Xbox 360 HD-DVD model after "next year's spring"???

If the thing is gonna cost me 400.00+ I might..

 

I would bet the vast majority of 360 users don't use their consoles as DVD players, because if they can afford the pricetag then they could afford a DVD player. I had the original Xbox on launch day and got the DVD remote so I could use it to playback and didn't use it to watch a DVD even once, and here we are 4 years later. I never used my PS2 to watch DVDs either and even though I have a DVD remote that came with my 360 I'm not going to use it for DVDing, I just think there is a small percentage of people out there who would even be interested in watching HD DVDs on a gaming console and that is why MS came out saying "no, we aren't coming out with a drive..." because financially it isn't worth it.

 

Oops, I meant Saturn.

 

She's expanding the definition of w**** day by day.

Not that there's anything wrong with that....

 

I'm following you, but I don’t play my consoles in the same room with my good audio/video equipment.. If I'm in another room playing games and all I have in that room is an old DVD player why would I want to spend the extra cash to put a second high end DVD player in my house?? I think you assume that everyone plays games on one TV and in the same room all the time.. Being able to save a few dollars on a second DVD player would be nice..

 

I would bet to say you're wrong, especially with a new technology such as HD/Blu-Ray. When the X-box and PS2 came out with DVD capabilities, the vast majority of people already had DVD players. As far as I know there isn't a HD-DVD/Blu-Ray player on the market, so having those capabilities should be attractive for early adoptors.

 

IMO, if you spend $400 plus bucks, it better play HD/or blue ray DVD's and make me breakfast...

 

The PS2 was the only DVD player in my home for awhile there, until the prices really fell to the 50-70 dollar range. Same with most of the people I know that had PS2's.

Xbox came out a couple of years after PS2, and the DVD format was a bit more established, so I could see why people didn't use that console as a DVD player, because maybe they already had one. Plus the fact that you had to get an add -on just to play DVD movies.

If PS3 is able to establish Blue Ray in homes before HD-DVD is able to get a player out there, I don't know....HD-DVD should have came in Xbox360 to try establish the HD format.

This is another reason I see the PS3 being released soon. To establish Blu Ray in homes as fast as possible, so when you start seeing Blu Ray Movies on shelves, you already have a Blue Ray player in your house. One of the reasons I was able to hold off on a 360 purchase, and maybe the fact that I don't have an HDTV yet either, LOL!

 

Great...so now we will be able to watch 1/7 of the movies we want to see.

Edit: Hmm...I just read this article that says a company called Broadcom has announced a new decoder chip that will support both formats. Hopefully, this means DVD players will be made with this chip and make the format wars a moot point. God...I hope so. If RC_Cola or someone else posted this already somewhere, then I apologize.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/13551016.htm

Rival DVD format take center stage at Consumer Electronics Show
By AMAN BATHEJA
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

LAS VEGAS –- It’s been compared to the VHS vs. Beta contest for the wallets of VCR buyers in the 1980s.

This time, it’s Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD. The rivalry over the next-generation DVD format was in full view Wednesday, the day before the start of the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, as companies unveiled devices supporting the Blu-Ray or HD-DVD standards.

Sharp, Pioneer, and LG announced plans for Blu-Ray players. Toshiba, which developed the HD-DVD format, unveiled two players in its format. Thomson also introduced an HD-DVD player. LG and Thomson, even in introducing their players, both said they weren’t taking sides in the format debate.

The issue might have been abruptly made moot Wednesday, when the California semiconductor maker Broadcom announced a high-definition audio/video decoder chip that supports both formats. The chip could allow for the creation of DVD players that play Blu-Ray as well as HD-DVD discs.

"We are now living in an HD world and once you had your first HD moment, you’ll never settle for less,” said Russ Johnston, senior vice president of marketing and product planning for home entertainment at Pioneer Electronics, after introducing the company’s first Blu-Ray Disc Player.

Both formats have been touted as the successor to the DVD, which has started to lose momentum among consumers.

Blu-Ray and HD-DVD cram more information into the discs, meaning movie studios could use either format to release films on DVD with high-definition quality and better features. With already-booming sales of high-definition televisions expected to be even stronger in 2006, the question of how best to provide HD viewing on DVDs looms large for electronics manufacturers and Hollywood studios.

It was just 10 years ago that the original DVD format was introduced at CES. The millions of DVD players and DVDs that have been sold since then reflect the high stakes for the companies choosing sides in the rivalry, especially if one standard emerges a clear winner.

Blu-Ray supporters say the discs can hold more information, up to 54 gigabytes compared to HD-DVD, which come in 15-gigabyte, 30-gigabyte and 45-gigabyte versions. A standard DVD can hold 4.7-gigabytes of information.

The argument for HD-DVD is that the discs will be cheaper to produce. Also, since HD-DVD’s use similar technology to traditional DVDs, HD-DVD players would be able to play traditional DVDs, making for a smoother transition into the marketplace. The Blu-Ray format would not play a traditional DVD.

Both formats have been vying for supporters for more than a year, in hopes that one would eventually end up on top. But loyalty remains for both camps, bringing up comparisons to the VHS vs. Beta battle.

Several studios have said 2006 would be the year they begin releasing films on one or both formats. Twentieth Century Fox and Lion’s Gate International both announced Wednesday plans to release a handful of titles on the Blu-Ray format later this year.

The uneasiness over the format war was evident at a press briefing by Sharp, where executives announced plans for a Blu-Ray DVD player, but could not reveal a specific release date.

"We’re very close on Blu-Ray. It’s been a long struggle, I have to admit,” said Bob Scaglione, senior vice president of Sharp Electronics Corp.’s Consumer Electronics Marketing Group.

He said the company ultimately chose to side with Blu-Ray based on how other key manufacturers had sided in the format war.

Toshiba unveiled two HD-DVD players Wednesday morning, the first ones for the U.S. market. The HD-XA1 and HD-A1 will retail for $799.99 and $499.99 respectively, and be available in stores in March, the company said.

"There is no doubt about it that HD-DVD represents the best value for our consumers,” said Jodi Sally, vice president of marketing for Toshiba’s Digital Audio/Visual Group. The company has also launched a campaign to better familiarize the public with the HD-DVD format, employing the slogan "So Real You Can Feel It,” Sally said.

Electronics maker LG unveiled its own Blu-Ray Disc Player at the beginning of the day, but was careful to make clear that the company wasn’t taking sides.

"Regardless of what format exists in the marketplace over time, LG will be a major supplier” of all formats, said Bob Perry, vice president of sales and channel marketing for LG.

Also sitting on the fence, though leaning in the opposite direction, was Thomson, which unveiled an HD-DVD player that will retail later this year for $499. Lisa Castor, vice president of Thomson’s Home Networking division, prefaced a description of the player by stating the company was remaining "neutral” in the format rivalry.

 

I'm all for a smoother transition as it sounded like the HD-DVD would be able to play regular DVD's which everyone now has...with Broadcom saying they have a chip to play both is cool as well...

With xbox360 having an external HD-DVD addition sucks...That's going to be at least a couple of hundred if not more, meaning if the PS3 is around $500 - $600, it's worth it to wait...

 

I don't see how there could be any difference in quality between a console HD player and a dedicated HD player. It is a digital signal going to a digital output.

With a DVD player there was a difference because it either output a digital signal to an anaolg TV, or a low resolution digital signal to a high resolution HDTV. In that case the digital to analog converter or the scaler made a difference in picture quality.