Rumor: Microsoft to "Upstage" Apple WWDC With Xbox 360 Blu-Ray Announcement

ThePeoplesChamp - 560 days 5 hours ago

i would hope its for movies only because alot of people would be pissed if they had to upgrade their 360s to play games only on bluray.

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Gorgon - 560 days 5 hours ago

Just for movies. You obviously can't alienate everyone that doesn't buy another disc drive. Thats why these are consoles, not PCs that need upgrades to be abble to play games. Every SKU needs to be abble to play games. Making a blu-ray a necessity for games is the same thing as forcing everyone to buy an HDD to play games.

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Jinxstar - 560 days 4 hours ago

Well it would help and make games like GTA5 and LA Noire possible on the 360 but they would be going back on their word to the 360 community... Not that they wouldn't do that but still. At that point why not just buy a PS3... Pro's and Con's all over the place MK. Either way I hope the 360 community (Myself included) would get a good deal at least. It would extend the life cycle and other things instead of having to buy a whole new system... I guess they could get around it buy saying "It's not a Xbox 360 game. its a Xbox BR game" Kinda like a Sega CD... We all know how that went over though...

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Kaneda - 560 days 4 hours ago

they can name xbox 540.. :) with full backward compability.. and xbox fans will upgrade..

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sonarus - 560 days 4 hours ago

Not sure if they can use it for games. MSoft has continuallys aid Bluray is unnecessary and it isn't taking off and bla bla. Nice to see they see the future is blu

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MK_Red - 560 days 4 hours ago

It would indeed piss a lot of people if they use Blu-ray drive for games and as Jinxstar said, Pros and cons are all over the place.

Another important question is this:
Will it be a stand-alone Blu-ray drive (Like HD-DVD one) or a new model of 360 with built-in Blu-ray drive?

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sonarus - 560 days 4 hours ago

If its just for movies, it would make more sense to make it an add on but they could do both as well. But it sounds like a blu ray 360 and not an add on

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omni_atlas - 560 days 4 hours ago

Thats how M$ makes money. You'll have to buy a new blu-ray disc drive to play all the new games. A big FU to their userbase.

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scottie2521 - 560 days 3 hours ago

there's no way a bluray 360 would upstage a 3g iPhone.

only people that would care would be 360 fanboys that refuse to buy a ps3. to anyone else, it wouldn't be a big deal. just more of MS following the leader with the 360 (HDMI, motion controlers, and now bluray).i don't mean to be an @sshole but i really think they should be concentrating on just making it durable instead of "keeping up with the Jones's".

even with bluray, there's no way i would buy another 360 anytime soon. the hardware is already suspect as it is and this is just another part that could fail. i've lost all confidence in any "new" 360 hardware.

i've been waiting on the new iPhone ever since the first one was released. i knew they'd release one with more memory, better camera and on the 3g network so i decided to wait. that's the announcement i'm waiting for. day one purchase for me. i was talking to my mother the other day and even she's excited about the new iPhone because she wanted the first one but i made her wait knowing a better one was on the way. so this will be a day one purchase for us both i think.

EDIT: i doubt MS would allow the bluray drive to be used for games. that would be very foolish.

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travelguy2k - 560 days 2 hours ago

they would have to start sending out new blu-ray 360's instead when a 360 inevitably red rings on you. If they did that then i think they could actually pull it off without to much complaining on the 360 fanbases part.

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PimpHandHappy - 560 days 2 hours ago

they couldnt use it for games unless they want everyone to know Sony has it built in and it has the games that use it

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ScentlessApprentice7 - 560 days 2 hours ago

You're right man. Microsoft totally badmouths something when Sony introduces something that seems as a unique advantage to them. Then they copy what Sony does.

Microsoft totally disregarded HDMI before the PS3 came out, saying its irrelevant and no one will use them. Then they but their foot in their mouth by releasing a whole new SKU (360 Elite)

They talk bad about the Sixaxis, saying motion controllers are not relevant. Now it seems they are putting their foot in their mouths again with rumors of a 360 Motion controller.

Now, yet again, Microsoft totally badmouthed blu-ray. Saying blu-ray software won't catch on and "9gb's is enough for any game". Now it seems they are going to shove their foot in their big mouth YET AGAIN by releasing a 360 blu-ray drive, even if its just for movies.

This seriously validates the assumption that Sony is a leader and Microsoft is nothing but a follower...with a big mouth.

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Statix - 559 days 14 hours ago

Obviously, just movies.

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travelguy2k - 560 days 4 hours ago

It will raise the cost of the 360 making the PS3 an even better value and Sony (through the BDA) would profit from every 360 sold. Also they will profit from all the movies sold as 360 owners have been proven buyers of media. Lastly it will put even more Blu-Ray players in homes and make it seem even more permanent by the general public.

