Microsoft flip-flops on Blu-ray

[BillCable]

Interesting new news:

Microsoft has taken a stand against Blu-Ray.

What happened to "If Blu-ray wins we'll make a player for the 360?" Didn't some MS guy just reiterate that within the past few weeks? Now they're declaring the 360 will never have a Blu-ray player ever?

I guess they're trying to draw out this format war as long as they possibly can. They can't be too happy with Blu-ray already looking the victor this soon in the game. They were counting on the war to last long enough the people resorted to HD downloads instead. How long after Blu-ray becomes the official next-gen format will MS wait to offer a player, now that they've taken this new stand?

[phloyd]

Does anyone care if there is a BD player for the 360 or not?

How many HD DVD add ons were sold? Seems like a tiny market relatively speaking...

[BStecke]

Half the reason I didn't get the add-on for the 360 was the inexcusable lack of an HDMI output on the 360 itself. Now they're trying to make up for that with the Elite, which, ok, good for them, but even though I've got the Best Buy replacement plan for two years, I'd still have to pay 80 bucks to upgrade to something they should have had from jump. Love the game selection vs. the PS3, but Microsoft doesn't seem to have much foresight into the next generation with their next gen console.

[kaliraver]

Originally Posted by BStecke

Half the reason I didn't get the add-on for the 360 was the inexcusable lack of an HDMI output on the 360 itself. Now they're trying to make up for that with the Elite, which, ok, good for them, but even though I've got the Best Buy replacement plan for two years, I'd still have to pay 80 bucks to upgrade to something they should have had from jump. Love the game selection vs. the PS3, but Microsoft doesn't seem to have much foresight into the next generation with their next gen console.

Also I don't see anything major or exculsive for the 360, while the PS3 it's future looks very bright. MS just doesn't want to make it seem like they made the wrong decision from the get go.

[Slackr89]

Good, M$ shouldn't even be allowed to have Blu-ray since they screwed over so many Xbox 360 owners with the Add-on and lengthening the useless format war. Thats my 2 cents.

[Leopold BUTTERS]

Originally Posted by kaliraver69

Also I don't see anything major or exculsive for the 360, while the PS3 it's future looks very bright. MS just doesn't want to make it seem like they made the wrong decision from the get go.

The 360 has a lot of exclusive content which will turn out amazing. Just as the ps3 has its own exclusive content as well. butttt unless i live in the united states, the exclusive content on the 360 is useless to me. I cannot access the video marketplace in the states oh well. But game wise, the 360 has major exclusives.

[Chad Varnadore]

I didn't find the article all that conclusive. It didn't include a new quote from anyone at Microsoft or seem to be based on any kind of new information in general. It looks more like they're just drawing conclusions based on how things have played out up to now. We're just starting to see the fallout from the Bb news. And I suspect that's just the start of a chain reaction. Retailers don't want to stock both, not just because of shelf space, but also because they know that two formats will stall growth and diminish sales. And video rentals can't afford to let VOD get a foothold, which I think may be Bb's primary reason for choosing a side this early.

If there is money to be made, you can bet Microsoft will either make a companion BD drive for the X-Box or design a new console with BD already built in. If developers prove that the PS3 can go places the 360 can't follow, Microsoft will have tocome up with something better than a bandaid (Elite) alternative. But, they're going to push the "VOD is the future" crap as long as they can.

[jermwhl]

Originally Posted by Chad Varnadore

If there is money to be made, you can bet Microsoft will either make a companion BD drive for the X-Box or design a new console with BD already built in.

Yup! It's all about the almight dollar, nothing else!

Unfortunately, I think the 360 will always be playing catch up. First the add-on, then the release of the elite. There's still no growth potential for games unless they release on double or triple disc sets (who wants that). It's gonna bite 'em in the butt in the long run. M$ wasn't looking into the future when they designed the 360. Sad

[nhaase]

I agree w/ Chad here. No new quotes or anything. I think this person is just referring back to (in their head, they never mention it) when a MS person said that a BD solution would be offered for the 360 IF BD won out. If you remember, that same person (Moore, I think) came out to clarify that there are currently no plans for a BD add-on, since most people took his first comments as saying MS was making a BD solution for the 360.

[BillCable]

Originally Posted by phloyd

Does anyone care if there is a BD player for the 360 or not?

How many HD DVD add ons were sold? Seems like a tiny market relatively speaking...

I want to say half the HD-DVD players in the US are 360 add-ons. 150K out of 300K.

[phloyd]

Originally Posted by BillCable

I want to say half the HD-DVD players in the US are 360 add-ons. 150K out of 300K.

Well it is a good part of the HD DVD market.

But compared to PS3s, it is not very significant.

I also think that they had hoped to sell a lot more than what they did.

[blitz6speed]

Originally Posted by BStecke

Half the reason I didn't get the add-on for the 360 was the inexcusable lack of an HDMI output on the 360 itself. Now they're trying to make up for that with the Elite, which, ok, good for them, but even though I've got the Best Buy replacement plan for two years, I'd still have to pay 80 bucks to upgrade to something they should have had from jump. Love the game selection vs. the PS3, but Microsoft doesn't seem to have much foresight into the next generation with their next gen console.

