Xbox 360 HD-DVD announcement at CES?
by Christopher Grant 
{ Jan 4th 2006 at 2:35PM }
Bill
Gates is set to deliver his annual keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas tonight and it has (predictably) gotten the
analysts all in a tizzy. Though Microsoft has consistently denied seeking to replace or upgrade the 360's optical drive
format, analyst Richard Doherty of research firm Envisioneering Group thinks Gates will include details
on HD-DVD and the 360 in addition to the anticipated focus on their new OS, Vista. One Microsoft insider has already discussed new "iterations" of the 360 including features like IPTV. If they splinter the console line further (ie: optional hard drive) they risk alienating developers who expect a consistent platform. We'll see tonight... what do y'all think? Announcement or not?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
JGE @ Jan 4th 2006 3:03PM
Of course there won't be any announcement in regards to HD-DVD for the 360, unless it's absolute denial. Any hint, or admission, of a next-gen drive would totally kill all 360 sales and would prevent MS from reaching their install base goals prior to launch of the PS3. MS will only admit to a next-gen drive after the PS3 is released and it becomes evident that their hopes of winning the next-gen console war fail to materialize.
Andy @ Jan 4th 2006 4:54PM
I, for one will not buy another Xbox 360 with an HD DVD drive. If it comes down to buying either another XBOX 360 or a New PS3 I'd buy the PS3 for the next gen drive and at the same time broaden my gaming opportunities. It would be best that if MS does decide to do this, they accomodate by making an add on for the current 360 at a small price.
WillGonz @ Jan 4th 2006 5:39PM
Microsoft stated previously that they would not go with any HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. They would provide a game via DVD and any extras that were needed would be downloaded from the MarketPlace. Currently demos are just under a gig and people are downloading those. So if you could download 1 gig of data you'll get a whole new expansion pack.
I also agree with comment #1 above posted by JGE.
PJ @ Jan 4th 2006 6:06PM
JGE is right. It would not make strategic sense to announce a HD DVD 360 today unless they were on trucks headed to stores as we speak. It would totally undercut the 360. I believe we may see a HD DVD 360 announced in a year or so.
The head of Xbox Japan has stated that a HD DVD drive in the 360 is a possibility, but that the games would always stay in the DVD9 format so as to not splinter the market. The HD capability would only be used for movies. That makes perfect sense to me and I think it would represent an nice step for the 360.
Dark Morford @ Jan 4th 2006 11:15PM
During the CES keynote, Peter Moore mentioned that the HD-DVD drive for XBox 360 will be an external unit. I'm not sure how much bandwidth HD content takes; can the USB 2.0 connection pass it through?