Analyst: Microsoft Never That Bothered About HD-DVD
Release of Blu-ray peripheral depends on attitude to downloads
Following the end of the high definition format war - with a victory for the Sony-backed Blu-ray - one analyst has said that Microsoft never had that strong an interest inToshiba's HD-DVD.
“Of course, Microsoft supplied technology to the HD DVD consortium, but didn’t have anywhere near as much vested interest in it as Toshiba, which [along with cost] is partially the reason why they didn't put a HD DVD drive in the 360 originally”, said Paul Jackson, Principal Analyst at the Forrester Group.
Rumours have suggested that a Blu-ray peripheral will be released for the 360 as soon as May. Jackson, however, says that "seems extremely unlikely to me, unless Microsoft has been doing some black ops with a third-party Blu-ray manufacturer such as Getronics... Though one would have thought that something would have surfaced if that were the case, pictures from the production line or somesuch."
That would be a pretty poor Black-Op (or even Skunk Work) though wouldn't it? Frankly, coming up with an external Blu-ray drive for the 360 wouldn't bring any serious challenges to Microsoft. The point is, does it want to? Or is the draw of digital delivery over networks more enticing to the Seattle-based giant?
As far as SPOnG is concerned, it seems unlikely that Microsoft was never that interested in HD-DVD. Otherwise, why join the HD-DVD consortium? Unless, of course, like Michael Bay, you believe that Microsoft was more interested in stalling the emergence of a winner in the format war so that it could get busy positioning downloadable content in the marketplace.
Certainly, it could have committed time, money, man-power and user patience by producing a new 360 SKU with in-built HD-DVD drive. Sitting here today, however, not doing so looks like a smart non-move.
If however, it had not supported Toshiba's format, but simply chucked a player into the market as a spoiler (against Sony) or a staller (while deals such as the recent one with Paramount for digital delivery were done) - well, then all those 360 owners who went out and bought an HD-DVD player would be well within their rights to be mightily pissed off, would they not?
Speaking of which, the Associated Press is already reporting that Toshiba's president, Atsutoshi Nishida, "...voluntarily brought up the possibility of class-action lawsuits in the U.S. as he fielded questions from reporters, acknowledging that the idea of disgruntled HD DVD owners had occurred to him.
Nishida denied the company shared in any liability as it had no say in the format of future movies."
Did you buy an HD-DVD drive or player? Do you feel let down? Are you sick to death of the whole thing? Let us know in the Forum.
Sources: Tech Radar
Associated Press
“Of course, Microsoft supplied technology to the HD DVD consortium, but didn’t have anywhere near as much vested interest in it as Toshiba, which [along with cost] is partially the reason why they didn't put a HD DVD drive in the 360 originally”, said Paul Jackson, Principal Analyst at the Forrester Group.
Rumours have suggested that a Blu-ray peripheral will be released for the 360 as soon as May. Jackson, however, says that "seems extremely unlikely to me, unless Microsoft has been doing some black ops with a third-party Blu-ray manufacturer such as Getronics... Though one would have thought that something would have surfaced if that were the case, pictures from the production line or somesuch."
That would be a pretty poor Black-Op (or even Skunk Work) though wouldn't it? Frankly, coming up with an external Blu-ray drive for the 360 wouldn't bring any serious challenges to Microsoft. The point is, does it want to? Or is the draw of digital delivery over networks more enticing to the Seattle-based giant?
As far as SPOnG is concerned, it seems unlikely that Microsoft was never that interested in HD-DVD. Otherwise, why join the HD-DVD consortium? Unless, of course, like Michael Bay, you believe that Microsoft was more interested in stalling the emergence of a winner in the format war so that it could get busy positioning downloadable content in the marketplace.
Certainly, it could have committed time, money, man-power and user patience by producing a new 360 SKU with in-built HD-DVD drive. Sitting here today, however, not doing so looks like a smart non-move.
If however, it had not supported Toshiba's format, but simply chucked a player into the market as a spoiler (against Sony) or a staller (while deals such as the recent one with Paramount for digital delivery were done) - well, then all those 360 owners who went out and bought an HD-DVD player would be well within their rights to be mightily pissed off, would they not?
