[UPDATE] Microsoft backtracks on CEO Steve Ballmer's apparent confirmation of hi-def video format for console, saying reference was to PC accessories; "no plans" to bring media player to 360.
When the HD DVD/Blu-ray war came to a sudden end in February 2008, it was quickly followed by word that Microsoft and Sony were discussing a Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360. Now, 20 months later, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer appears to have confirmed that the Xbox 360 will be getting a Blu-ray player of some sort.
In a video interview with tech site Gizmodo, the outspoken executive was asked how the Xbox 360 could be the center of a modern entertainment system and not include Blu-ray. His response appeared to rule out an internal Blu-ray drive for the 360, but apparently confirmed it would be available as a peripheral much like the discontinued Xbox 360 HD DVD drive.
Speaking about the Xbox 360, Ballmer said, "Well, I don't know if we need to put Blu-ray in there. [But] you'll be able to get Blu-ray drives as accessories." He offered no further details, such as a time frame or price, and Microsoft reps declined to offer further comment on "future plans" regarding Blu-ray.
Bill Gates' successor quickly pivoted to promote the Xbox 360's ability to download high-definition video. "I think the future of movies is on demand, as opposed to…via distribution of physical media. So we're going to just strive forward and try and make [the Xbox 360] the best entertainment--overall entertainment, and not just gaming, but overall entertainment experience we can."
The next step in Microsoft's hi-def video strategy is the addition of 1080p video downloads and Zune-compatible movies as part of next month's Xbox Live update.
Though fairly unequivocal, Ballmer's comments should be taken with a grain of salt. In June, his from-the-hip comments at an investor conference--disseminated by an incomplete blog of the event--sparked a rumor firestorm that an all-new Xbox 360 would be released next year. Those rumors were subsequently shot down by director of Xbox 360 product management and Xbox Live Aaron Greenberg, who said Ballmer was speaking about the console's previously announced motion-sensing technology, Project Natal.
[UPDATE] Alas, as with Ballmer's seeming confirmation of an all-new Xbox 360 in 2010, the Microsoft executive's Blu-ray comments were off the mark. In a post to his official blog, Xbox Live director of programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb has clarified Ballmer's statement, saying that while Blu-ray accessories are available for Windows PCs, Microsoft has no plans to release a high-definition media player using the technology for the Xbox 360.
"During an interview yesterday, Steve Ballmer was asked about Blu-Ray and the Xbox 360," Hryb wrote. "I wanted to clear something up. Steve was referring to Blu-Ray accessories for the PC. As we have said in the past, we have no plans to introduce a Blu-Ray drive for the Xbox 360. In fact, the future of home entertainment starts very soon when Xbox 360 becomes the first and only console to offer instant-on 1080p streaming HD movies."
I'm the oldest :) If Microsoft really want's to make XBox 360 the #1 entertainment/game console, they better join Blu-ray, becouse a lot of good games are coming out and i think most of the game companys would like to make a game in on format not in 2. Without Blu-ray XBox will be the best entertainment system for movies not for games, so that means it would not be the best/#1 entertainment system for games and movies
@ Autolycus old post i know. your job description sounds alot like mine, but 300 pc's for one person? you'd have no time in the day to do anything on your own, sounds a little unrealistic. we've got 10 sites 15 servers 200 pc's and a shed load of bespoke software. i agree that ATI drivers in general suck. However the latest nvidia offerings havent been much better. and as for dx10.1? you do realise that dx10.1/10 was supposed to be what dx11 is now? ATI pretty much had everything working but nvidia were lagging behind? why do you think they had to scrap everything and build "fermi" from the ground up? Ati's 5 series is storming ahead and doing extremely well. either way... i'd still sooner buy the fermi as i enjoy all the cuda apps you can play with.