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Jinxstar - 560 days 4 hours ago

Sony would be able to claim a cut off every game the 360 produces. They would do it in a heart beat. It would also basically ensure BR's future.

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sonarus - 560 days 4 hours ago

Yea sony makes money off every 360 so it works either way for sony plus it gives blu ray more of an edge leading to more blu ray discs sold again more money for sony.

The key factor though would be how much they enter into the market for. Sony would need to drop price to make the PS3 still the more viable blu ray option

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Ramzadel - 560 days 2 hours ago

Not to mention Sony's movie distribution companies will now have a wider audience to sell, as 360 owners are going to buy those movies

Also whenever they come out with Blu-ray television shows, Sony again will profit from a big array with their television studios, like one of them I am waiting for is King of Queens for Blu-ray

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LJWooly - 560 days 3 hours ago

Exactly, and being rather late to add a feature like Blu-Ray, which they won't be able to fully take advantage of anyway, isn't going to change that.

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DaddyDC650 - 560 days 4 hours ago

They need to pull out all the stops in order to compete with Sony and Nintendo. A price drop and a RELIABLE 360 with BR drive would be awesome for sales.

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Cdaja - 560 days 1 hour ago

If you would sell your 360 for a 360 with a Blu ray drive then why not just buy a PS3? It has Blu ray already and would be cheaper over all.

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BWS1982 - 559 days 15 hours ago

I don't think the 360 game discs would work well in his new PS3

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lsujester - 560 days 3 hours ago

Sell it for 99$??
Why would they want to lose money on it? The PS2 isn't even at that price yet.

Sell things like Jobs?? WTF?!?
MS just doesn't have the insane fan base that Apple does. Steve Jobs is a money-grubbing bastard, but people don't care. You could make a device that did nothing but shred your money, name it an Apple iShredder, and the Apple devotees would buy it in droves.

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Condoleezza Rice - 560 days 3 hours ago

But in reality,the Blu Ray 'edge' will always go to the Ps3,considering the console launched with it,the company that manufactures the console are the primary backers of it,and finally,the company that manufactures the console are also the makers of the format.It will always be a 'Sony format' in a 'Sony product',and this association will never go away.

Though,I must admit;If Microsoft announce an in-built Blu Ray Drive,they're going to have a looooooooot of backpeddling to do;

http://www.next-gen.biz/ind...

http://www.tvsnob.com/archi...

http://news.softpedia.com/n...

http://www.gamesindustry.bi...

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caffman - 560 days 3 hours ago

Sony NEVER steal anybodies ideas do they?

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eagle21 - 560 days 3 hours ago

Sony is an INNOVATOR, Microsoft is an IMITATOR.....period.

Microsoft wishes they had what Sony, Apple, Google, Nintendo has..they should stick to office software and cancel the other products.

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XGamer - 560 days 3 hours ago

you believe your own lies, don't you. MS will never use BR, never. Use some common sence, I wish whatever sony fan boy who writes these posting would use common sence.

ps3 will thankfully be the only to use BR, and maybe 2 sku's from sony laptops.

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lsujester - 560 days 2 hours ago

Yes and no. Sony and MS both have innovated and imitated at different times. But it's largely a necessity as the two companies specialize in different things. For any one thing MS copies, you can find something that Sony copied, too. And anything Sony comes up with, you can find something MS came up with too. Look it up, and you'll see.

Sony came up with Blu-ray. However, many of the audio/video codecs the thing uses were developed by Microsoft.

MS slacked in supporting HDMI on the original 360's... but yet it was the success of Live with the original Xbox which necessitated PSN, and, by extension, Home.

There are many other examples, if you care to look.

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eagle21 - 560 days 2 hours ago

What made me sick, was how some gamers are in here defending what they would do "if"...

Making excuses for...

Not making the "rumor" a careless idea even if it were true. The BDA (blu-ray disc association) is made up of over 140 companies. Sony is a major player (the lead innovator) but share in the wealth. Microsoft could have already been in there...

If they could turn back time....

@lsujester...NO...Microsoft has nothing in Blu-ray. That is the whole point, they wanted Blu-ray to use HD-i but Sony used JAVA instead. Hd dvd agreed to Hdi now changed to the name iHD. Please go to wikipedia before posting...

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tweaker - 559 days 21 hours ago

"you believe your own lies, don't you"

back at you.

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lsujester - 558 days 21 hours ago

Eagle21... why don't YOU read the Wikipedia for a change? Or even better, some technical specs of Blu-ray. It uses alot more than Java. Java is only for the interactivity part, it is NOT a video codec.

One easy example... VC-1. While a consortium runs the standard, it is primarily a MS development. And it is a mandatory spec of the Blu-ray standard.

Point is, MS has their hands on a lot of software floating out there, and some of it is used by Sony.

