Microsoft launches "itunes" clone, HD-DVD add on for 360. Already.

Buy Microsoft Stock!

I remember Gates complaining about HDDVD, but hates BluRay even more. He actually envisioned media being transfered thru services like iTunes, etc and stored onto hard drives. I would like that more because it gives the customer more control.

Comparing HDDVD with BluRay, it looks like the HDDVD seems to be more consumer friendly than BluRay (when it comes to DRMs only).

 

I'd just like to go on the record to say "Urge" is the worst possible name out of all the possibilities they could have come up with...

 

Seem's as goofy as the Xbox DVD remote. Well, at least it isn't required for the games, and maybe someday if it fails it'll be a cool little rare accesorry or something. It seems to me like it would have made a hell of a lot more sense to freaking put it in the damn thing in the first place so then maybe it could be used for the games...then the PS3's high storage media isn't seen as an "advantage".

Screw the iTunes crap! CD's will not die!!

 

I would hardly say it's "going 32x"

The add-on drive will soley be used for movies, and not games.

My understanding is that it will be priced decently cheaper than a stand-alone HD-DVD player, so for people who have an 360 already it would be a great value for getting into HD Movies.

If you don't want it, don't buy it. i hardly see how MS offering a cheap HDDVD player to Xbox 360 owners is a bad thing at all.

As far as th emusic service, yea, the name isn't the best, but everyone saw the service itself coming a mile away. The way the 360 allows custom soundtracks in all titles just begged for such a service.

Now, if they would hurry up and add Messenger support that'd be nice too

 

Unless the video is unlocked so that it can be archived (doubtful), what's the point? I would imagine that very few people would not have DirecTV receivers where they watch television, but would have MCE's or Xboxes.

 

Well then, this announcment is really nothing to us. HD-DVD looks to be DOA after the first wave of BR titles were announced. My guess is this thing will end up as a collectors item since it will (probably) sell way too little and be canned soon after Toshiba realizes they lost.

As for URGE..No thanks, One music store account is good by me :nod:

 

I think Chris Kohler said it best on his blog at wired.

"Oh man. More big CES news -- Microsoft has announced that an "external" HD-DVD drive will be available for the system this year.

I would like to suggest to Microsoft that they never, EVER use this device for video games. Just movies. Because otherwise, instead of having the market split in two (hard drive vs. no hard drive) as it is now, it'll be split into four distinct groups. Sort of like the Sega Genesis/32X/Sega CD situation, and we all know how well THAT turned out for Sega (hint: they don't make video game hardware anymore).

Speaking of Sega, something else happened last generation: caught with their pants down when Sony announced that the PS2 would have a DVD drive (and the Dreamcast didn't), they rushed to create a patchwork solution similar to this. It didn't work (and was indeed never released)."

 

this just strenthens my opinion of microsoft...which is not good. to me it looks a bit if microsoft or gates is desperate and doesn't know what to do next in his already bad xbox360 launch...

btw:
Sort of like the Sega Genesis/32X/Sega CD situation, and we all know how well THAT turned out for Sega (hint: they don't make video game hardware anymore).

what a sad but true ironical style of writing

 

Um

Cheap and Microsoft in the same sentence? Sounds almost like oxymoron to me.

If and when the add-on is offered it's sure to cost a pretty penny. It may not cost as much as a stand-alone HD DVD player but Microsoft will most likely sell it for more than it costs to make since they probably won't sell too many. Microsoft certainly didn't sell their crappy Xbox DVD remote for cheap...

As for the online music store... I'll start buying music when it becomes worth it to do so and I can get the songs I actually want and I can use them in whatever way I so choose. DRM is total crock of $H**.

 

I really don't understand why a company has to rush they product into the market. Why MS had to release their system in November? Couldn't they just use 5 or 6 more months to release it in a more complete form?

The MS R&D department will develop a HD-DVD drive add-on for just movies? What a waste of money and technology. Why didn't they planned the 360 with the HD-DVD drive as default?

I really hope that the 360 becomes a success, but MS is doing everything wrong.

 

Anyone know the maximum data rate for HDDVD?

Would I be right in thinking that it may be greater than USB2's maximum, which would mean it would need to connect to the SATA port curently occupied by the hard disk. Which would mean you would have to "do an N-gage" and remove the hard disk to play films....

 

Well hopefully if that is the case they'd have a passthrough port on the HDDVD connector so you don't have to keep switching drives.

 

IMO, the announcement of the HD-DVD player attachment for the 360 is merely a reassurance to those consumers who can't bear the thought of not having the latest media format. Oddly enough, the announcement came on the same day that Toshiba announced its players (due out in March) at the CES. Thing is, Toshiba's units are going to cost $500-$800 each so as you can see, it's not exactly affordable technology just yet in regards to incorporating as standard equipment in a games console.
It's a good move IMO...give gamers the option of the HD-DVD to watch movies with if they so desperately want it. The rest of us will likely use the console mainly for gaming.

Toshiba's announcement here: http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/01/04/toshiba/index.php

 

It was doomed to fail the moment Justin Timberlake preformed to announce it.

 

i hope the HD-DVD will win, just because of Sony's arogance to make customers buy their bad and cheap proprietary formats that are going no where.

 

Then they wouldn't be able to be accessed at the same time. SATA is, surprisingly enough, a serial bus, so one would have to be invisible at any one time, else all hell would break loose

 

And while they are at it, they can fix the overheating problem too. MS put very little thought into the 360's design. They wanted something "hip", hence the shitty look of the case and how it sticks out in an entertainment center. They also wanted it fast (time wise) and cheap, so we are stuck with games only using the HD for caching and a power supply that needs an active cooling system.

 

Easier said than done. What will they do for those who bought the non-HDDVD built-in? They will feel cut out and just abandon the 360 altogether, most likely, rather than buying an add-on.