NVidia engineers, ATI copys and duplicates what NVIDIA does and sticks it on a board. however, the real killer is that ATi's drivers SUCK. They always have and they always will.... NVIDIA knows what they are doing and their drivers prove it. DX10.1 who cares? What developer is going to require gamers to have a card that supports JUST 10.1 That would be stupid. HEck its even stupid to make a game that supports DX10+ only. You'd be losing sales right off the bat... but then again, if you made games for consoles you could focus less on figuring out what to cut out and more on the game since every console (even ps3) is the same. And as for a network admin? SO what, I am one too. 14 locations, 5 states, 20 servers, 300 PC's and JUST ME. Firewall, security, disaster recovery, end user support, application support, patch management. I do it all.
@ the genius itjustgotcold: it is you who said that you'd rather buy the 360 10 times over than solely own a ps3. it is just fun reading about how geniuses (like you) are not fooled about making them buy systems over and over again. LOL! enjoy shipping and receiving much? i'm enjoying uncharted 2 right now. don't forget to buy windows 7 again, it is for geniuses like you who are smart consumers who keeps re-buying ms products. ms is multi-billion dollar company becuse of geniuses like you. yeah, i still think i'm such a moron ... and did i say you're a freakin' GENIUS! LOL! and btw, yeah, i flip burgers for a living, that's why i can afford a ps3 since launch day. (another one of your genius deduction). i also own a 360 but unlike some geniuses out there, i don't have to stick with a system that's broken half the time. and if i forgot to mention, i really think you're a genius! LOL!
@TheJamin :) It's ok, and I'm glad you aren't quick to rage either, most people that start on these kinds of conversations never stop. Very mature of you. ATI and Nvidia are both great, but I just depends on your experiance and what you are used to which says which one you prefer. Every new line of cards will make the other one more powerful, since thier card releases are always out of sync with each other.
@Reiken37 i think we've had a misunderstanding of sorts, i apologise! i wasnt having a go at all. and i agree, we should move this back to the original topic.
@TheJamin Firstly, I ment that he WILL be able to, that a was a typo. Moden Warfare 2 will run, and so will BF BC2, thats at least 2 years of play right there, nad 9800gt isn't even near the bottom of requirements. And I see your other comment so i"d just like to say that when I had gotton a ATI card it just didn't ever seem to work out (I checked everything, i'm not stupid it should of been fine). But anyways, I told AutoLycus to stop talking to me, are you going to move the flame war here to Nvidia vs ATI? Cm'on man, I don't want to keep replying.
@Autolycus go on then mate, i'm a Network Administrator/Systems Engineer Do tell me why Nvidia is better? I'd love to hear this after the success of the original old 9 series - X series and now the 4 and 5 series. Please go for it! ATI - though they couldn't beat nvidia with the 2 and 3 series, have had support for DX10.1, they've had a built in tessellation unit and have almost always been cheaper then an nvidia solution. I am with Nvidia now, but i have no loyalties! Break this down for me bit by bit! you're no better then the console fan boys! n00b!
@Reiken37 9800GT? 10 years!? you must be talking about the old ATI series? if that was the case that was just a 9800PRO - fantastic card for the day. if not, you're mistaken, the 9800GT hasn't been out for toooo long. I to spend alot on video cards :) My history started cheap. ATI 9200pro - Nvidia 6800GT - ATI - X1800 - huge jump - 8800GTX - GTX295 Now i use the 8800GTX for my dedicated physx card. :D
360 sucks!!! it doesnt deserve blu ray!!!!! it doesnt even deserve DVD!!!!!!!!!I hope this is lie cuz 360 is a piece of trash!!!!
@Reiken37 Now that is funny because I prefer NVDA over ATI any day and given that I know how it ALL works, I want to hear you break it down. Because you talk the talk but you sure don't walk the walk. So tell me, for "reason I wouldn't understand" why is Nvidia better then ATi? When you realize you can't tell me, you can PM me and I'll break down into easy terms for you.
