Xbox 360 HD-DVD Drive - Aggressively Priced
Retail sources indicate sub-£200 price point.
SPOnG has been speaking to UK retail sources today who have indicated that Microsoft's forthcoming HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360 should be priced at "no more than £200" and that it will come bundled with a couple of HD-DVD movies as an added sweetener to entice next-gen gamer movie buffs to part with their hard-earned.
It is also highly likely that the company will be offering a 360 console plus HD-DVD drive bundle at under £400, a tempting package for those gamers who might not want to opt into Sony's Blu-ray vision (plus, of course, undercutting the PS3 launch price of £425).
SPOnG has put in a call to Microsoft earlier this afternoon to get confirmation on the price and release date for the much-desired add-on and will confirm both as soon as we get word. It is expected that the 'official' confirmation will be made at X06 in the beautiful Catalan capital of Barcelona in a couple of weeks time, but of course if we manage to wangle anything more out of our buddies in retail or out of Microsoft in the meantime, we'll let you know.
It is also highly likely that the company will be offering a 360 console plus HD-DVD drive bundle at under £400, a tempting package for those gamers who might not want to opt into Sony's Blu-ray vision (plus, of course, undercutting the PS3 launch price of £425).
SPOnG has put in a call to Microsoft earlier this afternoon to get confirmation on the price and release date for the much-desired add-on and will confirm both as soon as we get word. It is expected that the 'official' confirmation will be made at X06 in the beautiful Catalan capital of Barcelona in a couple of weeks time, but of course if we manage to wangle anything more out of our buddies in retail or out of Microsoft in the meantime, we'll let you know.
Companies:
Microsoft
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Comments
SCiARA 11 Sep 2006 15:27
1/8
so whats the max resolution gonna be 720?
fluffstardx 11 Sep 2006 18:59
2/8
1080i, same as the 360.
It's £200 for the drive, £375 with the Premium system. THIS VERY XMAS. WORLDWIDE. So sayeth everywhere else.
Sony must be fuming.
It's £200 for the drive, £375 with the Premium system. THIS VERY XMAS. WORLDWIDE. So sayeth everywhere else.
Sony must be fuming.
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realvictory 11 Sep 2006 20:22
3/8
fluffstardx wrote:
It's £200 for the drive, £375 with the Premium system. THIS VERY XMAS. WORLDWIDE. So sayeth everywhere else.
Sony must be fuming.
Sony must be fuming.
Yeah, but it's not Bluray!
To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if people do buy it. But I don't even have a HDTV! The thing is, it's still not that big a factor as to which of the formats succeed. Oh, yeah - it's about what you personally enjoy, really, isn't it!
BlackEyedFish 11 Sep 2006 21:21
4/8
realvictory wrote:
Yeah, but it's not Bluray!
From what I hear HD DVD is getting better critique than blu ray. But as for the inconvenience and plain unsightlyness of having 2 seperate boxes, I'm sure plenty of people will still wait for PS3 if they want a next gen dvd player for cheap. I'm not sure how much HD DVD and blu ray players cost; but I'm sure its over £500 atm.
Although to be honest, I think the majority of people at this point really aren't interested in next gen dvd formats at the moment. I know that I'll just wait until I can get one for a reasonable price, in about 5 or so years you'll get them in supermarkets for £30.
In fact I'll probably be able to download movies on BitTorrent in HiDef, thus avoiding despicable DRM, but I probably shouldn't say that.
realvictory 12 Sep 2006 09:05
5/8
In reality, though, HD-DVD is such a minor step in technology - it's basically a DVD with a different colour laser, and it can only store about 3 times as much. Companies mainly back HD-DVD because it's cheaper to manufacture, in my opinion.
What's the point in having a new format like that? It needs to be significantly better, or it's not worth having a new format.
What's the point in having a new format like that? It needs to be significantly better, or it's not worth having a new format.
SCiARA 12 Sep 2006 09:14
6/8
i see this next media step up as a stop gap for when we are able to download movies
30gig and 1080p is plenty for HD content - and if its cheaper then i'm not complaining
30gig and 1080p is plenty for HD content - and if its cheaper then i'm not complaining
crs117 12 Sep 2006 15:43
7/8
realvictory wrote:
In reality, though, HD-DVD is such a minor step in technology - it's basically a DVD with a different colour laser, and it can only store about 3 times as much. Companies mainly back HD-DVD because it's cheaper to manufacture, in my opinion.
What's the point in having a new format like that? It needs to be significantly better, or it's not worth having a new format.
What's the point in having a new format like that? It needs to be significantly better, or it's not worth having a new format.
What are you talking about. How is Blu-Ray any better than the HD-DVD format besides a marginally larger capacity? If you want to get technical, all current Blu-Ray titles are encoded using the mpeg2 codec which sucks in comparison to the modern HD codecs so any advantage you may have in the capacity department is completely lost because mpeg2 format is not nearly as efficient a codec as the new hd codecs.
Sony started from the ground up creating a new optical format and toshiba simply took the current dvd format and modified it to utilize a blue laser. Since hd-dvd media and player mechanics do not require a major overhaul it is a much cheaper solution and costs much less. To me that sounds like a much better option.
Of course the thing that really pisses me off is that using current DVD media, HD movies could be released if new DVD players with more powerful processors (to decode hd streams) using hd codecs. There really is no need for a totally new format except to try to lock back down the piracy market.
I am in no rush to upgrade to a new HD video format, but if/when i do the ms upgrade sure seems tempting.
realvictory 12 Sep 2006 17:44
8/8
crs117 wrote:
What are you talking about. How is Blu-Ray any better than the HD-DVD format besides a marginally larger capacity? If you want to get technical, all current Blu-Ray titles are encoded using the mpeg2 codec which sucks in comparison to the modern HD codecs so any advantage you may have in the capacity department is completely lost because mpeg2 format is not nearly as efficient a codec as the new hd codecs.
Sony started from the ground up creating a new optical format and toshiba simply took the current dvd format and modified it to utilize a blue laser. Since hd-dvd media and player mechanics do not require a major overhaul it is a much cheaper solution and costs much less. To me that sounds like a much better option.
Of course the thing that really pisses me off is that using current DVD media, HD movies could be released if new DVD players with more powerful processors (to decode hd streams) using hd codecs. There really is no need for a totally new format except to try to lock back down the piracy market.
Sony started from the ground up creating a new optical format and toshiba simply took the current dvd format and modified it to utilize a blue laser. Since hd-dvd media and player mechanics do not require a major overhaul it is a much cheaper solution and costs much less. To me that sounds like a much better option.
Of course the thing that really pisses me off is that using current DVD media, HD movies could be released if new DVD players with more powerful processors (to decode hd streams) using hd codecs. There really is no need for a totally new format except to try to lock back down the piracy market.
Blu-ray supports MPEG2, MPEG4 and VC-1. It's up to the individual studio as to which codec is used. The codec doesn't determine the quality, it determines the compression, i.e. how much you can fit on a disc.
You can argue about the codecs vs. each other, but they are capable of both using the same codec, so it's not really an issue.
DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-ray - and VHS, CD, blah, blah, are all simply storage media. Any can run HD if the player supports it, as you said. So at the end of the day, the important thing is the storage capacity. If one has worse content, obviously, that one will be less successful, but that isn't inherently a fault with the storage medium.
Price is also a factor, but you pay more for better technology, especially when it's new. However, if people aren't willing to pay more, then the more conservative improvement will succeed, if any.