E3: Microsoft's HD DVD Drive For Movies Only

"720p is our sweet spot for next generation rendering techniques"

720p isn't exactly next generation, give me a break. Maybe if you're talking about console gaming, but even then it's "now generation", not "next generation"

Half-life 2 renders beautifully at 1280 x 1024 or even higher resolutions, and that game is over a year old. Sure it's on a pc, but if you're going to make a claim like "next generation rendering techniques", you better be prepared to back it up.

This is just bluster from Microsoft about their technology while offering nothing innovative. Blue-ray is going to blow this away when the PS3 launches.

Personaly i don't think blue ray is all that, sure it supports alot of rich HD content reaching up to 1080p but 50gb of max capacity is good when it comes to delivering bundles of HD games than 50gb is the way to go wihtout any probs, but i think sony's idea of running all titles on blue ray is a waist of memory and money, because they are using blue ray, the games will definatly cost aat least 70 bux a pop, that is ten to 20 more than the avg. 360 game because of the DVD 9, MS can have games that are within 50 to 60 bux, because they attend to use both DVD 5 (4.7GB) and DVD 9. But because sony is stricting to blue ray they are diggin their own grave, and 500 and 600 for a console, F..ck that if you ask me, adding linux dont mean crap, anyoine can get there hands on linux it's a free OS.

Wow Guile for such a strong supporter of "Blu-ray" I would have thought you'd get the name right.. (notice the 'e' has been removed)

I disagree with you that the PS3 will "blow" away the 360 because of its higher disc storage capacity. Due to a thing called a budget, developers can't spend large amounts of time developing 2 versions of their games. You may get an extra trailer or 2 on the PS3 version.

I believe the only thing the Blu-ray drive will be used for is watching HD movies, and M$crosoft has just announced a competing feature for the 360. In the end when comparing hardware both systems will be relatively similar. Time to market and games available will determine the winner.

I think Sony tried to overreach in this particular market. The Xbox360 is more in line with the next generation of consoles. Truth be told I actually see the PS3 being similar to the generation AFTER the 360 in terms of data storage. As impressive as the PS3 is spec-wise, I think it tries to be too much when all people want is a great console.

I am getting too old to really be into the games any more but I will probably end up picking up a Wii for my son and I to play together on. I won't be picking up either a 360 or a PS3

PS3 is looking like it's trying to be too far ahead of it's time. Very few people will even be able to take advantage of the PS3's full 1080p output. And despite the fact that PS3 has more raw power than the 360, the 360 is more efficient and better for developers. I own a 360 and it is awesome, maybe I'll get a PS3, but not soon, I'd get a Wii before I'd get the PS3

I think the Sony PS3 is the true next gen system. They are many within this society who are obsessed with the latest and greatest technology and will pay top dollar for it (remember $10K plasma tv's)... and PS3 will offer them just that.

$600 sounds like a lot for a gaming system, but neither the PS3 nor the Xbox 360 are mere gaming consoles. They are multifaceted entertainment systems covering digital and non-digital music, hd movies, games, online content, etc.

I also believe if you compare a similar configuration of components, the PS3 is actually cheaper.

Xbox 360 Prem (20GB) + Wireless Network Adapter + HD-DVD = $400 + $100 + at least $200 = $700

PS3 (60GB) =$599. You do the math.

At the end of the day, the Xbox 360 is not future proof, but the PS3 is. HDMI, 6 USB, Blu-ray, built in Wifi, media card / memory, upconversion of dvd, ps1, ps2, and ps3 games to 1080p, etc.

Sony will remain the Market Leader.

How many times in the past has the technically better product been shunned by the public in favor of lesser technology? The *real* reason sony is going all blu ray with games is because there are not going to be burners avail for pirating, and of course because its a sony technology. In truth based on price alone alot of people(like me) that really enjoy gaming but have other commitments (you know, car payments, mortgages, FOOD) will walk away from the sony line(hell, i don't even do online gaming, of any sort). We have a psp(wife's) a ps2, and a ps1 but if that price doesn't come down fast and far we won't be buying a ps3. Even the 360 is out of the price area i'm willing to pay(for now) I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the 360 dropped in price when the ps3 is released. Console gaming is quickly becoming a "rich man's sport" and with all the financial stress on the average household, these things are gonna have to be real cheap for people to want to continue the upgrade cycle.