@MSG-Deathscythe and by the way, not only do i not care what system you think is superior because you are a moron, but i also doubt that you have even played a 360 more than an hour or two in your lifetime, so of course you're going to be biased. here is my suggestion, flip burgers twice as fast as you already do, get a raise and buy one, they are pretty affordable
@MSG-Deathscythe again you prove how small your brain is, MS banks on the RROD? HAHAHAHAHA you are a fu**ing moron! Do you know how many 360's MS has to fix at no cost to the customers? 3 year warranty for RROD, do you ever read any news? MS has been losing a ton of money on fixing the RROD problems. guess what dipsh*t, i will play shipping and receiving if i want, OR i will play whatever the f**k i want to play because i'm not some hardcore fanf@g that only owns one system, but i will mostly be playing my 360 in case you were wondering because to me it is superior
@itjustgotcold and 14256(blah, blah, blah): ms banks on rrod360 bots' gullibility. fighting for their crappy system. i did read the article but you are probably the only two who still believes what ms says. i bet you the add-on is just a few months away from release. go play shipping and receiving some more while we play games or as you said, buy the junk over and over again. yeah, i'm the moron and you're just effin' geniuses.
@AutoLycus 7800GT? pretty old. Personally, I do spend a lot on graphics cards. However my friend has had a 9800Gt which cost him around 200 dollars for almost 10 years and has been able to play every call of duty game and major title to date. So.. 200 dollars for 10 years of gameplay suppurier to that of the 360 which costes 300+ for a decent one. All that BS about the 360s' great graphics and processors, you dont' know what your talking about. Look at hte specs for the newest released PS3, because at best that might be the specs for the newest 360. Also, ATI?? I prefer NVidia for reasons that you wouldn't understand. You don't know what you're talking about, 7800gt is pure fail, my graphics card is 100000x better and my friends 9800gt is at least 1000x better then that. Sorry fanboy, stop raging on this board, no one wants to hear it.
This is why I prefer Toms Hardware, people that actually know what makes all the systems ticks, knows which systems are "better". The proof is in the games library and system attachrate (in which 360 is in first, followed by ps3 then wii)
@Reiken37 It gets to a point where there is no point even trying to have a discussion with a fanboy because they all seem to be misinformed and believe it to their grave. Sorry but you obviously aren't a tech head otherwise you would know the RSX is just a NVIDIA 7800gt w/ 8 pipelines and a better pixel shader, which is where you get your pretty graphics from. However, the ATI is a one off (just for the 360) 48 pipeline (also the north bridge for the 360) and can xfer over 10.2gb/s worth of data between the processor and the GPU. The PS3 has to share its 256 system ram with the video card and because of its pipelines, thats why you cant use 720p textures or 1080p textures and achieve more then 8fps. It's never going to happen. And eveyrone know's PC's are better, but in the past 5 years how much have you spent on video cards. Exactly...
@itjustgotcold Thank you. your points are spot on, which i am incline to actually agree on some of them. i could understand about the trophy system, i'm the same way. LoL.
@KaizerJinn you make good points, and yes we could definitely conclude that if Sony was charging for PSN it would be considerably better, but as it remains, the network is seriously flawed. as for the exclusives, i would say a good number of Sony's money making franchises have skipped out on them. GTA used to be a time exclusive now giving time exclusive content to MS beacause of MS bailing them out i know but the point remains, Final Fantasy used to be a sole exclusive which they lost, Metal Gear has been lost even though i would think Rising won't touch any of the good games in the series. As for these 1st party developers, they don't tend to leave a console once they back it. and while 1st party companies tip the NUMBER of exclusives, it definitely doesn't effect the quality of those exclusives. the games i look forward to most as of right now on the 360 are all exclusives, Splinter Cell Conviction(Sony lost rights to the series), Alan Wake and Left 4 Dead 2(by the way, played the demo last night, and it looks to be much better than the first one!). But that is not to say Sony doesn't have some great ones: Last Guardian, Heavy Rain, Uncharted 2(imo probably going to be goty). See? I love me some PS3 games, but i will always play cross platforms on my 360 (secretly, it has a good bit to do with achievement points :x, they're like crack)
@Autolycus Heh, unless you consider Gamespot to be a ps3 fansite, then I'm afraid you are wrong. The game match ups show that ps3 is only behind the PC. Also I dont own a ps3, but a gaming computer and a wii. And I have to say, Pcers have the BEST graphics out of any console. 360 just isn't as great as you fanboys would like it to be, sorry but no matter who little the cost, internet should be free. The Wii probally has the best franchises on thier console, even if the graphics are mediocore. Now stop your pathetic whining about your precious 360. It's people like you that give XboXers bad names. Pc has the best graphics bud. Also, DVDs' can't run in 1080p HD. You need a blueray player to do that. It's like you can overclock a 9500 GT, but it won't be as good as top 2 Series graphics cards. Blueray looks great but only get it if you want the best... Like getting a PS3 or PC.
