Sony & Microsoft discussing Blu-ray in XBox 360

[Blu Titan]

Well it appears that Blu-ray is gaining the respect of none other than Microsoft. I am 100% in support of this venture.

Report: Sony, Microsoft Discuss Blu-ray in Xbox 360
Author: ERIK GRUENWEDEL
egruenwedel@questex.com
Posted: March 6, 2008
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Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. are reportedly in talks to incorporate Blu-ray in Xbox 360 video game systems.

Sony’s rival PlayStation 3 already has a Blu-ray Disc drive in its video game system.

Speaking at a media dinner March 3, Stan Glasgow, president of Sony Electronics U.S., said Blu-ray could be incorporated in Microsoft’s Elite Xbox model or as an add-on, according to a report by the Financial Times online edition.

Until Toshiba Corp. last month withdrew rival format HD DVD from the market, Microsoft had offered a HD DVD drive addendum to Xbox 360 users.

Collaboration wouldn’t help sales of the PS3 or Xbox 360 as much as it would add incremental licensing revenue to Sony’s bottom line.

Glasgow said Sony was in talks with Apple Corp. about possible Blu-ray synergies with Mac computers.

He said HD packaged media was not in danger of being overtaken by electronic HD distribution due to bandwidth limitations.

“Downloading will build over time, but this will be over a period of years,” Glasgow said.

The president said retail prices for stand-alone Blu-ray players should drop $100 to $299 by the end of the year. Retail prices approaching $200 are considered to be the threshold for greater consumer adoption, according to analysts.

The executive said he expected that price to materialize in 2009.

www.homemediamagazine.com

[Kirsty_Mc]

Might not an association with Microsoft sully the reputation of Blu-ray???

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by Kirsty_Mc

Might not an association with Microsoft sully the reputation of Blu-ray???

Microsoft has alliances with just about every significant software/computer corporation. There are 11 million X Box 360 owners in the US and tapping into that market will be great towards the ultimate goal (mass adoption of the Blu-ray format).

[un4gvn94538]

if micro crap really does this then maybe it will go back to the console wars and not about blu vs hd dvd. back to the games. but i hope they kiss sony's big shiny...before theyre allowed

[DavePS3]

Make no mistake... Microsoft only makes alliances to further it's own purpose. Bet on this - Microsoft wants to make as many friends and partners as it can now as it ramps up the bug-infested download service. Microsoft can blow.

[Zipzap713]

Originally Posted by un4gvn94538

if micro crap really does this then maybe it will go back to the console wars and not about blu vs hd dvd. back to the games. but i hope they kiss sony's big shiny...before theyre allowed

Like maybe giving us a handful of their exclusives perhaps? Doubtful, but it would be a nice payment

That should make all those Fanboys shut up. Their favorite system supporting Blu-Ray. Oh so terrible

[cajun1975]

Whatever.

[xtop]

Originally Posted by DavePS3

Make no mistake... Microsoft only makes alliances to further it's own purpose. Bet on this - Microsoft wants to make as many friends and partners as it can now as it ramps up the bug-infested download service. Microsoft can blow.

first off, isn't this a repost?

second. that is the goal of EVERY COMPANY. to further its own purpose. you people act like microsoft is the only company who does it!

[Dragonraine]

Wow, so I guess I was correct months ago, when a previous thread appeared discussing this possibility. Most users said I was dead wrong and Sony would never let it happen.

[hc666]

This is very good news.

This my friends is a slap in the face to movie downloads.

Great news!

[pokerface]

Good news. Hope they like the taste of crow.

[un4gvn94538]

Originally Posted by Zipzap713

Like maybe giving us a handful of their exclusives perhaps? Doubtful, but it would be a nice payment

That should make all those Fanboys shut up. Their favorite system supporting Blu-Ray. Oh so terrible

thats not going to happen ever, but more like thinking a public display of a bare butt being kissed i know, not going to happen either

[bajor27]

I don't entirely understand the logic behind this from both companies point of view.

1. Is it better for Sony to get Blu drives into the hands of Xbox owners by providing a Blu Addon, or is it better for Sony to help distinguish the PS3 as having a clear advantage being that it has Blu-ray.

2. The 360's life cycle is about halfway through already (if not more), so is it really worth it to just be getting into Blu now, especially with them already having a download service and pissed off HD-DUD owners?


