Xbox 360 may get integrated HD-DVD drive to compete with PS3
By Jonathan Schlaffer
Wonders may never cease. Microsoft has almost constantly said that the Xbox 360 would never get an integrated HD-DVD drive but this may be about to change as Bill Gates prepares to deliver his final keynote speech at CES in Las Vegas.
Not that you should go around taking this as a fact because it is a complete and total rumor for the moment but Seattle Times columnist, Brier Dudley seems to think that Microsoft will equip the Xbox 360 with a DVR (digital video recorder) and HD-DVD drive.
He goes on to say that Microsoft may license out the Xbox 360 hardware to third parties for additional modifications.
The integrated HD-DVD drive isn’t so far fetched as the PS3 includes a Blu-Ray drive for $399 and it certainly wouldn’t hurt Microsoft to at least make a version of the Xbox 360 with the HD-DVD drive, it wouldn’t necessarily have to put the drive in all models.
And, Microsoft, how about finally including WiFi with the Xbox 360, there are those of us that don’t have a router right next to the thing and don’t want to string a 30 foot LAN cable across a hall, you know? (No, I don’t want the Xbox 360 WiFi dongle, $100 for it is ridiculous).
As for licensing out the Xbox 360 hardware, that’s probably not going to happen, at least not any time soon but I’m going to say “never” on that one.
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January 2nd, 2008
“To Compete”, no, developers still have to base games on the lowest core system, meaning games would not be released on hd dvd. Gameplay improvement not included.
January 2nd, 2008
too late. they should have done this to begin with. i guess they werent as ambitious as one would think considering that they had a year head start. i guess they released a year before all the others because their console wasnt complete by then. they should have taken their time and deliver a future proof device. way too keep screwing your consumers msoft! it seems they only wanted to give the console some brand name at first.
January 2nd, 2008
I find it very amusing that Xbox360 will be incorporating an HDDVD drive into their console. Wasn’t the PS3 criticized for it’s Bluray incorporation? and also wasn’t it criticized for confusing the consumer with too many SKUs? I see Xbox’s inclusion of the HDDVD as it’s attempt to try and win a losing HD battle as it cannot be used for gaming since not all Xbox360 owners will have one. Inclusion of the HDDVD drive this late in the game will more than confuse the consumer but will fragment the Xbox360 game market. I am a proud PS3 owner and I am glad that the Bluray was placed in it from the start.
January 2nd, 2008
I would have to disagree with you Jay. I’m glad the xbox does not come with a dvd drive since I already have a dvd player. I’m also not planing on buying another one until the dvd format war is over. That is the mistake Sony ambitiously made to have everyone on Blu Ray. If HD wins the dvd format war, those consumers with the PS3/ blue-ray are stucked with a useless blu-ray player and vice-versa.
January 2nd, 2008
@ Joe,
You my friend are one of those people who doesn’t know what they’re buying… 1) The xbox and xbox 360 DO have integrated DVD players. 2) Blu-Ray is more than just for movies. Storage media, anyone? 3) M$ did make a mistake by sticking with a last-gen optical tech in a next-gen system.
HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are at the heart of every certified optically based HD system… to think what kind of graphics the 360 would have had if the GPU and CPU didn’t waste so much time compressing and decompressing compressed DVD data…
January 2nd, 2008
Way to late. They still would not be able to develop games on the hd-dvd format, due to all the people that have a 360. Its pointless. And I totally disagree with joe. How is the blue-ray player useless. Pretty much all ps3 exclusive games would not be able to fit onto a normal dvd, for example Resistance, Heavenly Sword, Uncharted. So its really not useless at all. You also obviously havent watched a high def movie yet or have a hdtv. It is much better than dvd.
January 2nd, 2008
first M$ copied MAC then ps2,by makeing the xbox with dvd player,the ps3’s HDMI,now they what to copy THIS?
lets me guess…there going to copy the PS3’s controller too
January 2nd, 2008
This will not be pointless, Microsoft did not include a hd dvd drive in the 360 to begin with number 1 because the 360 was out before hd dvd and number 2 it would cost to much.
Now this is the perfect time to include a hd dvd drive because the cost is down on hd dvd that they can include it and not put the price up of the 360.