Blue Ray = Major DRM, that's the ONLY reason why Sony is trying to push it on everyone. The truth is that most games will easily fit on standard DVD and Microsoft was correct in using that format. I have a very hard time believing a game will need 50gigs of space. A game that uses that much space will be used for video and not actual code.

I'm with fixer on this one. I love my PC games but my daughters will not need anything better than a Wii to play fun games. Blu-ray and HD-DVD have to battle it out before I go buying into one or the other. Look at the "great" success Sony has had with UMD on the PS portable. Movie studios are stopping support for that format.

Until you can assure me that Blu-ray is sticking around I cannot justify $600 for a gaming console. At least I can run my finances, VPN into work, play the most fun MMORPG's, dual boot to Linux and on and on with my PC thereby justifying spending $1500 on it. All I can do with a PS3 or XBOX is play some games and maybe watch some movies if the studio supports the format. I've even hear that the PS3 will not support HDMI, correct me if I am wrong.

WII will be the surprise winner in this. Just like DS support will slowly build for this platform. I think it would have been great to have 720p out of the box but 480p is good enuff for the masses. Besides if the WII comes in at $200-$250 you can use that $400 and upgrade your PC for VISTA.

As for Blu-ray games using 50gig...nobody wants to wait an hour for a game to load. Besides I don't think most 15-20 year olds care about 1080p if it gonna cost $70 a game as oppose to $40

Also why would want to buy a Microsoft HD-DVD player if it only gonna play movies (at least in near future)? If you really want HD-DVD you would be better off with a stand-alone or PC drive.

As a programmer, I can guarantee you that the extra disk space will be used up in no time. Of course, the memmory intensive games will mainly be of "video extensive" nature. If you plan to buy a gaming system for about 5 years or more, then Blue-Ray is certainly the way to go, even if it costs a little extra initially. Another option is to wait for about 6 months for some of the dust to settle and the prices to drop.

Work a little harder, so you can play a lot more in style!

Frankly anyone that gives $ony a penny for that overpriced game is nuts!

Just because the PS3 has a Blu-Ray drive, does that mean that the games must be on a Blu-Ray disc? Can't they also be on a standard DVD, and thus have the same cost savings that you're talking about?

Daddy D said: "I've even hear that the PS3 will not support HDMI, correct me if I am wrong."

You're wrong. The PS3 will have HDMI output, but only on the more expensive model. While $700 sounds expensive, it's barely more than what a basic HD-DVD drive costs, and it comes with a "free" gaming system!

If PS3 is able to deliver on all its promises, it will be the hands-down winner in a few years (and will lead Blu-Ray to a sound defeat over HD-DVD at the same time). The question is just whether or not it will deliver on its promises.

In any case, I'll be like many, many consumers who don't buy any of the game consoles or any of the Hi-Def DVD formats until well after the dust clears. It is just too much money to spend on something that may not have any support in a couple years.

Xbox has not shown me anything impressive. If u look at the added price of the hd drive, it's gonna cost more than the PS3 Microsoft can't even keep up with the demand of the consumer which Sony has always met demand.

That's lame!

the cable cost $40? how much is the hard drive?

No HD Games? they go back on their words eh? i wonder why?

I've been using consoles ever since the first Nintendo came out. The game play has gotten more difficult but yet I still can finish newer games in a weekend (Half Life). Go figure. It's just my humble opinion that the human race is becoming more advance and so should the game play. Sure, I love the games that are coming out these days. They are amazing to watch but you can finish them quite easily. Why spend a lot of money buying a game that you can finish in a weekend. And that's on the difficult settings my friend.

I wish the "games" were backwards compatible.

Just read this forum, and couldn't help laughing at those with so much dumbfound faith in the PS3... its RUBBISH! It takes sony almost a year more to produce the ugliest console to date, and it wont have a scratch on the 360's online multiplayer. Xbox are decades ahead when it comes to Live... I have had it for 2 years now, and the 360 has managed to make it even better.
Those standing by Sony aught to face the music, Microsoft are king of gaming now, Sony just wanna make money, not quality products... you only have to look at it to realise it bites!

Who cares about brand...all I want is hidef gaming for 299 cdn (not the tard pack) Then I will be happy..I have many bills to pay including the 50" DLP Samsung I just picked up...Bring it on but be realistic.