Speaking of which, the Associated Press is already reporting that Toshiba's president, Atsutoshi Nishida, "...voluntarily brought up the possibility of class-action lawsuits in the U.S. as he fielded questions from reporters, acknowledging that the idea of disgruntled HD DVD owners had occurred to him.
Nishida denied the company shared in any liability as it had no say in the format of future movies."
Did you buy an HD-DVD drive or player? Do you feel let down? Are you sick to death of the whole thing? Let us know in the Forum.
Sources: Tech Radar
Associated Press
Companies:
Microsoft
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Comments
Daz 19 Feb 2008 17:54
1/19
"Did you buy an HD-DVD drive or player? Do you feel let down? Are you sick to death of the whole thing?"
no, no and not any more since it's offically over, I made the smart chocie by buying a PS3 with built in Blu-Ray, YAY ME!!!!
soanso 19 Feb 2008 17:59
2/19
Two decades on. Betamax won the rematch ;)
more comments below our sponsor's message
Coxy 19 Feb 2008 18:25
3/19
Yes, yes and yes :(
But i'm glad it's over! :)
But i'm glad it's over! :)
Willy Patterson 19 Feb 2008 18:54
4/19
No, no and no.
I bought a 360 because it has games I want to play. I couldn't give a toss about Blu-ray or HD-DVD, thank you very much.
Why is this article even on a games website? It has more to do with films.
I bought a 360 because it has games I want to play. I couldn't give a toss about Blu-ray or HD-DVD, thank you very much.
Why is this article even on a games website? It has more to do with films.
Willy Patterson 19 Feb 2008 18:54
5/19
No, no and no.
I bought a 360 because it has games I want to play. I couldn't give a toss about Blu-ray or HD-DVD, thank you very much.
Why is this article even on a games website? It has more to do with films.
I bought a 360 because it has games I want to play. I couldn't give a toss about Blu-ray or HD-DVD, thank you very much.
Why is this article even on a games website? It has more to do with films.
Dreadknux 19 Feb 2008 21:06
6/19
Microsoft Never That Bothered About HD-DVD
Always good to see analysts tell the world what they already knew two years ago. These guys must be laughing all the way to the bank.
tyrion 20 Feb 2008 08:38
7/19
soanso wrote:
Two decades on. Betamax won the rematch ;)
To be honest both VHS and Beta "won" since Beta was the tape standard for production studios the world over. Sure it's not as large a market as a consumer win, but the per-item ticket price is much higher. Sony didn't lose out on its investment in Beta, it just didn't make as much money as VHS did for JVC.
DoctorDee 20 Feb 2008 09:20
8/19
tyrion wrote:
soanso wrote:
Two decades on. Betamax won the rematch ;)
To be honest both VHS and Beta "won" since Beta was the tape standard for production studios the world over. Sure it's not as large a market as a consumer win, but the per-item ticket price is much higher. Sony didn't lose out on its investment in Beta, it just didn't make as much money as VHS did for JVC.
That's not strictly true. Although BetaCAM and BetaMAX had similar names, and even though you COULD use a Betamax tape in a Betacam S recorder/player, the two systems were quite different. And video recorded on either will not play on the other.
Although Betamax was way better than VHS, it was nowhere near as good as studios required. Betacam tapes used a much higher tape speed, and recorded component video, thus offering much better quality and much higher resolution than Betamax. A 3-hour Betamax tape would only yield 30 minutes of Betacam footage.
Betacam came out after Betamax had lost the consumer battle, and it is likely that Sony had to put in a whole new round of R&D funding to make it happen.
So the Beta name lived on, but it had little to do with the Betamax system. VHS Pro (Recam) did do battle with Betacam, and lost.
Betamax DID have another small success, its PCM digital audio recording was so good that, before DAT came along, many professional recording engineers adopted Betamax as an early digital recording system. But the number of users was relatively low, and they were paying a (premium) consumer ticket price for the systems.
James 20 Feb 2008 09:33
9/19
no, no and not any more since it's offically over, I made the smart chocie by buying a PS3 with built in Blu-Ray, YAY ME!!!!
You are so mature. How about not. Don't make such stupid comments.
I buy consoles for GAMES. Yes... GAMES! and for this, the Xbox 360 is the "smart" choice.