@loporina Actually you need to check your facts as well. I am not saying that DVD can be TRUE-HD. Nore do I care if its true or not. IT I cant tell the difference (and I am an audiophile and videophile) then who cares. But...to broaden your views, 360 AND PS3 are not powerful enough to handle true hd graphics. What does that actually mean? Lets say that you have a 3d model of a car on the screen. Well the model needs textures. Those textures are in 480p (or smaller) and stretched across the 3d model and presented on the screen. Here's the crappy part, TRUE HD uses 1080p textures to wrap around the model. and NO SYSTEM can handle it. I know because i've actually made test samples for all 3 (yes even the boring Wii) system and they all got about 3 FPS (frames per second) when rotating with just a model of a cube with a 1080p texture wrapped on to it. So you can cry and complain that the PS3 is superior all you want, but its not its RSX chip (gpu) is 7800GTX+ and it shares its video ram with the processor (all 256mb in total). But, if you still want to believe its true hd, again, stroll through the games isle at best buy and compare cross platform games (like call of duty) and you'll see 360 says 1080p and ps3 says 720p for maximum resolution. They are all like that and even uncharted 1, which was pretty was 720p
@frankcrisostomo Actually Blu-Ray was developed by Pioneer and Sony. what you are quoting is how many people have jumped on the SUPPORTING BLU-RAY wagon. Notice how even the new MACS dont have blu-ray? The problem is, even if you purchase OFFICE 200x on blu-ray you cant copy it or duplicate it. So if its lost in a fire, its gone forever. Thats why MS didn't jump on board...
wifi, dont need it. add-on blu-ray or hd-dvd player, dont need it. Hard drive, purchased when I could afford it. XBL GOLD (silver is free) purchased when I wanted it, keeping the system price low. In the end it put more consoles into the hands of people that want to play video games and mommy and daddy arent buying it for em. It was a smart move on MS's part and a not so smart move on PS3. Remember all the BluRay comericials that were used to advertise the PS3. Not one video games commercial...
@Reiken37 I honestly enjoy watching people trying to defend why their system is better. So to everyone complaining about the complainers, you have to understand that most people think their system is better for completely UNTRUE reasons. For instance, the CELL processor SUCKS at processing large chunks of data(aka video games). Blu-Ray is completely outdated and NOT NEEDED, yet lets not forget the SYSTEM was 800 USD when it came out. ANd Europe is still paying an arm and leg. FOr what? A crappy video game processor and an overpriced DVD player? The simple fact of that matter is, the 360 is better built for games. Developers can EASILY take advantage of it. Costs are cheap and sorry, but GRAPHICALLY ITS BETTER. Search everywhere and unless its a PS3 fansite/fanboy you'll see that 360 always looks better on cross console games. Now am I saying the PS3 SUCKS? No NOT AT ALL. I am saying that your precious PS3 isn't the godsend you make it out to be and IT NEVER WILL BE. It is what it is...accept it, stop falsely believing your system (regardless if its 360 or PS3 or Wii) is better then the others because in the end, its up to what the developers can present to you. Thats what makes the console owners happy...
