Toshiba to support Blu-ray, does the Xbox 360 have to now?

[Zeus]

News has surfaced that Toshiba is set to release a Blu-ray player by the end of the year. And one site is speculating that this means MS will have no choice but to release a Blu-ray add-on for the Xbox 360. Toshiba are the original developers of the HD-DVD format.

<blockquote>After Toshiba Corp., the developer of the HD DVD format, releases its Blu-ray disc player by the end of the year, Microsoft Corp. will have to follow and launch Blu-ray add-on for its Xbox 360 game console. The support of Blu-ray disc (BD) by Toshiba means that the format is finally becoming a de-facto standard for high-definition home video. Toshiba is the last major consumer electronics maker to support BD.</blockquote>

News Source: <A href="http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multimedia/display/20090720043531_With_Blu_Ray_Support_by_Toshiba_Xbo x_360_Blu_Ray_Add_On_with_Is_Only_a_Matter_of_Time .html" target="_Blank">Xbitlabs</a>

[kronikdaddy]

I don't get why M$ HAS to support BR now. I don't ever see M$ having BR but i could be wrong. Why would M$ HAVE to come out with BR now?

[crono]

Hope its good news,mebay there starting now whit the new xbox720 whit blu-ray ;) ,whahah that would be a good one,FF13 still released on blu-ray for M$ on there new xbox720 whahahahahahhaah

[Punyetta]

News source says it is a rumour as Toshiba can easily migrate HD-DVD drives to Bluray. MS to follow Toshiba? Why??
Here's the proper link to the article;
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multimedia/display/20090718132231_Toshiba_Set_to_Release_Blu_Ray_Disc _Player_By_End_of_2009_Rumor.html

[QrafTee]

Hope its good news,mebay there starting now whit the new xbox720 whit blu-ray ;) ,whahah that would be a good one,FF13 still released on blu-ray for M$ on there new xbox720 whahahahahahhaah

You make no sense. You should learn to spell... or type... or... nevermind.

Anyhow, I don't see how Toshiba supporting Blu-ray has any correlation with Microsoft supporting the format on their Xbox console.

[n0rthstar]

Why does M$ have to release a BR addon... the 360 is a games console not a movie player. I wouldnt buy a BR addon if one was released, that would mean having to have my 360 AND the BR addon on at the same time, and what if my 360 dies? No no no, i'd rather buy a dedicated BR player if i was going to buy one at all (which im not intending to anyway). M$ would do well steering clear of this kind of thing.

[Xenogears V]

Future is blue. Finally Microsoft admits defeat.

[n0rthstar]

Future is blue. Finally Microsoft admits defeat.

I dont see where M$ has admitted defeat... please point this out to us.

As far as i can tell some site is speculating that M$ has to follow suit, i dont see where it says they have or are thinking about it. You are putting words into something that no one has said, you are speculating on the speculation.

I highly doubt M$ will do such a thing anyway, it would be pretty stupid on their part to follow in Sonys footsteps when Sony isnt doing too well themselves.

[showstopper]

It's not really exciting news anyway is it!
Either they make a BR add-on or they dont. It will only be a video player and not for games. DVD9 is fine for this generation of consoles.

[phallius]

There is NO WAY that M$ will create a product to support the competition. My friend works for them in Redmond and he said they have a motto. In referring to the competition,"Steal from them, kill them, sue them or buy them."

[jackoneil2000]

Blu-Ray is the biggest scam when it comes to movies. Re-buy all your old movies, the next expensive format is in the house. I don't own a single Bluray, don't plan on ever buying one.

When it comes to video games, it makes the console and games more expensive.

Bluray... no thanks.:rolleyes:

[cinten99]

Holy attack of the Sony fanboys Batman!

[grapeape]

Why on earth would they "have" to release a bluray addon...the HD-DVD addon didnt sell at all until after it was in a clearance bin for under $50 (I didnt even buy it then) which was a pretty good indication that the vast majority of 360 owners didnt care about movies on the same device. Standalone bluray players are fairly cheap now..surely cheaper than any branded addon would be so what would be the point? If they decide to stick to physical media next generation I can see bluray being included but at this point it just seems like a waste of money and resources.

[CZroe]

The only incentive they have to make a BD drive is to keep the 360 players from also buying a PS3 for one once the format picks up enough steam. After all, their customer base is made of gamers that likely wouldn't mind having a PS3 too, especially if there is a significant price drop ("slim" PS3?) and they were already decided on a BD player. Obviously, that isn't the case yet, though it is picking up speed. It makes sense to have one ready but on-hold just in case, so I don't doubt the rumors from a year ago. Toshiba and their actions are irrelevant though...

[QrafTee]

There is NO WAY that M$ will create a product to support the competition. My friend works for them in Redmond and he said they have a motto. In referring to the competition,"Steal from them, kill them, sue them or buy them."

My friend's cousin's twice removed niece's mom's brother's friend's step father who works at Microsoft said that... Nevermind.

Microsoft will have to conform to standards sooner or later, but they don't have to do it with the Xbox 360... it wouldn't make sense to. Hell the HDDVD add-on was an epic failure, why would they want to go through all of that again?

