Xbox 360 Update, It's Not Blu-Ray

IGN: Major Nelson told IGN in a separate e-mail this is not an update to Blu-ray discs, but could not provide any additional details at this time.

[Visari]

Well, we all know HD-DVD flopped.

[Kon]

Yep, lost too much space for the BluRay.

Did i said something wrong, disagree fairy?

[Pixelated_Army]

bwahahhahaha! *sad face*

[morganfell]

It is still DVD9. MS is simply reducing the over 1GB layer they currently use for security in order to allow developers more of the space on the disc. Saying it is a new format is a misnomer and deceptive.

[Perjoss]

i love all the dvd9 vs bluray arguments, what people fail to see is that dvd9 games still manage to get 10/10 scores. Even DS games get perfect scores sometimes and aren't they as small as 16 megs up to 256 megs?

[nveenio]

I think it's just a new file system to help with security, not a space issue.

[paintsville]

Wow the 360 just keeps getting better and better. This is bad news for the Sony camp as disc space was the ONLY advantage that the ps3 has over the 360. Microsoft RULES.

[darthv72]

if they were to tack on a 3rd layer and call it a DVD 15 would be good too. I am sure the 360 laser could read triple layer dvd's.

If they are using more of the outer edge for storage then shouldnt it be a problem for the laser pick up to move that far out? I recall there being some sort of physical movement limitation with how the optics read. You can only go so far to the center and so far to the exterior.

At least, that is what used to be known as overburning a disc back in the day. If there were 800mb+ cd's them Im sure there could be 10gb+ dvd's.

edit: i was reading an old article about VMD type of discs. It would be nice if MS could some how start using those discs for the games as there seems to be no required modification to the hardware reading them. The layers are packed even closer than std dvd9 that the red laser could easily read a triple or quadruple layer disc with minimal crosstalk with other layers.

Here is the link: http://www.dvd-intelligence...

Doesnt sound like this is the direction MS is going but it would be something if they did.

[Adva]

Lol bots happy they get 8GB while BluRay can get 50 GB. Hey, does your game comes in 2+ Discs? Mine doesn't!
I also got Dead Space 2 and Extraction, on ONE DISC!!!

[sikbeta]

"Xbox 360 Update, It's Not Blu-Ray" it's not a new format either, MS is changing the security stuff in the DVD9 to give more room for games, that's all :P

@paints

What the hell are you smoking man!? you cheering this like "OMGz Win!" ROFLMAO it's just what? like 1GB of space for the DVD9 which is like 8.5GB, not the WOW thing you're implying XD

[BX81]

Wow! Any other helpful insights?

[EasilyTheBest]

Its not Blu-ray...

It will be Blu-ray but meaning it will be a much larger capacity Disc system that will play Blu-ray aswell.

Microsoft wouldnt just say their going Blu-ray, theyd say they are going with the New (insert name here) Discs that play Blu-ray, DVD, CD etc.

[DOMination]

Not to be rude or anything but this is a FIRMWARE update. You cant magically make hardware a better format via software updates.

[jammydude]

It's a software update to support a hardware update, domination

[lelo2play]

"Xbox 360 Update, It's Not Blu-Ray"

It's to late to release a new disk format for the X360. Keep it for the next Xbox... witch will probably be out in 2012 or 2013.

[jeseth]

It is "which" .. . not "witch".

Ahhhhh. And teachers want more money. With writing examples like these they clearly don't deserve it.

[Redgehammer]

Wow, I really can't believe anyone would actually think that some how we could metamorphosis from a red laser to a blue laser with an update. That just goes to show that just because people use technology doesn't mean they understand it.

[jke82]

* insert bankrupt sound from wheel of fortune here*

[Undeadwolfy]

lol

[AlienLion]

Everyone who thought Bluray was coming to 360 via a software update is sofa king we tarded.

[B1663r]

<sigh>

You did it wrong.

You write on a piece of paper this:

"I am sofa king we todd it."

Then you ask your target to read it aloud and film them, then post it on facebook.

You did it entirely wrong. it is NOT we tarded, it is "we todd it"

retard.

