150°

Quad-layer DVD Technology Becomes the Third HD Format

A DVD capable of holding 20GB could go head-to-head against HD DVD and Blu-ray

The home entertainment market is still wrestling with having two HD optical formats, HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc, but soon it will have to deal with another. UK-based New Medium Enterprises (NME) has developed the Versatile Multilayer Disc (VMD), a new optical-based format capable of storing 20GB of data.

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dailytech.com
FeralPhoenix6255d ago

"The HD VMD Media Player Duo, starting at $199 (MSRP) and the HD VMD Media Player Quattro, starting at just $249 (MSRP), will both be available from PC Rush in Q2 2007."

-Well if thats true then I guess it all depends on how much studio support they have, if its the same or more than HD DVD then I think at those prices it will definitely be a contender if not draw some huge sales, hmmm, this whole "format stuff" looks messy, Can somebody please compromise, we will see but until then I'm not buying either...."May the best man, errr format Win!"

JasonPC360PS3Wii6255d ago

Forget DVD or anything disc related I'm tired of buying a product that is designed to scratch purposefully so I have to keep buying more. No I’m done with this tech its time for tiny drives that store everything like Ipods that hold 100gb with downloadable content.

eques judicii6255d ago

just wondering... does this need a special laser or just a different firmware installation?? because if its just firmware then the 360 could use these quad dvds and make disc space a non-issue!

Marty83706255d ago

Switching between layers with DVD/HD DVD/VMD all have the same flaws. Which Blu-ray does'nt have, no pause when switch layers so performance is not effected.

bung tickler6255d ago

first of all the layer switch is like 99% unnoticeable if the media is placed on the disk properly, second blu-ray has layers as well. good thing you waisted you one bubble spouting nothing but bullsh!t.

nambo6255d ago

but this may be coming a little too late. If it came out last year I'd say they'd have a good chance, but it seems to me the studios have already made the investments into HD-DVD or BR. The fairly low cost to the consumers could still make it a player, but if HD-DVD comes out with a $300 player as rumored, then I think it'll be a hard sell.

@PS3Fan, your name says it all. You have no credibility. I don't know of anybody else, but I have never experienced any pauses when watching a DVD or playing games on DVD.

Bathyj6255d ago

A 3rd option, especially this late will just comfuse every one now and plus DVD is still going to be around for ages. Do we really want/need 4 choices. And all the studios are still waiting to see how the last hand they played is going to work out. All those good things it has going for it dont mean anything if you have no studio support.

It seems they've invent some fancy layering technique. I dont know why they should try and bring their own disk out and compete with HDDVD and BR. They should licience this layering tech to both of them and clean up.

About what you said to PS3FAN, you do get a layer transition pause when watching DVD movies. It even says so on the covers. It doesn't happen in games though. I reckon anything that needs to be streamed in a game (music etc)probably doesn't switch layers on the disc in the middle of a song.

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290°

Microsoft’s Surface and Xbox hardware revenues take a big hit in Q3

Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.

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theverge.com
darthv721d 18h ago

Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.

solideagle1d 5h ago

you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)

Sonic18811d 2h ago

I thought darthv72 and Obscure_Observer already work for Microsoft 🤔

dveio1d 2h ago

MS: "Xbox services and content without AB up 1%, with AB up 62%. Hardware down 31%. In total a loss of 350 mill."

darthv72: "Seems about right."

MS: "Excuse m ..."

darthv72: "I don't hardly play on my consoles directly."

MS:

Lightning7721h ago

What he said was facts. How he plays games is no concern of you. Don't get too mad about it.

Cacabunga1d 4h ago

I can tell people like you are an absolute minority..

If service is up means their fans and fanboys accepted this model and subscribed to it. The near future you will see a big decline because the service is saturated.

darthv7215h ago

to you it may seem like the minority... but your bubble is shrinking because more and more are following suit. convenience is a hell of a drug and its also why physical sales only amount to 30% of overall game sales. times are changing, you either get with them or you get left behind.

neutralgamer199210h ago

Darth

30% physical sales: yet Phil and xbox division are in a rush go give up on that 30%. they don't have any right to give up any piece of the pie since the control such a little of the pie to begin with

also, the market is clearly speaking that the model Xbox is pushing isn't working right now the keyword being right now. you are right about freedom to play anywhere so i hope they put their games on steam

shinoff21831d 4h ago

But that's been ms for years. When things aren't going their way they try to change the way things are said. For instance console sales are down, they stop telling how many sold instead telling us how many hours spent in halo or headshots. So it makes sense console sales down just say people are playing on more devices then previous. What they won't say is how many xbox players jumped ship to ps5.