I use to be a Sony fan, but not anymore. After that fiasco with putting a rootkit on the music CD and almost destroyin your PC, I do not trust them. Is PS3 the next big thing? Is Blu-Ray a must have it? I doubt it. I am still waiting for more HD programs not just a handfull. Last year my favorite satellite dish for HD program, Voom, just crash and die. If they can not keep up with a nice programing for HD, I doubt they will do the same for Blu-Ray. How many people have the TV to enjoy the benefits of Blu-Ray. To enjoy Blu-ray you must have a HD TV with 1080p. So if you buy the PS3 and play on a regular TV, you just thru away $700 because you can not get the benefits of it. Thats if the gaming company make the games to take the benefits of Blu-Ray. As a PC user and gamer, I have seing a year or two before a game uses all the technology of the latest video card. So you waited an extra year for PS3 and maybe 2 more years before a games comes out using all the benefits of PS3. By this time the next generation console will be coming out. I believe Microsoft Xbox 360 was on target with the tecnology of now and the games that can use it rigth now. The HD-DVD option for Xbox is just that an option that few will buy it. It's just for the few ones that wants it.

Maybe a little less game play at night will allow you to get to sleep early enough to stay awake in your English classes. . . :)

sounds like ps3 is the talk here.... i thought it was for 360's hd-dvd... not blu-ray... first of all the original xbox made a huge loss in microsoft's pocket... and they didnt keep up with the demand... with hd-drive in it already its gonna be a bigger loss than the first box and microsoft cant afford that.. and plus thier popular OS will soon go bye bye thats y they created windows live... anyways for all u people who argue in here... its either u get it or not... thiers only one way to find out... wait till it come out

Blaaaaah.........!! :-p

I just hope the all the systems come out soon,so they will drop the price of the old ones...Then I can get me the old ones!! woohoo! Finally get me a Xbox,,,and if they drop it enough,,get me bout four or so PS2's so I can hook up four TV's and Play Armored Core!!
Unless they have a new version of ArmoreCore that supports more then 4 players...hmmm :-)

I can wait,,,,,not a big deal...Why pay to beta test??

Silliness...

Patience,,young padawans.....

Bob:

Just thot I'd let you know: Plasmas were actually $20,000+ when they first came out. It was the year or two after, when they dropped to "only" $10,000.

Microsoft is bulding theres systems to be Computers, Sony is not , Blu-Ray won't last cause no one can aford them and OS for work or School won't run them, if you make things cheaper you can sell more and make more money for mkaing more of that product with quality , Microsoft already has a lead jump on the Next System for Gamers, Nintendo will lose the Console war but win the Portable war, look at the Xbox and the PS2, the PS2 is a lot slower and get frozen more often than the Xbox, every one knows that 360 will be upgradeable later on in the near future so thats the way it goes, Sony i believe will lose to Microsoft & Nintendo.

Its funny reading the little war of words between the HD-DVD crowd (Xbox) and the Blue Ray crowd (PS3). If you want the next generation then start talking about HVD's. When X-Box puts out there toy drive and PS3 comes out the HVD will be completed. Whats that you don't know what HVD's are?? They hold 3.6 TB of data with a transfer speed of 1 GB a sec. Now thats next Generation. Blue Ray and HD-DVD's are small steps at best.

You guys are crazy. Yeah, let the wars begin, but both 360 and PS3 systems are built to mirror actual computers. In fact, Sony has mentioned that it is not trying to compete with 360 or Wii. It's trying to compete with the PC gamers. Nice strategy, I think and they are really on point as far as price. $499 for the model with the 20GB hard drive and $599 for the model with the 60GB hard drive. Plus the others specs are great AND it has a Blu-Ray drive included. That's a monster of a deal when you compare to buying a desktop PC plus you get a drive that could cost between $500 and $1000 when it comes out. Even if the Blu-Ray loses the format war (which I'm hoping it doesn't because of it's storage capacity), it can be the norm as far as PS3 games go. The drive will still be able to play regular DVD's, so no loss, no fuss. And let's be real, how many people are actually going to take advantage of the new formats right away or even has a television to support the HD formats? About 10 to 15% of the population you think? Sure, that percentage is going to rise due to plummeting costs of HD TV's, but by that time, a format will have won.

