Microsoft Plans Blu-ray Xbox 360, Due in May?

permutated - 688 days 14 hours ago

Shiz N' Giggles? :P

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EZCheez - 688 days 14 hours ago

Sony won't stop anyone from making a blu-ray player, because they'll collect royalties. It's anything but "public domain." More like a cash cow for Sony.

Also, while i can see an add-on being released, I seriously doubt Microsoft would release a 360 with an internal blu-ray drive.

On a side note, is that all one sentence?

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rofldings - 688 days 13 hours ago

Just because a format wins doesn't mean it's "public domain." It takes YEARS for IP to expire, by then BD will be obsolete. Obviously Sony started making VHS player after VHS won, why lose out on money, but they damn sure payed JVC royalties.

If a 360 BD addon does come out, expect Sony/Panasonic/etc to be taking a cut off the profit.

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psnDevistator356 - 688 days 13 hours ago

Thats funny

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xplosneer - 688 days 13 hours ago

True, but now they have to use the specs for Blu Ray, which will probably cost them money....

Again though, true, Microsoft did play it pretty smart because it was more uncertain who would win at the launch of 360.

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wageslave - 688 days 13 hours ago

"Sony won't stop anyone from making a blu-ray player, because they'll collect royalties. It's anything but "public domain." More like a cash cow for Sony."

BluRay isnt anymore "owned" by Sony than HD-DVD is "owned" by Toshiba.

Both are the product of working-groups of technology firms. Neither is "exclusive" to one firm.

"Sony, Matsushita (Panasonic), Pioneer, Philips, Thomson, LG Electronics, Hitachi, Sharp, and Samsung."

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

MS can sell an add-on, or integrated BR device just as simple as anything. And, it doesnt benefit Sony in the least.

-
Edit @1.9:

Would you wager that the license fees goto the BDA? The purpose of which is it maintain the DMR (lets be honest), do promotion and to su

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crck - 688 days 13 hours ago

But the BDA probably collects $10 to $20 in licensing fees for every player made. I'm sure Sony gets a big chunk of that money. For those that don't think Sony gets money from every Blu-ray player and disc sold. Ask yourself this common sense question. Why would Sony force a blu-ray player into every PS3 raising the launch price by over $100 if they didn't stand to collect a licensing fee in the future? Why would Toshiba lose a buttload of money trying to make HD-DVD the standard? Why would there even be a format war if licensing fees in the future weren't at stake? But there is no reason for Sony to stop MS. Business is business.

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EZCheez - 688 days 13 hours ago

But someone is making money off of the format and the people who want to make it, hence licensing fees. I have a really hard time believing that Sony isn't making something off of blu-ray as a format.

Oh, and absolutely nothing against you, but I never look at sources when they're from a wiki page. Guess it's a habit from college. Most unreliable sources ever, and absolutely banned in anything professional.

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FirstknighT - 688 days 13 hours ago

Why would Sony make money on other companies that choose Blu-ray? Sony doesn't own the name Blu-ray. :p

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EZCheez - 688 days 13 hours ago

I know Sony can't make a licensing fee for Microsoft out of thin air. You're not telling anyone on here anything most of us don't already know.

And seriously, I laughed when I read this:

"there is no losers in the format war"

Yeah, tell that to whoever's in charge of accounting for Toshiba.

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sonarus - 688 days 13 hours ago

lol funny how quick die hard 360 owners can switch sides. They have gone from hi def isnt needed to market place has all the hi def i need to hd-dvd is better than blu ray to now. Including blu ray in 360 is in the best intrest of msoft. Sony stands most to gain considering they lead the blu ray front they wnt be the only ones gaining but they will gain the most in other words sony haters get over yourselves. The sooner msoft gets blu ray the better because blu ray may soon become an important choice in deciding which console to buy

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LastDance - 688 days 13 hours ago

I love it how people think you can just make what ever the hell you want.

