Dual format players aren't really practical. The cheapest PC drive I have seen is the LG which runs about $300 and is definitely having some growing pains.

HD-DVD is still a viable format. just because DVD holds more then CD doesn't mean we should all be listening to DVD music discs. HD-DVD will find a niche outside of the home movie business. its still possible that M$ will pick it up next gen just because it might be less popular and less expensive then Blu-ray. remember M$ already has a movie download service. they dont need to have a Blu-ray player at all.

Well for 360 owners this is a pretty tempting offer. The 360 HD-DVD add-on is $80 for the next 24 hours at amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-HD-DVD-Play...stp_st_edpp_ttl

they did not put anything in there on launch so why do it now it's kinda late.

I dont plan on buying either ever a dvd player works fine and displays fine for us.

HD movies and blue ray are rip-off's and worth no more then a dvd to us a movie is a movie if there were still drive in movie theatre's I would go see one still and be happy without a blue-ray or HD picture..

Honestly it depends on the movie title and your display. I agree that there are a number of movies in both formats that are a waste. They just don't deliver what they should for the amount of money that you spend. That being said there are a number of classic films that are poorly encoded on DVD that look absolutely stellar on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray (ie 2001: A Space Odyssey, Battle Of The Bulge, ect.) also the documentary and animated films definitely stand out. Hence the reason why I recommend it as a supplement to DVD and not a replacement. Only buy the handful of titles where it is really worth it. This is one of the many reasons why I prefer to support HD-DVD though. With a solid standard DVD up-conversion player and high-def player running at $130-$150 WITH 7 free high-def titles, you really aren't spending anything more than regular DVD and if you get in on one of the insane sales (ie around $100) then you are actually coming out ahead when you do the math. As for which movies will give you the most for your money, I strongly suggest reading the reviews at http://www.highdefdigest.com as they will tell you which ones will give you the best pic quality for your money.

Try searching google, I just did and came up with alot of evidence. Plus I saw it on G4TV(so maybe G4TV.com will have some). Not only that but warner bro's has signed over.

The blu-ray is bigger so from a gaming point of view they could be double the size they are now, with better graphics and longer gameplay which to be honest I don't think the PS3 has done too well with but I reccon that 360 game developers would make good use of that extra space.

No. Not because I'm against Blu-ray (although I had been cheering for HD-DVD up until recently when it became clear they would lose, at least Blu winning would end the format war). The 360 has been shown to be a very low quality DVD player, as was the HD-DVD add-on if I remember correctly. Microsoft just can't seem to make a decent movie player. I'll wait until the format war is over, and I can get a standalone Bluray player at a decent price. Until then, I'm watching upscaled DVDs, which look good enough for the cost.

Who wants a BluRay or HDDVD on consoles when you can buy a much better multiformat player for more or less the same?

Any HD specialist can tell you that the console players are the worst players. Consoles are made to play games, on the rest they are not good on.

Another point against hd is that now no online rental service is supporting it now. Netflix and Blockbuster Online are both Blu-ray now. As for the guy who said the hd has a new layer, yes but its not in the commercial fields. The Bluray also has a 3rd layer available but not yet released so that makes that debate still a plus for blu. My #1 selling point for my blu disks is that you REALLY have to try to make them stop reading. My 4y old son got one of my disks out and was playing with it outside like a frisbee and I took it in and washed it off and looked at all the scratchs (DEEP TOO) and thought its a loss. On a whim I tossed it in and it played fine. Now a new selling point is the bluray format can be upgraded with FW updates in the newer (upcoming) players and the PS3. The older one can ALLEDEGEDLY be updated by using special test dvds. This is to be finalized last I read late spring/early summer. I own a 360 and a bluray player I got at deep discount so to me its not a ps3 vs 360 crap throwing fest as some prefer to do.

blu-ray won...M$ should just keep the consumer happy and make one

PS. i was the 1337 vote 'yes'...YAY ME!

I voted: YES
If microsoft wants to keep XBOX marketshare and current customers from buying the PS3 then they should do it. Some people on here and myself included have bought a PS3 just for the Blu-Ray capability. Now we own both consoles, which is not good for MS.

Microsoft and Sony made it difficult to choose. Forcing me and others to spend more money on two formats if we wanted to see all our favorite movies in hi-def. (Well nobody twisted my arm but some of you know what i'm talking about.) When the next format war starts, I think I will sit back and wait for a clear winner before buying into anything.

if microsoft had put an hd-dvd in the 360 there would of been 10 million hd-dvd drives out there, i think ms shot them selves in the foot with that one.

P.

I totally agree.

I know this sounds crazy, but just imagine if M$ had included the HD-DVD drive internally at the same price as the console is going for? Sure, they would have lost tons of money per unit, but given the current popularity of the 360 over the PS3, they could have easily won the war by simply having their players dominate the majority of households.