DVD should be sufficient for most peoples needs.
deleted 20 Feb 2008 09:33
10/19
DoctorDee wrote:
tyrion wrote:
soanso wrote:
Two decades on. Betamax won the rematch ;)
To be honest both VHS and Beta "won" since Beta was the tape standard for production studios the world over. Sure it's not as large a market as a consumer win, but the per-item ticket price is much higher. Sony didn't lose out on its investment in Beta, it just didn't make as much money as VHS did for JVC.
That's not strictly true. Although BetaCAM and BetaMAX had similar names, and even though you COULD use a Betamax tape in a Betacam S recorder/player, the two systems were quite different. And video recorded on either will not play on the other.
Although Betamax was way better than VHS, it was nowhere near as good as studios required. Betacam tapes used a much higher tape speed, and recorded component video, thus offering much better quality and much higher resolution than Betamax. A 3-hour Betamax tape would only yield 30 minutes of Betacam footage.
Betacam came out after Betamax had lost the consumer battle, and it is likely that Sony had to put in a whole new round of R&D funding to make it happen.
So the Beta name lived on, but it had little to do with the Betamax system. VHS Pro (Recam) did do battle with Betacam, and lost.
Betamax DID have another small success, its PCM digital audio recording was so good that, before DAT came along, many professional recording engineers adopted Betamax as an early digital recording system. But the number of users was relatively low, and they were paying a (premium) consumer ticket price for the systems.
Learning is Fun!!
TimSpong 20 Feb 2008 11:07
11/19
Willy Patterson wrote:
Why is this article even on a games website? It has more to do with films.
It's here because (in no particular order):
Sony's PlayStation 3 uses Blu-ray and is owned by gamers, who are my readers.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 has an HD DVD add-on and is owned by gamers, who are my readers.
Cheers
Tim
Daz 20 Feb 2008 11:47
12/19
James wrote:
no, no and not any more since it's offically over, I made the smart chocie by buying a PS3 with built in Blu-Ray, YAY ME!!!!
You are so mature. How about not. Don't make such stupid comments.
I buy consoles for GAMES. Yes... GAMES! and for this, the Xbox 360 is the "smart" choice.
DVD should be sufficient for most peoples needs.
dude, chilax, you do your thing which is games, and I'll do mine which is games AND films, which make's the the PS3 the "smart" choice.
Bentley 20 Feb 2008 12:52
13/19
Sour grapes from 360 owners who suddenly don't care about HD. It is about the games, but it's not been ALL about the games for a long, long time... and Microsoft have never recognised this.
Well, I remember when I bought my PS2 on launch day, and suddenly I had a games console, CD player and DVD player all-in-one. I have to say I utilised all these functions to their best right up until the day I got my PS3...
Now I have a games console, CD player, DVD player, Blu-Ray player, MP3 player, DivX movie player, media hub and Internet browser all-in-one... and so far, once again I have utilised all these functions time and time again, and will no doubt do so for the next 6-8 years at least. So anyone saying "it's all about the games"... you're missing out a big part of this generation. It turned out that putting Blu-Ray in PS3 was a great decision by Sony, and leaving HD-DVD out of 360 was a massive cock-up by Microsoft. Because now the war is over, many people looking to by Blu-Ray players will look at the PS3 and see it as a more appealing option than it was before. It's great news for Sony and PS3, and PS3 owners everywhere. 360 owners... well at least they still have their games. Which are Halo 3 and Mass Effect from what I have heard a thousand times.
Well, I remember when I bought my PS2 on launch day, and suddenly I had a games console, CD player and DVD player all-in-one. I have to say I utilised all these functions to their best right up until the day I got my PS3...
Now I have a games console, CD player, DVD player, Blu-Ray player, MP3 player, DivX movie player, media hub and Internet browser all-in-one... and so far, once again I have utilised all these functions time and time again, and will no doubt do so for the next 6-8 years at least. So anyone saying "it's all about the games"... you're missing out a big part of this generation. It turned out that putting Blu-Ray in PS3 was a great decision by Sony, and leaving HD-DVD out of 360 was a massive cock-up by Microsoft. Because now the war is over, many people looking to by Blu-Ray players will look at the PS3 and see it as a more appealing option than it was before. It's great news for Sony and PS3, and PS3 owners everywhere. 360 owners... well at least they still have their games. Which are Halo 3 and Mass Effect from what I have heard a thousand times.
deleted 20 Feb 2008 13:44
14/19
Bentley wrote:
Sour grapes from 360 owners who suddenly don't care about HD. It is about the games, but it's not been ALL about the games for a long, long time... and Microsoft have never recognised this.
