Microsoft Confirms Going with Bluray

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Malik112099

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has this been posted? i have a baby in my arms and am too lazy to search...


http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Microsoft_Confirms_Going_with_Bluray/551-87585-581.html


Just two days back, we reported that Sony is busy wooing Microsoft to add Blu-ray support to its Xbox 360 gaming console.

The effort's paid off (or so it seems) -- with Microsoft now confirming that it's trying to figure out the best way to connect with Blu-ray. The company also seems to be working on ways to include device driver support for Blu-ray drives in its Windows operating system.

Incidentally at the Mix '08 conference in Las Vegas, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said, "We have already been working on, for example, in Windows, device driver support for Blu-ray drives and the like, and I think the world moves on."

"Toshiba has moved on. We have moved on, and we will support Blu-ray in ways that make sense," Ballmer had said rather pointedly.

Before Toshiba went public with withdrawing its HD DVD format, Microsoft had HD DVD players as add-on along with their Xbox 360 gaming consoles.

But with HD DVD all but dead and Blu-ray the winner, Microsoft had no option but to stop manufacturing HD DVD drives for its Xbox 360 console.

What wasn't clear though was whether Microsoft would finally go with the Blu-ray format. The latest admission from the company clears that confusion.
 
this is all just for pc's though. it's a no brainer for them to do that if it indeed becomes that standard next-gen disc.
 
I have a feeling that as solid-state gets cheaper and bigger storage and more people get broadband there won't be much need for a disc format for long.
 
[quote name='SpazX']I have a feeling that as solid-state gets cheaper and bigger storage and more people get broadband there won't be much need for a disc format for long.[/quote]

Agreed. I think before 2010 it could be more economically efficient to put movies on SD cards or something of that sorts and sell them from vending machines.
 
^^^

don't know about that. Broadband tech has been around for years now and the U.S. still doesn't have as much broadband subscribers %-wise as other countries. Plus the speeds nationwide aren't as fast unless you can get cable/FIOS.
 
Yeah, I'm not looking for MS to make a Blu-Ray attachment for the 360 anytime soon, especially given how poorly the HD-DVD attachment sold. Guess it's possible that a future version might have an internal Blu-Ray player if the prices come WAY down but that'd be years away if at all. MS is just saying that Windows will support Blu-Ray.
 
Well I can see it happening with PCs but not on 360s... Not until the next generation of gaming.
 
Well it looks like they may have jumped the gun on that announcement.



The comments by Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox 360, poured cold water on recent speculation that Microsoft could support Blu-ray after Toshiba Corp (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research), backer of the rival HD DVD format, gave up when key movie studios and retailers abandoned the technology.

"Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience," Greenberg told Reuters in an interview.

Microsoft, which has stopped making an HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox 360, would continue to invest in its Xbox Live online service that already lets users rent hundreds of movies, including ones in high-definition.

"We're the only console offering digital distribution of entertainment content," Greenberg said.

The software giant also expected that supply problems for the Xbox 360 meant the machine was outsold in the U.S. market by Sony's PlayStation 3 console in February for the second month in a row.

"We definitely expect we will trail in February as a result of our supply constraints," Greenberg said, adding: "By April, we will be in a very healthy inventory situation."

That would be in time for the April 29 launch of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc's (TTWO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) "Grand Theft Auto 4" game, which is widely expected to be one of the best-selling titles of 2008 and could drive purchases of the Xbox 360 and PS3

Greenberg spoke a day ahead of the planned release of U.S. video game sales data for February by market research firm NPD, whose monthly reports are pored over by game companies eager for bragging rights.

The PS3 struggled last year due to its high price and lack of must-have games, but sales have picked up in recent months thanks to price cuts in late 2008 and a slate of anticipated upcoming games.

"We still think we have a great value, that we have significantly better value than Sony. Every month we've actually been in stock we've outsold them by a 2 to 1 margin," Greenberg said.
Click to expand...
 
[quote name='dfo']especially given how poorly the HD-DVD attachment sold.[/QUOTE]

Why does everybody say this?

The truth is, it was one of the most successful attachments ever released at that price point and Microsoft considered it a surprise success.
 
[quote name='Sporadic']Why does everybody say this?

The truth is, it was one of the most successful attachments ever released at that price point and Microsoft considered it a surprise success.[/QUOTE]

Not to be rude but...Do you have a source?

I've only heard about BAD Xbox 360 HD DVD add on sales, never positive.
 
I'll second the request for a source. I've read many times that sales weren't great and that it was not a money-maker for them but I'm ready to be proved wrong.

Even if the HD-DVD add-on had been a huge hit though, with the price of Blu-Ray players coming down, it's hard to imagine that people are going to be excited about having to strap on a player to the Xbox 360 when they could get a standalone unit that won't require them to run the 360 to watch Blu-Rays.


