Microsoft Taiwan: No 360 HD-DVD For Asia


Recommended Posts

Microsoft Taiwan: No 360 HD-DVD For Asia

A report from Asian IT news site Digitimes is citing Microsoft Taiwan officials' comments that the forthcoming HD-DVD addon for Microsoft's Xbox 360 will not be concurrently released in Asian markets.

The add-on, slated for release before the end of the year in North America, adds no gaming functionality, but gives the console the ability to play back HD-DVD movies, a small selection of which are already available.

According to Microsoft Taiwan, though, the supply and selection of HD-DVD movies in 'Asia' (presumably defined as Asian countries outside of Japan) is currently small enough to not warrant the marketing and release of the player for the time being.

Representatives of the Taiwanese branch also indicated to Digitimes that Microsoft was still monitoring the battle between HD-DVD and its competing Blu-ray format for next-generation adoption and standardization.

The website suggests could be a sign that Microsoft could eventually adopt Blu-ray if HD-DVD fails to take off, though this seems relatively unlikely in the short-term, as Bill Gates and other senior Microsoft figures have been aggressively promulgating HD-DVD in public speeches.

souricon.gif News source: Gamasutra

Link to comment
Share on other sites

maybe it has something to do with this

DigiTimes is reporting that a serious shortage of blue laser diodes is forcing many manufacturers to cut back on production of next-generation drives, which means the expected pre-Holiday flood of HD-DVD and Blu-ray players may not materialize as expected. They're also claiming that Sony, which is one of a handful of companies making the diodes right now, just suspended shipments to other companies so they'll have enough Blu-ray drives for the PlayStation 3. It's not entirely clear how this is going to affect the balance of power in the HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray deathmatch -- each format relies on 405 nm blue-violet laser diodes, so each may be equally affected -- but it looks like the battle royale between the two may have to be postponed until next year.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/30/blu-ray...laser-shortage/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It may also have something to do with the spread of piracy that happens alot in that region which is why they are not making in asia.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.