Microsoft: No plans for X-Box 360 BD player

[esteban2]

.. will back "digital delivery" instead:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7334152.stm

[X-Ninja]

"Recently, the UK newspaper The Guardian sat down with the Senior Regional Director, Northern Europe, Entertainment & Devices Division for Microsoft, Neil Thompson, and briefly discussed how he felt about Microsoft's decision to support HD DVD now that the format has died.

Oddly enough, he laughs off the question. "The horse that we're fundamentally backing is the one that says the future of entertainment content is online digital distribution. I would argue that we backed the right horse." He continued, "If we're sitting here in 12 or 18 months time, we'll be saying 'why were people even thinking about a disc format when it's really about digital distribution?' Our strategy's been developed for the last six or seven years, and ever since we launched the platform it [online content] has been our big, big, big bet."

A few days later...

"We said to people they had the choice; we didn't force it on them as we didn't put it in the box," he said.

My god. Microsoft, How stupid can you really be? Honestly?

[docjan_uk]

Meh, who cares what they do with it tbh.

[PS3ds]

This is not really all that new...

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by PS3ds

This is not really all that new...

Not new, and probably not accurate. Anyways props for your avatar.

[Grisle]

I'd rather people get the PS3 than an external player from MS anyway.

[Rainman]

To use a quote from him. I think we will all be sitting here 12-18 months from now reading another quote from his replacement wondering what the hell his predicessors were thinking...

[crazy25000]

Thats ok, when people move on to Blu-Ray maybe they can just sit there and watch. Maybe theyll change their minds when the financial report comes out

[esteban2]

Originally Posted by crazy25000

Thats ok, when people move on to Blu-Ray maybe they can just sit there and watch. Maybe theyll change their minds when the financial report comes out

Microsoft was on the losing side of the HD-DVD/BD battle, but they are still a massive player in this area. It's too bad they won't support BD. Always better to have them on your side ...

[plee]

That's is what they say publically but I would bet that in the R&D area there is a Bluray drive. You would be foolish not to have a backup plan when DD falls flat on it's face... Also, since the 360 specs just required just a DVD drive, will they start making a HD as a min. requirement now for DD...

[Thegide]

Originally Posted by esteban2

Microsoft was on the losing side of the HD-DVD/BD battle, but they are still a massive player in this area. It's too bad they won't support BD. Always better to have them on your side ...

This rather infamous article would argue otherwise...

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM...B0CA0C29C.html

[sardaukar1977]

screw Microsoft. Let them have there standard def DVD drive in the 360, let PS3 annihilate it with Blu-Ray games.

[CassilineKnight]

Why do you guys care? They have a right to do whatever the hell they want to do with their millions of dollars when it comes to media and if they choose not to support Bluray thats their decision. Personally I think its a good move on their part.

They and Nintendo have already beat the crap out of sony when it comes to this generation of gaming which is a huge industry in itself. All MS has to do is continue on doing what it does best and provide excellent titles to 360 owners. THEN when next generation comes around they'll release the 720 with Bluray drive (assuming Bluray is by then the established format and truly mainstream which I hope is the case).

They mite make an addon but I highly doubt that.

This is old news. Move on...

[Blu-Generation]

Originally Posted by CassilineKnight

They and Nintendo have already beat the crap out of sony when it comes to this generation of gaming

Not really accurate. Nintendo yes, but Microsoft?? They're only leading PS3 because they started first, everybody knows this. What sad is Nintendo came after and it's whooping the 360, even more sad is that the so call failure PS3 is now also catching up to the 360. What does that tell you?

This gen isn't over yet, the real winner will be decided in 2-4 years.

[zxvfrr41]

Originally Posted by Blu-Generation

Not really accurate. Nintendo yes, but Microsoft?? They're only leading PS3 because they started first, everybody knows this. What sad is Nintendo came after and it's whooping the 360, even more sad is that the so call failure PS3 is now also catching up to the 360. What does that tell you?

This gen isn't over yet, the real winner will be decided in 2-4 years.

And to add to this, the Wii is not comparable to the xBox360 or the PS3. It's in a class by itself because of its completely different style of play. The Wii is making its way into homes that would normally not have a home console and it's also making it's way into homes that already have an xBox360 or a PS3. The comparable battle is between the xBox360 and the PS3 and that's far from over. The sales figures since January are showing a slowdown in 360 sales and an upswing in PS3 sales. Additionally, when compared to their sales from their respective release dates, the PS3 is a decent clip ahead of where the 360 was.

[sparksj]

Once stand alone players get 2.0 and go down in price, the PS3 sales will slow down again. The same can not be said for the 360.

I have a PS3 as a Blu Ray player. And, everyone knows that it's the best BR player out their right now. Once that is no longer the case, the sales will go down.

You can see proof of this by tracking game sales. PS3 rarely has more than 2 games in the top ten, if even that many.

Here is a list of games selling more than 1 million copies on both consoles as of 1/1/2008 (from Wikipedia). Even though thre 360 has been out longer, Assasin's Creed and COD4 came out recently and didn't even make the list on PS3.