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games4fun - 688 days 13 hours ago

whatever helps you sleep at night, that is some wishful thinking that sony will not profit off this, and an add-on will only make msoft look even worse because people will have to add that on to a 360 and it will be costing more than a ps3 on top of that the ps3 has them built in already

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FirstknighT - 688 days 13 hours ago

I'm a die hard 360 owner and I always voted for bluray since I already own a bluray player. I bought a Samsung 1200 because of HQV processing. Makes my 300+ standard dvd collection to near hi def. I use my 360 for one purpose and one purpose only................games. I dont care about watching movies or surfing the web on my 360. All I want is top notch games and the 360 is second to none.

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tfur - 688 days 12 hours ago

"Do you know why Microsoft went for HD DVD? because Blu-ray camp didn't want to support VC-1 codec"

Not really. Microsoft thought it was going to make a killing off of HDi, which of course eventually lost to BD-j. HDi was to be the money maker, not VC-1. Microsoft wanted to have their integrated HD "interactive" OS construct on all HDDVD devices. Fortunately, BD-J Java won.

Microsoft does not own the VC-1 codec, it is a part of a patent pool, that includes Sony.

An interesting article about VC-1:
http://www.theregister.co.u...

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IntelligentAj - 688 days 12 hours ago

The key word in this rumor is standalone. There is no way a standalone add-on for the 360 will compete with the PS3 which has the drive built in. Also you have to remember, 360 owners don't watch movies on their machines, they only play games(as some people have said while attacking the PS3 as a Blu-ray player first and a console second)

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Cyrus365 - 688 days 12 hours ago

Bladestar,

Msoft supported HD-DVD because HD-DVD uses msoft technology iHD, Blu-ray does not, and wil lnot for the foreseeable future, unless they want to make Blu-ray profile 2.5 or whatever.

Blu-ray uses JAVA for it's inter-active stuff, it's more flexible, and allows more options, however it's more complicated (Thus could take longer, more time spent coding, thus $$$$).

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sonarus - 688 days 12 hours ago

correction first knight 360 games were second to none. They seem to be dulling this yr things could turn around for the better but they still seem to be dulling

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gonzopia - 688 days 11 hours ago

Ummm... I know this comes from an Australian source, but Microsoft is based in Redmond, WA - where it's still the weekend, and decisions like this typically don't get made on weekends, let alone announced. This is wild speculation. Though it admittedly would make good sense for the 360 to have a BD drive, I can't see Sony giving up their Blu-ray edge just yet.

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Hatchetforce - 688 days 11 hours ago

Wrong Bladestump. It doesn't become public domain. The right to produce disks becomes public domain but the right to make players requires licensing of the technology. Microsoft will have to license the technology. You need to refrain from posting until you know what you are talking about.

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Hatchetforce - 688 days 11 hours ago

The reason 360 games seem to be dulling this year is they are not the only kid on the block now. They actually have to stand under the harsh light of comparison.

Game technology is beginning to show you the 360 wasn't built to evolve. I love all of these suckheads that said Bluray wasn't necessary, wouldn't win are now suddenly in the Bluray camp. Don't worry, we can still smell you for what you are.

These same people will soon be moving to the PS3 camp as well.

And some people need to go buy some common sense. That should set things straight. These companies that poured tons of money into research did not so in order for some company that didn't contribute a dime to swoop in and get free Bluray technology and make a bundle. Idiotic. Just pure stupidity would think things work like that.

Sony was even sued for patent technology over Bluray. You can't sue over public domain. Dummies.

BTW, here are the Bluray patent holders:

Participating companies included CyberLink; Dell; Hewlett-Packard; Hitachi; Koninklijke Philips Electronics; LG Electronics; Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic); Mitsubishi Electric; Pioneer; Samsung Electronics; Sanyo Electric; Sharp; Sony; TDK; Victor Company of Japan; and Warner Home Video.

Google is your friend.

