Rumor: Blu-ray heading to 360

[Coded-Dude]

IT Media was informed by Moore that the 360 will see a Blu-ray add on, similar the to the HD-DVD add-on, before Christmas. The drive will give 360 owners the power of viewing Blu-ray disc movies much like the PS3. No announcement was made on whether or not Blu-ray games will be playable, but given Microsoft's stance on HD-DVD games, playable Blu-ray titles are highly unlikely.

While great news for 360 owners(your HD library is going to be the largest out there - besides the few HD DVD + Blu-Ray player owners)
this is somewhat of a blow to the HD DVD camp, if true, but I wonder if it will have the same issues as the HD DVD player over the "Elite's" HDMI interface.

The HDMI standard cites the following:

All HD DVD players are required to decode linear (uncompressed) PCM, Dolby Digital AC-3, Dolby Digital EX, DTS, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD.

From what I understand the Elite is able to decode lossless audio but is unable to output LPCM and therefore either passes it as 2 channel pcm or dumbs it down to DD 5.1 640 Kbps.
The culprit appears to be an internal bottleneck which restricts bandwidth to HDMI.

IF, and I know it is a big if......Universal finally decides to back Blu-Ray, the war may be all but over.

 

[GFLPraxis]

I doubt Microsoft will release a Blu-ray player until HD-DVD actually loses, but I wouldn't be surprised if they have one prepared as a fallback.

 

[applekid]

I doubt Microsoft will release a Blu-ray player until HD-DVD actually loses, but I wouldn't be surprised if they have one prepared as a fallback.

Sounds about right to me.

 

[Coded-Dude]

why not....? this has profitable written all over it.

Its not like Microsoft has a lot invested into HD DVD, and I am sure there are plenty of 360 owners that did not buy the HD DVD add-on because they preferred blu-ray or merely doubted the overall success of HD DVD. This can only help the red-inked division.

 

[Markleshark]

Ahhhh the plus sides of Market Research and not tying yourself down with a single format

 

[0098386]

So, if true, the 360 will be capable of playing HD-DVD, BluRay and HD downloadable films?

Christ above. Is that every base struck?

 

[Coded-Dude]

yep, like I said, this is great news for 360 owners.

but then again, whose to say Sony couldn't also produce an external HD DVD add-on
(not saying they will, or even want to, as we all know who they want to win)

 

[Sky Blue]

So, if true, the 360 will be capable of playing HD-DVD, BluRay and HD downloadable films?

Christ above. Is that every base struck?

No, it needs a VHS tape add on.

Great source in the OP, by the way.

What Code-Dude fails to point out is not only is this news very old (Jan06) it was also debunked by MS

OFFICIAL MICROSOFT STATEMENT

. . . Microsoft firmly stands behind the HD-DVD format as the best choice for our consumers. As we’ve said before, we’re confident that HD-DVD will bring the excitement of high definition movies to the consumer faster and at a greater value. We believe that consumers have signaled what format they want to enjoy high definition DVD and we’re going to follow them down that path. The question of whether Xbox 360 has the flexibility to adapt to consumers’ needs is a different issue entirely. Xbox 360 is a future-proofed system – one that allows us to add features as consumers demand them – as evidenced by our offering of the HD DVD drive as an accessory. Current reports indicating that we have a back-up plan, which includes Blu-Ray support are incorrect. At this point, we’re fully committed to HD-DVD and have absolutely no plans to support other optical formats

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2006/01/microsoft_news_.html

 

[Coded-Dude]

yeah well, A quick internet search turns up several results that just happened to be the first one,
but since this is a rumor(right now) and I knew somebody would make some off the wall comment about it, I removed it.

As were rumors about a new 360 SKU

btw - MS already supports blu-ray via their operating system.

 

[mkrishnan]

Christ above. Is that every base struck?

And this is atypical Microsoft behavior because...why? This company is the paragon of wearing a belt and braces on the same pair of trousers.

Are there any rumors concerning a change in production to actually include one of the high-def standards as the *internal* player in the XBOX? I do feel like the XBOX system complexity is such that I'm almost surprised it isn't available in BTO configurations!

 

[Sky Blue]

but since this is a rumor(right now) and I knew somebody would make some off the wall comment about it, I removed it.

It was a rumour that was quickly dismissed a year a half ago.

 

[Eidorian]

I remember this being some 2ch rumor that someone heard from their Japanese friend.

 

[Coded-Dude]

Reports came from ITMedia, a Japanese magazine/website that interviewed Moore.
And all he said was it could happen.....
Debunk it all you want, but you would be naive to think they don't already have a full scale plan, when/if they decide to do it.

