich as you are.
Ignoring that, personally, I would rather have one device to use. Just imagine if the answer to everything is "Just get both"
"Well, this phone here i use because it gets the internet, but phone quality sucks, so I just got this other phone to use only to talk to people."
I've gotten so sick of these Blu Ray or no Blu Ray rumors. The truth is, Xbox needs to offer a Blu Ray add on, and soon. Otherwise, their loyal customers like myself are going to look towards other options for a Blu Ray player, including a Playstation 3. I had no problem when Xbox jumped on the HD-DVD bandwagon when I always new Blu Ray would win out in the end. But now that the fight is over, it's time for Microsoft to bite the bullet and offer us up a Blu Ray player. I don't know what they're smoking in Redmond if they think downloadable content is going to viably compete with Blu Ray. Until they are able to shrink an entire high definition movie to the size of a jpg, it will never happen.
Personally I am tired with M$ coming out with these. I paid for the HDDVD addon so Im not really happy with it. BTW @ that sony fanboys who have some comments, I was playing cod4 on my ps3 yesterday and i heard the n word dropped about 5 times in an hour and many other racially incensitive words from immature players. The one positive thing about this is that it will be much easier to upgrade the firmware on this player. I had to update the firmware on my samsung launch blu ray player and it was a pain. I think that is the one thing that is good about tying these players to online consoles.
Now what about the millions of us who already have a console?
Is it OUR fault that they chose hd/dvd over blu-ray?
@Rich
"What are you talking about? All Xbox 360 games are at least 720P and there's plenty of HD video on the Xbox Live Marketplace too."
Actually, a lot of Xbox 360 games are BELOW 720p but are upscaled to 720p (even their 1st party developers).
On the other hand, NO 1st party PS3 games are below 720p resolution.
Too bad GTAIV is actually 640p on the PS3 upscaled to 720p+
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/30/ps3-grand-theft-auto-iv-is-640p-nobody-cares/
Great so when your system dies you'll lose both your console and your movie player. Thats why I dont get M$'s ideas of expansion like IPTV. Their features are nice and their interface as well but the hardware is crap. Do you really want to cram all of your entertainment needs into something so well known for dieing?
Well I wouldn't be surprised.
The original xbox couldn't play dvd's without the dvd remote,and then they fixed that with the 360.
So yes,MS does learn.So if we don't see it this generation,it will deff be in the next Xbox.
Unless they are in that much spite that they will make their own proprietary format for the next one.Actually,I could see that work too.
Think about this... The PS3 is between $400 and $500, depending on the HDD size you get. Now most of us know that the reason for the high price is the Blu-ray player. If you got a standalone BD player, it would cost you just as much, and sometimes more. The HD-DVD player for the 360 was $199.99, am I correct? Why would anyone expect a BD player for it to be any less? Probably one of the cheapest BD players costs about $350, or you can just throw down another $50 and grab a PS3.
http://www.blu-ray.com/players/
Honestly, though, I don't think that the format is going to make or break either system. I think that the release of Home will be that point. Granted, in the long run, BD will allow game developers to store more information and have high-res sound and visuals.
I doubt this rumor will ever come to fruition. Seriously, the next 360 SKU will probably have built in Wi-Fi but that's about all that will be new. I doubt it would be cost effective for Microsoft to make a 360 with Blu-ray. Hey Microsoft, why don't you skip the Blu-ray, and make your console cheaper to try and deter people from buying PS3s. That would probably be a smarter business move on your part.
So If 360 owners are getting Blu-Ray does that mean PS3 owners are getting Halo???
As solid a source as "Quaz" may be, he is not the manufacturer and the back of the GTAIV box says 720P. What purpose does it serve to claim a higher resolution when most people CANT tell. The only purpose this would serve would be to bring about ANOTHER class action against ROCKSTAR???
sorry that was in reply to nxtiak about the GTAIV resolution
I have owned both an xbox360 and a ps3. While both are very capable machines, I ended up taking my ps3 back to the store and getting my money back for a few reasons, the most pressing being that there are almost no good games on the system. We've got Ratchet and Clank, Motor Storm, Heavenly Sword and a few PSN titles. On my 360, I have more than fifty games, so what it came down to was I simply wasn't getting the use out of the ps3 to justify keeping it around.
A big part of why I bought it in the first place was blu ray functionality, but I feel dvd's are still just fine and that wasn't enough to keep it around. If MS were smart, they would make a blu ray player add on. If they did, people would have absolutely no reason to buy a ps3. The xbox has better games and more of them. The multi platform releases are ALMOST always better on the xbox and the PSN pales in comparison to XBL, even with the recent updates its still lacking a lot features that make XBL so good.
