Microsoft demos Xbox 360 HD DVD player, menus [Updated image]
by Richard Lawler, posted Aug 8th 2006 at 6:46AM
At yesterday's North America DVD Forum Conference, Microsoft showed off video playback from their upcoming
Xbox 360 HD DVD player add-on. The short clip from
Phantom of the Opera was reported by Video Business to be similar in video and sound quality to standalone players shown earlier during the meeting. While they found time to mention that there is a "high interest level about HD DVD" among 360 owners and that 64% of them own HDTVs already, the only pricing information given was that it "
will be the cheapest HD DVD player on the market for consumers who already own an Xbox 360 console". A quick bit of work with the calculator reveals that to mean the incredibly specific range of anywhere from $0 - $499. While there weren't any pictures available from the conference itself, Microsoft did find time to release these diagrams of the menu will allow users to select content from either the DVD or HD DVD drive when attached.
Despite their claims of "high demand" -- if it's so high, why didn't the 360 ship with an HD DVD drive in the first place -- the total pricetag for 360 HD DVD vs. PS3 w/ Blu-ray will likely be a key battle this holiday season and next, even if PQ isn't.
Update: John at the Gamerscore blog posted this animated .gif to show the dashboard in action. After selecting the disc as usual, the user selects up or down to go to the DVD or HD DVD drive.
Read - More on the HD-DVD player from Major Nelson - Microsoft Gamerscore Blog
Read - Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on unveiled - Video Business
Filed under: Industry, Toshiba
Tags: dvd forum, DvdForum, hd dvd, HdDvd, hdtv, high definition, HighDefinition, video business, VideoBusiness, xbox 360, Xbox360
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jake @ Aug 8th 2006 9:02AM
"Despite their claims of "high demand" -- if it's so high, why didn't the 360 ship with an HD DVD drive in the first place..."
Umm...because they wanted to get the 360 to market in Nov. 2005 (as opposed to Nov. 2006 for Sorny), and HD-DVD wasn't ready to market yet at that time. Kinda like how Bluray still isn't ready for primetime... (cropping? On 1080p? Seriously!?)
Dave Zatz @ Aug 8th 2006 9:58AM
HDMI?
Parris @ Aug 8th 2006 10:07AM
Once again why cant you guys post a non-biased article?? Microsoft is not going to reveal any price points on the HD-DVD player until X06 in October at the earliest since it is a Xbox oriented show and doing it at a Microsoft focused event means they get all the news exposure and hype instead of sharing it with other companies and products.
Also the fact that they didn't build it into the Xbox360 from day one is part of their strategy against Sony and the PS3. You can buy a Xbox 360 for $299 and play all the games and DVD's you want whereas with the PS3 you are being forced to pay $600 regardless of wanting a Blu-Ray player or not. You guys are not gamers but this is all about choice.
I know you guys love your Blu-Ray but lets stop being so bias :)
walkin @ Aug 8th 2006 10:17AM
On the podcast about this they said it will not have HDMI, and they didn't feel HDMI was a big deal. They even said that sometimes HDMI looks worse than componate.
Tube @ Aug 8th 2006 10:58AM
I don't believe HD DVD players were shipping when the 360 was released. Also, it would add to the cost and force you to buy a movie player when you may not necessarily want one (like the PS3). Maybe you just want a game console to play games.
SmittyX @ Aug 8th 2006 11:05AM
I have to agree with a couple of the other posters. The XBOX 360 is all about choice. If I decide to take on the extra cost of the HD DVD player I can. If not then I don't have to buy it. However, in the case of the PS3, I have to take the blu-ray player even if I don't want it and it has added to the cost of the PS3.
Dan in DCVA @ Aug 8th 2006 11:11AM
Oooohh...that interface has all of sex and glitz of a 1970's filing cabinet. Makes me want to ... alphabetize ... mm-mmm yeah ... its a vanilla folder heaven, baby. Microsoft, you're so naughty. Does that 360 have a type writer add-on too?
Jason @ Aug 8th 2006 12:00PM
DC/VA don't be an idiot... they wont all be listed vertically like that... only one or two of those bars will be displayed at the same time... if you have ever used a 360 you know that the bar changes when you put in a disc, etc... if you have the add on I imagine you will have 2 bars for the disc... maybe they will be next to each other on the same line... The blade interface on the 360 is FANTASTIC.
I don't see how the PS3 is going to help Blu-Ray so much... There will be many more PS3's in Japan than in the US and I would be surprised if the folks in Japan are clammoring to watch our American movies on their PS3! (studio support really only matters in the US doesn't it? Last I heard there was only one big international studio and they were supporting HD-DVD...)
zombieflanders @ Aug 8th 2006 12:11PM
"There will be many more PS3's in Japan than in the US and I would be surprised if the folks in Japan are clammoring to watch our American movies on their PS3!"
