Microsoft coming to the Blu-Ray party?

[KeanosMagicHat]

The FT are reporting that Sony US President Stan Glasgow has confirmed talks are underway for MS to include Blu-Ray drives in future XBOX 360's and / or a potential add-on drive.

That'll certainly help adoption for Blu-Ray if it comes off and also introduce more competition between the XBOX and the PS3 which can only be good for owners of both systems.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e708bb9c-e...nclick_check=1

On another note, he's also predicting $300 standalone Blu-Ray players in the US by the end of the year.

[tutu]

Microsoft have debunked such claims but it is there standard reply for an unreleased product. There is a rumour of a price cut for the 360 on March 14th which could lead to an extra SKU.

I think it would make more sense to make an add-on drive. They could include a blu-ray drive in the Next Xbox (after 360).

[eric pisch]

Originally Posted by KeanosMagicHat

The FT are reporting that Sony US President Stan Glasgow has confirmed talks are underway for MS to include Blu-Ray drives in future XBOX 360's and / or a potential add-on drive.

That'll certainly help adoption for Blu-Ray if it comes off and also introduce more competition between the XBOX and the PS3 which can only be good for owners of both systems.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e708bb9c-e...nclick_check=1

On another note, he's also predicting $300 standalone Blu-Ray players in the US by the end of the year.

i was shown the 360 BD player about a month after the hd one came out, well thats what the MS guy said it was, alot of people have seen it

[KeanosMagicHat]

Originally Posted by tutu

Microsoft have debunked such claims but it is there standard reply for an unreleased product. There is a rumour of a price cut for the 360 on March 14th which could lead to an extra SKU.

I think it would make more sense to make an add-on drive. They could include a blu-ray drive in the Next Xbox (after 360).

I agree with everything you've said.

One thing I'd add though was that all the MS "debunking" has taken place before this report and this is the first time a senior management figure from Sony has spoken out on the matter.

I think we can take it as read that the talks are happening.

Whether they come to something or not is another matter.

Originally Posted by eric pisch

i was shown the 360 BD player about a month after the hd one came out, alot of people have seen it

Really .... where was that?

I take it that it was a 3rd party device?

[HummerUK]

I suppose Microsoft would want to integrate Blu-Ray drives & media as the default for their various windows operations system.
Also then for distribution of the Windows family of products new releases and upgrades (if more than 9Gb in size).

HummerUK

[dllord]

Well MS do need to be thinking about some sort of disc based storage device for the next Xbox which is no doubt in the design stage as we speak.
100% downloadable games are not going to be practical within the next in line generation of consoles so MS will need a storage medium now that HD-DVD has gone belly up.

[KeanosMagicHat]

It's official !!!

After MS as a company initially getting in a big huff over the whole thing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has confirmed Blu-Ray is the way forward for the organisation.

'He said Microsoft will work with the Blu-ray next-generation DVD format in some form following the demise of Toshiba's HD-DVD, which Microsoft previously supported. "We've 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've moved on, and we'll support Blu-ray in ways that make sense."'

Source

This is another big boost in the arm for Blu-Ray adoption I reckon.

[tutu]

Nothing about the Xbox 360 however. If they did indeed bring out a new SKU with a built in Blu-Ray drive then it would still be a problem that you would have to find one of the quiet ones! (two different fan manufacturers - one is really loud, the other not so loud).

I'm building a silent-ish PC (as I don't game anymore) so this will have to do for now. I do like using my 360 as it's more or less plug n' play.

With PowerDVD it's more like plug n' pray. With Independence Day I am getting DTS 5.1 on my amp, Black Hawk Down DD 5.1 - but on Gone in 60 Seconds and the Spiderman trilogy I am only getting PCM! PowerDVD also crashes on BD-J game included with Independence Day. My mouse does not let me access the menu system in films and I have to use the Keyboard! I even get "Prohibited" when I select "Top Menu" which is nice

Some of those I would attribute to being on 64-bit (SPDIF etc.), on 32-bit no such issue.

[KeanosMagicHat]

Following CEO Steve Ballmer's announcement that MS would support Blu-Ray, Neil Thompson - Microsoft's Senior Regional Director, Northern Europe, Entertainment & Devices Division has made a bit of an error.

He basically admitted what many suspected all along that MS decided prior to "backing" HD-DVD that they wanted downloads to be the future of HD content distribution rather than disc based formats.

Their support of HD-DVD was merely an attempt to prolong the war until technology was available in the majority of homes.

The interview was in the Guardian and was mainly regarding the XBOX 360. The interviewer slipped in a question on HD-DVD which must have caught Thompson out as he gave an unguarded reply, before trying to change the subject;

______________________

'The abrupt collapse of the HD DVD format (which Microsoft officially announced back in 2005) made the Xbox's high definition accessories obsolete and handed victory to Sony almost overnight.