If this does come out games will not come out on hd dvd discs, this will just be a selling feature of a xbox 360 * now plays hd dvd movies*..and why not xbox 360 no longer has much of a price difference on the ps3 so they have to start including some extras because last year the xbox 360 was a better deal, but this year it looks like ps3 is the better deal since you get the bluray player.
January 2nd, 2008
@Roger
If this happens it won’t be the same as when the PS3 was criticized since it will be an OPTION for consumers. They can choose to buy the standard 360 or they can get one with built-in HD-DVD for movie playback. The PS3 was criticized because of its 600.00 pricetag and the FORCED inclusion of an unproven Hi-Def format. (The battle between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray continues)
@Joe
I MUCH prefer the faster read data rates of the 360’s DVD drive over the PS3’s Blu-Ray drive. Check out the load times on the HL Portal video - keeping in mind the PS3 has Blu-Ray and HDD cacheing. Thank you, MS, for sticking with the fastest optical drive option for gaming.
@Chad
You say that the PS3 exclusive games could not fit on a DVD. Just because the game was made in a way that will not fit on a DVD does not mean the game couldn’t have been made to fit on a DVD. Compression techniques can greatly reduce required storage space. It’s also been reported, by game developers, that the PS3 games have the same (redundant) data placed on many areas of the game disc to help reduce loading times caused by the slower read rate of the PS3’s Blu-Ray drive. This redundant data is not required on DVD discs.
January 2nd, 2008
Is poor Microsoft trying to play catch up again. First the hdmi add on, now the HD-DVD drive. What next? Maybe Wi-Fi or Blutooth? Sony knew exactly what they were doing by adding Blu-ray, Blutooth, Wi-fi, hdmi, and a hard drive to each of it’s consoles. Everyone talked there smack in the beginning, but once a year went by people started understanding. Is it clicking now folks? I say 08 is the year the PS3 takes off and the 360 begins to look old.
January 3rd, 2008
Well, I like all ur comments in favor of both systems. However, in regards to X-Box 360, it has been doing way too many mods. Yes a console may get modded down the road, but all these new additions would really tick off the existing Xbox owners. Eventually they would have to either drastically reduce the other add- ons (wi-fi, Hd-DVD Drive) or pull a nintendo and give them away or severly discounted thru MS. As with PS3, new models be built with faster Blue ray laser. Hmm.. Very simple and keeping the programming the same but with a faster load time, or maybe the way some one can download a fraction of the game to drastically reduce load times. Oh, and blue tooth. Yeah I like controlling my ps3 from 2 houses away rather than keepingclose to the console, and directly charging on the console. Honestly I owned both but kept the PS3.
January 3rd, 2008
Hm. So Micro$oft is now willing to admit that they went wrong by not including a HD-DVD drive to begin with. Will they admit that after the fall of HD-DVD to Blu-ray that Blu-ray “Was” the better format, and that they should’ve adopted it to begin with? Or, is this about jealousy over Sony’s design plan? PS3 includes Everything!
God… Do I feel sorry for MS fanboys over this one. I bet they feel all glorious about it. “We’re finally getting it! We’re finally getting it!!” Yes. Finally. After the PS3 has been serving it for over a year now. Have fun with a broken HD-DVD drive, it will massively fail to the Blu-ray.
January 3rd, 2008
Hm. Okay… A little late aren’t we? No matter. I’ll stick to using my boyfriend’s PS3 for now.
January 3rd, 2008
LMFAO Microsoft is just run by a bunch of idiots. I bet a lot of Xbox 360 users are gonna get piss off. I can’t wait to see what happens next besides failures. Sony knew what they were making, and i hate nintendo but they also knew what they were making microsoft u suck.
January 3rd, 2008
M$ should be more with windows,wich is still a failure.
January 4th, 2008
As of Warner Bros. announcement of Blu-ray exclusivity, how could MS release this?
If this is in fact in the works to be announced at CES 2008, they are gonna have to do some serious backpeddling and fast.
January 6th, 2008
If this is true. This is the first time I saw MS heavyly invests into a dead format, hd-dvd. Hughly mistake.