Hi Judremy =)

The xbox needed the remote to play movies, ps2 played them out of the box using the standard controller.


I dont see how that works to be honest. If im making Mortal Kombat 6 for example, and the game is done.. I can release it for 50 bux to the public.. But then i could include a few movies and such before the title gets released onto the disc and just add it in as more of a reason to purchase the title. Gamers wouldnt want those "extra" features if they had to pay for them, so im sure game companys would think of that before they keep cramming stuff people dont need onto the discs and risk very low sales due to a insanely high price tag.

Hardly what you are making out what my post was about. What i posted was my reaction to the news of the HD-DVD drive. You are correct that pricing hasnt been announced, but im a video game fan first, buisness man 2nd. Ill be picking up a Xbox 360 as well once i can easily get my hands on it, and of course a ps3 is very high on my list. However, ive NEVER owned a system right when it came out, i always wait. The 360 will be the first time i take the plunge early, and its ONLY due to the Street Fighter 2 Online announcment. That is what im very intrested in =)

100% Agreed!

I see it as a bad move, but again, im more tech oriented, so id prefer 360 games on HD-DVD Discs with higher capacity vs old technology DVD9 Discs. Making it easy to replace is a mute point since it just plays movies and will hardly get much use compared to the built in DVD drive. That thing should last longer then the system itself =)

I only stated what i did to demonstrate that i've got an open mind and ive been around the video game scene since the atari 2600. =)

At the time, the PS2 was the least expensive DVD player in Japan. When it got to the states, the cheapest Sony DVD player was the same price as the PS2 ($300).

I personally don't like the fact that both formats Blu-Ray and HD DVD are screwing over any HDTV owner without an HDMI or DVI input. How many people are truly going to be able to take advantage of this, unless they buy a new HDTV, or have bought a newer one in the past year or so? Which brings up an intersting point, how is the add on to the 360 going to work, since that only supports component?

According to EDGE magazine (A Europeon publication) the 360 is capabile of outputing via HDMI, it just requires the proper cord, presently unavailable. I assume MS will include it in the package.

I'm not surprised that the 360 could output by HDMI or DVI, considering that the original Xbox could output by component, but you had to buy the cables separately.

I'm still curious if the 360 upconverts DVDs, because if it does, most people won't know why that's different from HD-DVD.

I'm 99.8% sure the 360 does NOT upconvert DVDs. It only plays them at 480p.

You are correct.

480p only.

i'll start to worry about HD-DVD vs Blue Gay in a few years when the rest of the country has gotten up to par. i'm willing to bet 80% of the new 360 owners are playing in SD instead of HD because they don't have an HDTV or if they do its the one from walmart that only supports 480p so they really can't tell the hugh difference anyway. i think this add on by microsoft will be worthwhile if it is priced around the same price as a new game or something $65 to say a $100 and it has the cables and everything else needed with it. as far as getting all excited about it ask me when all the movies i really like are on the new format. and if games start being put on HD i hope they have some sort of processor upgrade and the DVD drive is like 400x i sure don't want to wait for 10gigs of a game to load.

Gee, I wonder which side you're on... -ohbfrank-

It's not about cramming extras, it's simply about the rising costs of development. Games are getting more and more complex technically speaking, whether that be the sound or graphics or design features, and this simply raises costs. Better graphics involve more detailed models, more and better quality textures, bigger environments, professional quality sound, more professional voice acting, online implementation. Simply put these games are just much more complex to develop and as such, have higher development costs. You can say it's not necessary, but it's not just about removing extra features but downgraded graphical and aural elements due to constraints on the budget. Certainly companies take these things into consideration, but if the market can bear $60 prices the companies will be happy to do it. If that sells well, why drop down especially in the face of these higher development costs, which are a reality.

Didn't Sony announce that PS3 titles would not be moved up to $60? If that happens, MS might be forced to pull down their prices, especially since I highly doubt Nintendo will raise their game prices, considering they're talking of potentially making the Revolution $100.