[AlienLion]

Lol B1663, did what wrong? I wasnt trying to do a 10 year old prank joke, I was avoiding sencorship. If you are too thick to understand that... well that explains why you felt it was directed at you.

[KotC]

Watching the PS3 horde above ^^^ sweat bullets over this is glorious.

[Silly Mammo]

Huh? Why would it make the PS3 crowd sweat? It would just prove what we've been saying all along, that BR is the best way to go right now.

[morkendo23]

Visari
Well, we all know HD-DVD flopped.

WHY DID HE GET 20 DISAGREES?? everyone know by now HD DVD'S DID FLOPPED

[iPad]

wow. 360 fanboys need to open their eyes. they dont care that HD-DVD flopped, which btw, could of helped the 360 x9000 but they care about 1GB added to the DVD? open your eyes.

one of the reasons why i still wish Tupac was still here. if he was here, he would speak the truth so much, most of these companies would be bankrupt

[Orionsangel]

Yeah HD-DVD failed as a movie format. So? We're talking about a new format that can hold more storage to run massive games. What's your point by mentioning this other than being a stereotypical PS3 fanboy?

[xXSilentXx]

I know what this is going to be :) Cloud computing remote download an playing :)

[Philaroni]

Not sure what this could be, all that I can think of is ether it is some double side DVD, a DVD with more storage, or some kind of mini DVD. Out side of that not sure what other options there are.

[aviator189]

They're probably just freeing up some memory on the DVD that is usually reserved for security, etc.

[Undeadwolfy]

you hit the nail on the head right there... an absolutely ENORMOUS 1gb extra...

[Too_many_games]

Couldent they just use HD-DVDs are the disc format? although they would have to replace the disc drive..but..maybe for the next system. its not like HD-DVDs were any different from Blu-Ray..yes a few GB of data but its better then paying Sony for Blu Ray rights

[kneon]

They already pay Sony (and others) for DVD rights, what's the difference.

Besides, being the only user of HD-DVD on the planet would just make it far more expensive than the tiny amount of royalties they would have to pay to use Bluray.

[Schism20]

I feel bad for anyone who bought that 200 dollar Hd-dvd hard drive LOL.

[BX81]

Fuck you! I mean I didn't buy one...

I was watching a movie yesterday and it had a preview for HD dvd's and it said you could play it on your external XBOX HD player. I had to laugh. If you don't have enough confidence to put it in your product, then it's going to fail!

[bumnut]

I think the 360 was released before HD DVD so could not be included.

[ButterBomb]

HD-DVD is Toshiba's format, they own it and they license it. You fanbois think MS invented and owned it LMAO. MS only went with HD-DVD to take the pizz out of the Blu-ray group. MS never planned on %100 supporting HD-DVD or you are right, they would of included it.

Funny, DVD still owns the market share some 5 years later and we are getting ready for next-gen.. Nope, 360 did/does not need it.

[bumnut]

Could just as easily have been Bluray that failed, or are you too young to remember betamax and mini disk ?

[BX81]

I have to disagree. Blu ray had way to much going for it. That's why it's still around and has proven to be a good product as well.

As for the 360 being released before the HD DVD. Not sure about that but if true it's news to me and also stands as a reminder of how rushed out the door the 360 was. I'm waiting to see what format they choose next gen.

[earbus]

No need to feel sorry i still have it with loads of movies have loads of blu ray to but sadly i cant play them cause my ps3 went to heaven in a big yellow light but at least the hd dvd player still works .

[Burning_Finger]

5 years too late...:)

I bet they are going to charge u another $200 for the new drive. I doubt software updates will be 100% compatible with the new format on old drive..expect RROD!!

[DigitalRaptor]

As much as this is a good thing, I can't help but think the same.

It's kinda too little, too late Microsoft. You already let most of this generation go by with DVD9 limitations.

[frostypants]

It's not gonna be a new drive. They're just gonna eliminate some of the wasted storage overhead in their disc formatting and improved anti-piracy techniques.

So, cool in that no new hardware is needed.

But lame in that it's really not that much of an upgrade.

It's still nowhere close to Blu-Ray. Not even in the same galaxy.