I normally read these and never post but i think this is an interesting conversation. I think the best point I have heard here is the fact that the masses are way behind when it comes to HD technology. Now wether or not we are talking about the most important thing, an HD TV, or the rest of the gadgets, the fact remains that only about 25% of the public have an HDTV. Roughly 45% have internet access, which about a third of that percentage has high speed internet. Now, when it boils down to it, like the guy said earlier, I can't even get a decent lineup of hd programming , let alone have a use for a system like a PS3 or 360's HDDVD drive which will have very little support. They are still putting older movies to just DVD for the first time every day! I own a 360 and i have been an avid gamer since I was young, but for the first time in my life, I have been waiting on this newer technology, simply because it is too much too soon. I have a plasma that has HDMI, but trust me, component is just as shiny. Sony is natorious for selling things we don't need, aka hd for ps2. I was one of the many suckers who got burned on that deal. Never again I told myself. I bought a PSP, but outside of Luminous and a few other games, I found myself never really wanting to play it, not to mention the fact that UMD is already being severely scaled back in its support. So, I don't want to sound like a sony basher, because I am not, I have just lost a lot of faith,....or maybe gained a little more insight as to how sony conducts buisness. Xbox seems to have delivered just enough for this generation as far as technology goes,(don't kid yourself into thinking either of the big two's graphics are going to be better than the others)and they are coming out with the HD DVD to compete with blu-ray. That is it. Frankly, it comes down to which studios support which format. I for one am betting on the format being supported by Dreamworks S.K.G. And that is HD DVD. Blu ray is too much, too soon, and it won't be enough come ten years from now, so I see this format as the clear loser in the format war. Just an opinion, thanks.

I just want future support for my current DVDs (Sony may drop it once they take over) so HD-DVD is the safest bet.

Justin is the most correct person to post here. Sony's main problem has always been that they are too damn proprietary! Lets look at the past to the present shall we? When we all have VHS, Sony's gotta have Beta Max. We all have CD's, Sont's gotta have Mini-Disc. When we all have SD, Mini-SD, and/or TransFlash, Sony's gotta has Memory Stick. DVD is on the outs, and Sony's gotta bring out UMD. See a trend here? And let us not forget that all of those proprietary Sony mediums originally cost significantly more than the others in use. This is the way of Sony Corp. Make something that only their products work with, jack up the price and then justify that price by claiming its better than everyone else's product(s). The same philosophy is being applied here. People need to remember that specs on paper don't make the product great. Its proof of greatness in your hands and in front of your face that counts. Whether or not HD DVD beats Blu-Ray cannot be said right now or in the next 3-6 months, because the mediums are still far too new and expensive for the majority of us, therefore a true winner cannot and will not be determined. Lets have this debate next huh?

I am like most people here, I've been a gamer since my early yrs. and have loved every minuite of it. Even though these companies want their systems to be more than game machines I try to see them as gaming machines only. Sure an added dvd or blu-ray drive is a nice perk, but it's gaming that has me always coming back for more. I do feel that for gaming blue-ray has the advantage. For the most part i see a minor difference in graphics for 3rd party games, however I'm anxious to see if Sony's first party can blow us away with amazing graphics, physics, sound etc...

I am like most people here, I've been a gamer since my early yrs. and have loved every minuite of it. Even though these companies want their systems to be more than game machines I try to see them as gaming machines only. Sure an added dvd or blu-ray drive is a nice perk, but it's gaming that has me always coming back for more. I do feel that for gaming blue-ray has the advantage. For the most part i see a minor difference in graphics for 3rd party games, however I'm anxious to see if Sony's first party can blow us away with amazing graphics, physics, sound etc... As far as video formats go, it could go either way. (Kinda pulling for blu-ray since i'll have a ps3 anyways.) eventually it will all settle and we as consumers can breath easily and not worry if the format you choose won't have some of your favorite movies.

well is the ps3 only for an hd tv or not im looking in to pre ordering one and i dont have an hd tv i have a nice tv just not that nice will it be able to work on a normal tv

Games on the ps3 will still look way better than ps2 games even if you DOTN have an hdtv. Me...I cant wait. Gonna drop 3gs on a dlp and then preorder a ps3 and wait for the kudos to arrive....WHERES MY FUCKING KUDOS????? YOU XBOX PEOPLE STOLE MY KUDOS AND I WANT THEM BACK...

In conclusion BLU-RAY WINS BECAUSE by FEB there will be SIX MILLION BLUERAY PLAYERS IN HOUSEHOLDS