I dont see why they should bother with a blu-ray addon. Either they should release an xbox with the blu-ray built in or just wait till they release next xbox and have it built in. As of now they should really focus on the hd downloads its a great service although I would like to keep my rentals longer than 24 hours I would like a few days with them.

Blu-Ray is a terrible format, and Sony has lied repeatedly about it. I'd rather download HD content to the Xbox360 than ever buy Blu-Ray.

Why? Blu-Ray discs are physically inferior, which the media rights holders (movie studios) LOVE! This means your movies are much more likely to be damaged and require re-purchase. Blu-Ray didn't win in the market place, it won in the business model for the studios and the consumers are screwd. And NO, they don't use the "protective coating" that Sony lied about. It's too expensive!

Give us a cheap add-on bluray player that works on PC, and I'll buy it.

It would be a waste, having a standalone player or PS3 is better. The xbox 360 doesnt have hdmi 1.3 and cant do 24FPS. I noticed when i bought my standalone HDDVD player, it looked better on my TV that has 120hz. The standalone has hdmi 1.3 and 24FPS.

Bluray addon is a bad idea.

Ive already got a PS3 so I don't need a blu-ray player, but I would rather watch movies on my 360. Do you think microsoft can just make a USB cable to go to the PS3 so that can me my Xbox 360 Blu-Ray Drive? lol.

You know whats funny I've read a few pages and haven't noticed anyone stating the fact that Sony owns Blu-ray and in order for M$ to use it they would have to pay loads (and I'm using that term lightly) of money to use Blu-ray and m not sure on Sony's stand for allowing the use of Blu-ray for their competition now if memory serves me correctly i do believe i read that M$'s sales rep stated he would not have any problems incorporating Blu-ray in their next console however that is only if Sony allows it. lol
Im not a big xbox fan but i wouldn't mind seeing Blu-ray on their new system.

uhmmm blu ray is an open standard. Legally there's nothing sony can do to prevent ms from using blu ray or charge them more for the use of it. They can however us politics and add delays in support and put pressure on their hardware manufacturers to keep them from getting it as fast as another company could.

I would not have bought a 360 if that were the case. I would have chose a PS3, which would have the same price tag. I would have bought a PS3.

someone correct me if I'm wrong but I thought HDDVD was open and Blu-Ray wasn't? If Blu-Ray was open why wouldn't MS go ahead and make an addon then?

Microsoft is releasing a Blu-Ray addon for the Xbox 360 in may 2008. My source is G4 TV.

Xbox was gambling with PS : who will win the DVD war. PS won and I think that if Xbox will not add a Blu-Ray they are ...stupid. All the companies have an orientation for the Blu-Ray!!

i would highely recommend it !! but microsoft would maybe like merge with sony right ? this is sony's format indeed. but yes blu ray rocks i would like the have the add on.


Blu-Ray is a terrible format ? Someone obvious doesnt know TRUE HD. Content from xbox live is 720p dude LOL cmon man learn a bit. Blu-Ray = 1080p True HD.

Thats what I want also, but I'm not going out to buy another xbox360 just to get it. There should be a way to send it to MS or mod it yourself with the blu-ray drive.

If microsoft had of put a built in bluray in the 360 in the first place then HD DVD would have been dead long ago

If they had put a built in HD DVD drive in the 360 then bluray would have been dead befor it started

But they did what killed SEGA and went for the addon option

and now the 360 will die just like the mega drive addons killed SEGA

I always said that if sega had not of wasted so much R&D time on the addons for the megadrive they could have had a 32bit or even a 64 bit psx/n64 killer but they floped with saturn floped.

at least the md diden't have a red ring

billy g's ring must be red raw buy now loosing the rishest man in the world spot

Right i'm sure he is crying about having billions in the bank.

I sucks that the PS3 only does Blu-Ray; I need to play both formates. So an Blu-Ray drive for X-BOX 360 and an HD-DVD drive for PS3 will fix an lot of iusses.

Those no reason to get HD DVD anymore, Blu ray has won the war. Ever since Warner went blu ray exclusive everyone else has jumped the bandwagon. They are gonna stop producing HD DVD here soon. So will Microsoft release a blu ray addon? Hell ya they will. M$ wants some of that sweet money too you know. I think porn will be goin blu ray exclusive here soon too, and if porn goes blu ray thats it, no more HD DVD

Hasn't that already happened? Blu-Ray has won. As far as i know, HD-DVD has stopped production internationally. If Microsoft DON'T release a Blu-Ray drive for the 360, they'll lose out. End of.

I would love it if MS released a blu-ray drive, I think it could really help xbox 360. I think right now most people really like blu-ray but do not buy a ps3 cause its a crappy games machine. I just think that a Blu-ray drive would be a good compliment for the 360.