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sonarus - 688 days 11 hours ago

I dnt want to spark the wrath of fanboys but compared to last yr i am shocked at the 360 line up. Did they think they could use 1 yr to beat the ps3 so they fired all their big guns in 1 yr? I know msoft is still new in the game and they are still acquiring studios but this isnt their first console they need to be acquiring studios really quickly. The exclusives they had this yr are dissapearing really quick. Splinter cell and left for dead are rumored to be going. Last yr ps3 had a low install base and was really difficult to develop for but when companies like ubisoft and activision are reaping huge rewards for ps3 games its hard for those same 3rd parties to make that same decision a yr later when the ps3 install base is more than half of 360's and 360 has had twice as much time in the market. If msoft dosent win despite their commanding lead 2008 would be the yr where things turned for the worse. I really don't see things getting better for them either because of that lack of key 1st party studios.

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InYourMom - 688 days 10 hours ago

get over yourselves! Do you think there were people like yourselves saying funny how all of a sudden Sony wants to use VHS or DVD?

If this is to become a standard then what do you want people to do?? If people want HD movies on a disc they are going to have to accept Br. This has nothing to do with the baby games you 2 are going on about. MS has said from day one that if BR was a format winner they would support it, plain and simple.

As well,this has NOTHING to do with gaming, which still hasn't shown that it's needed. Considering all the GOTY winners and most talked about games are not on the Br format. MS does not plan to use the format for games at all.

I'm still doing all my HD movies via downloads and do not plan on spending any money on Blu-ray (didn't spend any on HD-DVD either).

About the games, which you seem to want to derail the topic with are coming along just fine. This "dullness" you are talking about is a bunch of BS. MS hasn't even announced it's full line-up yet and already there are some great games in the channel. If you think MS are going to suddenly give-up or just stop trying you are mistaken.

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LastDance - 688 days 9 hours ago

In your mom. Take a deeep breath.

Okay.

Lost oddessy is on 4 disks. okay? okay good.
Project gotham had to strip the game down because of the lack of space.

Whats going to happen in 4 years? 10 disk games?
If the rooms there, developers will use it.
I find it funny that you think Technology WONT develope.
So far all the "next Gen" games ive played are barely that. They are polished games that are more or less the same as last gen with a few exceptions.

In the coming years i believe we will see true next gen innovation come.

Compare a game that came out in ps2s 1st year games to the later ones.

It seems xbox has not alot of growing room left for creativity.
If your fine with the games that have come out so far thats good for you.
ive played many lackluster games on both systems that are suppose to be the next gen gaming and I wasnt very pleased.
But im very eagerly awaiting the true next gen games.

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sonarus - 688 days 9 hours ago

lol. i am not talking about toshiba i am talking about 360 fans who hated ps3 so much by default they decided to be hd-dvd fans. Same ones who said hd-dvd was better and hd-dvd would win in the end. How they said things would chance was the price drops then things would change cus walmart was introducing super cheap hd-dvd player every time blu ray scored it was one excuse after the other. When hd-dvd got paramount and transformers was highest selling it was "see, told you hd-dvd isnt dead" talks for about a week. So despite their strong reluctance to support blu ray its funny to see how everything is just so cool now that msoft is going to support it. Its like i guess blu ray wasnt so bad after all after all microsoft is going with it who are we to stand against microsoft

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drewdrakes - 688 days 6 hours ago

wageslave - youre absolutely right. 100% agree.

EZCheez - I use wikipedia everyday. School, job, it always works. Its completely reliable for the stuff im searching for. My college actually encourages it. It is quite reliable, you just have to have common sense...

BTW.. i have an HD DVD player, guess what...i get HD movies 50% off from amazon, who can say that without pirating? ya...thanks...

Also, I dont really want to get in a language battle, but people seem to be saying that java is better and more diverse than microsofts languages. The only advantage java has is portability, thats it. Meaning it can be used on various operating systems. Microsofts Visual Studio is SOO much better than anything java has its not even a comparison. Microsoft just knows what theyre doing in this department and knows what developers want.

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m9105826 - 688 days 2 hours ago

@Drewdrakes:

Visual studio is not a language... it's a programming environment used maily for C and C++, and it's a pretty buggy and annoying one at that. Real programmers program in vim...

