Possibility of Blu-ray drive still an option for 360?

[Zeus]

Jeff Bell, VP of Global Marketing for Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Division, has said "never say never" on the possibility of releasing a Blu-ray drive if that became the consumers choice. He said they have had a long history of partnership with Sony and says they have a 'coopetition', which is a word he learned at MS.

<center><img src="http://www.maxconsole.net/content_img/blustilop.jpg"></center></a>


1UP: Microsoft's seen some good success with the release of the HD-DVD add-on for Xbox 360. With Warner Bros. recent announcement to go Blu-ray exclusive, clearly it's not a knock-out punch -- but a blow to the format. How do you see that changing Microsoft's perspective on the ongoing format war?

Bell: First of all, let me say Warner Bros. is a great partner. They are the number one partner in terms of downloadable content with TV shows to own and movies to rent on Xbox Live Marketplace. We were disappointed with the announcement. It has a consequence. I will tell you that we are committed to HD-DVD and still have some great partners -- Universal, Paramount, DreamWorks -- these are great participants in the format. We have sold very well the HD-DVD accessory.

We did make a specific choice; we did not impose technology upon our consumers. We would like choice to be our guiding principle, and it has worked for us. We're not demanding that people choose a format, but rather, we're with DVD in the Xbox 360. Satisfaction with DVDs, by the way, is like 96%, at least in the States. So, we continue to give the alternative in HD-DVD, we have downloadable movies and television shows on Xbox Live Marketplace, Media Center Extender is available and as we just announced, IPTV will be brought onto the Xbox 360, first with British Telecomm in 2008 for consumers. So, there's more than one choice to watch movies and TV shows.

1UP: In the event that HD-DVD no longer becomes a viable alternative in the retail space, how do you think Microsoft will respond to that? Peter Moore had at once said, before you released the add-on, that he was open to the possibility of releasing a Blu-ray drive if that became the consumer choice. Is that something that's still on the table for you guys?

Bell: You know, interestingly, we have a long history of partnership with Sony. Obviously, they run our software on their personal computers and other devices, so we have a 'coopetition' -- a word I learned at Microsoft when I joined. We've been talking to Blu-ray all along because we have the best piece of software in the business, called HDi. It is the backbone that powers interactivity in HD-DVD and we have that available to potentially partner with others.

You never say never. I think we'd like to see how things evolve. Our commitment, however, to HD-DVD is profound and consistent, and we have done very, very well in term of our accessory sales. We have 400 HD-DVD movies from great studios available. It's a long time between now and June.


News Source: <a href="http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3165627" target=_blank">1up</a> <a href="http://play.tm/story/15759" target=_blank">play.tm</a>

[LastinFirstout]

hahaha @ microcopy.

[Cheunce]

hahaha @ microcopy.

What is so funny? That MS might release a Blu-Ray player to Xbox360? Why wouldn´t they if HD-DVD fails? I think it is to soon to say if HD-DVD fails or not.

And BTW I own a PS3 and not an Xbox360.

[richbambam360]

even if MS did decide to put a bluray player in the xbox360 I wouldnt put money on any games being released for it on bluray only I guess this would be an addition to watch bluray movies,Although I'm guessing more that MS are keeping options open for blu ray for MS next Console after the xbox360

[LastinFirstout]

What is so funny? That MS might release a Blu-Ray player to Xbox360? Why wouldn´t they if HD-DVD fails?.

the funny thing i see is even though brainless microcopy spends millions of dollars trying to buy their own success they still fail.

[Skyline34]

Keep these ridiculous rumours under lock and key, they are NOT going to incorporate a BD player with future 360s, although it does sound like M$ to do so, use an alread-failing format with the 360 then 3 years down the line, suddenly drop it and try to mingle in with the Blu-Ray party!??

From me to Micro$oft:

Suck my hairy balls!

[unwanted]

Microsoft should have put a Hybrid drive in the 360... that way they could have kept quite about it... then whichever format won they could have just turned round and said "Well actually the 360 can play both"...

but then again I think M$ should concentrate in making the 360 reliable... FULL STOP!

[whackawookie]

the funny thing i see is even though brainless microcopy spends millions of dollars trying to buy their own success they still fail.


not sure why you keep saying microcopy considering sony has been copying ms every movement this generation. back to the subject though i'd buy a bluray add on just to take the strain off my ps3 laser. the players sizes have gone down dramatically but two add on drives is the size of one full player plus the boot time is between 3-6 seconds as opposed to the 40-60 seconds of the standalone.

