HD DVD for Xbox360
The Xbox 360 has now been out for six months and it has suffered various problems as documented in our Xbox 360 Faults and Problems post, but has generally been a success with gamers finding it the ultimate in graphics and gameplay. By the end of June it is expected that Microsoft will have sold 5 million consoles worldwide. They released the Xbox 360 into 19 countries and it is now in 30, with over 80 HD games on the market including the games that can be accessed on Arcade, the Xbox 360 online marketplace.
The European Marketing Manager, Chris Lewis, gave an insight as to what we can expect to see at the E3 show in a few weeks which is an HD DVD peripheral for the Xbox 360. The HD DVD peripheral will enable the playback of HD movies. In comparison the Playstation 3 which is due to be released at the end of 2006 will use the HD technology of Blu-Ray discs. It has been said that the incorporation of Blu-Ray discs into the PS3 has delayed the launch and caused the price of the console to be higher than expected. Will people be prepared to pay the extra for this unproven technology?
Chris Lewis talks about the Blu-Ray discs as the equivalent to Betamax videos back in the 1980’s that just didn’t take off. He strongly believes that the HD DVD peripheral, that will fit the Xbox 360, is the way forward for the future which is what the consumers, film studios and publishers want.
We will have to wait for more information on the Xbox 360 HD DVD peripheral for a few weeks until the E3 expo show starts on the 10th May.
April 24th, 2006 at 10:54 am
I have been holding out for the PS3 launch.. but I am now swaying towards the Xbox 360 due to the technology that they are starting to add to this device. I have doubts about the lifespan of the Blu Ray technology compared to the HD DVD that will be coming to the Xbox.