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f7ss1 - 687 days 22 hours ago

hd dvd=beta max

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whoelse - 687 days 21 hours ago

I remember a few days ago, a manufacturer reporting they had to pay $30 for every blu-ray player to Sony and Philips as licensing fees.

I doubt that they will make a built-in player, but they probably eventually will make an add-on.

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DEIx15x8 - 687 days 21 hours ago

HD-DVD was and still is a superior format. It's a shame to see it go. Blu-ray may have had more capacity but capacity isn't the only thing that makes a format.

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Mattearl - 687 days 20 hours ago

But Microsoft will have to pay Sony to use Blu-Ray.

Microsoft will of course adopt blu-ray. It has to if it wants to move forward into the future with a new console. Because BD will be around for 5-7years unitl something else hits the market.

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meepmoopmeep - 681 days 15 hours ago

and the 360 gets Blu-ray, then all the people who threw stones at the PS will look like idiots. serves them right.

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sonarus - 688 days 13 hours ago

if thats what you really want you chose the wrong side

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SCThor - 688 days 13 hours ago

Xbox 360 plus Blu-Ray player $500, PS3 $400... Buy, Buy Now!

I don't think MS will give Sony more bullets.

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Hatchetforce - 688 days 11 hours ago

Well Thor the problem is your price. MS isn't going to get a Bluray add on out the door for $150. Not at all.

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m9105826 - 688 days 2 hours ago

Does the USB bus even have enough bandwidth to transmit a 1080p signal from an external player without compressing it?

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LastDance - 688 days 12 hours ago

well now people have to decide whether they can fork out another large sum of money for ANOTHER disk drive to play movies.

choice is best? Do people get to choose to get a refund on their HDdvd player?

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The Round Peg - 688 days 12 hours ago

Did people get to choose to get a refund on their BetaMax, UMD, ATRAC, MiniDisc?

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crck - 688 days 11 hours ago

Why they didn't like the movie? If you mean a player the only UMD player in existence is the PSP which is getting 2 triple A titles in God of War COO and FF 7 CC next month. BTW UMD is still supported by 2 movie studios (Sony pictures and Fox) 3 years after its creation. HD-DVD won't even match that.

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Hatchetforce - 688 days 10 hours ago

No you haven't. You have over 1700 posts on this site and you haven't been saying anything like that for months. Nice try to slide to the middle. What's next, your 'uncle' gives you a PS3?

The thing to consider is the magnitude off stupidity in this story. Who was the contribu....never mind.

Has anyone considered that even if MS went this direction, do you really think they would mention it now and risk not being able to offload a few million external HD DVD drives? Do you realize how much money that is they would have to eat?

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LinuxGuru - 688 days 9 hours ago

Well, Hatchet, maybe he was saying things OUTSIDE of n4g.

Did you ever think that?

Or did your tunnel vision lead you to believe that everything anyone says on here occurs in n4g?

Think outside the box, will ya' ?

Instead of attacking people, you know....

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InYourMom - 688 days 13 hours ago

What a stupid thing you did right there. You traded your 360 in for a PSP? Pfftt.. I can't tell if your lying are just extremely stupid, probably the latter.

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tweaker - 688 days 13 hours ago

you made the most dumbest move. congrats.

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thekingofMA - 688 days 13 hours ago

who w=in their right mind would do this trade

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ASSASSYN 36o - 688 days 13 hours ago

Self pwnage.

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pwnmaster3000 - 688 days 12 hours ago

ill do da same thing to, but my 360 is a gift so yeah

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The Brave 1 - 688 days 12 hours ago

hey InYOurMoms A$$ last time i checked the psp was selling more than the 360 worldwide so your the dumb a$$!

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ambientFLIER - 688 days 10 hours ago

Lol, you traded the console with the best games for one with less than PS2 graphics and all the old ps2 games? Lol...

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InYourMom - 688 days 10 hours ago

Brave 1:

What the hell does the PSP outselling the 360 have to do with trading a $400 system in for a $200 PSP?? Do you know the DS outsells the PSP as well, so why don't you trade in your PSP for a DS? You comments are stupid and your a toolbag. Anybody who would trade in a freakin sweet next-gen console for a PSP is either stupid or a liar..