The elite HDMI doesnt do lossless audio. The Elite HDMI setup is pretty putrid. The 360 was NEVER designed to output digital, so you get: Digital->Analog->Digital for HDMI on the elite. Theres never been 1 person whos actually seen a difference in PQ using hdmi on the elite, and it can ONLY do max 2.0 PCM or DD 5.1 for audio. There is absolutely ***0*** reason to own a Elite over a normal 360.

[movies3]

Originally Posted by phloyd

Does anyone care if there is a BD player for the 360 or not?

How many HD DVD add ons were sold? Seems like a tiny market relatively speaking...

the only ppl that will care are the ppl that bought the add on thinking HD dvd was going to win. They better start selling there add-on IMO

[aaronwt]

Originally Posted by movies3

the only ppl that will care are the ppl that bought the add on thinking HD dvd was going to win. They better start selling there add-on IMO

The discs will still play. There are people that still watch their Laser disc collections and VHS collections. Even if the format dies, why would you get rid of the titles. They will still last until Video ON Demand takes over from DVD in a few years.

[movies3]

Originally Posted by aaronwt

The discs will still play. There are people that still watch their Laser disc collections and VHS collections. Even if the format dies, why would you get rid of the titles. They will still last until Video ON Demand takes over from DVD in a few years.

why keep the titles that are going to be on bluray anyways?

[Blu-Ray Buckeye]

Originally Posted by aaronwt

They will still last until Video ON Demand takes over from DVD in a few years.

LOL that's a reach. M$ is making a big bet that HD via VOD will happen far sooner than anyone else believes. The truth is it won't. Compared to physical media, even SD on VOD isn't doing all that well and the bandwidth for HD is far, far greater. We were supposed to be so far ahead of where we are in terms of bandwidth right now, but the truth is it's still pretty miserable. By now everyone was supposed to have broadband at home and all phone calls would be over VOIP... again reality says that a very low percentage of people actuall have these things.

HD VOD is more than 10 years away from being a mainstream reality. You might as well have suggested that people hold onto their VHS tapes until Blu-ray or HD-DVD came out instead of adoption DVDs at all.

[Fozziwig]

Originally Posted by Slackr89

Good, M$ shouldn't even be allowed to have Blu-ray since they screwed over so many Xbox 360 owners with the Add-on and lengthening the useless format war. Thats my 2 cents.

I agree. Why the hell does Blu-ray need the support of MS?

All that is required is that MS cease their support of HD DVD. Then they can piss off and get on with making Vista even more inscrutable.

A little bit of history. Here's the moment it all went sour:

Gates argued that Sony's new high-definition DVD standard, called Blu-ray, needed to be changed so it would work smoothly with personal computers running on Microsoft's Windows operating system. Stringer and two lieutenants defended the technology, insisting Blu-ray would work fine in PCs.

Yet Gates's ire only grew. "There must be something much deeper going on," Stringer said later, according to another person who heard the comment. A Microsoft spokesman acknowledges that Gates and Stringer talked at the conference, but says things did not become "heated."

Gates's efforts to derail Stringer's plans soon became public, though. On Sept. 27, Microsoft and Intel fired a broadside at Sony, suggesting publicly the company's Blu-ray technology couldn't deliver what it promised, and they pledged their support for a rival technology from Toshiba.

http://www.businessweek.com/technolo...9074_tc024.htm

It's useful to read the whole thing. Very interesting stuff.

[Mystique]

It doesn't matter because they're system sucks and it's going DOWN.

[rogue_zero_one]

MS never looked to the future when designing the 360 and it's begining to show. They're going to make a new console and drop the 360 users just like they dropped the xbox users in hopes they'll by the next console.

Sony looked into the future and made the PS3 as futureproof as it could be and it is to last 10 years. the 360 has a life span of only 3-4 years before its technology isn't enough.

[KingDeezie]

I don't think Microsofts problem was with not future-proofing the Xbox 360, it was with not realizing how much of an impact an all-in-one machine could have on the public...

Microsoft originally set out to create the most developer friendly, online-centric, and best video game console they could create given the technology they had. Arguably, the succedded with most of those goals. Currently, and this may change with the intro of Home, Microsoft has the best online service for a console. While it is true that it does cost money, as opposed to the free Playstation network, it does offer the most downloadable content and easiest method to jump online and get into the action. Also, as has been spoken before by developers it is a very friendly console to develop for, and up until this point has the most next generation games, and the majority of the highest reviewed next generation games as well.

However, the boat that Microsoft missed was that people like these consoles that they purchase to be multi-functional. They also missed the fact that you could sell consoles to non-gamers based off of other features that could appeal to the average consumer. Sony has effectively turned the PS3 into a machine that not only plays next generation games, but also is a very capable Bluray player, as well as an upconverting DVD player.

It is this reason that Microsoft is now scrambling to come out with add-ons and redos to compete with the market, as evidenced by the HD-DVD add on and the Elite.

Once the PS3 starts pumping out some worthwhile games, it will be nice to see how market share shifts.