pro-bassoonist

You stepped into the Twilight Zone Tony.

Pro-B

Shampoohorn

Were these the same analysts who came up with the fancy 360 with an HD-DVD drive built in?
Microsoft's statement after that post seems pretty clear to me that they will back it in general (as they should and I'm guessing already were with drivers for Media Player and what not), but I highly doubt we'll see a 360 add-on. Why would Microsoft now enter a market where they will be putting out an inferior add-on long after the PS3 has established its market? Sure, PS3 is behind on console sales, but I don't see this add-on boosting the Blu-Ray market at all, nor Microsoft's 360 sales.

Microsoft has a comfortable lead in the console gaming market over PS3, why mess with it with a half-assed add-on?

splattii2

If there are people out there really buying PS3's primarily as a Blu Ray player, then this move makes sense as it'll take away some potential sales. I own a PS3, and I'll sell it in a heartbeat if I can buy a add-on for my 360. I don't even own a game for my PS3. My PS3 will be gone the second OPPO or the 360 Add-on come out.

Trevor

Hi-def is like 1 or 2% of the DVD market. If it ever tops 10% I'll be surprised.

There are no cards being held by anyone, other than whoever figures out the next media delivery format/system and capitalizes on it.

dan30oly

+1

And, I have at least 3 other friends who own 360's that would buy the blu-ray add-on day 1 of release.

Spiderbite

Wonder what kind of price point they are looking at? If they put out an add-on that equals the cost of a PS3 (or better yet a little less), then it makes sense. If your total cost is going to be more than a PS3, why even do it? Nevermind console sales numbers, the 360 is absolutely destroying the PS3 in software sales. With few big name exclusives for the PS3 coming this year, I don't see that changing at all.

So it is questionable whether this is really needed or not...at least until the next gen's systems. If they can do it at a decent price then fine. I like the idea of a box that does everything but I personally wish gaming systems put all their concentration on games (and yes...that includes the 360's media downloads). The Nintendo Wii did it and it has become a blockbuster in console sales (not so much in software yet).

dan30oly

I really don't think an add-on would be more than $200

tonymontana313

But if you add that with the cost of the 360, the PS3 becomes that much more of a bargain.

CKMorpheus

Another 200 dollars to make the 360 the best possible dual-format player? I think it's a pretty good bargain compared to the ones that are available now.

Draven

I already own the 360. I don't even want a PS3 for gaming.

dan30oly

Not until you realize that the 360 has a much, much better selection of games. There's about 2 ps3 exclusive games that are worth a darn, and the rest can be bought on the 360 and a whole bunch of worthy exclusive games...but that argument is best left for videogame talk.

I bought my ps3 for blu-ray only and will never buy more than 5 games on it (only own 1 - Time Crisis 3 - that I have had for two months and have played exactly one time. My 360 gets used on a near daily basis.

splattii2

There are something like 18 million 360's sold worldwide. In theory that would allow 18 million people to get "Blu" compatible for around $200 if they wanted to. Unless I've missed something, there is no Blu player close to that price point.

Gizmo

Actually, last year HDM was .58% combined...Blu-ray would be somewhere around .38% of that.

pro-bassoonist

Considering that 200$ is a hypothetical price point produced by this forum the analysis offered thus far is nothing more than wishful thinking. So, unless I missed something such a scenario is quite unbelievable.

Pro-B

dan30oly

The HD-Add on retailed for $179.99 when it came out on the market.
Is it so hard to believe that a blu-ray add on wouldn't be similiarly priced?

tonymontana313

I like to wander at times.

whomod

Same here.

I went out and finally bought the PS3 as newer HD movies will only be released on that format. Not my preference but whatcha gonna do?

When I actually bothered to inquire at Best Buy as to what I could do with the PS3 game-wise that I couldn't on the X-Box 360, since I wanted to get the most out of my PS3 purchase, the clerk(s) just stood there silently and ackwardly until one finally remembered Gran Turismo and suggested that. They added that the X-Box 360 is the way to go game-wise. A suggestion that I already knew.

So right now my PS3 gets used very rarely. I have about 6 Blu-Ray discs and literally thousands of SD DVD's which I play on my Toshiba HD-A20 on account of the better upconversion.

So the PS3 is the console that I need to use. The X-Box 360 and the Toshiba HD-A20 are the ones I LIKE to use (for games and movies respectively). It's not threadcrapping BTW. It's just a statement of fact.

pro-bassoonist

Toshiba also sold players for 99$ but I never saw BR machines at that price point. So, yes, the analogy is off and it is hard for me to believe that such an add-on would be a tremendous hit for the rest of the 18mil(?) Xbox owners. Do you know when the add-on will street?

By the end of the year, perhaps even in the Fall, 250$ + will get you a BR player (Funai) so if and when an add-on streets if the difference is around 50$ going by this forum's projection do you really think that the add-on will be such a hit given MS's past record? I don't.

Pro-B

candyrocket786

Mine is pretty much a decoration on the entertainment center. It does get some BD action a couple of times a month... but that's it.

Both of my 360 and A35's are used on a daily basis.

Supermallet

Like the HD DVD add on, a Blu-ray add on will be for people who already own a 360. I don't think it will significantly shift sales numbers, although maybe a few people will decide to get a 360 instead of a PS3 because of it. However, Microsoft would be crazy to sell this over $200.

candyrocket786

If they get it under $179.99 + some type of BD Multi-Disc Rebate then I could see it becoming a great hit with 360 and PC owners (assuming you can connect it to a PC).

Supermallet

As I said, I doubt it would significantly shift sales of the PS3, which I imagine would be Microsoft's main motive.

edstein

Microsoft has a working Blu-ray prototype. Rumored street date is May. I see no reason why they couldn't set a $179 price point with an included movie. Newegg has two Lite-ON Blu-ray rom drives both less than $150 right now.

dman988

I wonder when Apple will put Blu-Ray drives into their MB Pros.

DVD Polizei

To some degree, yes. But in the long run, it might. Because we've all discussed the main reason for the PS3, and if we have 1) 360 users who are holding off on Blu-ray because they don't want to purchase a $300 or higher player, and 2) video game enthusiasts would choose the 360 over PS3 if it had Blu-ray support, then a $150-$180 MSRP might be tempting.