Xbox 360 HD-DVD in Spring 2006?

By | December 14th, 2005 comments icon (3) Comments


microsoft xbox 360 hd dvdAlthough Microsoft hasn’t publicly confirmed an HD-DVD version of their super-popular Xbox 360 game console (yet), Japan’s Jiji News service is reporting that “Microsoft revealed on the 14th that it has entered final stages with Toshiba and other HD-DVD backers on the development of an HD-DVD capable Xbox 360,” says IGN staff reporter, Annop Gantayat. Moreover, Gantayat expects the beefed-up console will arrive in Spring of 2006. (Perfect. This is exactly what I’ve been waiting for. Lets keep our fingers crossed that this rumor turns into reality).





Filed in: Streaming Media Devices

  • David Walker

    If this is true – and I stress that with a big IF – then Microsoft is going to tick off quite a few early adopters. It also means that we’ll almost definitely have to see an HDMI connection option for the 360 as well. I would hope that there would be some kind of upgrade fee for existing Xbox 360 owners.

    Even worse, if the big MS offers HD-DVD as an option, it will all but kill the format permanently. History has shown that users will only buy additional peripherals in numbers that average around 10%. With Sony including Blu-ray out of the box, HD-DVD will go down in flames.

  • brianworkman

    I am just hoping that this HD-DVD version is the predicted XBOX 360 PC (with full Media Center features).

    At that point I don’t think that you are going to upset that many early adopters, because this box is going to cost probably more than double that of the Xbox 360 HD version, so many of them would not have purchased this version.

    But I agree with Alexander now, that they should have but the HD-DVD player on the first versions as well and released a butt load of HD-DVD’s for this Christmas season. That would have definitely given HD-DVD a foothold over Blu-Ray (with the techies anyway).

  • http://www.alexandergrundner.com Alexander Grundner

    Today’s big news: Microsoft denies the rumor flat out, but leaves the possiblity open by not saying “NEVER.”

    GameIndustry.biz adds:

    “Microsoft, in both America and Japan, has not announced anything regarding the possibility of a next generation DVD drive being placed in the Xbox 360,” a Microsoft spokesperson told IGN. “There are currently no plans to release an Xbox 360 equipped with a next generation DVD player.”

    Speculation over whether such a device might be forthcoming originated with comments made back in August by Bill Gates himself, who said: “We are looking at whether future versions of Xbox 360 will incorporate an additional capacity of an HD-DVD player or something else.”

    And just last month, Microsoft’s Japanese Xbox chief Yoshihiro Maruyama said, “it’s a possibility” although he did add that it wouldn’t have anything to do with games. “If the Xbox 360 uses a next-generation DVD drive in the future, it will only be used for watching movies that run on next-generation DVDs,” he said.