[DelbertGrady]

Blu-Ray would make no sense at all. It would make their current install base obsolete.

[DigitalHorror81]

Microsoft...Just make a new system and use Blu-Ray.

Suck it up.

Don't do anything more to kill your current install base.

You gave me Red Ring once.

I, for one am not trusting you again.

[Masterchef2007]

Didnt everyone claim that DVD9 was enough for the 360? And now theres talk of a new format for the 360. I just find it so funny that this has happend. They probably will reduce the copyprotetion on the 360s DVD. But they will never get the same size as a bluray though.

[Grown Folks Talk]

What consumers say, or more so what N4G users say, has no bearing on what a company chooses to do. Everybody that posts on this site can say we don't need new consoles, but that isn't going to make them stop working on new ones.

[Masterchef2007]

I know that but it was Microsoft who stated that DVD9 was enough in the first place when many devs state the opposite.

[skyblue14213]

This seems like an improvement, but this video game hardware generation is almost half way over with so why is microsoft all of a sudden deciding now to implement a new disc format? .

I mean they could just do a software patch to possibly bypass the storage reading limitations of the current xbox 360 disc drive and save their customers some money, but if they cant remedy the issue on the software side they will probably resort to a new type of disc drive which will force their customers to upgrade their xbox 360 disc drives in which knowing microsoft that they will not be giving at least their current customers the new disc drives for free if it comes to a hardware issue.

The good thing about blue-ray technology is that unlike past disc formats it can constantly be improved upon with higher and higher disc capacity as time goes on. I would not doubt that sony could use blue-ray for the ps4 without any disc capacity problems whatsoever due to the nature of blue-ray technology.

The only other disc format that I know of that is comparable to the blue-ray disc format is the hvd format( http://en.wikipedia.org/wik... ) and those I think are even more expensive than the blue-ray disc format to produce.

[macky301]

Guys ,.. they are just fiddling with disc protection,..
maybe reducing their footprint (how much do they reserve ,.. like almost 3Gigs?) it is retarded,.. if they can shave off 2 gigs ,.. that is 4 gigs for 2 discs,.. And developers and publishers will be happy (at least Carmak says he could probably fit Rage on 2)

You know no one wants to publish a multi-disc if they don't have to,..production costs are small but they have to pay royalties,.. 2 is maybe ok,.. 3 and more means quite a loss (of potential profit),..

They can just put in Bluray Drive,.. or HD-DVD Drive,..
Not even Microsoft expects you be so fucking dumb to keep re-buying new Xbox360,.....
O wait,..

Launch 60gigs PS3 Beast mofos!

[joeorc]

"Guys ,.. they are just fiddling with disc protection,..
maybe reducing their footprint (how much do they reserve ,.. like almost 3Gigs?) it is retarded,.. if they can shave off 2 gigs ,.. that is 4 gigs for 2 discs,.. And developers and publishers will be happy (at least Carmak says he could probably fit Rage on 2)"

as rumor's go yupper's, though it's an extra Gig released..but it sure put's another damper on pirates..which is a good thing.

from this xbox360 site:

LADS WE ARE ALL F**KED. M$ WILL INTRODUCE XGD3 WHICH IS THE NEW PROTECTION ON PIRACY. INSTEAD OF 6.8GB OF SPACE NOW, THE DISCS WILL USE THE EXTRA LAYER OF THE OUTSITE OF THE DISC AND GO UP TO 7.8GB. THESE DVDS ARE STILL DL BUT CANT BE FOUND ON THE MARKET.

http://www.xbox_ _./-new-microsoft-xgd3-disc-fo rmats-we-screwed.html

not going to post the sites location because well you can guess why i would not.

[IHateYouFanboys]

lol

a few things:

- it couldnt be blu-ray. how do you guys think that the people who get in to the preview program would manage to run a blu-ray disc on their current 360? theyre not given new 360s lol, they just get to update their console to the new beta firmware. you cant just create a blu-ray reader out of software updates.

- microsoft wouldnt have any problem paying licensing to get blu-ray for their next console. they pay licensing for dvd, whats the difference? every blu-ray disc sold gives Microsoft royalties too - their own in-house developed codec, VC1, is what is used on every blu-ray disc. remember, sony and microsoft arent sworn enemies - theyre just competing against each other in this ONE market. what operating systems do Sony Vaios use? Windows.

