Microsoft Denies New Xbox 360 HD DVD Drive
by Pravin on September 21st, 2007 in news.
Next week’s release of Halo 3 wasn’t the only news making the rounds at Xbox fan sites.
Word started to spread really fast about a new HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360. It all started with an article at Personal Computer World UK, that quoted Mark Bennett, Microsoft’s European business development director for HD DVD, saying that a new HD DVD drive was coming in 2008 for the Xbox 360. These remarks were made at a presentation commemorating Microsoft’s 25th anniversary of making hardware (keyboards, mice, etc.). As websites were busy repeating the news, Microsoft contacted gadget site, Gizmodo, to deny that there’s a new drive coming next year, and that this whole story is based on a misquote.
It is routine procedure for Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo to deny stories about price cuts and new hardware, but I have to say that this particular denial is probably the truth. For one thing, the Tokyo Game Show going on in Japan right now would have been the most appropriate venue for this kind of product announcement — not an event about mice and keyboards.
The other reason to believe the denial is to look at the current product and ask yourself exactly what would they do in a new version? Perhaps they’d make it thinner and quieter by using the same device as in Toshiba’s recently announced external laptop drive. But there would have to be a better reason than just thinness to warrant a new Xbox 360 drive — afterall, the 360 is not a laptop.
About the only thing to change is the movie that comes in each box. Instead of King Kong, maybe they can offer 300 or something more relevant for 2008. 300 is a good choice because it’s one of the discs that shows off HD DVD’s advanced interactivity features — an area that Microsoft has done major work with. Which leads to the other Microsoft HD DVD story of the day…
September 21st, 2007 at 3:04 pm
300 is a good movie to put in, but it’s kinda grainy.
i know it’s intentional and still looks good, but i think they should include a movie that is crystal clear like the bourne identity just like the other toshiba players.
either way, i think it would be smart if they include a movie with the drive permanently and not just for a limited time.
September 22nd, 2007 at 4:00 pm
They aren’t many comments when you eliminate all the BD talk. Why does the 300 movie look grainy?
September 22nd, 2007 at 7:32 pm
I think he’s referring to the fact that 300 has an intentionally stylized appearance meant to go along with its roots as a graphic novel. A better HD demo would come from something that’s presented in a more conventional way. King Kong has lots of nature stuff along the lines of Planet Earth and newcomers to HD should be able to clearly see the improvement in picture quality. It’s bad enough that so many fence-sitters think up-converted video looks good enough.
Regarding comments and BD talk… The best place to discuss Blu-ray is in a forum setting, where people can raise all sorts of topics and questions. And probably not at a site dedicated to the other format.
The HDDVD promotional group already set up TheLookAndSoundOfPerfect.com and ThisIsHDDVD.com for the purpose of wooing new customers. This site is not for getting new customers, but to provide more information to those who already made their choice.
I’ve been a fanboy in the past over computers, games, cars, and other kinds of things. Looking back, I can clearly see how I was being very closed-minded in my views. Hanging on to those views was an artificial restriction on my choices in life. In the last few years, I’ve owned and driven cars that I used to be against, used computers that I swore I’d never touch, and I know that I’ll once again have all of the game consoles.
I’m much happier now to be compatible with more things, than when I swore allegiance to inanimate objects.
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:24 am
Actually I would go with a movie like The Searchers. I thought that film really showed off HD DVD very well. I recall seeing The Searchers in VistaVision back when it was first released and always being disappointed whenever I saw it in later years. HD DVD is the closest I have seem any medium coming to capturing true VistaVision. Another film I use to show off my HD DVD player is Adventures of Robin Hood caught in all it’s Technicolor glory.
September 23rd, 2007 at 10:41 am
i saw a demo of “300″ on HD DVD at circuit city( i have NO idea why it’s not already on my shelf) and zack snyder gave it an intentional grain for the HD and BD releases because he didn’t want it to just be some ultra bright and shiny movie when it’s about the 300 spartans and what they did and he thought the grain would give it more of a raw feel.
it does look different, but i still think it looks great.