Rumor: Blu-ray Xbox 360 soon
- Thread starter Azza
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Caporegime
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Caporegime
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Well thats where i found out, I just got bored of putting duplicate thread tbh 
Soldato
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not sure if i want to buy a 360 on payday now :/ mind you, i'm sure i can always trade it in.
It's been rumoured, and denied by MS for a while. Well, when I say denied it's more of "We currently have no public plans to produce.... etc".
Pragmaticaly MS I suspect would have liked both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray to beat the bejeezus out of each other and fail, having to buy plastic silver spinning disks to play back media is so 20th century
. I'm sure MS via 360 and Media centre would like nothing more than to set the defacto standard for downloadable HD Video content in much the same way Apple did via iTunes for Audio. They've made a start with 360 Live but I suspect HD-DVD caved and died a little earlier than hoped 
Having said that, with the wholsesale backing of Blu-Ray from the movie industry now it's relatively easy for MS to produce an add on Blu-Ray drive. For all the agry bargy about Sony and MS with PS3 and 360 lets not forget in most other other areas they're close partners, the Sony Viao laptops being the most obvious example.
The upshot is despite what the press would like to paint as a picture, MS was a secondary supporter alongside companies like Intel for HD-DVD, the leadership was Toshiba, although of course that doesn't make for such a good story. As such I can't see it being a massive problem for MS to embrace Blu-Ray. Let's face it, MS have already included Blu-Ray support into Vista SP1.
As opposed to a price cut later in the year it wouldn't suprise me if for the holidays period 2008 we see an add on Blu-Ray drive for ~£80 for existing consoles and a mid life facelift for new 360's with the Jasper GPU & CPU die shrinks and the integral DVD drive being replaced by Blu-Ray at the current price (Holy long sentance batman!!!)
Pragmaticaly MS I suspect would have liked both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray to beat the bejeezus out of each other and fail, having to buy plastic silver spinning disks to play back media is so 20th century
. I'm sure MS via 360 and Media centre would like nothing more than to set the defacto standard for downloadable HD Video content in much the same way Apple did via iTunes for Audio. They've made a start with 360 Live but I suspect HD-DVD caved and died a little earlier than hoped Having said that, with the wholsesale backing of Blu-Ray from the movie industry now it's relatively easy for MS to produce an add on Blu-Ray drive. For all the agry bargy about Sony and MS with PS3 and 360 lets not forget in most other other areas they're close partners, the Sony Viao laptops being the most obvious example.
The upshot is despite what the press would like to paint as a picture, MS was a secondary supporter alongside companies like Intel for HD-DVD, the leadership was Toshiba, although of course that doesn't make for such a good story. As such I can't see it being a massive problem for MS to embrace Blu-Ray. Let's face it, MS have already included Blu-Ray support into Vista SP1.
As opposed to a price cut later in the year it wouldn't suprise me if for the holidays period 2008 we see an add on Blu-Ray drive for ~£80 for existing consoles and a mid life facelift for new 360's with the Jasper GPU & CPU die shrinks and the integral DVD drive being replaced by Blu-Ray at the current price (Holy long sentance batman!!!)
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OK, let me get this straight....
2005/06 (correct?) console 360 fans pay £350 or so for an X360 20GB HD etc
2007 (correct?) console 360 fans pay £300 or so for an X360 elite 120GB HD etc
2008/09 (possible...) console 360 fans pay £X00 or so for a X360 BR-D etc
.... and they said the PS3 was expensive...
My mate is still refusing to cough up £150 bet we had about who would win Blu-ray or HD-DVD... and also if the PS3 overtakes the 360 in sales come 2009 (near endlife) he agreed to another £100 bet... unlikely i'll get that either off the sore loser...
Is it just me or does it seem strange that MS have potentially cost a good few thousand customers upwards of £1000 for pretty much the same console and add-ons that are in effect all prototype consoles.