- microsoft wouldnt alienate 50+ million console owners by bringing out games on a new format that the old consoles cant read. thats just stupid.

all it will be is a change in how the data is stored on a regular DVD. the end user wont notice a thing.

DVD has proven to be sufficient for this generation.

[Grown Folks Talk]

Stop trying to use logic. Sony & Microsoft HATE each other. They NEVER partner on any products at all.

[Capdastaro]

Sony doesn't own blu-ray you know...

[Psychonaughty]

Wrong, you know there are movies made by Sony on the Zune marketplace right? You're confusing these companies with fanboys, THEY never partner on any products at all.

[Redgehammer]

I hope that was a veiled attempt at sarcasm.

[Masterchef2007]

Thats funny because look at what i found.

http://www.sonystyle.com/we...

ZOMG i guess sony must have stole the OS from microsoft.

Just face it Sony and Microsoft do buisness with each other on some items.

[Grown Folks Talk]

I thought the sarcasm was obvious. My bad. I'll use the little sarcasm symbol next time instead of capitalized words for over emphasis.

[feeter]

I remember reading over a year ago a Japanese Scientist discovered a way to cram as much info (or more) on a DVD as a Blu-ray with current DVD readers... it was the way the discs are produced that added the extra space... this is the only thing I can think of that would fit what MS can do without selling a new system... if you fiddle with disc protection you still cannot get as much info on a DVD as a Blu-ray so that isnt it

[SovereignSnaKe]

-what is this 2008? i haven't seen a news article with that title in years!! LAME! a_a

[josephayal]

No blu-ray? Failllll

[WitWolfy]

God you guys always act so immature, seriously why comment if you got nothing good to say at all?

[LightSamus]

"It's not Blu-Ray"

No, really? There's me thinking a few lines of coding could magically turn my DVD drive into a Blu-Ray drive. ¬_¬

Do people seriously need to be told this? It's common sense.

[sway__z]

MS will never this, Sony will never that...DVD9 sucks! Blu Ray is doomed, D/L is the future!!

blah, blah, blah...

Why can't gamers just be happy MS are trying to make more space available for their consumers and developers. This is a good thing RIGHT?

So why the negativity? ..its getting very boring!!

*I'm a PS3 user BTW.

[orange-skittle]

Thanx Sway Z. We keep agreeing in these forums and I am a primary 360 user. Shows that it doesnt matter what system you own, being a fanboy is retarded. I like my PS3, but it has flaws just as the 360 does.

If I can get a PSN Store that I can D/L PS3 games on to a HDD...I could care less

[sethbalmore]

bluray from a FW update? nobody can be this dense...

[Redgehammer]

It not dense per se, just a high level of being uninformed.

[hesido]

It is an equal mixture of being dense and being uninformed. To think that MS could have achieved much more capacity through software but that they didn't do it all these years, to think that they could upgrade to a higher density format just by firmware, but that they didn't upgrade to HD-DVD when both formats were competing.

[Queasy]

I can't believe anybody thought it would be Blu-ray...

[Der_Kommandant]

it's VHS tape

[NotSoSilentBob]

As I stated in another article we knew blu-ray can't come to the 360.

Blu-ray 1.0 the first standard of blu-ray REQUIRES 1080P NATIVE DISPLAY. The 360 CAN NOT DUE THAT. It can do upscaled(software/hardware resolution) but it can't due native 1080p. It was M$ fault for rushing to beat the PS3 out the door. It was a double edged sword.

[IHateYouFanboys]

Lol

The 360 can and does do native 1080p output. Virtua tennis 4 is natively 1080p on the 360, NBA street homecourt is 1080p natively on the 360, as are a few other retail games and many xbox live arcade games.

Seriously, anyone who STILL thinks that the 360 can't do native 1080p needs to just turn off their computer and call it a day. They obviously can't read, can't comprehend anything anyone tells them, and are just plain fanboys.

[orange-skittle]

For real/for real....who cares!?!

