Xbox 360 goes HD-DVD

[boatofcar]

Not sure if this is old news or not, but I saw it on gizmodo.com.....

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HD-DVD is taking another jab at Blu-Ray with the announcement of Toshiba using HD-DVD drives in the Xbox 360. Unfortunately though, the initial release Xbox 360’s will have just standard DVD drives and the HD-DVD will be pushed into the system when they are ready. Will this hurt Microsoft’s initial sale numbers? Only time will tell. This really is becoming a sick thunder dome battle between Microsoft and Sony for the best next-gen console and now the stakes will be even higher because the Playstation 3 will be using Blu-Ray.

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Thoughts? Personally, I want this next gen DVD war over as soon as possible.

[jajaja]

Hard to say. I think its strange that MS only went for "normal" DVDrom. They will most likely sell ALOT of consoles on the launchday. If these only have DVD9 and games later on comes in HD-DVD format.. What do do then?
Maybe an external HD-DVDrom will be avalible.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

Haha, thats the worst plan ever. Yeah, the launch units will have DVD, but if you wait, you can have HD-DVD, something that isnt even half as good as Blu-Ray. Very, very dumb.

[smork]

Sounds like a crap idea to me. Pick a format and stick with it. Besides, if people like one format over the other your console would be at a severe disadvantage for no reason other than a format war.

It would likely be smart for MS to go with the same format and compete head to head on content, not tech.

[kevincure]

I think HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are both worthless DVD formats. Five to ten years from now, are you still buying movies on disc? No. You're downloading them (legally or illegally) in whatever size you want, or you're bringing your $20 30GB USB stick to Best Buy, paying $10 and loading the movie onto your stick which plugs right into the TV/player. Who wants big, scratchable, expensive discs?

[smork]

I think HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are both worthless DVD formats. Five to ten years from now, are you still buying movies on disc? No. You're downloading them (legally or illegally) in whatever size you want, or you're bringing your $20 30GB USB stick to Best Buy, paying $10 and loading the movie onto your stick which plugs right into the TV/player. Who wants big, scratchable, expensive discs?

Nice point. I always thought DVDs should be in a protective case like a ZIP disk -- though that makes them bigger, but it generally prevents me from scratching them in case I drop one or something.

Not so big on the downloadable games -- maybe because I like going to a store and buying an item, or getting one in the mail, rather then just paying for content. It's somehow more satifsfying to touch what you paid for instead of 'only' playing it...

[jajaja]

I think HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are both worthless DVD formats. Five to ten years from now, are you still buying movies on disc? No. You're downloading them (legally or illegally) in whatever size you want, or you're bringing your $20 30GB USB stick to Best Buy, paying $10 and loading the movie onto your stick which plugs right into the TV/player. Who wants big, scratchable, expensive discs?

To say that BluRay is worthless is bullshit :P Jamming over 50gb into one disc, imagine the video quality.

There will always be DVD's to buy I think. People like to buy
the movies and have the physicaly. Not just download the data and have them stored on a harddisk. What if the HDD crash? Then you loose all.
Then you cant collect either. There will be a possibility to order movies like this in the future of course, but the DVD's wont dissapear.

When I say DVD i mean any movieformat that will excist in the future, not just the DVD we know today.

[PS2Hawk]

Thats the thing about MS, they just want to put out a machine, they dunno shit about gaming, they just want to make the money.
True that HD-DVD is better than normal dvd but the people who buy the console at launch they are screwed, and then there will be 2 versions of the games, one in dvd and the other in HD-DVD

[smokehouse]

To say that there will be a better format in ten years is down right ignorant. Sure there will be, DVD has only been out for 8 years ant it will soon be eclipsed. HDDVD (or Blu Ray for that matter) will be eclipsed in less than ten years as well, that’s the way of things. If you take that approach you’d better not buy anything electronic for the next…say, 20 years because something better is always going to come out down the road. There needs to be something better in the mean time.

I love gaming but I have also invested some $16K in my home theater and I’m personally foaming at the mouth to get solid HD movies in my home. At this point in the ball game I’m going to have to side with HDDVD. Sony simply has a crap track record.

-Beta was better than VHS
-MiniDisc was better than CD
-SACD is better than DVDA

Are for the most part were superior products but in the end landed up failures. Why? Higher costs and the requirements for purchasing propriety equipment. Blu Ray will be the same. Almost EVERYTHING Sony is more expensive than their competitors and their Blu Ray players will follow the same path. Something I’m also confused about is the PS3’s features and pricing. With all the features this unit has, bringing it out at under $500 seems impossible. On the other hand, if Sony plans on unveiling their home Blu Ray players at the same time at around $1000-1200, who will buy one if the PS3 plays Blu Ray titles and costs less than half? Something’s going to give, either the PS3 will be limited in it’s capabilities or the it’s going to be big $$. Sony has never and will never screw itself. Bringing out a cheaper product while bringing out another that does the same thing at twice the cost is something that’s not going to happen. I may be sticking my neck out on this one but HDDVD has the pricing advantage hands down right now, I expect it to sell better.

As for Microsoft pushing HDDVD in their future units, that’s quite possibly the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. To screw over the early adopters who buy launch units is suicide.

I’m glad I’m a retro gamer now, I’m staying far, FAR away from the cluster-F for quite some time. I’ll waltz into some store in a few years and pick up a discounted unit. Untill then it’s retro gaming for me!!!

[Yago]

Well, it looks like I am going to have to cancel my pre order from EB Games on the 360 and get my $50 back. Screw that... I'm going to have to wait also. Unless they offer to upgrade the drive for free in the future. But I doubt MS would do that.

[syd]

Hard to say. I think its strange that MS only went for "normal" DVDrom. They will most likely sell ALOT of consoles on the launchday. If these only have DVD9 and games later on comes in HD-DVD format.. What do do then?
Maybe an external HD-DVDrom will be avalible.

That would be pretty bad if they took that route. Cause everyone knows external hardware such as that has done so well in the past! *cough* SegaCD *cough*