[Cheunce]

the funny thing i see is even though brainless microcopy spends millions of dollars trying to buy their own success they still fail.

Sony has used even more money trying to buy there own success and there is, not by a long shot, any clear winner yet. The best selling DVD is still selling more than all HD-movie disc put together.

[Cheunce]

This just proves that Microsoft (Xbox 360 manufacturer) are lame flip-flops

Not it just proves that they like all other companies are trying to make as much money as they can. What would you like them to do? Keep selling the HD-DVD player even if HD-DVD lose?

Both Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are just interested in making money.

[LastinFirstout]

not sure why you keep saying microcopy considering sony has been copying ms every movement this generation. .

like what ?? how to make crap hardware,hype up average games or charge for online gaming ?? or maybe they copied HOME. :D

i'd buy a bluray add on just to take the strain off my ps3 laser.


wow does that means you never turn your PS3 off ;) even so the PS3 is "quality" hardware so no need to buy a seperate BR player unless you have lots of money to burn.

[EliteStance]

Most big business's operate in this way. It's just the nature of the beast. MS would have no problem releasing a BR player if HD DVD dies (which it almost certainly will) and if there is enough demand for HD movies with 360.

Likewise Sony won't refuse MS access to BR - that's a Sony fanboy dream.

[LastinFirstout]

Sony has used even more money trying to buy there own success and there is.

PROVE IT :rolleyes:

Sony are Pro's who EARN their success they dont buy it like microcopy is trying to do all the time.

[LastinFirstout]

Likewise Sony won't refuse MS access to BR - that's a Sony fanboy dream.

EliteStance i doubt any Sony Fanboy!! would care if BR add-on is released on the box & if they did we hope the customers get a 3 year warranty on it.

[NexusBurst]

Microsoft should have put a Hybrid drive in the 360... that way they could have kept quite about it... then whichever format won they could have just turned round and said "Well actually the 360 can play both"... but then again I think M$ should concentrate in making the 360 reliable... FULL STOP!
Sure if you wanted a console overpriced $1000-2000 and a time machine, 360 was too early. Ms could release a bd-rom for 360 i don't see it selling due to quality problems with the hd-dvd units. BD capable drive in next xbox generation likely. MS made no losses by including an HD capable drive in every 360 leaving sony to drive down the price for the next generation. In effect this could help nintendo too :D

[segaman1977]

Because since the beginning of their company they have been stealing peoples idea's....... if Bill gates didn't rip off MAC back in the day he wouldn't be where he is now!

Mac ripped off the Xerox Gui, and modern Mac OS ripped off Amiga OS. Therefore with your dumba** logic, Steve Jobs wouldn't be were he is today. Also, Sony ripped off the Media Center concept so blah blah blaf fanboy.

[Skyline34]

At least the Xross Media Bar is an original concept from Sony themselves, and has proven to be very successful in high-end Bravias.

[dennis872007]

haha sucks for those that got the hd-dvd add-on and got ripped off. can't believe this thing still cost 180.00 dollars. I feel sorry for the people that don't know that hd-dvd is gonna die soon an buy the add-on. but that is what they get for not researching what they are buying.

[Tempos]

I'm not sure I'd be happy to pay for an external blu-ray add-on if it were to cost as much as the hd-dvd one, at nearly £100. I would expect write support too for that kind of money, given a year or two.

[crypysmoker]

Ok... SO now the main company that has sais bluray and HD-dvd wont matter because everyone wants digital, downloaded media, is now saying that is enough people want it, they will release a $500 Bluray add on??

[crypysmoker]

Mac ripped off the Xerox Gui, and modern Mac OS ripped off Amiga OS. Therefore with your dumba** logic, Steve Jobs wouldn't be were he is today. Also, Sony ripped off the Media Center concept so blah blah blaf fanboy.

If you would do a bit more of research and not rely on forums for your inof...
Steve jobs and bill gates were friends, they designed .... wow.. LOTS together.

IBM was about to surface and bill gates decided he wanted to be a millionaire all by himself..
So he took whatever was done of the coding for the OS at the time and started his own company taking all the crdit.