2005/06 (correct?) console 360 fans pay £350 or so for an X360 20GB HD etc
2007 (correct?) console 360 fans pay £300 or so for an X360 elite 120GB HD etc
2008/09 (possible...) console 360 fans pay £X00 or so for a X360 BR-D etc
.... and they said the PS3 was expensive...
My mate is still refusing to cough up £150 bet we had about who would win Blu-ray or HD-DVD... and also if the PS3 overtakes the 360 in sales come 2009 (near endlife) he agreed to another £100 bet... unlikely i'll get that either off the sore loser...
Is it just me or does it seem strange that MS have potentially cost a good few thousand customers upwards of £1000 for pretty much the same console and add-ons that are in effect all prototype consoles.
But it doesnt matter which console you get really, you can still get a 360 for £150 and play all the games that the £250 sku can play, and when you think it is actually a "games" console it seems like a pretty good buy,
I do love my ps3 but for totally different reasons than my 360, the 360 is an excellent games console / media centre, the ps3 plays blu-ray
I really can't see the point tbh, by the time an add-on is released stand-alone Blu-Ray players are likely to be the same price/cheaper (judging by the cost of the HD-DVD add-on). And for people that don't own 360s yet, it will work out a lot cheaper to buy a PS3 (not opening Pandora's box there). Microsoft cant implement games onto the format as the majority of owners will not have one, and Sony make money of MS (if thats an issue).
This article is about an internal drive though isn't it? (haven't read it)
Why it hasnt cost me more than my orignal £270. Even if I wanted to upgrade the HDD I dont need to buy an elite and spending hundreds on a HDMI connection over VGA or component is just for those that need the connector or the foolish.
I'd only buy a Bluray drive for the 360 if it was an add on. If not they can poke it. If its not going to be for games I dont care.
£1000? MS would have been better off giving me a £1000 and telling me never to buy one of their consoles again the amount i've cost them in returns
Soldato
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In OXM they stated Microsoft have no plans to bring Blu-Ray to the 360.
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Thats what ive heard too, although an add on drive i suspect is not out of the question, lets face it since the 360 already supports high def video via the HD-DVD add on then it would only make sense for MS to bring out a blu-ray one. To Put a marketing spin on things, how can they justify having a console at the forefront of the HD revoloution that DOES NOT play the mainstream format?
When put like that i think the answer is obvious.
Not sure I agree with you there. I was suggesting that instead of a price cut in the run up to christmas MS could just include an internal BR drive in a refresh console for the same price it is now, i.e. anywhere between £150 and £250 depending on the SKU (i.e. Arcade, Elite etc).
That would make make a 360 with Blu-Ray, 20mb drive plus the wireless adapter for ~£240
I do agree that MS wouldn't use BR for games but I'm not sure that's a big deal, it's primary purpose even on the PS3 is pretty much for films.
All guess work on my part but certainly it would put the cat amongst the pidgeons.
Existing 360 owners could then buy the BR add on drive for ~£80 if they wanted to bundled with a few films.
Just a thought.
If this new Sku is quiet, can support all current blu-ray profiles and has excellent picture quality then kudos to MS and it means Sony needs to buck it ideas up in other areas to compete.
It will be interesting to see what the price will be too.
It will be interesting to see what the price will be too.
Yep, it's just you.
You'd have to be mad (or well off I suppose) to go buy each new sku, especially as it doesn't effect the games you can play.
Even if you had a launch console, you would just upgrade the hard drive and an external BR drive if you wanted them.
You're not completely with it are you? You buy the console once, and most people buy the premium/pro range so that's a 1 off payment of £200 if you get is with GTA4.
I would prefer an addon drive, its putting everyone with a 360 in a position to buy a new 360 which is what Microsoft Probably wants, i wont be paying over the current premium for one though if thats what they do.
in fact i wont even buy one if the noise is increased or the same as it is.
in fact i wont even buy one if the noise is increased or the same as it is.