Sorry if I gave the wrong impression in my post. I wasn't trying to be anti-anything ... I actually started out trying to support why Microsoft including the drive installed on newer versions. I am just watching for what precedent will be set for mid- current generation hardware upgrades.

Very good point.

I'd go a bit further. I'd say most college students user their computers or laptops as their DVD players. When I was in college I had a *huge* DVD collection and that was like 30 movies. This was also during the Clinton administration. :(

When I have lan parties we have 1 57" HDTV, and two 27" TVs. Of the two 27 inchers, one has composite, and the other is RF only. Sucks, but it works. But as a main television, the 360 is always hooked to the HD one.

Microsoft has admitted that they will release a Blu-Ray add-on if HD-DVD fails to catch on:

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6142137.html

I guess Microsoft really isn't too confident with their decision. :D

In amazing turn of events Sony continues R&D on their HD-DVD players and HD-DVD media if Blu-Ray fails to catch on!

http://www.gamespot.com/news/businessISbusinessDUH

I guess Sony really isn't too confident with their decision. :D

Sounds like good news to me... no one really knows which way the market will go, so why not leave your options open?

Can you doublecheck your link? I'm getting nothing! :(

;)

Chris

I still wonder how they are going to execute this. Will it be a 32X type thing and snap into the 360? You NEED HDMI outputs for HD though, right? So, people with ONLY component HDTV's are screwed....like me

Well, currently, the Xbox outputs 720p over component. If the new format REQUIRES HDMI then they can go fuck themselves because I and 85-95% of the rest of the world won't be getting it.

The DVD Forum (the group of companies which control the DVD and HD-DVD formats) require that all HD upconversion be done over HDMI. It would not surprise me if this would also be true for displaying high definition video (the Toshiba players only output HD over HDMI). In fact, I would be more surprised if they allowed the signal to be passed over component.

On another note, if they can a straight digital feed to the add-on, and output games through HDMI, I'm in! :banana:

And if you don't have HDMI, well, save your pennies. You need a new TV.

I think in the HD forum, HD-DVD/Blu-Ray require HDMI. Not sure why, but apparently for some reason it does. I think they said it MIGHT be possible with Component, but who knows....I'm not sure I want to jump on the bandwagon yet anyways.

It is simple, HDMI allows for real intelectual property control. In other words, "Digital Rights Management". It is very easy to capture movie data being sent over component cables.

Make no mistake, this next generation of movie format is much more about meeting business need then consumer need. Someone said it themself, most of the present HDTV's don't even support HDMI, so why require it if High Definition technology is being driven by consumers?

Presently the HD-DVD format promises to be more flexible in its DRM then Blu-Ray. This makes sense because most of the companies behind the standard are hardware vendors and interested in faster adoption.

Sony, being a huge publisher and owner of movie IP in addition to game IP is much more concerned about having solid DRM and control of the medias future. Sony makes much more money from pressing discs and seling their movie IP then they do from their hardware. This is why Sony is willing to take huge loses by putting Blu-ray in the PS3; ie razor - razor blades in both games and movies. An excellent strategy, but very time sensitive to market pressures.

Not surprisingly, that's your guess.

My guess is that negotiations between MS and Toshiba to strike a sweetheart deal for HD-DVD drives aren't going as MS would like them to so they're "upping the ante" by making this public statement. Come on, anyone with 1/2 a working brain cell can see that if MS could make an EXTERNAL HD-DVD drive, they can make an EXTERNAL Blu-Ray drive too... They don't need Peter Moore to come out and say it. So he said it for another reason.

And anyone with a quater of a working braincell knows that preventing an overall winner in the Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD war is Microsoft's main goal (as it provides them with the most benefit). I'm not exactly sure why he would say that. Toshiba already has the entry-level base covered with their player, so a HD-DVD player add-on for the 360 will do nothing for them as far as adoption goes. They aren't going to give MS a better deal on drives if they reap no benefit.