THey also reach out at small open source companies, hire the programmer till he gets to a certain point with his work, after owning all rights to the code and then fires the programmer, updates the code and sells it as their own. And since they own all the property the original coder can do nothign about it.

I have know 2 different people that were "recruted" into the MS army, worked 2-6 months and then were fired either for "creative differences" or not being able to do what MS hired them for. Then, 3 months later here comes the MS validation tool that they supposedly had no use for.........

And also, you talking about adding a BLU ray to your ps3.... this is for 360 since the ps3 has a blu ray drive allready............ You wanted a blu ray add-on at $500 for your ps3 to take strain off the original blu ray laser so that it burns out the add on, then your out $500 more dollars then the original burns out.....
I mean... this just sounds liek a big DUUUUH right here

[whackawookie]

like what ?? how to make crap hardware,hype up average games or charge for online gaming ?? or maybe they copied HOME. :D
yeah because the ps2 hardware was a prime example of great manufacturing. how many lasers have people gone through from watching movies. judging from the 16 or so revisions of the ps2 and the laser replacements i'd say being cautious and trying to save the laser for actually playing games isnt such a bad idea. copy home? its a virtual sims game, the only original thing about it is p2p movie sharing which doesnt even matter because once your isp finds you using excessive uploads you will get a throttle thrown on the line



wow does that means you never turn your PS3 off ;) even so the PS3 is "quality" hardware so no need to buy a seperate BR player unless you have lots of money to burn.
again the ps2 was far from perfect infact the psx was even worse. they say 3rd times a charm and although there haven't been any laser fails yet i still say to be cautious. if you dont have any money to burn then maybe you shouldn't get into watching hidef movies because no movie buff is going to rely solely on there game system for movies

[hughhowey]

not sure why you keep saying microcopy considering sony has been copying ms every movement this generation.

Gotta say, I do love the new shoulder-button placement on my 360 controller. :D

If one company has a good idea, we consumers should PRAY that every other company adopts that improvement as a standard. The Apple kids are always criticizing MS for copying the Apple OS. I say - GREAT! - imitation and flattery and all that.

So stop with the fanboy crap.

[segaman1977]

If you would do a bit more of research and not rely on forums for your inof...
Steve jobs and bill gates were friends, they designed .... wow.. LOTS together.

IBM was about to surface and bill gates decided he wanted to be a millionaire all by himself..
So he took whatever was done of the coding for the OS at the time and started his own company taking all the crdit.



Maybe you should take your own advice, and not look to forums for your info. Gates bought the original OS and resold it to IBM. Jobs had his own seperate path lined up.

[segaman1977]

Gotta say, I do love the new shoulder-button placement on my 360 controller. :D

If one company has a good idea, we consumers should PRAY that every other company adopts that improvement as a standard. The Apple kids are always criticizing MS for copying the Apple OS. I say - GREAT! - imitation and flattery and all that.

So stop with the fanboy crap.

You mean the same shoulder buttons that were on the PS controller that just happened to be on the SNES controller. Remarkable.

[_Mazza_]

You mean the same shoulder buttons that were on the PS controller that just happened to be on the SNES controller. Remarkable.

I think he means the trigger shoulder button, like the one sony stole the idea for and put it in their unchanged from PSX controller.

[LastinFirstout]

yeah because the ps2 hardware was a prime example of great manufacturing. how many lasers have people gone through from watching movies. judging from the 16 or so revisions of the ps2 and the laser replacements i'd say being cautious and trying to save the laser for actually playing games isnt such a bad idea. copy home? its a virtual sims game, the only original thing about it is p2p movie sharing which doesnt even matter because once your isp finds you using excessive uploads you will get a throttle thrown on the line



again the ps2 was far from perfect infact the psx was even worse. they say 3rd times a charm and although there haven't been any laser fails yet i still say to be cautious. if you dont have any money to burn then maybe you shouldn't get into watching hidef movies because no movie buff is going to rely solely on there game system for movies

ps2 is last generation WINNER (still out selling the faulty box) & as far as i know only few of those who used bad pirate copy games got the laser's dirty disc error but this can be easly fixed with brand new laser costing from as little as $20 but anyway this is nothing compared to a total system failure which costs $1 billion plus to "temporary" repair it but after the warranty is over the console is finished (money in the bin).

original ps2's still work 8 years later (this called quality) the faulty box has only got 3 years of life,supported ofcourse by the extended 3 year warranty otherwise its dead before the race is even started.

