the 360 HD-DVD drive thread

[diskoboy]

According to IGN, Joystiq, and a few other gaiming sites, Peter Moore is supposed to announce the HD-DVD attachment for the Xbox 360 today at CES.

But come on Micro$oft.... An external drive?? What's the deal with that? And I hope to god they use it for more than movies.

Since CES starts today (January 5th) I guess it's still a rumor. But it's got my attention!

[luffy744]

According to IGN, Joystiq, and a few other gaiming sites, Peter Moore is supposed to announce the HD-DVD attachment for the Xbox 360 today at CES.

But come on Micro$oft.... An external drive?? What's the deal with that? And I hope to god they use it for more than movies.

Since CES starts today (January 5th) I guess it's still a rumor. But it's got my attention!

Having no insider knowledge or anything (and I thought a 360 HD-DVD drive/addon/version was just a rumor?), I would say for pretty much certain that it will only be for movies. It didn't come standard with the system, so game makers won't use it, because that means consumers would have to buy extra hardware to play it. And games that require extra hardware more often than not flop. So if an HD-DVD 360/HD-DVD addon does surface, don't count on seeing games that use them. Microsoft felt that getting the 360 out sooner was more important that equipping it with a standard HD-DVD drive, so DVD is what it's going to have to live with.

[YoshiM]

According to this place it's confirmed along with 50 HD DVD capable games available by summer. I'm not sure how reliable Betanews is, so, there ya go.

I know MS wants the 360 to be your central entertainment hub but would an HD DVD add on really be that cost effective compared a stand alone unit? Would it cause general confusion with the market?

If it's true that games are coming out for the add-on drive, is this going to be another Sega CD situation of having the same games for each platform? Scary, scary stuff.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

According to Microsoft, the Xbox 360 is on track to be the fastest-selling video game console ever

Bwahahaahahaahaha

Oh man, thats rich. Yeah, I really doubt they are going to make games for it, they'd be very, very stupid for doing so.

[Flack]

I think you're seeing several factors here.

01. Including it would have raised the price even higher. No one was sure how well a $399 console was going to sell as it was. Including it on the "core" version would have raised its price as well.

02. Every review of the 360 has described using normal DVDs as "limiting", so maybe that got MS to change their minds/stance.

03. I think this is a future trend, seeing console prices "stretched out". Remember, some people bought a core system, then a hard drive, and then this drive. It's a way to keep the money coming in. Granted on a core console MS loses money, but I'm sure there's some profit margins built into these accessories.

[hezeuschrist]

I think you're seeing several factors here.

01. Including it would have raised the price even higher. No one was sure how well a $399 console was going to sell as it was. Including it on the "core" version would have raised its price as well.

02. Every review of the 360 has described using normal DVDs as "limiting", so maybe that got MS to change their minds/stance.

03. I think this is a future trend, seeing console prices "stretched out". Remember, some people bought a core system, then a hard drive, and then this drive. It's a way to keep the money coming in. Granted on a core console MS loses money, but I'm sure there's some profit margins built into these accessories.

From what I understand, that's the bread and butter for Sony, MS, and Nintendo. Nintendo might actually net more profit from first party software, but the accessories is where it's at for the ridiculous markups... $100 for a 20gb notebook drive with a very cheap housing? Can't cost them more than $50 to produce each one.

As for the add-on... I dunno, I'm kidna torn. I want some HD Movies for true, watching regular DVD's on an HDTV is sometimes painful depending on the compression, but on the other hand I'd rather have a media center PC that can just store a bunch of HD movies.

[pacmanhat]

I still contend that there is absolutely no way that MS would put out a drive for anything BUT movies. Releasing a whole series of games that not only require the system but also require a whole other attachment to work would not be good for business or for the consumers. This analogy fits pretty well, if it is in fact made for gaming:

New Device : Xbox 360 :: Sega CD : Genesis

It ain't happening.

[Joker T]

Hey what ever happened to that SNES CD drive

But seriously this sucks. 2 months after 360 is released and now there is an add on. They should have put HD-DVD support from the start.

Does anyone know if the new versions of the system will have the HD-DVD support built in?

[AKay]

This sucks if it is going to be used for more then just movies.
Because if it is then it makes no sense and makes for a clunky system.
I would sell mine and wait for a newer 360 model with it built in.
AKay

[pacmanhat]

Hey what ever happened to that SNES CD drive

But seriously this sucks. 2 months after 360 is released and now there is an add on. They should have put HD-DVD support from the start.

Does anyone know if the new versions of the system will have the HD-DVD support built in?

It's possible, but unlikely. Microsoft has expressed zero interest in putting out different versions of the 360, one of which is incompatible with the media of the other. If it happens, it won't be for a looong time.

