Blu-ray Xbox 360 Planned By Microsoft

[gkarris]

Rumors, all. This is a rumors site.

Does make sense - MS just added HDMI, and need to introduce the 360 with the new chipset...

http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Gaming/Console/J7L7H2R4

Blu-ray Xbox 360 Planned By Microsoft
By David Richards | Monday | 18/02/2008


Rumours were circulating today that Microsoft is set to dump HD DVD and bring out a Blu ray Xbox 360 by as early as May 2008. The move will allow the Company to go head to head with the Sony PS3 gaming console which has been credited with being one of the main reasons that retailers have preferred Blu-ray over Toshiba’s HD DVD.

Insiders at Microsoft in the USA have told SmartHouse that Microsoft has already configured a standalone Blu-ray player that can be connected into an Xbox 360 and that subject to internal marketing and sales approvals the model could be on sale within 3 months.

The Company has also been working on a built in Blu-ray player however insiders are claiming that Microsoft see the HD format battle moving online with consumers offered 1080p movie and content files as a download as opposed to having to buy a HD DVD or Blu-ray disc.

Both Intel and Microsoft have been supporters of the HD DVD format that is set to be killed off this week.The Company has also held discussions with several OEM manufacturers of media centres with nearly all of them telling the software Company that they are set to move to Blu-ray configured Media Centres within the next month.

Late last week US Media Centre maker Niveus dumped HD DVD in favour of Blu-ray.

The Company VP of marketing Brian Paper said that Niveus had received support from Microsoft and Intel when implementing HD DVD. The format wasn't pushed on Niveus, he said, adding that the commitment in both Intel and Microsoft "isn't religious for HD DVD".

Michael Ephraim the Managing Director of Sony Computer Entertainment said: "We would welcome Microsoft to the Blu-ray stable. In fact it is quite logical for them as the PS3 has been very succesful in driving consumers to Blu-ray. In fact we believe that it has done more to win the format war than traditional Blu-ray player".

When asked whether Sony would grant Microsoft a Blu-ray licence he said: "That is up to Sony Corporate but I see no reason why they would not do it".

During CES 2006 the then Microsoft's Xbox corporate VP of worldwide marketing and publishing Peter Moore told Japanese site ITmedia that a Blu-ray Xbox 360 peripheral could appear for the system if the need arises. Moore admitted that Microsoft isn't sure of the next-generation format war's outcome, with the worst-case scenario being a repeat of the Beta vs. VHS war of the '80s.

However, he suggested that whatever the outcome of the HD-DVD/Blu-ray war, the Xbox 360 can adopt the dominant format since its uses an external drive.

 

[Much Ado]

Would Sony really grant MS a Blu-ray license?

I'm not so sure about 2008, but I'd image the XBox 360 v.II that is supposed to roll around in '10 will have an inbuilt BD drive.

 

[jhsfosho]

I think Microsoft has an invitation to join Blu.

Link

Would it be a good investment for Microsoft? Not Really. Only 12% of 360 owners bought a HD DVD drive and one could only expect similar results with a blu add-on. Microsoft probably knows that their market (gaming) is in competing with the Wii, not the PS3. With the PS3 arguably being the best Blu Ray player on the market right now, and with no other reasonably priced players coming out until summer, it will sell like crazy. Sales don't matter to developers if people don't buy games. I predict the PS3 will become the most "unattached" console in history, and that the other consoles will still sell more games than it, even if they do have a lower number of buyers.

 

[GFLPraxis]

Would Sony really grant MS a Blu-ray license?

Sure. Sony will then start making money off of Microsoft's own sales, plus it should increase Sony's movie sales to 360 owners.

 

[takao]

I think Microsoft has an invitation to join Blu.

