BBC NEWS | Business | Xbox to stop making HD DVD add-on

After Toshiba drop HD DVD, so are microsoft and the XBOX360. What does this mean for the 360?

Stuck on DVD or will they licence Blu-ray?

Can't see them changing the hardware. For one it'd bump the price up to the PS3 area. Plus all existing games would then be incompatible.

Quite a big knock I'd imagine. Considering I haven't had a dedicated DVD player outside my PS2 for the last 5 years.

Maybe they will offer an external blue-ray player and obviously a firmware update to go with it!

Someone at work was talking about this the other day.

Can't see them changing the hardware. For one it'd bump the price up to the PS3 area. Plus all existing games would then be incompatible.

Quite a big knock I'd imagine. Considering I haven't had a dedicated DVD player outside my PS2 for the last 5 years.

Why Blu Ray players can read DVD's easily with a red laser, same as per HD DVD.

They could always make a Blu Ray add on and not affect the machine, offering the HD owners a discount and allowing them to have HD video in games.

i like microsofts come back about the HD failure. they said most people bought the xbox to play games on!

really? what a revlation!!

i only recently went for a xbox, which is rare for me as ive always been a sony fan. only went for it as they had halo, had nothing to do with hd dvd or blueray!

its a big blow out for toshiba though. but oddly after the anouncment theri share price rose!

Can't see them changing the hardware. For one it'd bump the price up to the PS3 area. Plus all existing games would then be incompatible.

Quite a big knock I'd imagine. Considering I haven't had a dedicated DVD player outside my PS2 for the last 5 years.

Xbox360 has a DVD drive....

Microsoft had not choice really as the drive used in the HD-DVD add on was made by Toshiba. And as there was not really any other comany making HD-DVD disc drives, their hand was forced.

Microsoft have said they can release a Blu-Ray add-on player the same as the HD-DVD add-on if it was required.. but i think they are more likely to go down the digital distribution road as the video marketplace is getting bigger all the time in the us + should be getting better over here too once they sort out the licensing issues .. i personally still prefer HD-DVD to Blu-Ray ..

Pardon my ignorance but I would like to clarify - blu-ray can play normal dvds with no issues?

I might have to invest in a PS3 if so...

Pardon my ignorance but I would like to clarify - blu-ray can play normal dvds with no issues?

I might have to invest in a PS3 if so...

yes, and it also upscales them so they look a bit nicer on a HD tv too.

yes, and it also upscales them so they look a bit nicer on a HD tv too.

tbh using my old sony QS dvd player via quality component leads vs my new sony dvdr with upscaling via a good hdmi lead theres not any noticable difference. i think its a bit gimicky, but if its there in the player and its not costing anything then why not

I don't know how good the ps3 upscaling is, all I know is that it's there I don't really notice it tbh as i use my dvd player for playing dvds

I meant that HD-DVD will now never happen. So all Hi-Def DVD's will be in Blu Ray. And an XBox 360 will not play Blu-Ray discs. So if you intend to keep a hi-def video collection your 360 is useless for playback. Not that the 360 can't play DVD's.

If you had a PS3 then you don't need to get a separate player. Which is the blow I was referring to.

Probably not going to make that much difference to the XBox really; it's been successful due to the quality of the games available for it rather than anything else.

What you might see is the XBox drop slightly 'downmarket' to position it midway between the Wii & the PS3.

It's a shame really, I have both blu-ray and HD DVD playback capability in my house, and HD DVD is IMO, much better than blu-ray.

Does anyone know exactly how I should have the settings on my PS3 to upscale normal DVD's? there seem to be a few different settings available.

we also have both and i prefer HD-DVD as it doesn't bloody stutter like poo-ray does and it will have no affect on the 360 in the long term as they will simply release a blu-ray add-on the same as the hd-dvd add-on.

and hd-dvd's should become really cheap

and hd-dvd's should become really cheap

The few that have been released yeah!!

Seriously, try finding any in the shops! lets hope they dont fetch a premium on Ebay due to everyone wanting the few left!

There are hundreds of titles available on HD-DVD, you just need to know where to buy them.

HD DVD, is not completely dead yet. All thats happened is toshiba have pulled out. At least one other manufacturer currently produces the player, and it was on QVC a couple of weeks ago. Also at this point Paramount are staying HD-DVD exclusive, and the BBC and another producer have invested heavily in the format.

There are hundreds of titles available on HD-DVD, you just need to know where to buy them.

HD DVD, is not completely dead yet. All thats happened is toshiba have pulled out. At least one other manufacturer currently produces the player, and it was on QVC a couple of weeks ago. Also at this point Paramount are staying HD-DVD exclusive, and the BBC and another producer have invested heavily in the format.

hhmm... don't count on Paramount to keep HD-DVD alive... clicky

Rats... sinking ship...

might buy the hd dvd addon and some choice films when they go cheap.

i did the same when laser disc got cheap. i bought a sony player with auto side change and all of the star wars films, robo cop, and indiana jones films amoung others. kept them for a year or 2 and sold them when there was a bit of a cult thing going on with them!

my sisters hubby still has my toy story disc in a frame as he loves toy story! lol

The few that have been released yeah!!

Seriously, try finding any in the shops! lets hope they dont fetch a premium on Ebay due to everyone wanting the few left!

are you aware of how many titles have been released on HD-DVD there are lots available from the likes of HMV and Virgin/Zavvi(:confused:) as well as the usual on-line suspects.

The (untimely) demise of HD-DVD really shouldn't effect the 360 seeing as it's a games console with a very healthy catalog of titles - what must-have exclusive games are available, rather than on the horizon or around the corner, for PS3?

I thought Blu Ray would win due to the fact that sony is a big content provider and it had backing from the PC side of things as it held 50GB on a double layer disc not 30GB so is much more useful for backup.

Blu Ray has almost certainly won the war. Not only has it got greater capacity, but there is talk of triple and possibly quadruple layer discs, that’s 200+gb if you get a double sided disc!!!

Most of the major HD friendly Movie companies are either getting out of exclusive HD deals or are supporting Blu Ray and HD Discs. One of the major film houses has a get out clause from HD that states it can leave the stable if a certain other major film house leaves first. They will be exercising this later in the year.

As for Blu Ray, the latest boxes are tremendous value. Not only can they do 24 frames/sec (no more movie stutter for compatible tellys) but can produce the latest HD uncompressed Dolby Digital and DTS 7.1 sound tracks. The fully conform to HDMI 1.3a the latest HD spec for tellys, lots of very expensive players still don’t conform to this. Then you throw in a decent HDD for Juke playing and WiFi routing capabilities, it really is a one stop shop of a box……………….oh and it does play games too if that is your bag.

Only my humble opinion, but I really do think it is a great value for money bit of equipment.