I have a thought that there is some back-end deal to this that MS will guarantee that Blu-ray will be built into their neXtBox (which can't be too many years off) if Sony will give them a Blu addon at a decent rate for their current system. Sony could really reap some benefits of two consoles having it built in - Imagine them getting a bit off money for every neXtBox and PS3 game sold.

To be honest though, I can't imagine MS ever releasing a new system without something better than DVD and a built in HDD though.

[unreal1080p]

Originally Posted by bajor27

I don't entirely understand the logic behind this from both companies point of view.

That's because there is none. Unless of course SONY is dicking Microsoft around

All this talk of "colaboration" for a Blu-Ray drive in a future Microsoft console will propably turn out only to be the successor of the Crapbox360... and hopefully THAT console will be RROD'less.

I still don't think we're going to see a Crapbox360 with a Blu-Ray in this lifetime (wether it's an add on or built in) and all this talk/tease about one will only serve to unerve and aggravate pig headed Crapbox360 owners (This part I like ) until they finally decide to give up and get a PS3. Even if all the stars align... Microsoft would be hard pressed to come out with a new super deluxe Blu-Ray version of the Crapbox360 and I think they should concentrate on making their current crappy console work before adding more hardware features when they can't even make the current hardware work properly

If this phantom device were to come out it would sell for at least 500$ and by that time there will be a 300$ PS3. It's trully a no-win situation for Microsoft to spend time ressources energy and money on such a uselles endeavour...especialy since it goes against their own best interests (downloads) and they would'nt be able to produce games on the Blu-Ray media anyway (not for the Crapbox360 at least...).

Until it can be purchased in a store... it's only VAPORWARE!

[shido]

Originally Posted by bajor27

I don't entirely understand the logic behind this from both companies point of view.

1. Is it better for Sony to get Blu drives into the hands of Xbox owners by providing a Blu Addon, or is it better for Sony to help distinguish the PS3 as having a clear advantage being that it has Blu-ray.

2. The 360's life cycle is about halfway through already (if not more), so is it really worth it to just be getting into Blu now, especially with them already having a download service and pissed off HD-DUD owners?


I have a thought that there is some back-end deal to this that MS will guarantee that Blu-ray will be built into their neXtBox (which can't be too many years off) if Sony will give them a Blu addon at a decent rate for their current system. Sony could really reap some benefits of two consoles having it built in - Imagine them getting a bit off money for every neXtBox and PS3 game sold.

To be honest though, I can't imagine MS ever releasing a new system without something better than DVD and a built in HDD though.

The ultimate goal of blu-ray is to eventually have mass adoption right? You can't do that by ignoring certain sectors of the market, including 360 owners. The way I see it, if Microsoft were to release a blu-ray add-on, the cost of a 360 plus the add-on would be more than a 40gb PS3 anyway, so the PS3 will still look like the better value to consumers. Also, if the blu-ray add-on will be anything like the HD-DVD add-on, it won't be able to play any of the next-gen audio formats, which would further solidify the PS3 being the better choice if you wanted a game system that doubles as a solid blu-ray player.

[JadedRaverLA]

Let me add my take here.

Originally Posted by bajor27

I don't entirely understand the logic behind this from both companies point of view.

1. Is it better for Sony to get Blu drives into the hands of Xbox owners by providing a Blu Addon, or is it better for Sony to help distinguish the PS3 as having a clear advantage being that it has Blu-ray.

The fact that Microsoft sees the Blu-ray drive in the PS3 as enough of an advantage to want to copy it and resell the same functionality at a higher cost only serves to further validate Sony's plan. Also, a $399 PS3 has a built-in Blu-ray drive, wireless internet, 40GB Hard drive, lossless audio, etc. To get the same on an XBox 360 would be $349 for a system with 20GB hard drive, $99 for the wireless internet adapter, and probably $149-199 for the Blu-ray add-on. So... $599-649 vs. $399. And the XBox 360 solution still wouldn't have lossless audio, and they'd want $50 a year to play against others online.

So, with Blu-ray officially established as the successor to DVD, the PS3 looks even better to customers debating between systems, but for those customers who already purchased an XBox 360, and have no interest in a second system, Sony can make money with a Blu-ray drive for the competitor's system.