It is VERY stupid if you use your gaming console to watching videos. You know the cases in PS2 right? Your OPTICAL LENS will crushed down to earth if you use it to watch dvd too often. It's same in PS3. The built-in Blu Ray is false, and Sony didn't realize that. You will spent more money to repair your broken lens in PS3. So, I think XBOX360 is more smart than PS3. The external Blu-Ray drive won't damage your console :)
will all you tightwad americans shut the f*** up the trouble with you all is you want something for nothing you bitched about the price of the ps3 when it came out ohhh its too expensive you all cried well go get a job you lazy fat tossers and all you xbox fanboys go shoot yourselves you drag every forum down to a mines bigger than yours arguement and you all sound like little kids who cant stand anyone owning something you aint got well heres the truth from someone who owns both consoles and a 47" lcd 1080p hdtv the ps3 is better on graphics on sound on build quality on reliability on looks has sixaxis motion detection and the rumble is back plays bluray dvd out the box is wireless without add ons the xbox has a few better games dont believe the hype because of lack of storage space on dvd the games are low on content ie fps have short one player games and developers think that sticking a few multiplayer maps make up for this but if you have played one multiplayer map you have played them all its a cop out and the xbox has xbox live which is the best there is untill sony release HOME which is as next gen as their console is the xbox being all the chips from an apple mac which is why they now have to use pentiums cos m$ bought the company to steal their chips so in short if you want next gen buy ps3 although full next gen still hasbt arrived yet if you want to be lied to and are too stupid to see the truth buy a xbox 360 although it does have some good games dont expect them to be massive in content as the better the graphics the less actual gameplay you will get
I like how you're berating everyone for being a fan of any console..........then making the biggest fanboy testimonial for the PS3 I think I've ever heard. Seems a little, what's the word, hypocritical?
Come on now we need some HARD CORE FACTS !!!
MICROSOFT PLEASE CONFIRM or DENY ?
And now the big question: will they -really- publish games that need that much storage space?
All that matters is that both of them should have blu ray to reach the full potential of gaming. Imagine games being longer than 1 day to be completed. Imagine a day when online multiplayer is so vast that you won't remember every name of everything in the game. I wish that both sony and microsoft would just get along and think of the gamer. But we all know that will not happen soon.
Too late, Mr. Gates.... I just got my PS3 with BR last week. I still love my XBOX360 w/ HD-DVD... but since you didn't release a BR external drive, Sony got my 400 bucks instead of Microsoft.
Too Slow, sir! M$ should have anticipated the death of BR, or at least the stalemate and offered CHOICE... wierd concept, eh?
Respectfully,
Doc Rings
Pensacola, FL
If anyone thinks MS can't afford to do something, they need to go sit in the corner. It shouldn't surprise anyone that they're going the blu-ray route, DL movies are limited in their resolution due to bandwith concerns. Not to mention MS won't be left behind when any new standards are implemented, if for no other reason than credibility.
As far as whether this is gonna be an internal or an external thing, I can't see MS making an external BR drive. The only way to connect it would be USB and the Tx rate isn't there to support movies, let alone games. Internal is the only way to go, new SKU or not. If they want to keep up and continue to keep a share of the market, they're gonna have to step up with a new unit and over a period of time shift their new games to BR. (not to mention work on reliability BEFORE shipping it out...)
Very true, no one uses sixaxis at all and the fact remains that any good games are gonna come out on both systems anyway. Coding one for both consoles is a waste of time and money so devs are gonna go with the slowest hardware and port to the faster one. So on a multi system launch of a much anticipated game there really wont be much of a difference in visuals between any next gen console (except Wii. Sorry.) . I like the PS3, but MS has the power to do anything. That includes swaying devs to do 360 specific or multi system launch games.
sorry, that was a reply to prev comment.
I just don't see a 360 being release with a Blu-Ray drive, why??? I don't see why MS would want to make the 360 more expensive for a drive that will ONLY be used for Blu-Ray movies that is worthless on a regular tv. I can see MS releasing a Blu-Ray drive Add-On like the HD DVD drive, and those that want it can have it by adding it to whatever 360 system they currently have.
There is ZERO reason to have it built-In!!!
Ok new to xbox dont have a clue and dont care but my son wants xbox 360 elite wich i believe is wireless, can I get games from usa for it or is it like DVD's and you have to have multiregion console?? any help greatly appreciated
@ LP:
Why do you think USB can't transfer fast enough to play Blu-Ray movies? USB 2.0 can do 320Mbps for goodness sake (that's 25sec/GiB). At that rate, it would take just over 10.4 minutes to transfer an entire 25GiB Blu-Ray disk or 20.8 minutes to transfer a 50GiB BR disk. Much faster than is needed to stream the highest quality BR disc available.
well here is what i think:
BRD is very good no doubt, but i don't think it should be major feature in a system. sure sony add that to the PS3 too add sales. but you forgetting something, you can't watch a BRD on your PS3 on a regular TV you got to have A HDTV not everyone would go buy a HDTV. eventually everyone would have one. but is a slow increase.. little by little ppl would have a opportunity to own all the system to watch something in HD.Besisdes the BRD cost $30 thats alot so mind as well rent. now far as games in HD is not the system but rather the game itself. my xbox can display the 1080i with no problem but is all depends on the game if can be supported.. i played bioshock, halo 3, call duty 4, and all support the 1080i and it looks so amazing. on my 32" HDTV.
MS should include the BRD built in for their new system and have available a seperate one for the all ready Xbox owners..not that every owner would get one but is would please the customer.
By the year 2012 everything would be HD. games, videos, movies, music, tv broadcasting...
Hotness!