PlayStation 3 games that have sold one million copies or more.
MotorStorm (3 million)
Resistance: Fall of Man (2.5 million)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (1.2 million)
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (1 million)


Xbox 360Xbox 360 games that have sold one million copies or more.
Halo 3 (8.1 million)
Gears of War (4.5 million)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (3.118 million approximately, 3.04 million in US, 78,000 in Canada)
Forza Motorsport 2 (2.23 million in US)
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2.08 million in US)
BioShock (2 million shipped, includes PC version)
Assassin's Creed (1.97 million approximately, 1.87 million in US,[21] 60,000 in Canada, 45,170 in Japan)
Madden NFL 07 (1.72 million in US)
Mass Effect (1.6 million)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (1,56 million approximately, 1.49 million in US, 72,274 in Japan)
Madden NFL 08 (1.51 million in US)
Crackdown (1.5 million)
Perfect Dark Zero (1.5 million)
Guitar Hero II (1.46 million in US)
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (1.45 million)
Call of Duty 2 (1.4 million)
Saints Row (1.4 million shipped)
Dead Rising (1.35 million)
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (1.32 million in US)
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas (1.27 million in US)
Call of Duty 3 (1.22 million in US)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (1.2 million in US)
Fight Night Round 3 (1.15 million in US)
Dead or Alive 4 (1 million)
The Orange Box (at least 1 million)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (1 million)
Uno (1 million)

[SilverFireshot]

I would bet money that Microsoft has a BD player in the wings. I would say we will see one at E3. Microsoft was adamant that there wouldn't be a larger HDD made for the 360 a couple of years ago. Sure enough, they announced the 120GB HDD (even though it is ridiculously priced).

[Luis_A51]

For starters, the % of PS3 owners that ONLY use it for bluray is very small.

Second, there are many AAA PS3 titles comming that will drive PS3 sales.

Lastly, the price of the PS3 will drop just like the price of standalones will drop. To the vast majority of people a standalone would have to be way cheaper ($100 or more atleast) than the PS3 to be considered of equal value.

So your arguments dont mean much.

Plus if you honestly think Wikipedia is 100% accurate and up-to-date, then you're a fool

[Blu-Generation]

Originally Posted by sparksj

Once stand alone players get 2.0 and go down in price, the PS3 sales will slow down again. The same can not be said for the 360.

I have a PS3 as a Blu Ray player. And, everyone knows that it's the best BR player out their right now. Once that is no longer the case, the sales will go down.

You can see proof of this by tracking game sales. PS3 rarely has more than 2 games in the top ten, if even that many.

Here is a list of games selling more than 1 million copies on both consoles as of 1/1/2008 (from Wikipedia). Even though thre 360 has been out longer, Assasin's Creed and COD4 came out recently and didn't even make the list on PS3.

PlayStation 3 games that have sold one million copies or more.
MotorStorm (3 million)
Resistance: Fall of Man (2.5 million)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (1.2 million)
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (1 million)


Xbox 360Xbox 360 games that have sold one million copies or more.
Halo 3 (8.1 million)
Gears of War (4.5 million)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (3.118 million approximately, 3.04 million in US, 78,000 in Canada)
Forza Motorsport 2 (2.23 million in US)
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2.08 million in US)
BioShock (2 million shipped, includes PC version)
Assassin's Creed (1.97 million approximately, 1.87 million in US,[21] 60,000 in Canada, 45,170 in Japan)
Madden NFL 07 (1.72 million in US)
Mass Effect (1.6 million)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (1,56 million approximately, 1.49 million in US, 72,274 in Japan)
Madden NFL 08 (1.51 million in US)
Crackdown (1.5 million)
Perfect Dark Zero (1.5 million)
Guitar Hero II (1.46 million in US)
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (1.45 million)
Call of Duty 2 (1.4 million)
Saints Row (1.4 million shipped)
Dead Rising (1.35 million)
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (1.32 million in US)
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas (1.27 million in US)
Call of Duty 3 (1.22 million in US)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (1.2 million in US)
Fight Night Round 3 (1.15 million in US)
Dead or Alive 4 (1 million)
The Orange Box (at least 1 million)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (1 million)
Uno (1 million)

That list is unfair, and there's many reason why.

1. 360 came out a year before PS3, so it had more tripple A title and more time to sell the game as well. There were no other console/competition.

2. 360 had more install base, so more games sold more on it. Again, because 360 came out first.

3. Most of those games are multiplatform. We all know multiplatform game released the past two years were unbalance. Remember how EA treat Madden for the PS3 comparing to the 360? Totally unfair. So ofcourse those multiplatform game sold more on the 360. Again, back to the first two reasons above. 1. 360 had a whole year start 2. More install base for 360.

4. PS3 had to struggle in the format war, pricing war, and journalist war. Because back then almost every article was agains't the PS3. People dogging on it left and right. Bad press, etc and so forth.

I could go on and on about how unfair it is. But that's just the gist of it, that list of yours don't prove much really. It does not change the fact that 360 sell is going down right now.

You said the PS3 sell is going up due to blu-ray recent victory, low price, version 2.0, etc. How about the 360 sell dropping down, what's the excuse there? Lack of games? Lack of Blu-ray? There should be no excuse there, I thought the 360 had a HUGE library? Guess those library of games still can't help the console from falling. Look at the PS2, it's sell is still going up, and the system has been out for how many years now? See my point? You can't jump to conclusion yet just because the 360 had a GIANT list of games reaching 1 million in sells.

[haushausman]

Originally Posted by Thegide

This rather infamous article would argue otherwise...

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM...B0CA0C29C.html

Wow. Very interesting. M$ is much more corrupt than I ever imagined.

I'm glad Apple is making such a splash... I'm even thinking about switching.