I'm sure they have already negotiated production costs with certain companies, designed the case, and have marketing people ready to unload.
Not to say it will ever come to fruition, but they have it planned, and considering current sales trends, its not that far fetched of a "rumor."

 

[Sky Blue]

Reports came from ITMedia, a Japanese magazine/website that interviewed Moore.
And all he said was it could happen.....
Debunk it all you want, but you would be naive to think they don't already have a full scale plan, when/if they decide to do it.

I'm sure they have already negotiated production costs with certain companies, designed the case, and have marketing people ready to unload.
Not to say it will ever come to fruition, but they have it planned, and considering current sales trends, its not that far fetched of a "rumor."

Let's recap:

Mis-translated article

January 2006

"we’re fully committed to HD-DVD and have absolutely no plans to support other optical formats"


/thread.

 

[Coded-Dude]

Lets expand upon that:

Microsoft would consider adding an external Blu-ray drive to the Xbox 360 in the future, should the right market conditions emerge. According to Peter Moore, corporate VP in charge of fun stuff at Microsoft, those conditions would be the emergence of Blu-ray as the clear winner in the next-generation optical disc format battles.

If Universal decides to support Blu-Ray, as other rumors have alleged, this will happen faster than I can say: I told you so.

 

[nickster9224]

i thought bluray was sony's child

 

[Coded-Dude]

Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD), is the name of a next-generation optical disc format jointly developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers (including Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson).

Sony is a staunch backer

http://www.blu-ray.com/

 

[GFLPraxis]

why not....? this has profitable written all over it.

Its not like Microsoft has a lot invested into HD DVD, and I am sure there are plenty of 360 owners that did not buy the HD DVD add-on because they preferred blu-ray or merely doubted the overall success of HD DVD. This can only help the red-inked division.

Because Microsoft has a vested interest in the success of HD-DVD and a vested interest in seeing that Sony-backed Blu-ray fails. Not enough of an interest to risk their XBox line by pushing HD-DVD in as standard, but enough to not release a Blu-ray player. As a result, Microsoft will promote HD-DVD as the solution for watching HD movies, until it either becomes the standard or that is no longer viable (i.e. if HD-DVD fails).

 

[GFLPraxis]

Let's recap:

Mis-translated article

January 2006

"we’re fully committed to HD-DVD and have absolutely no plans to support other optical formats"


/thread.

If Microsoft did not have an in-house Blu-ray addon for 360, they're stupid. And they might be jerks (I'm referring to their business practices), but they're not stupid.

They just don't have any plans to release it as long as HD-DVD has a chance.

 

[72930]

Microsoft [are] not stupid.

One word: Zune

 

[GFLPraxis]

btw - MS already supports blu-ray via their operating system.

Yeah, but in an operating system used everywhere, they'd have a huge backlash if they didn't.

They support Blu-ray in the OS but they refuse to release any hardware that has anything to do with it.

One word: Zune

Okay, well, I guess they can be pretty stupid sometimes

 

[Eidorian]

btw - MS already supports blu-ray via their operating system.

Which means...

Here's a driver, you can plug it in now.

Like the driver for the Apple Keyboard!

 

[Coded-Dude]

The only REAL vested interest they have in HD DVD is the failure of PS3.
They could have had an equally "vested" interest in Blu-Ray, but that would have essentially guaranteed the success of Blu-Ray(and the PS3).
Which is not good for the XBOX division.

There is no real reason why both of them couldn't have come to an agreement and used one format.
Woul that have been best for us the consumer, well...maybe not, but it would have been better for Dev Companies, and Movie Distributors.

 

[Coded-Dude]

They support Blu-ray in the OS but they refuse to release any hardware that has anything to do with it.

Microsoft has hardware.....?


5.5million PS3's shipped to date(fiscal year only), is far from failure
(at least 3.1 million oh those are in the hands of consumers)

 

[GFLPraxis]

Microsoft has hardware.....?


5.5million PS3's shipped to date(fiscal year only), is far from failure
(at least 3.1 million oh those are in the hands of consumers)

XBox, XBox 360, Zune, and XBox HD-DVD player count as hardware.

Last I heard the number was around 3 million for the PS3. While it does not constitute an outright failure (a la Dreamcast), it amounts to sales numbers worse than the GameCube...and unlike the GameCube, the PS3 takes a very large loss per sale.

Essentially, if things continue at the current rateSony is going to pull a Nintendo and kill off all their third party support. Except they'll do it in one generation instead of two.