Link

Would it be a good investment for Microsoft? Not Really. Only 12% of 360 owners bought a HD DVD drive and one could only expect similar results with a blu add-on. Microsoft probably knows that their market (gaming) is in competing with the Wii, not the PS3. With the PS3 arguably being the best Blu Ray player on the market right now, and with no other reasonably priced players coming out until summer, it will sell like crazy. Sales don't matter to developers if people don't buy games. I predict the PS3 will become the most "unattached" console in history, and that the other consoles will still sell more games than it, even if they do have a lower number of buyers.

if 12% of all 360 user had bought a hd dvd drive then this war would very likely still go on ... that would make more than a million players

that said releasing another external add on still can make a financial sense especially now when a winner is emerging and people are actually start buying those discs (sorry so far only early adopters have bought them... and those normally don't have problem affording yet another player and discs)
if they can sell 1-2 millions of blu ray player add ons for the 360 that could mean quite some profit

 

[gkarris]

I think Microsoft has an invitation to join Blu.

Link

“Downloading a 4.7GB movie is still an absolute pain for most people. So what would it be to download a 50GB 1080p movie? It would take an extraordinary amount of time and people are just not ready for such things,” he said.

YEP!

STILL waiting to download "Transformers" in HD on my AppleTV that I started last evening (I turned it off this morning before work and I just turned it on again, it's only at 75% on my slow DSL network)...

Just wanted to see what HD rentals on my AppleTV looked like. I usually only rent the SD and go out and buy the disc if I really like it...

 

[lucky3killer]

Would Sony really grant MS a Blu-ray license?

I'm not so sure about 2008, but I'd image the XBox 360 v.II that is supposed to roll around in '10 will have an inbuilt BD drive.

BD isn't OWNED by Sony, it's owned by BDA.

 

[gkarris]

BD isn't OWNED by Sony, it's owned by BDA.

Yes, it's a matter of Toshiba, MS, and the rest of the studios joining the BDA.

Toshiba may make that announcement tomorrow....

 

[jhsfosho]

if 12% of all 360 user had bought a hd dvd drive then this war would very likely still go on ... that would make more than a million players

I don't remember where I got 12%. This is the most recent figure I can find, pointing that the add on wouldn't sell more than 500,000 tops (leeway for holiday sales).
http://xboxfamily.com/xf/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1041&Itemid=2

Then compare it to the number of PS3's sold; almost 4 million in America, nearly 10 million worldwide. Granted not all PS3 owners will take advantage of blu ray. I have some friends who play blu ray on their 27'' SDTV's just because their PS3's can.

Speaking for myself, I would rather buy a PS3 than a 360 add-on, and am planning to do just that in the next year or so because I can play games on it too. Although gaming will be its secondary purpose to HD movie watching.

 

[lucky3killer]

I would be happy when MS make official confirm to port BD add-on for Xbox 360.

I'm Xbox 360 user, also own Wii too but I don't want PS3 for some reason.

BD add-on for Xbox 360 would work on Mac under Windows via bootcamp, it did same thing with HD-DVD add-on.

 

[flopticalcube]

Let's hope its quieter than the 360's internal drive. How is the HD-DVD external drive for noise?

 

[sikkinixx]

Sure. Sony will then start making money off of Microsoft's own sales, plus it should increase Sony's movie sales to 360 owners.

and with the little rumblings that MS may buy Epic (thus giving MS $$$ every time the Unreal Engine is used on any platform) it may be a good way for Sony to ink some cash-ola

 

[Agathon]

See... Sony were right. I remember when the 360 was announced and noted critics said that the decision to go with a standard DVD drive for games was a mistake. Looks like they knew what they were talking about.

 

[gkarris]

See... Sony were right. I remember when the 360 was announced and noted critics said that the decision to go with a standard DVD drive for games was a mistake. Looks like they knew what they were talking about.

Not really, the 360 was out earlier, and was and will always be cheaper than the PS3. What would've they gone with - HD DVD???

 

[GFLPraxis]

YEP!

STILL waiting to download "Transformers" in HD on my AppleTV that I started last evening (I turned it off this morning before work and I just turned it on again, it's only at 75% on my slow DSL network)...

Just wanted to see what HD rentals on my AppleTV looked like. I usually only rent the SD and go out and buy the disc if I really like it...

A 50 GB 1080p movie? Please. Consider that a dual-layer DVD, once ripped and encoded in MPEG-4 drops down to one or two gigabytes in size.