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lsujester - 560 days 2 hours ago

Which is kind of sad if you think about it. Look at the iphone... the things were overpriced, got crappy reception, had exclusive deals with AT&T, and Apple even bricked the ones who were hacked.

But yet, everyone kisses Steve Jobs' butt for delivering what they see as the single greatest electronic device ever created by man.

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scottie2521 - 560 days 3 hours ago

at last we finally agree on something

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eyeDEVOUR - 560 days 3 hours ago

hell...sony could just make an aftermarket drive/add-on for the 360 just like Pelican,Madcats and many others make all kind of accessories for each console...

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BLUR111 - 559 days 11 hours ago

PS3 is the superior hardware?... its got blu ray thats about it. and its got the cell which deVelopers are not really getting to know how to fully use it yet but 360 is faster. its got more amount of ram. soo by the end of the day microsoft wins just cuz the software alone and if Killer Instinct 3 is coming than its all over. thankfully the ps3 does make it out of the hole since was release is just cause of mgs4 and killzone2. everything must loose a fight even sony. N4G WONT SAVE IT

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syanara - 560 days 3 hours ago

let me get this right. you have 5 xbox 360sand don't want a ps3 well you obviously have money but you still intened to be bias for the 360 and not even try th ps3... nice.

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Thoas - 560 days 2 hours ago

5 Xbox 360's why?? Man you are naive.

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pwnsause - 560 days 1 hour ago

you, know 5 RRODs is better than one RROD in order to warm yourself up in the cold HAHAHAHHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA HAHAHAHAAHAH

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hideo kojima - 560 days 1 hour ago

I myself have 2 xbox360s. Since i'm done developing the ps2 movie now i can throw the ps3 out and work on 360s.

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PoSTedUP - 560 days 4 hours ago

but sony will profit alot more from having the only blu-ray player on the market. blu-ray will take sony to the top either or, but if they are smart they would not give it up unless MS strikes a REALLY crazy deal with them.

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PoSTedUP - 560 days 3 hours ago

yes, it IS on that level of retardness! very well put, and a perfect example!

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PoSTedUP - 560 days 4 hours ago

i think thats the main reason bill gates dosent want to do it. it will make them look bad. not bad but like they need help or something.

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pwnmaster3000 - 560 days ago

there not even in 20 mill yet and it been 3 yeas ahahahahahahahahahaahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahhahaha hahahahah

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xboxftw - 560 days ago

Hey idiot.. the only people commenting in here are droids cuz they are the ones who are so insecure when it comes to anything 360. Guess u got the raw deal with ps3 and are so insecure that u just jump on any news/rumors etc about 360 and try to downplay it. Go play ur' green tinted ps2 game mgs4 and stop getting ur panties in a bunch over news about 360s. Most 360 owners dont care $hit about BD and that's why they are not here.

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etownone - 560 days 2 hours ago

"Really hope this isn't true as the Xbox360 console configurations are already saturated with many different variations."

same goes with the many diff ps3 sku's

"It won't even be used for games anyway so whats the point then?"

It will be used for movies, thats the point. Now millions of consumers will finally have a choice, a ps3 or 360, both will have blu-ray.

"If i already have an Xbox360 and want a Blu-ray player at this point might as well buy a PS3 or a standalone rather than buy a whole new Xbox360"

That your opinion. I have two 360's, and would definitely be buying a blu-ray 360 if it comes out. I can always give one of my older 360 away as a xmas present to one of the nephews or nieces.

Think about it, how many people do you know that only owned one ps2?
alot of people bought another one either due to the problems ps2 had early on, or just wanted the new improved ps2.

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eyeDEVOUR - 560 days 2 hours ago

why would a customer pay 499$ for a 360 when the ps3 is already 399$ with a built in HDD and WiFi...

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PirateThom - 560 days 1 hour ago

Still, why would the average consumer buy a more expensive 360 over a cheaper PS3 when more people are buying the more expensive PS3 over the cheaper 360 now?

Think about it.

360 sales are down and it's not because of Blu-ray, it's because it doesn't have a PlayStation logo on the front of it.

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etownone - 560 days 1 hour ago

"Still, why would the average consumer buy a more expensive 360 over a cheaper PS3 when more people are buying the more expensive PS3 over the cheaper 360 now? "

first of all, the 360 is still outselling the ps3 in America. The ps3 only sold more in jan and feb 08 due to 360 shortages.

"360 sales are down and it's not because of Blu-ray, it's because it doesn't have a PlayStation logo on the front of it."

what a stupid fanboyish thing to say. the sales are down becasue MS didn't do a price drop when ps3 with blu-ray dropped down to $399. Even I know a 360pro priced so close to a 399 ps3 gives the advantage to ps3, yet it's still selling as good as the ps3.
And then you have those racist f-cks in Japan that refuse to buy American made 360.

now you think about, America leads the world in the entertainment industry with music and blockbuster movies. And now with video games being the next form for mass entertainment, its easy to see where this is going. When got American dev's making games like GTA4 and Halo3 breaking world records, and the richest company in the world (also American) backing your console, alongside with the best directors (peter jackson also American) making exclusive projects on that console......again, its easy to see where this is going.

