Xbox 360 HD-DVD Addon for 200usd?


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Microsoft will launch external HD-DVD drives for its Xbox 360 at a retail price of US$200 by Christmas of this year, and Taiwanese games developers and gaming services providers indicated this this is a smart marketing strategy as compared with Sony's adoption of built-in BD drives for its PlayStation 3 (PS3).

External drives have more flexibility than built-in models, the companies pointed out, while adding that despite BD having a much larger storage capacity than HD-DVD, pre-installation of BD drives may decrease the market competitiveness of PS3 units.

Source | http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20060814A5023.html

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hmmm, i dont think i can trust the source but if its in fact $200, im bit dissapointed, i thought it might be cheaper, im pretty sure thats close to the price of Wii, well at least i wont have to pay $400 for a stand alone player...

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Hmm, Seems a bit expensive since we already shelled out a lot of money for the actual Xbox360 itself. cause this is just for the drive itself, I would of thought like 100 dollars would of done it, but 200? seems a bit unresonable for just a drive.

Neztea

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Everyone has been speculating a price point of $200 as that would make the most sense. But still, I'll await an official Press Release from Microsoft. But still, I'd be happy with a $200 HD-DVD add-on option for when I'm ready to make the jump to HD-movies :)

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Hmm, Seems a bit expensive since we already shelled out a lot of money for the actual Xbox360 itself. cause this is just for the drive itself, I would of thought like 100 dollars would of done it, but 200? seems a bit unresonable for just a drive.

Neztea

Its the price you pay for new drive technology. You can't really expect Microsoft to cover the costs like they do with the 360 base unit's because Microsoft don't get any cuts from HD-DvD movie sales like they do with 360 game sales.

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Its the price you pay for new drive technology. You can't really expect Microsoft to cover the costs like they do with the 360 base unit's because Microsoft don't get any cuts from HD-DvD movies like they do with 360 game sales.

:yes: Very good point.

What does Microsoft get from selling HD-DVD addons in the long term? Sure in the short term they'll make some money on selling the addons themselves, but after that?

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i agree...$200 would probably keep me from getting it anytime soon...but it does seem like it is comparably 'cheap' for being a new technology

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What does Microsoft get from selling HD-DVD addons in the long term? Sure in the short term they'll make some money on selling the addons themselves, but after that?

They get to say: "We can play a next-gen format too!" :laugh: Edited by magik
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They get to say "We can play a next-gen format too!" :laugh:

Unfortunately they can't say 1080p movies and 1080p games ;) (Although that's not really very important :rofl:)

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Unfortunately they can't say 1080p movies and 1080p games ;) (Although that's not really very important :rofl:)

isnt that speculation... no one know if they will have dvi/hdmi output... while im sure they are not going to be able to add that output... we still dont know... or is there another reason it wont be 1080p?

as for the $200 pricepoint... I think I would actually prefer a stand alone player... obviously after the bugs are worked out... I just think that the majority of video enthusiasts do not want there next gen dvd player to also be a gaming console... i'll revisit the idea once I see the image quality...

Edited by jerzdawg
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isnt that speculation... no one know if they will have dvi/hdmi output... while im sure they are not going to be able to add that output... we still dont know... or is there another reason it wont be 1080p?

1080p doesn't require HDMI.

As for the idea 360 not being able to handle 1080p, do we know that for sure? I know they've only aimed at 1080i in games and everything but is the console actually incapable of outputting a 1080p in any way because of it, or is it only a limit there for other reasons.

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1080p doesn't require HDMI.
People seem to forget that when talking about the $500 PS3...oh but because we're talking about Microsoft's 360, it's ok :rolleyes:

Anyway, back on topic - yeah, $200 :|

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Unfortunately they can't say 1080p movies and 1080p games ;) (Although that's not really very important :rofl:)

err..... Except that it will output movies in 1080p (remember you don't need HDMI for 1080p output, Component works perfectly fine), 1080p games?, lets see the PS3 do next gen games at 1080p, running fluidly and then we'll talk, oh and what happened to dual screen 1080p gaming that SONY promised? :whistle:

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I've heard that HD-DVD playback is limited to 1080i because the 360 video card can't output 1080p. It also won't have HDMI. It also won't be used for games. And if $200 is the price, the HD-DVD/360 combo will be $100 more than the PS3 that can output 1080p.

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err..... Except that it will output movies in 1080p (remember you don't need HDMI for 1080p output, Component works perfectly fine), 1080p games?, lets see the PS3 do next gen games at 1080p, running fluidly and then we'll talk, oh and what happened to dual screen 1080p gaming that SONY promised? :whistle:

Yeah exactly...people always bitch about how the $500 config is the "tard" pack because it can't be upgraded to HDMI. But you don't even need HDMI.

I've heard that HD-DVD playback is limited to 1080i because the 360 video card can't output 1080p. It also won't have HDMI. It also won't be used for games. And if $200 is the price, the HD-DVD/360 combo will be $100 more than the PS3 that can output 1080p.

BINGO! Couldn't have said it better myself :)

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Yeah exactly...people always bitch about how the $500 config is the "tard" pack because it can't be upgraded to HDMI. But you don't even need HDMI.

well actually when the movie industry decides to implement the ICT flags then ya you will need either DVI or HDMI. This of course isnt supposed to happen till 2010 or something but they could always change their mind and do it earlier.

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Wont need 1080P in games as all computer generated images are progressive anyways. And at 1080 there's not noticeable difference between I and P. This isn't like 480i vs 480p where there was lots of room for improvement that p smoothed out. With 1080 the reso is high enough that even the best videophiles wont even notice the difference.

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I've heard that HD-DVD playback is limited to 1080i because the 360 video card can't output 1080p. It also won't have HDMI. It also won't be used for games. And if $200 is the price, the HD-DVD/360 combo will be $100 more than the PS3 that can output 1080p.

Why wouldn't you be able to buy a HD-DVD drive for the Core ($299) system?

But yes, I've heard the same about the GPU limiting output to 1080i, although I'm not sure how true it is (I think I read it on a forum around the holidays). Guess we'll have to wait and see. I was hoping Major Nelson was going to ask the HD-DVD guys about that at MS in his podcast, but oh well.

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Why wouldn't you be able to buy a HD-DVD drive for the Core ($299) system?

You could, but you're also going to have to buy either a memory card or hard drive with that system, so it's still going to be more expensive than the 20GB PS3.

But yes, I've heard the same about the GPU limiting output to 1080i, although I'm not sure how true it is (I think I read it on a forum around the holidays). Guess we'll have to wait and see. I was hoping Major Nelson was going to ask the HD-DVD guys about that at MS in his podcast, but oh well.

Well we'll know by the end of the year, but it looks doubtful. Of course most people won't have 1080p screens yet.

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err..... Except that it will output movies in 1080p (remember you don't need HDMI for 1080p output, Component works perfectly fine), 1080p games?, lets see the PS3 do next gen games at 1080p, running fluidly and then we'll talk, oh and what happened to dual screen 1080p gaming that SONY promised? :whistle:

You'll see that with MGS4.

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