Well, I remember when I bought my PS2 on launch day, and suddenly I had a games console, CD player and DVD player all-in-one. I have to say I utilised all these functions to their best right up until the day I got my PS3...
Now I have a games console, CD player, DVD player, Blu-Ray player, MP3 player, DivX movie player, media hub and Internet browser all-in-one... and so far, once again I have utilised all these functions time and time again, and will no doubt do so for the next 6-8 years at least. So anyone saying "it's all about the games"... you're missing out a big part of this generation. It turned out that putting Blu-Ray in PS3 was a great decision by Sony, and leaving HD-DVD out of 360 was a massive cock-up by Microsoft. Because now the war is over, many people looking to by Blu-Ray players will look at the PS3 and see it as a more appealing option than it was before. It's great news for Sony and PS3, and PS3 owners everywhere. 360 owners... well at least they still have their games. Which are Halo 3 and Mass Effect from what I have heard a thousand times.
Well, I remember when I bought my PS2 on launch day, and suddenly I had a games console, CD player and DVD player all-in-one. I have to say I utilised all these functions to their best right up until the day I got my PS3...
Now I have a games console, CD player, DVD player, Blu-Ray player, MP3 player, DivX movie player, media hub and Internet browser all-in-one... and so far, once again I have utilised all these functions time and time again, and will no doubt do so for the next 6-8 years at least. So anyone saying "it's all about the games"... you're missing out a big part of this generation. It turned out that putting Blu-Ray in PS3 was a great decision by Sony, and leaving HD-DVD out of 360 was a massive cock-up by Microsoft. Because now the war is over, many people looking to by Blu-Ray players will look at the PS3 and see it as a more appealing option than it was before. It's great news for Sony and PS3, and PS3 owners everywhere. 360 owners... well at least they still have their games. Which are Halo 3 and Mass Effect from what I have heard a thousand times.
I agree bentley that the PS3 is looking a lot more appealing to consumers, but is this going to change the fact the devs look more fond of the 360 for games development, an extra 25 million ps3 sales over the next couple of year is great for sony but that doesnt mean it will reflect ps3 software sales, and first and foremost these are gaming systems with the extras, the majority of people who bought a 360 bought it for the games, i wish i could say the same for the PS3 but the one i own is getting dusty and going unused except for my blu ray collection, i also bought a HD DVD drive for non bluray items like Hereos Box sets and others but i didnt buy my PS3 or My 360 for movies and i am the majority.
Also the ps3 wont look so appealing to those searching for a bluray player when your told its £249.99, then you need to buy a remote making £279.99 total price when Bluray players will be selling for around £199.99 soon enough. then those who want a bluray player will buy that those who want games will buy that, after all how many people went out and bought PS2 soley for the use of DVD playback and even now a days the majority of consumers are in tesco picking up DVD players for £15.00.
I am no fan of either format i belive each has a cons and pros, Bluray has its storage size and HDDVD had it`s HDi but in the end i want HD Visuals and either will give me that, now HDDVD has given up the game its all the better for everyone, fanboys can stop arguing about compression and codecs and we can all move on happy to a HD future, sure people will be bitter and upset and others will annoyingly rubbing it in like a t**t but eventually we will all become one big Bluray family until the next format comes around.
Also yes 360 does have Halo 3 and Mass Effect it also has a great range of great games, including Gears of War, Viva Pinata, Bioshock, Etc, When the PS3 has as many GOOD games as the 360 has GOOD games then it will have room to talk unitl that day, people will always see it as the bluray player with games added on.
