It's official - MS announces HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360!
 

I was going to post this in my older thread, but I thought this news deserved its own thread.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/...dexplained.htm

Just an FYI, price announcement to come in the next few days. I'll come right out and say it... if it's more than $249 no one will buy it. If it's $149, it will be like hotcakes. So, my prediction is $199 or less.

If Microsoft is smart: $Xbox 360 + $HD-DVD add-on < $PS3

I'm damn impressed. They're definitely playing this right.

Excellent! Now I'm getting an Xbox 360 :D

I am guessing that the price will be $149. The press release makes a big deal about HD-DVD being a better value for consumers and refers to the price of the add-on as "good news." I will definitely be picking this up.

I am now officially very excited. I hope it interfaces well with the 360, I was debating the Toshiba version, but after playing with it at Best Buy I think it would drive me nuts. Count me in as long as it's under $300.

Smart article. No release date though.

wow... all that through USB. I guess it makes sense because the HD-A1 is really built like a PC (as is the XBOX).

that article is so true.... the momentum is with hd-dvd.....

they just need a killer app title... Batman Begins and The Matrix are a great start (assuming they still come out this month).

King Kong or a Lord of the Rings announcement would really light the fire, though.

That's a great article. Hits (and hammers) every single point that we've been debating here for weeks...

While I believe the hybrid disc idea isn't great for me (especially at additional cost), they do a good job of explaining why you would want to buy one and (here's the kicker) point out that BR can't do it that way. It makes Blu-Ray look less compatible with DVD than HD-DVD.

You must be kidding...via USB?!?! Sorry, but with USB speed this thing is utterly useless. I have no idea why you guys are all so excited.

Uhh, USB 2.0 is plenty fast enough.

Also, if this thing is gonna output HDMI, that will have to come from within the add-on, since the 360 doesn't have such a connection.

USB can do up to 480mbps or 60MB/s. Last I checked no 2-hour HD movie required 421GB.

Excellent news for those non Toshiba HD-A1 owners and the format in general. Hopefully this will boost HD-DVD and possibly make some studios reconsider their sole choice for BD.

Question for those who think that the PS3 won't have an effect in the format war: do you think this Xbox add-on will? If so, why?

Thing that sucks about this is how loud the 360 is even when there's not a game spinning in it. No way in hell I would use this in my home theater with that cyclone fan blowing. If the fan ramps all the way down during HD-DVD playback (like when the power is off and you're charging the wireless controller through USB) then I would consider it.

Imagine what the PS3 fans are going to sound like. Only movie you will probably want to watch in Blu-ray will be Top Gun.

:lol: Yep, the only way they'll get around that is if they can make the unit big enough to house 120mm fans. The noise on the 360 actually sounds like it triples once a game disc spins up. WTF

I don't think it will.

I think they just want it out there as a choice for XBox360 owners. They certainly don't want the PS3 to be the only HD movie playing console out there.

The way that MS has done this enables users to choose whether they want to use the 360 for games or if they want it configured to play games and HD-DVDs. That makes it cheaper for those who want to use it for games only (most users). Sony is forcing both types to get BR which makes the unit cost more for those who don't care about the movies.

For people who just want HD movies, the cheapest route is a stand alone HD-DVD player... but if you already have a 360, that will be a cheaper incremental cost.

I have to read this later at home....I'm excited. Still curious how the HDMI will be handled though, I guess I'll have to read before I ask questions (since my TV only has component)

I would actually think that the add-on will be quieter than the 360. When you're playing a game, the fans have to cool the 360 which is being heating by both the drive spinning and the processor. A small fan in the HD-DVD add-on should be sufficient to cool it, and the 360's fans can run on a low speed to cool the processor.

Besides the HDMI issue, the thing that really troubles me is the high-res audio problem. It would be great to see a cable from MS that could output 7.1 ch analog audio, but I doubt that will happen. We'll probably have to settle for regular DD/DTS and, if we're lucky, PCM over HDMI.

Yeah, the add-on unit will probably be quiet, but the fan on the 360 is obnoxious even if you're just futzing around on the console menus.

I'm waiting for Blu-Ray, but if this add-on will be sub-$200, I will pick it up to check it out regardless of the console noise.

I disagree. Since the drive will be cheaper then a stand alone player many games will go for it. However I expect this drive to be a boast for HD-DVD but not one nearly as signifigant as the enormous advantage having Blu-Ray natively installed in every Playstation 3 will be. Also it will not be under $200 don't even try to get your hopes up on that.