Maybe I will trade my PS3 in for a DS since it's outselling it according to your wisdom. Btw yes I am In Your Mom mmmmmm.

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The_Engineer - 688 days 8 hours ago

XBOT HOMOS CARE WHAT HE TRADES IT IN FOR?

FEELING A LITTLE ASSHURT THAT ALL YOUR NOOB PREDICTIONS FOR THIS CONSOLE RACE SO FAR HAVE TURNED OUT TO BE UTTER TRIPE?

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BLUR111 - 688 days 2 hours ago

maybe RCA ..ha lol umm nahhh

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Bubble Buddy - 688 days ago

Maybe you guys can clue in that he also got store credit or cash with it?...

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Hatchetforce - 688 days 11 hours ago

And people do not realize what a stand alone add-on for the 360 would cost ha ha. Now the total package for the Xbox 360 would just be ignorant. Almost as stupid as the people willing to pay that amount.

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Hatchetforce - 688 days 11 hours ago

No it won't. MS won't be able to keep gouging customers.

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captainjy - 688 days 6 hours ago

MS can "gouge" customers because they actually have game titles and not movie titles to sell. Amazing concept.

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BLUR111 - 688 days 2 hours ago

ya noew ms shoulda made 360 wlth hddvd add on player ablt after release.. and over mlLLlon's of x360 owners woulda been buylng hd dvd's atleast lt woulda not had come to thls. ps. lm not all a blu ray hater just saylng and do have a bluray player. tu now lm golng to wallyworld.

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captainjy - 688 days 6 hours ago

What in God's name are you talking about? This is about the dumbest comment I have ever read on this filty, lame ass site. The BDA has had so many problems with standards for BD and still don't have it right. About the best thing that could happen to BD is HDi and yes, it's a Microsoft product and YES, you will see it in BD titles. What a freakin' numbnut.

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InYourMom - 688 days 10 hours ago

for being one of the few people who actually makes sense. I'm afraid your logic might not be loud enough for the droids in here beating their chest trying to sell PS3's like used cars salesmen and trying to justify their purchases.

This will be an add-on and I'm glad MS is going to make it external. I don't want a Br player, they just need to keep kickin azz in the games department and that is all that matters.

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captainjy - 688 days 6 hours ago

Oh man, think about what you are typing people! Obviously this site is a bunch of 13 year old know it alls. Uh no, it won't cost $300-$400 to add BD to the 360. With the volume that MS will push, the partnerships and the money they have, they will have an add-on BD player for under $200, easily.

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Snukadaman - 688 days 5 hours ago

No you havent...and with blu-ray winning this format war you wont see it for awhile...since the ps3 is gaining ground theres no reason too lower that blu-ray prices just yet...its what sony would of done if there were plenty of people buying ps3's at launchtime...No..you see microsoft lower the price of the xbox 360 first and then sony follows suit...dont have too be a 13 year old too speculate..and your 200 stand alone speculation covers that base.

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Snukadaman - 688 days 5 hours ago

Desperation makes you do crazy things....like have free online...throw in wi-fi..lets be honest...if sony would of sold millions of consoles at 600 dollars they still would be...with their various sku's they dont know their left from their right...you want too say that was a strategic business move too lower their prices....I say desperation too move their stagnant consoles.

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GodsHand - 688 days 1 hour ago

I think you just did, "Launch" without the ;.

Nothing new comes out being dirt cheap in price, it takes time. Unless Im missing something and the xbox360 has always been the same price, since launch.

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spoiled9 - 683 days 5 hours ago

And when you get a scratch on one of those 10 disks(which i hear is a common occurrence),then what?

look down

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GodsHand - 688 days 1 hour ago

You forgot halo 1, and 2.

etc...
etc...
etc...
oh, yeah and your penis.

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Superiorrior - 686 days 21 hours ago

20.. 120.. 20... 120..

Oh yeah theres alot of gigs in between... MISSING that is.

You can swap out the hard drive for a 320GB HDD on the PS3, don't act so naive.

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