Cacabunga1d 3h ago

Hardware sales are so bad that Sony and Nintendo are blowing the sales off the water with their hardware.

If Xbox are losers, others aren’t..
Xbox already tried everything with Xbox live then subscriptions went down so much that they had to find something else. Their fans subscribed then reached saturation rather quickly.

Hardware and exclusive games is where it’s at! Keep gamers excited, announce decent software and people will support you

itsmebryan22h ago

@shin
Well keep it simple Sony 's operating income is down 26% and Microsoft's is up 32%. No MS spin there, just facts. 😉
Cheers

S2Killinit15h ago

MS is after diminishing consoles as a medium. They want to destroy this market because they couldnt win. MS’s vision is to dissolve console gaming.

romulus2321h ago

Odd that a company that touts you dont need the hardware to play is already touting another console in the works.

darthv7221h ago

They are not reliant on the HW but still want to maintain a presence (no matter how small) is a good thing. It shows commitment to the craft. It reminds me of SNK and how they made games for their own hardware (Neo Geo) while also making them for others because they knew there was a market to do so. They knew they would sell more to others but also sell to their own niche fan base.

TheEroica15h ago(Edited 15h ago)

Perfectly reasonable post down voted by insecure corporation friendly folk.... But not gamers. Real gamer want accessibility and ease of acquisition for all.... Company shills are the only ones still telling us that hardware locking people from games is good for us.

Chevalier10h ago

@Darth

You should stop parroting metrics like an idiot without context.

"Xbox content and services revenue grew 62% in Q3 from a year earlier, “driven by 61 points of net impact” from the purchase of the third-party video game giant, Microsoft said."

61 of the 62% was from their merger so net increase is ONLY 1%

https://www.mesaonline.org/...

itsmebryan1h ago

@chevalier

It looks like made a great purchase. Much better then Sony buying Bungie. 😉
Cheers

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 1h ago
purple1011d 7h ago

Xbox hardware revenue tanks to lowest point of Xbox Series generation

Profchaos1d 7h ago

I'm not surprised surface is struggling they aren't relevant anymore

DOMination-20h ago

In the last two years they've started exiting the consumer market altogether. All of the newest Surface products are business models only. They can't seem to work out what they want to do with it.

XBManiac1d 6h ago

Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.

SimpleDad1d 6h ago (Edited 1d 6h ago )

"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."

That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.

purple1011d 5h ago

Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"

Microsoft: "why's that"

Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'

Profchaos1d 5h ago (Edited 1d 5h ago )

Top brass have also wanted to start seeing returns on the 100 billion they have put into various Xbox related moves so seeing more multiplatform games is highly likely especially from abk

It's basically saying that PlayStation is the reason Xbox is afloat right now thinks to Ps5 versions of COD

Kornholic1d 4h ago

So basically PS and PC gamers' money is keeping Xbox on life support.

MrDead21h ago

The only growth MS will get out of the console industry is if it supports it's rivals platforms. Xbox is a pointless machine now. I can see them on a big push for live next, and they won't give up on trying to buy Steam.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 21h ago
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140°

Why Monopolies In Gaming Must Not Be Allowed

As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.

thorstein1d 16h ago

Shouldn't be allowed in any field.

Inverno1d 13h ago

And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.

jwillj2k41d 12h ago

Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.

MrCrimson1d 11h ago

tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.

Zenzuu1d 12h ago

Monopolies shouldn't be allowed regardless. Not just for gaming.

MrCrimson1d 11h ago

They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -

70°

The INDIE Live Expo 2024 event is to feature over 100 game titles

INDIE Live Expo, Japan’s premiere online digital showcase series , will debut never-before-seen games & content updates across more than 100 titles on May 25th.