[quote name='DisturbedZen']Not to be rude but...Do you have a source?

I've only heard about BAD Xbox 360 HD DVD add on sales, never positive.[/quote]
 
All BS aside my wish is that they will build a version of the system with BR built in and allow devs to make single disc content on BRs. haha funny right, I dont think it will happen either but it would be nice for these multi disc games.
 
Even if the HD DVD add-on sold horribly, the market is different now. Many people wouldn't buy in because there wasn't a winner so the purchase was too much of a risk (even if the player was cheap compared to standalones). A BD add-on wouldn't have that stigma. You can't really project the success of one based off the other's performance.
 
[quote name='Sporadic']Why does everybody say this?

The truth is, it was one of the most successful attachments ever released at that price point and Microsoft considered it a surprise success.[/quote]

I had read the sales number of the HD add on were around 180,000 units.
Not bad, but by no means great when compared to the number of 360's sold.
Sorry, don't have the source, it was in one of the sales numbers articles around the time Toshiba announced they were backing out of HD...
 
If you take 180,000 units (which I've also seen) x $180 average price (many were bought at $200, some were bought below the $179 price point it was at for awhile), that's still over $32 million in revenue. There had to be some kind of return on that, right?

Drop in the bucket for MS, but it could have justified its release.
 
[quote name='ThatDamnDave']If you take 180,000 units (which I've also seen) x $180 average price (many were bought at $200, some were bought below the $179 price point it was at for awhile), that's still over $32 million in revenue. There had to be some kind of return on that, right?

Drop in the bucket for MS, but it could have justified its release.[/quote]

Well, I highly doubt thats a return on the investment. Throw in hardware, marketing, etc, etc.

But the thing to remember in video games is that generally companies don't make money on hardware and usually lose money until a certain point.
 
[quote name='KaneRobot']Even if the HD DVD add-on sold horribly, the market is different now. Many people wouldn't buy in because there wasn't a winner so the purchase was too much of a risk (even if the player was cheap compared to standalones). A BD add-on wouldn't have that stigma. You can't really project the success of one based off the other's performance.[/quote]


I really don't think that many people were sitting on the fence..wasn't it around E3 last year, there was a survey of the ps3 and over 50% didn't realize it was a blu ray player...While I love me HD DVD add on, and my blu ray playing ps3, I don't think most people give 2 shits about the hd visuals espicially when you have to factor in the cost of getting a player and the increased cost of the discs. I think most people are happy with there dvd player. People on the boards can say well I had a bunch of friends that were waiting. In reality if you are posting on these boards, most likely your real life friends are into gaming and gadgets and would care about hd on there tv. Another major issue with msft adding the blu ray player, will be the cost of the player. You factor in the cost of the player, plus the cost of the system, most likely they will be a lot more pricey then the ps3. That is too big of a talking point to be handing in sony's lap. It isn't worth it. The 360 add on sold roughly 330k...lets say the blu ray add on 3x that and sells 1mill....going off of current sales figures and assuming no one else buys a 360 before the add on sells 1 mill units, that is 1 out of 18 users buying a blu ray add on. Not the best attach rate, espically considering you are handing sony a great talking point at every conference going down the road.
 
[quote name='DisturbedZen']Not to be rude but...Do you have a source?

I've only heard about BAD Xbox 360 HD DVD add on sales, never positive.[/QUOTE]

I could only find one from June 2007 but still.

A Microsoft representative told CNET UK that 155,000 Xbox 360 HD DVD add-ons have been sold in the U.S., making it the “biggest-selling accessory” ever sold for the console. By “biggest-selling,” Microsoft may be referring to the overall revenue, as it would seem unlikely that the HD DVD add-on would be more popular than extra controllers. Each HD DVD drive retails for around $200.
Click to expand...

http://www.dailytech.com/Xbox+360+HD+DVD+Addon+Sells+155000+Units+in+US/article7795.htm

I heard the number now is more around 300,000 which is fantastic numbers for something that was mainly over $100 and could only be used to play HD-DVDs
 
[quote name='Sporadic']Why does everybody say this?

The truth is, it was one of the most successful attachments ever released at that price point and Microsoft considered it a surprise success.[/QUOTE]

Because it's true, and because in terms of global sales, even Sega CD outdid it (having sold over half a million at least).

You can love your machine all you want, but let's not step outside of the boundaries of the real world.
 
Yea it was tempting when the drive was 80 bucks with the 5 mail in rebate movie deal. I kinda liked having both formats on the disc as well as I was going to buy the HD DVDs, watch the standard movie now and then the hi def later on when I got a player. Good thing I didn't do that lol.
 
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