Ah, the wild, wild whirl of the web: so much information and speculation, so much of it complete tosh. And that's the case today, as Microsoft has stated that speculative reports of a future 360 with an internal HD-DVD are just that, entirely speculative.
The stories actually began with Toshiba's Mark Whittard, who told the Australian press he thought that MS would eventually produce a 360 with an internal HD-DVD drive.
However that story has been slapped down quicker than a greased greyhound, with MS offering a rather stony, "We have no plans to release the Xbox 360 with an internal HD DVD drive." Its full statement adding, "We feel that offering the drive externally is the best way to give consumers the ultimate choice to create their own high definition experiences."
Microsoft's own community manager Ceaser Mendez put the final nail in the HD-DVD speculation coffin in own his blog by saying, "Saw a few stories online about an Xbox 360 with a built-in HD DVD drive: not true. We have no plans to release an Xbox 360 with an internal HD DVD. What we showcased at E3 was an external HD DVD drive, and we're sticking with that."
Of course, despite these fervent denials, Microsoft could eventually consider its options and decide to pop one in there if gamers really demanded it, but that will be way down the line, if at all. As the statement says, it has also made big play of giving 360 owners the choice, comparing that favourably to the PS3's in-built Blu-ray drive.
However for the moment it seems an internal HD-DVD is certainly off Microsoft's agenda and we'll just have to await the external one later this year. Would you like to see a 360 with an internal HD-DVD drive, or do you like the idea of adding one in if and when you're ready? Let us know in the comments below.
I dont care what this report says, MS would be stupid not to sell an X360 with a HDDVD drive.
But then they'd also be stupid to admit it. If they said now that future Xbox360's would come with a HDDVD drive, then no one would buy a current model.
But really, if people are considering HD movies on next gen consoles, then they should make a 3rd version of their console with the built in HD drive (not everyone wants a (ugly) add-onn for their machine)
Im not saying it will happen, im just saying that it should, and still could.
I agree, putting an HD-DVD drive in the 360 would be a bad move. It would up the cost for no significant gains. Games will be coming out on DVD this generation and with good reason, there is absolutely no need for any more space. Anybody who is serious about their movies will use a stand-alone unit for movie playback anyway so the inclusion of an HD-DVD drive in the 360 has no benefits to anybody.
i reckon when they can keep the cost of the console down they will put it in htere but since hd is expensive , they'll have it as a stand alone to make it more affordible especially for the present owners
dont force it like sony... give the gamers the choice as it shud be
Thats what I said, people should have the choice, unlike sony are forcing their customers into owning blu-ray
I said they should release a THIRD option with a built in drive - and only let it be used for movies, so that it wouldn't be essential.
If I wanted a HD drive for my Xbox360, and didn't already own a 360, then Id definately prefer to have one with a built in drive. If HD-Movies ever become an essential thing for me and the 360 don't have a built drive, then I'd opt for a PS3.
So MS would benefit from making the third option, but they must still make the non-HD version too
Then they had better also make a 4th option with BluRay in for the possibility that HD-DVD may not win the format war.
Well that too is a possibility, since someone at MS have said in the past that the would consider an external BR drive too, if it won the format war. But I would rather buy a separate movie player than an add-on drive for my console
I have no intention of going HD just yet either, but I will one day. and when I do, id rather have one of my games consoles play the movies.
Also, to the person who said that they would need to release a BluRay version too. is not necessary, as I just read a lot of companies are making Hybrid drives. so theres no reason why the 360 couldn't play both formats and even a new incarnation of PS3 playing both formats too.
Can Microsoft say '32X' or 'Mega CD'? Seriously, they will need the extra storage capacity next-gen drives can provide in order to compete with PS3. What this means (whether they admit it or not) is that they are going to have to use HD-DVD or Blu-ray as their storage medium. This will seriously fragment their userbase (as Sega did) and could be the achillies heel of MS's strategy.
PC games have been fine on DVD for a long time, and they offer much higher resolution than TV, and also offer different versions for different spec'd machines.