From Microsoft's point of view, they can't let Sony have Blu-ray in the PS3 and they not even have it as an option. Sure, they'll charge far too much to get the same features as the PS3... but, they'll say its because they want to offer their customers the "choice" as to whether they want Blu-ray or not. Just like they give them the "choice" of spending $99 on a wireless adapter and the "choice" of paying to play against others online.

Originally Posted by bajor27

2. The 360's life cycle is about halfway through already (if not more), so is it really worth it to just be getting into Blu now, especially with them already having a download service and pissed off HD-DUD owners?

You have to understand Microsoft's reasoning for getting into the console business in the first place. They wanted a way to expand from controlling your PC and into controlling your living room. And it's worked great for them. Despite their posturing about gamers buying their system for games, they've always been the ones trying to expand their systems beyond just games. XBox Live, Media Center Extender, having a hard drive in their first-gen system, the HD DVD add-on... everything about their systems has been about getting Windows into your living room and giving you the opportunity to start giving Microsoft a portion of your entertainment dollar. For this reason, they really don't want to give Sony a leg up in the consoles-as-entertainment-centers battle. I'm sure it kills them that it kills them to have to release a Blu-ray drive... but it's what they need to do.

Originally Posted by bajor27

I have a thought that there is some back-end deal to this that MS will guarantee that Blu-ray will be built into their neXtBox (which can't be too many years off) if Sony will give them a Blu addon at a decent rate for their current system. Sony could really reap some benefits of two consoles having it built in - Imagine them getting a bit off money for every neXtBox and PS3 game sold.

To be honest though, I can't imagine MS ever releasing a new system without something better than DVD and a built in HDD though.

I think there's a lot of truth to your 'thought' there. Microsoft, until VERY recently, was rumored to be still planning to use AOD (HD DVD discs) for their next system, but with the format dying so quickly, there's no replicators that are going to be working on improving the replication of those discs any more. Also, due to the fact that the discs and the drives would essentially only be made for that Microsoft system, the cost likely would end up being higher (by the time it comes out) than just using Blu-ray discs. Add to that, they're almost surely going to be still be competing with the PS3 at that point... and they'll NEED to have Blu-ray to stay matched on features when their new system launches for more money. I'm not sure if that's the "backroom deal" going on right now, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if there was some kind of quid pro quo going on.

[Maxell]

I approve if they do an add-on, but not as the primary game disc. The PS3 has just tipped the iceberg on what it can do with the use of the extra blu-ray capacity. Giving your competitor your advantage, at least right now, would be dumb from the SCEA side of things.

[PaulGo]

Here we go again!

Next generation Xbox 360 with built-in Blu-ray coming in 2008?

Posted Apr 1st 2008 5:07AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Gaming, HDTV
Ok, here we go again. Despite Microsoft's attempt to quash Xbox 360 Blu-ray rumors, they're back... with a vengeance. According to "industry sources" speaking to DigiTimes, Lite-On is developing built-in Blu-ray Disc drives for the "next generation" Xbox 360 game console. Lite-On is expected to begin shipping the new BD players for assembly in the second half of 2008. DigiTimes also claims that the new, presumably smaller Xbox 360 will reduce the power supply from 210-watts to 170-watts. So... care to comment, Microsoft?

http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/01/n...oming-in-2008/

[CptGreedle]

Originally Posted by PaulGo

Here we go again!

Next generation Xbox 360 with built-in Blu-ray coming in 2008?

Posted Apr 1st 2008 5:07AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Gaming, HDTV
Ok, here we go again. Despite Microsoft's attempt to quash Xbox 360 Blu-ray rumors, they're back... with a vengeance. According to "industry sources" speaking to DigiTimes, Lite-On is developing built-in Blu-ray Disc drives for the "next generation" Xbox 360 game console. Lite-On is expected to begin shipping the new BD players for assembly in the second half of 2008. DigiTimes also claims that the new, presumably smaller Xbox 360 will reduce the power supply from 210-watts to 170-watts. So... care to comment, Microsoft?

http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/01/n...oming-in-2008/

Sounds like another April's Fools joke to me...

[SilverFireshot]

Originally Posted by CptGreedle

Sounds like another April's Fools joke to me...

Yeah, it'll never happen. An add on probably, but they'll never make an internal drive.