HD-DVD Confirmed For Xbox 360

[Chris Gohlke]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/jan06/01-04CES06PR.mspx' target='_blank'>http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/jan06/01-04CES06PR.mspx</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Building on Xbox 360 leadership in high-definition experiences, the company announced plans to deliver a new Xbox 360 external HD DVD drive in 2006. The new drive will offer millions of Xbox 360 owners the ability to easily enjoy HD DVD movies and will provide consumers with even more choices for experiencing high-definition content, in either physical or digital form."</i><br /><br />Looks like Microsoft is going for the best of both worlds. Be the first out of the box for the next gen console and come back later and add HD DVD capability so it will still compete with the PS3. While this is going to be an external drive, it will also be interesting to see if they release a retooled 360 that has it built-in.

[jeffd]

They should have made the internal drive removable. ^^ they better be charging pennies for that drive. Good side is i'm sure the xbox 360's later revision will have hd built in. How ever games of course wont ever be USING HD disc. ^^

[James Fee]

Gah, external drives? Hopefully they'll change the current Xbox 360 to have the HD-DVD internally when I finally buy one.

[Darius Wey]

I guess the two biggest questions now are, (1) price, and (2) support for HD-DVD games? Either way, it's finally nice to see something on the table.

[phillypocket]

I certainly would not have wanted to wait another 3 to 6 months to enjoy my 360. And frankly, until I see the content available (over and above a DVD), the pricing, and the availablility of HD DVD (or Blu-ray for that matter) disks, this looks like a technology for next christmas... if they're (content producers) lucky. At least with my dollars. :wink:

This seems like a reaonable compromise. If this is priced right (and I don't mean "pennies", with play only drives speculatively priced from $400 - $800), maybe $199 -$249, I might consider it. After my previous caveats were met, of course.