If a 1080p movie is 50 GB in size, you must be using some horrible encoding. It shouldn't be anywhere near that- it'll probably be a single-digit number.

Regardless, it'll still take a while to download unless you're on a very high speed connection. No instant gratification, and there are entire cities with no internet access outside of dialup.

Microsoft probably knows that their market (gaming) is in competing with the Wii, not the PS3.

Let me give you a hint- don't apply for a market analyst job

Firstly, the Wii is probably NOT having a huge effect on 360 sales. They're targeting totally different demographics- only people on really tight budgets will buy a Wii instead of a 360. Most Wii owners either have another console as well or never wanted a 360 in the first place (especially the casuals).

PS3 is the one targeting the same demographic, and worse- the PS3 is rapidly gaining.

It's been outselling the 360 consistently in Europe recently, by as much as three times on a monthly basis in some countries. At current rates the PS3 should have passed the 360 in European sales by the middle of this year barring a sudden shift away from the PS3 (unlikely with all of the exclusives on the way- especially considering how crazy Europe is for Gran Turismo).

The PS3's been outselling the 360 in Japan since launch and has a marketshare far larger over there.

And the PS3 just outsold the 360 for the first time in the states in January.

The fact that in NPD numbers the 360 is always in the lead makes the PS3 look bad, but you do have to remember that the 360 is in its second year. If you compare PS3 year one to 360 year one, PS3 did better- and since the PS3's finally reached the point where it sold MORE units in one month, it's actually on track to pass the 360.

[math nerd]If you compare the PS3 and 360's graphs side by side for North America, the 360 has the highest peak, but at the current point, the slope of the graph is even, and the PS3's slope has been consistently increasing faster.[/math nerd]

So, PS3 has won in Japan, is about to win in Europe, and is gaining ground in North America. And most importantly, it targets the same demographic.

Microsoft's probably starting to sweat.

 

[gkarris]

A 50 GB 1080p movie? Please. Consider that a dual-layer DVD, once ripped and encoded in MPEG-4 drops down to one or two gigabytes in size.

If a 1080p movie is 50 GB in size, you must be using some horrible encoding. It shouldn't be anywhere near that- it'll probably be a single-digit number.

What?

These are iTunes store purchases for my AppleTV.

"The Invasion" on SD for almost DVD quality was 1.6Gigs. "Transformers" in 720p is STILL downloading.

My point: HD downloads are just not worth it. I'm not going to pay $70/month for high speed cable internet...

I'll just rent the SD instead and if I like it, go get the disc itself...

 

[2nyRiggz]

Thats where the shortage announcement comes in....but I'm not suppose to comment on such things opps

So back to this MS buying epic thing....WTF?!

Sony will no doubt allow MS to put a BD external with the 360....its about the royalties on evey blu-ray attachement sold.



Bless

 

[robanga]

To be consistent with the 360s target of being a digital hub, I would guess we will see a stand alone BR drive similar to the HD one, sooner rather than later. This will help MS get the fence sitters that ma decide to try a PS3 because of this feature.

It seems like the PS3 fans are coming out of the woodwork on this and using it as yet another sign of " Microsoft's impending demise"

Nintendo is the big success story of late, still the 360 has considerable share and is now a profitable business for the Redmond clan. Sony has a long way to go but things are starting to pick up for them.

Its a three horse race and will be for some time.

 

[GFLPraxis]

What?

These are iTunes store purchases for my AppleTV.

"The Invasion" on SD for almost DVD quality was 1.6Gigs. "Transformers" in 720p is STILL downloading.

My point: HD downloads are just not worth it. I'm not going to pay $70/month for high speed cable internet...

I'll just rent the SD instead and if I like it, go get the disc itself...

Oh I don't doubt they take a while to download. But they are nowhere near 50 gigs is all I'm saying.

Like you said- "The Invasion" was 1.6 gigs. The DVD would have been 9 gigs. The wonders of compression...

A 1080p movie is probably 8 or 9 gigabytes. Not 50.

