No Blu-ray For Xbox 360

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Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for the Xbox 360, said today that Microsoft is not in talks with Sony to make a Blu-ray add-on drive. Not really a surprise but it does end weeks of speculation that there would be a Xbox 360 Blu-ray drive.

Microsoft, which has stopped making an HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox 360, would continue to invest in its Xbox Live online service that already lets users rent hundreds of movies, including ones in high-definition. "We're the only console offering digital distribution of entertainment content," Greenberg said.
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obviously they are not talking to them right now about it but I wouldn't rule it out if BR ends up being the next generation format (DVD and HD)
 
This could all be technicality crap. Sony isn't the only company that was driving Blu-ray, it isn't like Microsoft necessarily has to get permission from Sony. This is from the blu-ray.com website:

"Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD), is the name of a next-generation optical disc format jointly developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers (including Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson)"

If it were Sony's exclusive decision, Microsoft could pull the anti-competition card and throw enough lawyers at them that they would have to give them a fair royalty rate as they would not be using Blu-ray for games but movies.

Microsoft could very well be in talks with the BDA.
 
Steve said:
obviously they are not talking to them right now about it but I wouldn't rule it out if BR ends up being the next generation format (DVD and HD)
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Umm, I thought BR was the confirmed next-gen format.
This sucks for me cuz I was holding off on an Xbox360 in hopes of a redesigned BR drive coming with the system.
I don't know why Microsoft doesn't implement one. If they redesigned the 360 with a BR drive, it would crush the PS3, as Sony has already liscenced the cell processor to Toshiba.
 
Yet another reversal of official confirmation of blu-ray on the 360...
No one knows what to believe any more...
What will it be next week?
 
Ravenous said:
Microsoft could very well be in talks with the BDA.
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Aaron Greenberg said:
Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience
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Ravenous is absolutely correct if Reuters got their quote correct word for word.

The correct name for the blu-ray club is "Blu-ray Disc Association" from: http://www.blu-raydisc.com/index.html

So Mr. Greenberg did not state that Microsoft wasn't talking to the "Blu-ray Disc Association" specifically. All this crap about politicians using creative wording to give inaccurate impressions of exactly what they're stating is really making us cynical.
Also what exactly is "the Xbox experience"? Maybe it doesn't include external add-on drives? Who knows?
 
bbf said:
Ravenous is absolutely correct if Reuters got their quote correct word for word.

The correct name for the blu-ray club is "Blu-ray Disc Association" from: http://www.blu-raydisc.com/index.html

So Mr. Greenberg did not state that Microsoft wasn't talking to the "Blu-ray Disc Association" specifically. All this crap about politicians using creative wording to give inaccurate impressions of exactly what they're stating is really making us cynical.
Also what exactly is "the Xbox experience"? Maybe it doesn't include external add-on drives? Who knows?
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So they are not talking to SONY does not mean they are not talking to the BDA...
Thats really is just spitting hairs as badly as any politician.
Maybe the effect in contagious.
 
This is all because everyone always erroneously mentioned Sony when talking about Blu-ray while they should be referring to the BDA. Sony was never the proprietor of Blu-ray, just one of its main backers and holder of part of the technology.

But only the BDA has the power to award the license to use the technology.
 
PsyKo[H];1032211139 said:
...Sony was never the proprietor of Blu-ray, just one of its main backers and holder of part of the technology.

But only the BDA has the power to award the license to use the technology.
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Umm...Sony is THE backer of the technology and they have a colossal financial investment in the technology.
 
This is the perfect time to start selling 120 and even bigger hard drives at realistic prices, hell, even at break even or loss...
 
Of course it is contagious. Nobody says what they mean anymore and if they can allude to something else to either buy them time or give the shock value when they do release they will. I'm not saying that they are releasing a blu-ray drive. I certainly hope they are, but am not holding my breath.

Yes Sony is the primary backer of Blu-ray and the most prominent driving force in the industry right now. I would say kudos to them on doing their homework and releasing a console as a high definition media player, they did bring down HD-DVD. I don't know if it was insight by them for including Blu-ray or oversight by Microsoft that lead to the demise of HD-DVD. I tend to believe that if Microsoft had included the HD-DVD player in system at launch we'd be buying our high definition movies in the red box.

One of the key factors to consider is that this is one of the few times in history that Sony didn't try to force proprietary technology down our throats (mini-disc, memory sticks, umd, hell even some of their photo printers). They went through the motions and partnered with major hardware and software manufacturers to create Blu-ray Disc Association.

In the end Sony could not of done this alone, they would of never gained the studio or hardware manufacturer backing if they were the sole proprietor of this format. They made all the right moves to win this and now Microsoft needs to do the right thing and release a player because my 360 is not advertised as just a gaming system, but a media center.
 
Remember -

Support for Windows 98 ends at X - Then its not.
Support for Windows 2000 ends at X - Then its not.
Vista OEM EULAs too restrictive - Then its not.
There will be no HDMI on 360 - Then it appears.
There will be no larger hardisk - Then it appears.
There will be no Xvid/DivX support - Then it appears.

360 BD drive in the shops by August.
 
"Digital Distribution". The man said it. It would seem there is some credence to the rumors of microsoft wanting both formats to fail. Xbox live is the only service selling movies via the internet. I did not know that. I could see a xbox with a blu-ray drive if msft thought it would help them out but since they are reporting "shortages" it appears they do not need it.
 
as if that isnt a bunch of BS, you know darn well that they are doing some kind of talking about blu-ray, just maybe not with Sony.
 
Ah, little confused. I just read this article yesterday where Steve Ballmer supposedly said,

"We have already been working on, for example, in Windows, device driver support for Blu-ray drives and the like, and I think the world moves on."
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So, they'll support BR in Windows, but it's not touching the X360. I'm a little sad..
 
xenium said:
Dumb move on MS's part, in my opinion...
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MS is anything, but dumb (current efforts on Vista/XP and Win7 x64 included). Just because we aren't talking to Sony doesn't mean they're not working on getting the tech that will be the next generation after DVD, it just that they don't want to talk to they're most hated rival right now about it and its not like Sony has the monopoly on BD as a poster above pointed out:D
 
NSCTripleAgent said:
This is the perfect time to start selling 120 and even bigger hard drives at realistic prices, hell, even at break even or loss...
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a big big QFT

I think this is the main downfall to microsofts current plan. I am 110% for digital distribution and have quit a few episodes of the universe on my 360 hard drive... but they drives need to grow to be able to give 1080p content via digital, yeah they are big...we have covered this... but they can stream after some has been downloaded...which is a good start.

Anyway i think since they both believe strongly in digital as the future microsoft should work out a deal with seagate for 500gb+ xbox drives at realistic prices, I mean notebook drives aren't as cheap as 3.5 drives, but i think we could get it reasonable...i mean its only a standard sata drive in the casing, and firmware can be updated quickly and easily.

I really think microsoft could nab the market in this if they act properly
 
fellows said:
Umm, I thought BR was the confirmed next-gen format.
This sucks for me cuz I was holding off on an Xbox360 in hopes of a redesigned BR drive coming with the system.
I don't know why Microsoft doesn't implement one. If they redesigned the 360 with a BR drive, it would crush the PS3, as Sony has already liscenced the cell processor to Toshiba.
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maybe because my 360 would then be rendered useless and it would piss off everyone that currently has a 360
 
MS is building a Blu-Ray drive, however they probably aren't going to Sony for the laser support.
 
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