If a game so huge ever does need more storage space, then they can release a game on two disks. (and if you have a hard drive, it could be used to store most of the data from one disk while you play)
I believe that MS will release a new version of xbox whith either HD-DVD - Blu-Ray - or Hybrid drive built in, but not for a long time, till the drives are cheap.
And I doubt they will ever use the new formats for game storage. (unless they release two versions of the game (mulit-disk or HD-DVD)
Anyone who thinks a single DVD is adequate for all games due to be released within the next few years needs to think again.
Just look at Oblivion. That fills up nearly the entire DVD, yet two of the most predominant complaints about the game are that it lacks variety for both its visuals (e.g. all caves, forts, Ayleid ruins and Oblivion areas look virtually identical) and its dialogue (most notably with beggars suddenly adopting entirely different voices when asked certain questions).
Oblivion also uses 512x512 textures, and I can easily see a few 360, PS3 and PC games using 1024x1024 textures in the near future. Heck, if you're using the PC version of Oblivion, there's at least one 1024x1024 3rd party texture pack available, and it looks simply amazing.
Standard DVD has plenty of life in it yet, only the biggest PC games are starting to use one up but there's still the option of using double and triple layer DVD's for the really big games or having multiple discs for a game.
Having all the extra storage space that Blu-Ray and HD-DVD provides is a good thing yes but it'll probably just mean CGI sequences being put on, they won't be needed until games becom really huge and detailed.
Yet Oblivion can be run without the DVD in the drive (albeit via the means of a no-CD crack) and the install is only 4.5GB.
Erm, you do realize the maximum you can fit on a DVD is 4.7GB, right? There's simply no way higher res textures, an adequate amount of extra voicing (i.e. adding a decent amount of dialogue options and making all characters have consistent voicing), or even a handful more 512x512 texture sets could fit into the remaining 200MB.
In other words, you've actually helped prove my point .
Yet Oblivion can be run without the DVD in the drive (albeit via the means of a no-CD crack) and the install is only 4.5GB.
Erm, you do realize the maximum you can fit on a DVD is 4.7GB, right? There's simply no way higher res textures, an adequate amount of extra voicing (i.e. adding a decent amount of dialogue options and making all characters have consistent voicing), or even a handful more 512x512 texture sets could fit into the remaining 200MB.
In other words, you've actually helped prove my point .
Actually you have showen yourself to be an idiot, dvd's for xbox, ps2 and xbox 360 are all dual layer discs, meaning the capicity is 9.8gb on a single disc, like someone said every game so far dosnt take up more than half that space yet.
Actually you have showen yourself to be an idiot, dvd's for xbox, ps2 and xbox 360 are all dual layer discs, meaning the capicity is 9.8gb on a single disc, like someone said every game so far dosnt take up more than half that space yet.
How the hell can you come up with 9.8 from 4.7 + 4.7? If you cannot even accomplish what is probably the most basic mathematical calculation, i.e. addition, it really is best not to call someone else an idiot .
Even ignoring your nonsense calculation, a dual layer DVD can actually store 8.5GB, rather than the 9.4GB those of us with a triple digit IQ might expect. In the case of the 360 (and I'm assuming the original XBox), a dual layer DVD only provides an extra 2.3GB for games developers to make use of, rather than the full 3.8GB. I'm sure Microsoft have some convuluted technical explanation for this, but I'm happy to blame it on their engineers' incompetence.
In the case of Oblivion on the 360, this means that it in fact *does* use up more than half the space potentially available to it. Even the extra 200MB + 2.3GB could easily and quickly be used up by more textures and dialogue (and BTW these things are precisely what make up most of Oblivion's 4.5GB, which is why I keep mentioning them).
As to your claim that every PS2, XBox and 360 disc is dual layer, I'm afraid that's rubbish. A single layer disc costs the publisher less than a dual layer disc, so why would they use dual layer discs if a single layer is perfectly adequate?