[Ed Oscuro]

EDIT: It's just for movies. Looks like we're stuck with DVD games forevermore, after all.

Scratched discs, unpopped vent holes in the case, a too-aggressive marketing schedule, and now an external HD-DVD drive? It's pretty clear that Microsoft rushed this one to market for the holiday season.

No matter; there'll eventually be a version with the HD-DVD integrated. Very odd.

I'm definitely happy as this means that 360 gamers will be able to experience full versions of games without disc-swapping, and that the system won't pull down other systems by causing developers to cut features and length of multiplatform games. It is odd how this came about, however.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

They should have put HD-DVD support from the start.

::Golf clap::

MS should've gone big, or not gone at all.

[njiska]

They should have put HD-DVD support from the start.

::Golf clap::

MS should've gone big, or not gone at all.

The concept of End user cost doesn't mean anything to you does it?

[unwinddesign]

They should have put HD-DVD support from the start.

::Golf clap::

MS should've gone big, or not gone at all.

Yeah, really. They should have included dual 7800 GTx 512 MB cards, 8 3.8 GHZ processers, 1 TB of HD space, 5 optical drives and the ability to wash your car! Who the hell cares if it costs $6,000? Go big or don't go at all, I say!

[Trebuken]

It's my understanding that the Xbox 360 hardware will allow developers to use some spectacular compression that current gen systems are not capable of, thus a 6GB Xbox 360 game might be three times larger than a 6GB PS2 game.

Also, they have left open the option of making multy-disc games (boo, hiss), but they can have two versions of these games now HD version, and a multi-disc version).

I would expect the HD-DVD drive to handle the games as well. I do not think this is a significant hardware challenge, or cost.

I think these drives may initially cost more than the 360 though, if what I've read is true. Pioneer announced a couple Blue-Ray drives in the range of $900-$1800. I think these were very high end, but they aren't expected until May or so. One was also a recorder (Blue-Ray recordable is a sweet deal for condensing your DVD collection),

Later,
Trebuken

[njiska]

It's my understanding that the Xbox 360 hardware will allow developers to use some spectacular compression that current gen systems are not capable of, thus a 6GB Xbox 360 game might be three times larger than a 6GB PS2 game.

Haha it's fun you say that since right now a lot of Xbox games are a thrid the size of they're PS2 counter-parts.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

The concept of End user cost doesn't mean anything to you does it?

Well, you're going to buy one, right? I dont think they would bother to release it if they thought nobody would buy it.

I understand the expense of it, and if they hadn't put it in, and hadn't announced this, they would've been better off.

Say they make Halo 3 one of these HD games, like I'm sure they will. I'm willing to bet atleast 30% of the people that bought a 360 wouldn't have done that if there was no promise of a new halo. So, that 30% just dropped 3 or 4 hundred on a system. Now, they have to go out and buy ANOTHER thing that could potentially cost that same amount to play the ONE GAME they realllly want to play. See what I'm getting at here?

They should've put it in to begin with, or never planned to use it all at. Plain and simple.

[PS2Hawk]

Running games or Movies from USB drive should show numerous hickups.

The 360's drive is loud as it is and not to mention I am waiting for my repair/replacement console... I am not to tempted by the addon. I would rather wait for PS3 that packs everything inside.

I would like the option of putting in ur own hard drive .. so I can decide wat ever I want and buying games online through xbox live marketplace.

[njiska]

Running games or Movies from USB drive should show numerous hickups.

The 360's drive is loud as it is and not to mention I am waiting for my repair/replacement console... I am not to tempted by the addon. I would rather wait for PS3 that packs everything inside.

I would like the option of putting in ur own hard drive .. so I can decide wat ever I want and buying games online through xbox live marketplace.

Who says it would have to be USB? After all we do that that expansion slot that the HDD uses. From the start i always figured an HD HDVD would attach there.

[Lothars]

The concept of End user cost doesn't mean anything to you does it?

Well, you're going to buy one, right? I dont think they would bother to release it if they thought nobody would buy it.

I understand the expense of it, and if they hadn't put it in, and hadn't announced this, they would've been better off.

Say they make Halo 3 one of these HD games, like I'm sure they will. I'm willing to bet atleast 30% of the people that bought a 360 wouldn't have done that if there was no promise of a new halo. So, that 30% just dropped 3 or 4 hundred on a system. Now, they have to go out and buy ANOTHER thing that could potentially cost that same amount to play the ONE GAME they realllly want to play. See what I'm getting at here?

They should've put it in to begin with, or never planned to use it all at. Plain and simple.

I agree fully with what you said there

I think it's going to shoot them in the foot

maybe for the bad but it's just not good what it seems like they are doing with this

though im still hoping for Blu-ray and HD DVD to work out an agreement and not have two medias