[n0rthstar]

Why on earth would they "have" to release a bluray addon...the HD-DVD addon didnt sell at all until after it was in a clearance bin for under $50 (I didnt even buy it then) which was a pretty good indication that the vast majority of 360 owners didnt care about movies on the same device. Standalone bluray players are fairly cheap now..surely cheaper than any branded addon would be so what would be the point? If they decide to stick to physical media next generation I can see bluray being included but at this point it just seems like a waste of money and resources.

I expect M$ will be considering HD-DVD in their next format, as obviously BR was never suitible for games in the first place, it was never fast enough... will it be by the time the next generation of consoles arrives.... i dont know. Its clear a dead format such as HD-DVD would be a great choice for a new console for speed and capacity, and it would be dirt cheap compared to paying Sony to use BR. By that time we should know how popular BR is around the world, i still dont think its clear that BR is the next winning format as i dont know anyone who owns a player even after all this time... and that includes PS3, everyone i know owns a 360... and of course DVD players.

[MadMax31]

Future is blue. Finally Microsoft admits defeat.

Future is blue? according to who?, at least according to MS is digital distribution, with movies, series and now games in the dd domain, where MS is admitting defeat?, Toshiba admitted defeat long time ago, this was something to be expected to happen after blu-ray won, but it has nothing to do with MS.

Quite frankly who knows if MS is going to use blu-ray for the next XBox, I bet they will invest in some other small company with holographic disks or something else instead of using blu-ray, only time will tell.

[seann33uk]

if the xbox gets bluray ability i can get rid of my playstation, seeing as its the only thing i use it for, what with no games out :p

[QrafTee]

Future is blue? according to who?, at least according to MS is digital distribution, with movies, series and now games in the dd domain, where MS is admitting defeat?, Toshiba admitted defeat long time ago, this was something to be expected to happen after blu-ray won, but it has nothing to do with MS.

Quite frankly who knows if MS is going to use blu-ray for the next XBox, I bet they will invest in some other small company with holographic disks or something else instead of using blu-ray, only time will tell.

Holo discs... yes because Sony's leap of faith with Blu-ray wasn't risky enough. Microsoft would be shooting themselves in the liver if they want to proceed with Holo discs with the next iteration of the Xbox. And as of yet, there is no real reason to pursue it.

Although the technology used to make Holo discs possible is intriguing, I'm more interested in the technology of organic storage.

I expect M$ will be considering HD-DVD in their next format, as obviously BR was never suitible for games in the first place, it was never fast enough... will it be by the time the next generation of consoles arrives.... i dont know. Its clear a dead format such as HD-DVD would be a great choice for a new console for speed and capacity, and it would be dirt cheap compared to paying Sony to use BR. By that time we should know how popular BR is around the world, i still dont think its clear that BR is the next winning format as i dont know anyone who owns a player even after all this time... and that includes PS3, everyone i know owns a 360... and of course DVD players.

First of all, Blu-ray is fast enough for streaming for the purpose of playing video games. It's just Sony was being extremely hasty with the development of the Playstation 3's Blu-ray drive and used a 2x Blu-ray drive which is slower than Xbox 360's 12x DVD drive. A 4x Blu-ray drive will be sufficient to match a 12x DVD drive--and beat it by 9% in terms of read speed.

Just because HD-DVD is dead does not mean it is cheap to produce. In fact, the opposite is usually true because your own factories would have to solely produce the medium rather than having several third party factories produce it and compete in price to sell it to your advantage.

Third, everyone you know doesn't matter because several people I know owns either a PS3 or a Blu-ray player. What does that prove? Absolutely nothing.

[msanchez]

I expect M$ will be considering HD-DVD in their next format, as obviously BR was never suitible for games in the first place, it was never fast enough... will it be by the time the next generation of consoles arrives.... i dont know. Its clear a dead format such as HD-DVD would be a great choice for a new console for speed and capacity, and it would be dirt cheap compared to paying Sony to use BR. By that time we should know how popular BR is around the world, i still dont think its clear that BR is the next winning format as i dont know anyone who owns a player even after all this time... and that includes PS3, everyone i know owns a 360... and of course DVD players.

I don't think producing HD-DVDs will be any much, if any, cheaper than BDs, and I HIGHLY doubt that ms would stick an HD-DVD drive in their next machine. Weird non-standard media has as far as I can remember not helped any gaming console, correct me if I'm wrong. Also I think it's clear that BD's speed problem is due to the ps3's drive, not the specs of the format. Currently there are drives that are 4 times faster than the ps3's drive, and the ps3's drive doesn't lag THAT much, or at all, when devs go the extra mile. It's slower than what we would want, but I'd be willing to say that a 4x BD drive would be way more than enough for any game we've seen so far.

Is it as popular as DVD? no, is it necessary for gaming? no, but anyone who sees movies will probably buy a BD player eventually, unless they don't plan on buying any new movies for the next 7+ years. As far as ms plans for BD, doubt we'll see any BD love from them this gen, but I would be seriously stunned if they go with DVD, CD, Mystery Format A, B, C, or whatever.