[MicroNut]

You all mean that the quest for the ultimate controller design has been a quest of all the game industries.
Since the beginning they have been influencing and "stealing" ideas from each other.
All patenting the next big step as they went.

And Hell yes it makes sense that Microsoft would consider a deal with blu-ray!
Making it an external attachment made sure that they are not bound to any potentially dead format or to anyone politically.
No one owns Microsoft!
They learned a big lesson with nVidia and the Xbox1.

DVD9 vs. Whatever other removable media is better,
is a loosing argument and meaningless to any side.
Space is space.
DVD9 makes sense for game console becuase its a 10 year old standard.
>8GB and cheap.
Good for selling game content on.

It only makes sense that Sony includes a Blu-Ray Drive their PS3 becuase its a Blu-Ray Player!
They own it. Its cheap for them.
Why would they include anything else?

[segaman1977]

I think he means the trigger shoulder button, like the one sony stole the idea for and put it in their unchanged from PSX controller.

Thanks for the correction. The first trigger buttons I remember were on the sega saturn 3d controller(the one introduced when Nights came out)

[atrocity595]

Hope so.....

[Blazeking]

You mean the same shoulder buttons that were on the PS controller that just happened to be on the SNES controller. Remarkable.

SNES= 2 shoulder buttons

Playstation (digital, analog, DS2)= 4 shoulder buttons

PS Dual Shock 3= 2 shoulder buttons, 2 trigger buttons

Responding to another post: Microsoft gaming div has completely copied the exact button locations of the Dual Shock controller. Why? Beacuse it's that good. For example, SvR 2008 plays exactly the same way on 360 & PS3 because of the arrangement of the buttons (except the left stick).

The Duke from the old Xbox was one of the clunkiest controllers I ever held, the "S" controller was just smaller. Meanwhile, PS kept the same arrangement for over 10 years.

[lionboyv2]

If you would do a bit more of research and not rely on forums for your inof...
Steve jobs and bill gates were friends, they designed .... wow.. LOTS together.


LOL. LOL. LOL. LOL. LOL.

Plz... dont make me laff more.
LOL.LOL. LOL.

If you have ever seen a jobs / gates interview from the 1990's all they do is bash each other.

LOL.

[snipersnake]

I think he means the trigger shoulder button, like the one sony stole the idea for and put it in their unchanged from PSX controller.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/Dreamcast_Controller.jpg/800px-Dreamcast_Controller.jpg

http://thegamesiplay.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/xbox-controller-s.jpg

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41141000/jpg/_41141351_360_controller02.jpg

nuff said.

[KainXS]

not suprising, but im pretty sure there will be a blu ray drive for 360 in the next year, sony and ms do have very good relations, nintendo and ms though. . . no

i bought a ps3 recently after my 4th xbox died though so if you 360 owners do end up getting fucked, i feel bad for ya

[Evolution]

Ahem If you want to talk about copying controllers you need to learn a bit of history.

They ALL copied Nintendo, no ifs or buts. None of them have ever had an original idea in their life except Nintendo.

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/8872/nescontrollereb4.jpg

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/8724/snescontrolleryd6.jpg

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/3279/n64controllereg6.jpg

Sony even tried to ripoff the Wiimote this gen with the pathetic sixaxis nonsense.

[arashb]

not sure why you keep saying microcopy considering sony has been copying ms every movement this generation. back to the subject though i'd buy a bluray add on just to take the strain off my ps3 laser. the players sizes have gone down dramatically but two add on drives is the size of one full player plus the boot time is between 3-6 seconds as opposed to the 40-60 seconds of the standalone.

Yeah sony has been copying 360, Add-on HD player:Internal Bluray player, Pay2Play Online:Free Online, 33%RRoD:.01%YLoD, Bill Gates Leaving MS:Head of Sony staying(whoever he is :P), all the same right? I don't see one way in Sony copying 360 don't even say HD because that's not really copying, PS2 was HD of it's time so they had the idea first.. I'm sure there are some other things copied, but not from ms, probably from nintendo or some other old console ideas, all systems copy like having 2 analog sticks... first Sony then Nintendo and MS, online play first PC then DreamCast then the rest of the 3 consoles...