 

[JackAxe]

still the 360 has considerable share and is now a profitable business for the Redmond clan.

Wake me when MS is no longer hemorrhaging money on the XBox, I wouldn't consider over 6 billion lost profitable.

<]=)

 

[GFLPraxis]

still the 360 has considerable share and is now a profitable business for the Redmond clan.

Over 6 billion lost, and the massive XBox 360 failure rates have probably minimized any recent profits if they exist.

 

[robanga]

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8838&Itemid=2

To me, you are profitable when you are taking in more money than you are spending. Not when you are done recouping your initial investment. (that would be a break even point for a project, something quite different)

So I'd guess that even with failure rates as high as they are (recent report says 16%, I think its even higher than that), they are no longer "hemorrhaging dollars". They took a large accounting charge to pay for extending warranties and they still are making a profit, that gives you some glimpse into the scale of the business.

 

[GFLPraxis]

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8838&Itemid=2

To me, you are profitable when you are taking in more money than you are spending. Not when you are done recouping your initial investment. (that would be a break even point for a project, something quite different)

So I'd guess that even with failure rates as high as they are (recent report says 16%, I think its even higher than that), they are no longer "hemorrhaging dollars". They took a large accounting charge to pay for extending warranties and they still are making a profit, that gives you some glimpse into the scale of the business.

I'm sorry, but making $300 million in a quarter compared to a >$6 billion loss is hardly a trend. The original XBox had a single profitable quarter- the quarter in which Halo 2 was released. The XBox 360 has had two profitable quarters, right after Halo 3's release.

These profitable quarters are NOTHING compared to what the system has lost.

I question whether it will be long term or not. We will see if it remains consistent. Holiday seasons are always the most profitable. Just because the Christmas after a Halo launch was profitable does not mean spring and summer will be.

In fact, the fact that the highest software sales in history (Halo 3) "only" made up for the previous year's loss over the same time period is actually rather pathetic.

 

[e²Studios]

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8838&Itemid=2

To me, you are profitable when you are taking in more money than you are spending. Not when you are done recouping your initial investment. (that would be a break even point for a project, something quite different)

So I'd guess that even with failure rates as high as they are (recent report says 16%, I think its even higher than that), they are no longer "hemorrhaging dollars". They took a large accounting charge to pay for extending warranties and they still are making a profit, that gives you some glimpse into the scale of the business.

Its nice to see there are still dreamers with their collectives heads up their.. well you know..

I'm sorry, but making $300 million in a quarter compared to a >$6 billion loss is hardly a trend. The original XBox had a single profitable quarter- the quarter in which Halo 2 was released. The XBox 360 has had two profitable quarters, right after Halo 3's release.

These profitable quarters are NOTHING compared to what the system has lost.

I question whether it will be long term or not. We will see if it remains consistent. Holiday seasons are always the most profitable. Just because the Christmas after a Halo launch was profitable does not mean spring and summer will be.

In fact, the fact that the highest software sales in history (Halo 3) "only" made up for the previous year's loss over the same time period is actually rather pathetic.

It's even better to see that there are people with their heads in the right place Good analysis.

Ed

 

[Agathon]

Not really, the 360 was out earlier, and was and will always be cheaper than the PS3. What would've they gone with - HD DVD???

Yes.

There are two aspects to this. First, the PS3 is a better media centre, since it has blu ray built in, and because it is much quieter. If you listen to music at a normal volume, all you can hear is the Xbox fan.

But the real killer isn't going to show yet. Look at all these wonderful games with vast worlds and intricate plots. Now how much of that kind of stuff can you fit on to a normal DVD as opposed to a blu ray disc? Some games are already that big. World of Warcraft is an example (about 15 gigs when I last had it installed). In a couple of years a DVD just won't be enough.

Microsoft has said that games will never be run off of an addon HD disc drive. That is a limitation that will become more evident over the life of the console.

And the Xbox is pretty expensive once you buy the addons to achieve the same functionality as the PS3 (I know, I own both consoles). As far as gaming goes, they are about the same right now, but Microsoft's decision not to go with HD game media will hurt them.