-Ryonin

I voted yes so people can have the choice. The sooner the winner emerges (looking like Blu-Ray more and more) the price goes down for hardware and media and I can choose a player. I don't like watching Tron or 2001 on DVD with the poor, alias heavy transfers we've got now. The cheaper the 1080p hardware gets, the more likely Job Public will buy it. Simple.

people are buying the ps3 cause it's a cheap bluray player. i talked with someone at work today that was asking me which next-gen console to get. i told him it depends on what he wants to do and he is more interested in bluray than games so the vote goes to the ps3. however, if the 360 had a bluray addon, i would've suggested the 360. anyways, a lot of people are going to buy the ps3 just for bluray capabilities, which we all already know, so why wouldn't microsoft want to release a bluray addon to capture the people that are on the fence? it only makes sense.

unless of course we take into consideration that whole HDi article from the other day. but for immediate gains, bluray addon is the way to go. i'm not ms so i don't know which is more important to them. only they can answer that. and, once again, if we look at information we already have, they announced they won't be making a bluray addon (at least anytime soon) so, it looks like digital distribution and focusing on the live marketplace is more important.

i wish ms would release a bluray player so i could sell my ps3.
-no game points
-very lonly online
-no rumble
-im all alone
-interface sucks

On the plus side i didnt have to buy a 30ft hdmi cable to put the ps3 in my closet like xbox360 to drown out the noise

Even better would be a dual format hd-dvd and blu-ray drive all in one.

I have had 4 xbox 360, 1 Core went RRoD in 412 hours, 1 Premium RRoD in 377 hours, and Premium 2 went in 452 hours RRoD Each in a year or less. So now I play on the PS3. Would I get 1 again only if it had Bluray and HDDVD built in other wise no way. never had these kind of problems with any other console and I have had them all from the Nes up. Oblivion Killed all 3 systems that game had the most play of all. the only way I recommend the tin can 360 is if You Get the longest warranty with it the store has otherwise you will get 3 week what for your referb in the mail

Microsoft should make a blue ray add-on and do an exchange program for everyone that bought the hd-dvd add-on, just my 2 cents worth. I now have an unsupported hd-dvd add-on drive that is less than 6 months old, total waste of my money, come on microsoft, release a blue ray add-on and do exchanges for the doomed hd-dvd add-ons.

Man would it be so f***ed up if MS release the BR on the xbox 360. I cant wait to see Sony telling them Bitch better recognize now pay up for licensing

I think not, a gaming console is a gaming console.
@ the kid that put his 360 in the closet
WHY D:< its a beatiful white (stock) or whatever color yours is
and sleek and with that shiny chrome. who'd put such a nice looking
console in the closet D:

i voted no because it takes way to long to make a blu ray disc just look at the ps3 it barley has any games out becasue it takes a long time to put them on blu ray but dont get me wrong the ps3 is still badass

i hope theres gonna be a new poll soon.

Blu-Ray sucks, the only, ONLY advantage it had was more storage space. HD-DVD always looked better, I could care less now anyways, its all going to be digital downloads through live market place, everyone who still uses physical media should stick to standard DVD's

Thanks.

I voted no because they won't. Focus will be placed squarely on digital distribution. And Blu-Rays look great, sorry to burst your bubble.

Why not? Take away the PS3's only advantage.

Blu ray is not an advantage, i would never buy the PS3 to get bluray, that is ridiculous if you are thinking that

Given that, apart from PC based BD-Rom drives, the PS3 is the cheapest way to get a Blu-Ray player for under your TV, I'd have to say it is a Major advantage.

Just look at the HD-DVD add-on, it outsold normal stand-alone HD-DVD player because of the price.

What would you rarther do, pay for a PS3 and a Blu-Ray player, or just suffer the cost of the PS3.
Why do you think Sony have priced it like this, not only does it drive sales of Blu-Ray up it also drives the PS3 sales, I really don't think it would cost more to manufacture a pure BD Player than a PS3.

Anyhow I don't care, my TV runs via a HTPC that hold's a 360's HD-DVD and a cheap £60 BD-Rom drive.

I also agree with Kr0n1k, so much that I'm considering ripping all my DVD's to Divx/MP4 and storing the disc's in the loft, will save me a hell of a lot of space in the front room, also guarantees against damage to the disc by the kids.
If they want to watch a movie they can either stream it to the consoles they have in their room, and for in car it takes 10 mins to burn 3-4 movies to 1 dvd and watch them on a portable DVD/DivX player.

mmm, I did waffle a bit, ah well.

Forget Ps3 All together.... If thats what you have to do then forget it im not gonna bother with HIGH DEF movies at all... c'ides torrent...

grrrr....