@sammoth Yeah, Blu-Ray is more resistent than DVD, but it is not possible to make a scratch-proof.
@itjustgotcold thats just cold.... the part of you rubbing Left 4 Dead 2 in my face. LoL. i played the first one and the game was awesome, so i know the second one is just as good. ...as far as the comment you made to MSG-Deathscythe... do you really believe everything you told him?? =^s you truly think if PSN had a cost it would still have the quality it have now. i'm impress and surprise with the quality it has now with it being free. the quality is only going to improving and it has come a long way too. about NETFLIX your missing the point that only LIVE accounts that are paying even have access to NETFLIX and they still pay additional to even purchase movies, whereas PSN is free and we just have to pay for the purchase of the movies. the only advantage i could imagine is that 360 would have a lower price since NETFLIX is only avail on LIVE accounts that have a fee. and finally your exclusive comment.SONY only lost the 3rd party exclusive which actually made most of their games multiplatform, and most of the ones that went exclusive to MS has made a port to PS3 or going to. SONY still carries the most 1st party developers, which i believe will not only even the numbers of exclusive, but tip them in SONY's favor. just my friendly opinion.
@MSG-Deathscythe "i got to give it to" MSG-Deathscythe, he sure is an illiterate hick. pretty typical bashing without information. can you read? i don't believe you can, cause if you could you would have read that 360 is not planning on adding blu-ray, moron. you just commented on an article with an update that has been up for some time disregarding all the bs you just shat out. yeah i am sure glad my PS3 has a free internet subscription, cause if PSN cost money, it would be hopeless, worse layout ever. and free netflix? NETFLIX itself costs money, free netflix, you are an idiot, and the reason why the only games i will play online on my PS3 are exclusives, because i don't want to deal with people like you. i would rather have to buy my 360 10 times over than solely own a PS3. production companies can see that, which is why PS3 is losing all of its exclusives.
@KaizerJinn haha, go for it, just pre bought Left 4 Dead 2 today, so i am pretty glad i get the best of both worlds
i got to give it to microsoft. it's strategy of nickle and diming it's bots went just as planned. a blu-ray add on, after all the others like the wifi adapter and that cool paperweight hd-dvd, will make the total cost of a "fully-equipped" rrod360 about $800.00. shame on you ps3 for having it all available out the box. you also don't charge for subscription! free netflix too? shame, shame, shame.
@Alex_09 Oh I see. Sorry I misinterpreted your comment then. Just a lot of delusional people out there not recognizing that both systems actually have a hefty library now. The whole fanboy crap is ridiculous. Hard to believe that adults can act so childish. Well, those who are adults anyway.
@frankcrisostomo ... so who actually own BR? because in my opinion Sony been pretty much carrying BR on their back at the beginning. i'd hate to be doing all that work and not actually own a good portion of it. LoL.
@itjustgotcold this sony fanboy will definitely enjoy all that my side of the gaming world has to offer with no regret. LoL. =D
@ the frankcrisostomo The "Blu-ray Disc founder group" was started on May 20, 2002 by nine leading electronic companies: Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Thomson, LG (Lucky GoldStar) Electronics, Hitachi, Sharp, and Samsung[2] I I can copy pasta too.
I can't believe Microsoft actually had their hopes up about getting Blu-ray.... That's as likely as Halo on the PS3. Lol
@Gamer12222 It just was reported to get Netflix today, my bad. And BS on the streaming from the computer, unless there is some backwards ass way to do it, or i just got the one PS3 that doesn't stream. Yeah, i tend to favor my 360 more than my PS3, i loooove PS3 exclusives, but LIVE is far superior to PSN, and 360 has just as many if not more great exclusives. You call me a fanboy when i have rated both PS3 and 360 games with above 9 out of ten scores, have fun playing Naruto and Wrestling games moron. You are obviously a passive aggressive fanboy yourself, i will continue to enjoy the great things both consoles have to offer while you are stuck in one area of the gaming world. Oh, and yes i saw your one review of a 360 game, Gears of War, still it's obvious that you favor one console more than the other.