America will be the leader in this field of entertainment too, and the rest of the world will be forced to follow. Same way Japan depends on American for its blockbuster movies, in time they will have to cave in to American made consoles IF they want to play the best blockbuster games.

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Blackcanary - 560 days ago

Calling some people in Japan "racist f-cks in Japan"
is a bit much wouldn't u say?
The main reason why they don't buy consoles made from the USA is because
Japanese software and hardware is more advance and more relieable sorry about the spelling tryed to use spell check but i still didn'yt know how to spell it i have special needs so please don't put me down for spelling.
Also what u said is true about having more than one console i was gonna buy another PS3 and 360 for the front room so i don't have to keep carrying my ones from my room downstairs.

Now if MS do start useing Blu Ray DVDs to put there games on and if i was MS i would because Game DATA is getting bigger and bigger if u want a massive RPG FPS or Platform game ur gonna need more space unless its a Online game were u can just keep updateing the game but thats where haveing a 250GB hard drive comes in handy cause u'll never have to worry about runing out of space.
Like u said this could be the move that keeps the life of the 360 living longer. But thats something we don't klnow MS may have already got in there minds that they only want the 360 life to continue for 2 more years.

Yes its a win win for both Sony and MS but its more of a win win for Sony Every 360 thats Sold thats if the new 360s have a Blu Ray drive built in means that sony will get money for every 360 with a Blu ray built in. Hell that make money with ever Blu Ray Drive add on bought and if MS don't play cards carefully that could be the end of consoles for MS.

Hell i thought i heard someone say that the next Console that MS bring out if they don't come out on top then that could be the last console they ever make don't take my word for that cause i can't remember if i read that from an article or from a comment someone left.

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xboxftw - 560 days ago

@eye
"why would a customer pay 499$ for a 360 when the ps3 is already 399$ with a built in HDD and WiFi... "

Well because he/she is looking for games console not a gimped bluray/games console hybrid which not only has lower number of games but loses 99% of the time in multiplatform games in quality. Not only that, the hard drive space is so limited that if he goes out and buys more than 10 games his hard drive will run out of space.

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etownone - 560 days ago

" Calling some people in Japan "racist f-cks in Japan"
is a bit much wouldn't u say? "

no, and i'll say it again. they dont buy anything of U.S. imports, yet we buy all their stuff. Maybe they still hold a grudge, or they are very loyal to their country, but in the end, they are still racist f-cks. The 360 has been around for over 2 years with the most highest rated exclusives, biggest game library, most RPG's, and best online service, yet people in Japan refuse to buy it. so f-ck them all if they think they are better then the rest of us.

If MS puts a blu-ray drive in their 360 it will be used for movies, NOT games. Games will still come on dvd's, so no, Sony wont be getting royalties this gen off of 360's games. If MS uses one of the many partners of blu-ray for their drive, the royalties would go to them, like pioneer for example.

and again, MS is in this for the long haul.

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PirateThom - 559 days 21 hours ago

Here's this crappy argument.

"It's winning America"

It doesn't matter if it's winning in one region, it's losing in both the other major regions and most of the minor regions.

Europe spent more on video games than America last year and it's losing in Europe.

360 hasn't even got America anymore, look at the difference in PS3 and 360 sales. It's numbers than are being offset every month by a single week of Japanese sales.

It's not being a fanboy like you are, it's seeing sense. PS3 is dominating the 360 in sales because of Europe and Japan, a more expensive 360 won't help.

Thankfully, we're not all xenophobic pricks like you've just proven yourself to be and I'll stick with playing games from all regions thanks to Sony's forward thinking of securing a number of first party developers from America, Japan and Europe and third party developers who still are loyal to Sony, and by playing a small number of 360 games that aren't mindless shooters.

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etownone - 560 days ago

yes, this is a win-win for both companies.

Blu-ray in a 360 will help futher push Sony's blu-ray format sales, (which have still been poor despite blu-ray victory) and yes, Sony will get paid royalties for blu-ray same way MS gets paid by Sony for royalties for Windows in SOny computers.

Of course MS is going to say no blu-ray coming because it was still many months away. It would really hurt current 360 sales and help ps3 sales if they did.

and a quick search for internal blu-ray drives are pretty cheap already.
http://www.directron.com/dh...

for you figure the inevitable price drop coming this year across the board for all 360 sku's, an added internal blu-ray drive could add about $150 to the cost. So if the pro gets dropped to $279 like in europe, with blu-ray it could sell for about $449.

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