Oh, and before you start talking about triple or quadruple or whatever layer DVDs, you might want to bear in mind that a DVD-R with more than two layers may well cost more than a Blu Ray or HD DVD disc. Meaning that to games publishers, Blu Ray or HD DVD would be more cost effective formats.
you are right that the average video game dual layer disk can barely hold 7gb, simply because they are cheaper to produce and there is no need for anything bigger, but it is possible to have over 9gb on a disk (even for video games)
Do you remember when the PS2 first came out. the games came on purple coloured disks - well all of the purple disks were actually CD's and it took years before games needed to come on a DVD
A day will come though, when we need more than 10gb for a game, but I doubt we'll need it in the next 2 to 3 years, and in that time next gen drives will be cheaper - which is when i think MS should think about releasing a new model of the xbox, a mini (silent) version with a built in hybrid drive
Nope, the full dual layer DVD amount not being available for 360 games is nothing to do with cheap DVDs, etc. The "missing" space is supposedly used for piracy prevention, but no other system (besides the original XBox) does anything like this.
Oh yes, check out podcast 14 at this site: http://oxmpodcast.com/ It features an interview with the art director of the Darkness (a multi-platform 360/PS3/Wii game), in which he expresses his love for the 360, but states that the system's reliance on DVDs is going to cause problems. So even an extremely well informed 360 fanboy agrees that DVDs won't be enough!
BTW I'm old enough and have been around computers long enough to remember when people were claiming no game would ever need more than a handful of floppy disks...
I think MS have done everyone a favour by making the HD-DVD drive optional as no one knows what format is going to take off. I'm old enough to remember the days of Beta-max v VHS, and even though Beta-max quality was better, everyone went for VHS cause it was cheaper. and whats not to say that MS won't release a Blue-ray drive if the needs be. I've also heard a rumour, that the games for the new PS3 are going to be in the region of Ł70, so that isn't going to help the blue-ray formats cause! I personally think that Sony have over-priced the new PS3 anyway, and bearing in mind that I have a feeling that MS will reduce the price of the 360 when the PS3 in launched I think Sony are going to struggle to out sell MS this time around!
I think Sony have priced the PS3 too high and if it's anything like the last generation I will prefer my 360 to the PS3. However I do not think that the 360 will outsell the PS3. The PlayStation branding is too powerful for that.
I like the idea of being able to add it on later, when I have an HDTV, and really can enjoy it.
(If the Xbox360 came with a built in HDDVD drive) That's like paying for something now.......getting to use it a year later! But the money you had now, is GONE, and you have gained nothing, well until you get that HDTV. (So you can truely enjoy HIGH DEF)
Which, this is actually my plan. I have yet to get a 360.. And I won't till I get a HDTV. *Really going for a home theatre type set up* O.o
But in general. I think Microsoft has the right idea on this.
II'm old enough to remember the days of Beta-max v VHS, and even though Beta-max quality was better, everyone went for VHS cause it was cheaper.
Not everyone. My parents, and I'm sure more than a few other people, went for VHS because at the time VHS could record up to three hours of programmes, whereas Betamax was limited to only 60 minutes.
I've also heard a rumour, that the games for the new PS3 are going to be in the region of Ł70, so that isn't going to help the blue-ray formats cause!
Not all games for the PS3 are going to be on Blu Ray; in fact, for the first year at least, the vast majority will be on DVD. Besides, I've heard a rumour Sony are going to deliberately set the standard PS3 game price $5 lower than the standard 360 game price... which just goes to show you can't rely on rumours .
I don't care what the report say. In the end, Microsoft was stupid to sell the 360 without an internal HD-DVD player. That was stupid. Why would anybody want to buy an add-on that cost like, $200. They rather just spend their money on the PS3.
MS are actually a pretty clever company ! IMO edging there bets, they have an advantage, the 360 has options. HD-DVD may not even take off, Blu-Ray may become the de-facto standard, MS can go either way. Sony on the other hand have a vested interest in blu-ray, I can't see them ever opting for a HD-DVD PS3 add on.. and if blu-ray fails ! Mini-disc & UMD have already shown us that Sony gets it wrong as often as right.
On the price point, I am pretty sure MS will reduce the 360 come Christmas (after 12 months it will not p**s off the early takers) just as the PS3 is launched, that will make the PS3 look even more over priced and out of reach.. come Xmas, if MS can come up with a good bundle at a good price, I think they will have this and next years battle won. Sony may reduce the PS3 $ quickly but that could prove to be too big a financial strain for the bean counters of an already vulnerable looking company.
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