What does it feel like to back the wrong horse? Thompson laughs resolutely. "What do you mean?" he jokes. "The horse that we're fundamentally backing is the one that says the future of entertainment content is online digital distribution. I would argue that we backed the right horse.

"If we're sitting here in 12 or 18 months time, we'll be saying 'why were people even thinking about a disc format when it's really about digital distribution?' Our strategy's been developed for the last six or seven years, and ever since we launched the platform it [online content] has been our big, big, big bet."

Source

__________________

6 or 7 years huh? That's several years before MS announced support of HD-DVD and confirms the suspicion that it was all an attempt to make the disc format fail.

So much for working in the interests of the consumer .....

[pixelpixel]

They are already doing it.....catch up people. Its via a pc, Dell even now sell blu-ray drives within laptops these days.

Just waiting for Apple to catch up

I think that the 360 is coming to the end of its 'internal' life cycle and to start adding things would be a big shame.

HD-DVD has gone so what else has Microsoft got to use on the next wave ?

I just hope Sony and Microsoft don't fall out over the colour of the case for the games / movies

[Sonic67]

Originally Posted by KeanosMagicHat

"Their support of HD-DVD was merely an attempt to prolong the war until technology was available in the majority of homes."

"That's several years before MS announced support of HD-DVD and confirms the suspicion that it was all an attempt to make the disc format fail."

I can't see that. Yes they think downloads will be the future. So does Steve Jobs. So does Sony and others.

However I can't see any evidence they wanted to prolong a format war. I imagine backing HD DVD cost Microsoft a lot of money and they'd have liked to see it succeed. Also can you really see them support Sony's technology unless they had to? Sony is their rival games console manufacturer.

[KeanosMagicHat]

Originally Posted by Sonic67

I can't see that. Yes they think downloads will be the future. So does Steve Jobs. So does Sony and others.

However I can't see any evidence they wanted to prolong a format war .....

I agree about downloads, they will be the future.

In fact they could be standard within 5 years or so, especially with developments in technology such this one from Bangor University;

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showp...3&postcount=40

As for the evidence that they sought to prolong the war ..... the evidence is the words of this Microsoft exec.

He said, "The horse that we're fundamentally backing is the one that says the future of entertainment content is online digital distribution" followed by, "Our strategy's been developed for the last six or seven years, and ever since we launched the platform it [online content] has been our big, big, big bet"

Well as I said MS only announced support for HD-DVD in October 2005 (Source)

Thompson claims their strategy for online distribution began in either 2001 or 2002.

Disc based media was an afterthought and you have to ask yourself why.

My conclusion from this quote is what was already suspected by many industry commentators. MS knows that the technology isn't there yet to allow a proper consumer download service and did not want any HD disc based format to take hold in the meantime.

The confusion around the war was therefore in their interests and worth the limited investment to ultimately emerge as a leader in the downloadable content world.

[kopchoir]

This story is old hat and has been covered to death on the 360 forums the general consesus is that ms will use a downloadable content service and there are some people who actually think ms knew they were backing the looser from the start hence the reason they did not bundle hd-dvd add on into the console.

To be honest i couldnt care less if ms go down the blu-ray route (which they wont in their consoles thats for sure)as long as they produce the games for the machine then fine, most people who have bought a ps3 bought it for a decent blu-ray player not as a games machine.

Just one last thought microsoft announced recently that they have teamed up with bt vision and if you have a 360 and your broadband supplier is bt you can get bt vision through your 360, microsoft know what they are doing why spend cash on disks that can be hacked and copied(and yes blu-ray has already been hacked) when you can have your own digital rights mangement anyone who has fallen fowl of the 360 drm fiasco know how difficult this can be.
For downloadable films,tv shows and content and the service is paid for by there own currency with microsoft points so quids in there then

pixel if you honestly think the 360 is at the end of its internal life maybe but people who have bought a 360 are gamers and still use there machine for what it was intended to do but as we know the 360 has years on the ps3
so when the ps3 finally breaks the game/movie barrier they will do eventually
microsoft will be waiting in teh wings with there new machine.

No blu-ray player no hd-dvd a quiter machine a huge hd and downloadble content at the push of a button movies,tv shows,music,live television,games
you wont need any other piece of kit plus with mce and your own currency the worlds you oyster.

All here say and all imo but this is where its going to be

[KeanosMagicHat]

Originally Posted by kopchoir

This story is old hat ...

Hmm .... not really.

The quote I posted is from an interview published on Thursday.

It's the first time an MS exec has admitted they had plans for domination in the downloadable content market long before their support of HD-DVD and that DLC has always been their, "big, big bet".


EDIT - As a note, the aim of this thread is to discuss the affect of these decisions / quotes on HD Movies uptake and channels of distribution both Blu-Ray and online.

[kopchoir]

Originally Posted by KeanosMagicHat

Hmm .... not really.

Old hat
Sony: We are talking to MS about Blu-Ray for 360