Right. All those news reports are obviously wrong. Us Americans just hate the PS3, which is why everyone's expecting them to sit on the docks when they get here. No one's expecting preorders or lines or anything.
"(studio support really only matters in the US doesn't it? Last I heard there was only one big international studio and they were supporting HD-DVD..."
So Sony, a Japanese company with 15% of the video market share isn't big or international? And none of the other major studios release anywhere but the US? Jesus, man. Think before you type.
Jason @ Aug 8th 2006 1:03PM
zombieflanders - think before you type... the primary market for these studios is the US... sure they release movies elsewhere but the main market for US movies is the US... I'm just saying that people need to factor that in with the PS3... There HUGE inital install base doesn't even factor that in... sure there will be a couple million in the US but there will be atleast that many in Japan do we figure that all the millions in Japan want to watch these 200 or so american movies on their PS3's?
Name the last Blu-Ray or HD-DVD movie you heard of that was released in a different company that isn't an american movie... I haven't heard of ANY... there may be TONS of movies in Japan on Blu-Ray... they have had Blu-Ray drives for more than a year now... but whens the last time we heard about then in releation to this format war?
zombieflanders @ Aug 8th 2006 3:07PM
"do we figure that all the millions in Japan want to watch these 200 or so american movies on their PS3's?"
Yes. Most American movies are as popular, if not more so, in Japan and the rest of the world. Perhaps if you actually read the news reports and saw the figures, you wouldn't stick your foot in your mouth with every comment.
"Name the last Blu-Ray or HD-DVD movie you heard of that was released in a different company [ed: do you mean country?] that isn't an american movie... I haven't heard of ANY"
There's several non-American movies--as well as a couple American titles not released in the US--here:
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-14-71-ye.html
Dan in DCVA @ Aug 8th 2006 4:29PM
#8 - Jason, I hope you and Blades have wonderful life together. Where are you registered? Bed, Bath and BeDork? Who will be the fan-boy-of-honor during the ceremony?
Larry @ Aug 9th 2006 11:29AM
1. The Blade interface so far is great! Its easy to use and navigate through. Plus Microsoft seems dedicated to keeping up with consumer demand
2. Half the money Hollywood pulls in comes from overseas.
3. Here is a link to some pictures of the drive. It is huge, but from what I heard on the Major Nelson podcast it may need to be. http://news.com.com/Microsoft+shows+off+HD+DVD+drive+for+Xbox/2100-1041_3-6103069.html?tag=nefd.pulse
Tez @ Aug 9th 2006 12:19PM
But..it looks horrible. Having a HDDVD seperate reminds me of the days of the MegaCD and the the 32x which was a flop.
I think the PS3 may have the edge, as it is sleek and complete - Sony have designed in the Blu-ray drive from the begining whereas Microsoft have just bolted it on in a rather ugly fasion, hense there is no native support for HDMI.
joat @ Aug 9th 2006 1:07PM
The PS3 costs...600 dollars!!!! No need to have Blu-Ray Built in!!!!! BUILT IN Blu-Ray; more hdd space; wireless controllers; wifi built in;
Just another reason to buy a PS3!!
kbrand @ Aug 9th 2006 1:11PM
What's up with no HDMI support... yeah it looks worse than component if you hook it up to a non-1080p tv but you can clearly see the difference when it's properly installed. I mean the max resolution for component is not the same as HDMI so what's the point of buying that external HD-DVD player if you can't even view the HD-DVD in it's true digital format?
Willykyu @ Aug 11th 2006 12:50PM
Hum.... I'v read all the comments, and everybody seems to deliberately forget that blue-ray is a key to next gen games, and also can read movies!!!
everybody complains about not be able to choose to have or not an HD-DVD or Blue Ray drive in a console instead of thinking: I choose not to buy a ps3 or a 360!! the choice is here!
Buying a ps3 is buying new technology for games: blue ray is more space for several languages, super sound, less compressed textures, etc etc. There's gonna be a time when developers will need that space! saying DVD is far anough is stupid. We would have stayed with a 15 meg cardrige if games didn't need space!
Having a HD-DVD on 360, why not if it's cheap. But I won't buy one on my 360, it's just useless.
Microsoft did great with XBL, but made a series of mistakes too when wanting to be first... (no hdmi, no next gen drive FOR GAMES, region coded games, no use of HDD for games either etc etc.).
Think again before always complaining about PS3 price and its "forced" blue ray player. better that way:not only can it delivers huge space for games and high quality sound and pictures, but it can play blue ray movies TOO!