Tokyo (Japan) - Microsoft will be offering an HD DVD upgrade for its Xbox 360 game console that will allow the company to compete with Sony in the HD arena. The new drive will be available on 17 November, the launch date of the Playstation 3. The announcement, made at the Tokyo Game Show 2006, came as part of a strengthened marketing initiative for the Xbox 360 in a time when Sony and Nintendo are gearing up for the release of their next-gen game consoles. The price of the HD DVD drive, ¥19,800 or about $168, is well below previous estimates and increases the pricing pressure on Sony. According to Microsoft, the new drive is 1080p capable, which puts the high-end and hard drive-equipped (20 GB) Xbox 360 in direct competition with the HDMI, 1080p capable PS3. However, the Xbox 360 system will be offered in a market dominated by the Playstation for around $480, while the comparable PS3 system with a 60 GB drive will retail for about $600. Pricing and availability for the HD DVD drive in the US have not been announced. At least for users who already own an Xbox 360, the HD DVD addition may be the most economical way to watch HD DVD movies. According to data provided by Pricegrabber.com, Toshiba's HDA1 HD-DVD player currently sells for an average of $396 through etail stores. However, Toshiba's first generation HD DVD players are limited to 1080i capability and the already announced and soon to be shipped 1080p generation my cost as much as $1000 - which makes the Xbox 360 HD DVD system a true bargain, even if one has to buy the game console. Sony appears to be still battling introduction problems of its next-generation game console, which the company described as one of its main four business pillars. The company recently announced that it will cut back the launch allocation of the console from two million to only 500,000 units worldwide. 400,000 consoles will be made available on 17 November in the U.S. and 100,000 devices will be shipped to Japanese retailers. Source: TG Daily
Extremely impressive deal assuming it pans out and provides the impressive video quality 1080p should offer. It's naturally not for games like Blueray on PS3 will be but it's good for those that want to watch HD DVD's on the cheap I guess. I still don't know what MS is going to do about the upcomming lack of storage space Dual Layer DVD's are going to run into.
Companies are already looking at manufacturing multilayer discs. Here's a quote from Sound & Vision , May 2006 page 46. Sony's PS3 price doesn't seem so high now since it natively ships with a Blu-ray player.
That's true. However, the HD-DVD is an optional add-on, whereas the PS3 doesn't give you that choice. I think Microsoft has an edge because they are making it available for those who want it, but not forcing people to take it if they don't want/need it. It allows a cheaper entry to the Xbox360, and I do think that's their edge. I could be wrong. You also have to consider the $500 PS3 is the basic version, where as even with the deluxe 360, adding the HD-DVD player isn't going to make the final price that much more.
Those who do want it will have wasted money on the native player whereas it could have been cheaper than a $170 upgrade to have an hd dvd in every console. I sincerely think the sales wouldn't have suffered at all if it had been the case. I believe that's exactly the point though... Not taking availability into consideration, I think ps3s are great value since Blu-ray players cost quite a bit more than the ps3, whereas an xbox w/ HD DVD player cost just about the same as an HD DVD player. Someone who doesn't play games could buy a ps3 and save some cash, whereas one would be better off buying a "standard" HD DVD player if one goes that route. From a marketing point of view, I think Sony made a great decision. Microsoft however, just found another way to make people upgrade. Not that people would notice it though.
MS has stated that the HD-DVD addon will only be for movies so at least their not forcing everyone to buy one for something most people won't even use. I can't see double layer dvd's being a problem for developers for a bit, after all the only one with a bigger disc format will be Sony and with the companies already hurting on development costs I can't see them spending the extra money adding content for the PS3 unless Sony is going to subsidize them. If developers do want to start using more space, they can release HD-DVD games and at the moment their isn't a huge size advantage in BR over HD-DVD, as on the 26th they'll have started releasing a 30GB dual layer HD-DVD disc with DVD-9 on the other side and with 45GB discs on the horizon the size advantage is quickly shrinking.
Forgot to add that the 360 addon will support 1080p as well, so it will be quite a bit cheaper than buying the XA2 which is going to be Toshiba's 1080p player and will be priced at $999. Will have to wait and see what the image quality is like but honestly looking at past efforts I don't give either system high hopes for image quality vs. a standalone player.
If the HD DVD add on is just for movies releasing games on HD DVD would be a huge mistake, forcing people to spend $170 just to play them. MS's only route is to ship big games on multiple DVD's, or offer all users free HD DVD drives, otherwise people are going to be unhappy.
I feel its abit like when you had to buy a remote to watch dvds on the xbox. I mean if you could just use the controller they could have had a better hold on the market as now u get ps2s with built in network ports.
That's one thing the PS2 has the Xbox 1 on big time, DVD playback, or at leas the ease thereof. You don't need to buy any separate disks and remotes, you can just pop in what you want right off the bat.