Daz 20 Feb 2008 14:18
15/19
haritori wrote:
Also the ps3 wont look so appealing to those searching for a bluray player when your told its £249.99, then you need to buy a remote making £279.99
need? I use the Sixaxsis and the remotes are 17.99, not 30 quid.
haritori wrote:
Also yes 360 does have Halo 3 and Mass Effect it also has a great range of great games, including Gears of War, Viva Pinata, Bioshock, Etc, When the PS3 has as many GOOD games as the 360 has GOOD games then it will have room to talk unitl that day, people will always see it as the bluray player with games added on.
well I disagree, there are more games on PS3 that interest me than on the 360 and halo sucked from day one how it made it to 3 i'll never know, anyway PS3 has plenty of Great games, like Resistance, Heavenly Sword, Uncharted, Folklore, Lair and The Eye of judgment and even more coming out this year, so far all the 360 has for me is Ninja Gaiden 2 and Blue Drargon and one of those ain't even out yet
deleted 20 Feb 2008 14:22
16/19
Daz wrote:
haritori wrote:
Also the ps3 wont look so appealing to those searching for a bluray player when your told its £249.99, then you need to buy a remote making £279.99
need? I use the Sixaxsis and the remotes are 17.99, not 30 quid.
haritori wrote:
Also yes 360 does have Halo 3 and Mass Effect it also has a great range of great games, including Gears of War, Viva Pinata, Bioshock, Etc, When the PS3 has as many GOOD games as the 360 has GOOD games then it will have room to talk unitl that day, people will always see it as the bluray player with games added on.
well I disagree, there are more games on PS3 that interest me than on the 360 and halo sucked from day one how it made it to 3 i'll never know, anyway PS3 has plenty of Great games, like Resistance, Heavenly Sword, Uncharted, Folklore, Lair and The Eye of judgment and even more coming out this year, so far all the 360 has for me is Ninja Gaiden 2 and Blue Drargon and one of those ain't even out yet
Yawn, here come the fanboys!
Daz 20 Feb 2008 15:18
17/19
haritori wrote:
Yawn, here come the fanboys!
fanboy? so because my opinion differs from yours I'm the fanboy?
deleted 20 Feb 2008 17:38
18/19
Daz wrote:
haritori wrote:
Yawn, here come the fanboys!
fanboy? so because my opinion differs from yours I'm the fanboy?
well the fact you state the PS3 has more games that interest you then yes, compare the amount of games and if you still say that the PS3 has more on offer for you, then you either have very limited view on gaming or you are fanboy attempting to defend your PS3, the difference in our comments was mine was a comment on the basis of the bluray in PS3 being seen as foremost the most important part and i also put the part about 360 games as a defence (a factual one) across to betleys little dig about the 360 having just mass effect and halo 3, your comment wasnt your opinion but an immdiate defense of my comment even though you were never mentioned for you to jump so quick on the back of my comment, yes you came across as a fanboy to me, my comment also never denied the PS3 has great games, i said `AS MANY AS THE 360` but thats just my opinion and yours may well differ?
Daz 20 Feb 2008 18:21
19/19
haritori wrote:
Daz wrote:
haritori wrote:
Yawn, here come the fanboys!
fanboy? so because my opinion differs from yours I'm the fanboy?
well the fact you state the PS3 has more games that interest you then yes, compare the amount of games and if you still say that the PS3 has more on offer for you, then you either have very limited view on gaming or you are fanboy attempting to defend your PS3, the difference in our comments was mine was a comment on the basis of the bluray in PS3 being seen as foremost the most important part and i also put the part about 360 games as a defence (a factual one) across to betleys little dig about the 360 having just mass effect and halo 3, your comment wasnt your opinion but an immdiate defense of my comment even though you were never mentioned for you to jump so quick on the back of my comment, yes you came across as a fanboy to me, my comment also never denied the PS3 has great games, i said `AS MANY AS THE 360` but thats just my opinion and yours may well differ?
I did not intend for it to come across like that, I wasn't trying to defend anything, I just wanted to set the record straight as it sounded like you intentionally said "need a remote" and rasied the price of it.
true you didn't denie the PS3 has Great games and you didn't admit it either "Also yes 360 does have Halo 3 and Mass Effect it also has a great range of great games" - "When the PS3 has as many GOOD games as the 360 has GOOD games" which to me sounded like you where stating it as fact that the PS3 has no great games only good games but the 360 has great and good games and more of them which is down to personal opinion and preferance nothing more.