We’ve been saying it for weeks, but as of this week it’s absolutely crystal clear, HD-DVD as a competitor in “the format war” is dead. Blu-ray has clearly won. This news has sparked a powder keg of articles, opinion pieces, editorials, and now we’ll complete the circle with my rant (yeah, I know… who am I to say it ends here?) Let’s try to look at this from all angles and see if it really makes sense for Microsoft to jump out of the kiddie pool and into the deep end with Blu-ray.
I want to look at this from a few different angles and frankly, bullet points aren’t getting their due on the internet, so I’ve worked out a deal to get bullet points for half off… here we go!
What does Microsoft have to gain by adding a Blu-ray add-on to the 360?
- People will be able to HD content in the industry standard format on their console via an external drive.
- They will be perceived as catering to consumer choice.
- They can sell hardware; presumably they make money selling the HD-DVD add-on, why not a Blu-ray version?
- They negate one newly justified feather in Sony’s cap.
- They effectively reduce the cost of Blu-ray entry for 360 owners.
What does Microsoft have to lose by adding a Blu-ray add-on to the 360?
- They probably can’t compete price-wise with the PS3 when you consider the “big picture” price. At best they will probably lose most of their price advantage, at worst, they will end up more expensive than the PS3.
- They likely won’t get any income from the sale of Blu-ray movies; their income will solely be from the sale of the Blu-ray player.
- If they opt for an internal drive, they may be seen as “trying to turn the 360 into a PS3″ by gradually, over time, adding models with larger hard drives, HDMI, Blu-ray playback, higher price, etc. This could potentially swell into an embarrassing prospect if the fickle interweb decides it’s time to hate on Microsoft for a while.
- They still won’t be able to leverage the enhanced storage capacity of Blu-ray for gaming which will in-effect point out that not only did their competition get it right choosing Blu-ray, they can utilize it more fully than Microsoft can. Yes, I realize HD-DVD and Blu-ray weren’t on the market when the 360 launched.
- There were early reports saying the HD-DVD software heavily taxed the Xbox 360. While it’s clear Blu-ray and HD-DVD used the same set of audio/video codecs, it’s unclear whether the 360 has enough oomph to handle said playback and layer on the BD-J (Java Version Machine) required by the Blu-ray spec. The last thing Microsoft needs to do is put out a Blu-ray offering that is somehow crippled or unlicensed.
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In my opinion, Microsoft will probably try to focus on Digital Download from XBL as the main source of media, while in the background trying to put out an optional (though less marketed) Blu-ray drive. (If they can get the license for the hardware).
Microsoft will also change thier marketing campaign in general to focus more on the “gaming machine” aspect and how they are the supposedly the main hardcore video game provider.
We might see XBL upgrades or some kind of gaming related enhancement to the 360. Even though HD-DVD does not hurt the 360, it gives them one less thing to tout as being a reason to buy thier console and one more for Sony to buy theirs.
In short
I will eat my hat if microsoft go bluray
and my hat’s made of tweed
Consumers who have bought HD-DVD drive add ons will in no way buy a Blu-ray add on drive. Simply for the fact they’ve spent a lot of money on HD-DVD for nothing.
Unlucky guys lol
Perhaps those few who bought the HD-DVD add-on would go buy a PS3 now that it definitely has the prefered HD hard disk format and is one of the top rated players
The people who bought it are obviously into movies enough to take a risk on not only an unknown format, but a $200.00 add-on.
Who knows, this might actually “hurt” 360 slightly more then expected when it comes to those HD junkies.
@rothbart
“Xbox Live Video Marketplace content is in 720p instead of 1080p like Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Folks buying 1080p sets may be inclined to prefer media that takes full advantage of their TVs’ capabilities given the choice.”
This isn’t all true, as such, if you own a 360 and have it going though component or HDMI, not many TV’s have proper 1080p pixel mapping resolution. And also the difference between 720p and 1080p is minute, unless you sit right up in front of you’re TV.
A blu-ray player has been confirmed for 360s and will be released in May 2008. That’s what I heard.
@insert username here
Care to give us a link to a site that would say such a thing?
Well those digital downloads don’t play at the advertised resolution, they’re actually less than that. Probably because of the compression. They do look good but not as good as blu-ray.
@Olly Newport: plain and simple, the HD content offered currently via XBLVM is 720p. How can you dispute that? Go look for yourself. It’s clearly labeled. I’ve also heard complaints that it’s highly compressed 720p although I can’t speak to that personally because I refuse to buy/rent anything from XBLVM myself.
@insert username here: “Hearing” != “Confirmed”, otherwise it’s confirmed you’re an idiot*.
*Not really, you’re just talking like one…
i feel like responding to your articles but i would like to find out why you are such a sony fanboy first. and i am serious about this. i just want to understand how you became a sony fanboy.
Sean may just seem fanboyish because he is filling in the gap on Sarcastic Gamer. I mean, Doc and Lono do seem to have the 360 covered well…and the Wii…..is special in its own way. So maybe Sean is just filling in the blank and he infact is not as fanboyish as some make him out to be.
Maybe…?
honestly, i have a hard time believing microsoft is going to offer a blu-ray player as an addon for the 360. it’s a heavily sony-branded format, and would likely be seen by industry analysts as diluting the microsoft xbox 360 brand. besides, would sony allow their technology to be used in such a fashion?
i don’t see it happening.
i really don’t think they need to “embrace” blu-ray yet. by the next generation of consoles i think that they will have to have something to use to play the games. but i don’t think that they will accept a player that has sony stamped all over the product.
@insert username here
You Tube or it didn’t happen. Lol.
Everyone seems to forget the HD DVD add-on was a Toshiba product at heart. So if Microsoft “does” a BD add-on, it won’t likely be an actual MS product. They’ve said it from the start – digital distribution – that’s the bandwagon their wagering on. They had some hand in HD DVD’s tech, but weren’t pushing it. It wasn’t their own.
Plus with the cost of HD declining, who in their right mind is going to buy a handicapped add-on anyway? Anyone who defends the HD DVD add-on as great is smoking crack. It’s most flaunted feature was it’s initial price (in comparison to the cost of standalone HD DVD players at the time).
You want Blu-ray movies? Buy a PS3 or wait and get a standlone BD player. End of story.
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