I'm just glad I have both a PS3 and a XBOX 360. Its always good to have the best of both worlds right?
This is my last time reposting this info. To all fanboys just chill if we didn't have other consoles to compete we would be paying like $1,000 for a console. Competition drives prices down and quality up, so game companies battling benefits all of us, so stop the hate. One Love for all gamers! Sony does not own Blu-ray, Sony does not even own the patent. Blu-ray was develop by a group of companies and Sony is one of the leading partners. The current 20 board members (as of June 2009) are: Apple Inc. Dell Inc. Hewlett-Packard Hitachi, Ltd. Intel Corporation LG Electronics Mitsubishi Electric Microsoft Panasonic Pioneer Corporation Royal Philips Electronics Samsung Electronics Sharp Corporation Sony Corporation Sun Microsystems TDK Corporation (Tokyo Denki Kagaku) Thomson SA 20th Century Fox Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.
im just glad the 360 hoepfully will have a new console that way if developers don't stop making crappy ports from the now 360 then the new one could offer better quality ports for the ps3. Microsoft wanted to play hardball stealing exclusives from sony, so i guess sony had no choice but to play hardball back.. if i were them i'd do the SAME thing. hopefully microsoft stops ripping it's fans off by eliminating xbox live fees and also making a NON failed console model that's STILL being sold this day. I feel sorry for all the xbox people that lose all this game time due to them having to get their consoles fixed multiple times during it's lifetime and all the time it takes for that console to be sent/fixed and then shipped back... TRUELY SAD and so sad that not even the 3 year warranty makes up for it....
Umm... " frankcrisostomo", Sony is the primary creator of Blu-Ray but yes you are right they are not the only one. The companies you listed for the most part are Blu Ray association partners that joined after the format came to fruitation..
I have both a 360 and a PS3, and frankly, blu-ray does not matter to me either way. Like Sturm_ng said, i am not going to pay extra to watch a movie in blu-ray, i can't even tell a difference in quality. I bought my consoles for gaming, to be honest the 360 knocks it out of the park with the ability to stream media off of your computer, and having Netflix instant streaming available. So stop kidding yourselves, Blu-Ray is not the way to argue PS3 over 360, you might want to focus on the few exclusives that 360 misses out on, namely MGS4 and Uncharted 2. The PS3 exclusives are really the only thing i use my PS3 for.
"Sturm_ng" is in denial. First off, Blu-Ray movies range between $19.99 (or less) to about $35 with most around the 19.99 price if you buy from major retailers druing release week. Blu-Ray players are available as low as $89. Blu-Ray's adoption rate is very high now. In fact, Blu-Ray editions seem to sell out first with most major movies, faster than DVD did at this point in its life. Lastly, Microsoft is just trying to save face about the fact they chose an inferior format and more-so due to the fact that their chief rival was the developer of said format. Anything positive towards Blu-Ray from MS may be considered conflict of interest. What's funny to me is sticking with an inferior format shows greater wekaness to me...
Really people, why should everything have to come down to my system is better than yours. Such childish behaviour. Anyway, good if the PS3 has a blue-ray drive but, personally, I wouldn't care. I don't intend on watching or buying blue-ray movie. Not with a price tag around the 40$ to 60$ when you can get a normal DVD for 20$ to 30$ if it is a new release. Beside, it all depends on your TV and your home theatre systems (=more depending) if you want to really enjoy the full potential of Blue-Ray so, Blue-Ray by itself is pretty useless. Blue-Ray might be the future and it might not. Only time will tell so, before I, personally, will go out and spend money on a blue-ray drive or a console that support Blue-Ray; I think I will wait to see if it is going to stick around and if the price tags for it other products will go down.
German court rules Xbox 360 and Windows 7 devices banned in country following Motorola patent suit, but US judge orders phone company not to have ruling enacted just yet.
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