Did Blu-Ray project Sony into the next realm and increase their sales? Did it make it easier for programmers? How many studios have benefited from using it? How many BR movies do you actually own? How many times have you watched those movies after purchasing it? Does it hurt or better the system considering you have to install all your games in order to minimize the wear on your BR drive? Sony gimmicks every new console they come out with, so there's really nothing new here. I like my PS3, but it isn't GOD.

PS(CD Player)
PS2(DVD Player)
PS3(Blu-Ray Player)

Do you see a trend? I am happy with digital downloads. Give me a bigger HDD and keep your BR Player

[dirthurts]

DVD-18 format maybe?

[Ace_Man_6]

This is a waste of time! Of course it isn't Blu-ray, who is stupid enough to think that?!

[SuperSaiyan4]

dont understand is that there has been different types of technologies for a long time now that still shows that DVD can hold something like 500gb and also holo discs etc yet why did blu-ray ever come out? And why didnt Microsoft do more to secure a format that held such high capacity??

Nothing makes sense.

[NotSoSilentBob]

The Discs can hold that much info but the players are not all backwards compatible.

[Haseo106]

If it's not, then it will still SUCK!

[Bounkass]

Lol, no shit! Blu-Ray is owned by Toshiba and SONY.

[darthv72]

Sony is one of many members of the BDA (bluray disc association) board of directors but toshiba is not. They arent even a contributor and neither is MS.

link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[x2xp]

all points are well argued but the gaming is basically the same i play all systems i notice the differences between the capabilities when it comes to motion gaming Microsoft has the lead with their dancing games when t coms to exclusives nintendo has had that field since mario when it comes to online interactions Sony has the field with Play Station Home.

[BioRevenant]

Clearly anti-piracy measures, anybody who thought it was Blu-Ray is an idiot.

[sway__z]

I'm more concerned with rising game prices than format mediums. I see no evidence D/L is value, some D/L exceeds the packaged games cost??

[nikebee]

Of course it's not a bloody Blu-Ray update, it's a firmware update - nothing more!

How the hell are they going to magically turn DVD drives into Blu-Ray drives with a firmware update... Sheesh.

[ButterBomb]

Good. I don't need or want Blu-ray on the Xbox 360 and I don't see an overwhelming chorus of people who actually own the console asking for it. It hasn't done really anything for gaming.. DLC is still sold outside the disc and the thing is left empty most but not all of the time. Dev's aren't packing every Blu-ray full of content.

It would end up being an add-on or a new console and this far in the game it's better just to wait until you are launching a new system. Doesn't sound like MS are in any way eager to jump on the Blu-ray bandwagon beyond driver support for their OS.

[zombiMessiah]

who in their right mind even thought it was blu-ray?

[Bob570]

Where would anyone get the idea that it would be Blu-ray anyway? I don't think Microsoft wants to pay Sony so that they can use Blu-ray.

[Orionsangel]

Why do some people think it's Bluray. You can't trick a DVD laser reader into reading Bluray all of sudden. This is something new they're been working on. A new type of format that can hold more storage with a DVD reader.

[joeorc]

"It hasn't done really anything for gaming"

Really? Blu-Ray has not done anything for Gaming?

OK just to name a couple thing's:

Blu-Ray has scratch resistant disc's, one of Which is better than Standard DVD's scratch resistance.

another an is really important, I see many seem to always point toward the 50 GB Blu-Ray disc, which may be good but the real strength is the 25 GB disc's for Blu-Ray.

the reason being it's cheaper to put 2 DVD 9's worth of data on one 25 GB disc! Its single sided single layer an still has room left over. that real strength is if your game was going to need to be shipped on 2 DVD9's because say it's open world with unique art an sound an texture game assets there is plenty of space an you only need to ship on one disc, an the disc is scratch resistant to boot.

it's cheaper to produce your game on one single sided single layer disc than it is on a DL due to manuf. cost's in time an packaging needed for 2 disc's rather just one.

also Blu-Ray has a much higher bit rate than standard DVD

54 Blu-Ray to 10 for DVD

Has it benefited the Consumer that's based on Opinion, but on scratch resistance alone, many people would agree it has.