Xbox 360 needs its HD-DVD

[The Battousai]

I knew with the upcoming DVD formats (bluray and HD-DVD) game consoles would be forced to progress. Microsoft touted that an HD-DVD drive wouldn't be a neccesary aspect but......

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6141859.html

If we ever get halo on HD-DVD I'm buying a 360 for my next gen console but microsoft still intends it to be an add-on for movies and a couple of selective games. Microsoft should have just waited for these drives to be ready and launched them integrated in the 360. A spring launch wouln't hurt them. Microsoft is already a multi-billion dollar company so they could afford slow sales until holiday 06. This would have hurt sony, but because HD-DVD is still not an integral part of the 360 sony still has the upper hand.

 

[The Battousai]

Pushing 1080p on today's videocards

I'm no techie but I thought PS3 is using a newer graphics card (the nvidia RSX, correct me if I'm wrong) yet to be released. This graphics card should be able to handle 1080i, 720p, and 1080p easy without sloppy framerates or jaggies.

Anyway....
I agree with most of your response but you and I probably both agree that blu-ray and HD-DVD will be needed in the near future (due to the amount of space newer games take up). I know that the transfer rate for blu-ray discs and HD-DVD's is very slow but as technology advances don't you think it will speed up. With blu-ray discs developers have a lot more flexibilty to take advantage of the new hardware they are using. Xbox 360 has impressive horse power near that of PS3 but to use it we'll need 6 discs. I don't know about you but I find switching discs tedious. If I'm in the middle of an amazing plot twist and then I have to stop it and switch to disc 4 it's pretty annoying. Also with the electronic industry advancing (Windows Vista on HD-DVD, movie industry switching to the new formats, newer computers built with the new formats in mind) video games the must advance inorder to become more practical.

 

[Tobbin]

1080p resolution is exactly the same as playing a game on the PC at 1920x1080. Jaggies do go away after some point when they become negliable, but frammrates? Well if you're asking for something like FarCry, Halo, or Doom 3, there's a good chance that 1080p will run at 60FPS. If you're asking for something on the level of FEAR or Unreal Engine 3, your pushing 20-30FPS, and that's if nothing major is going on.

Sure, I believe the transfer rates will increase, but if there's some sort of "acceptable level" for gaming that's beyond 1X speed, then it'll have to wait until it reaches a speed that's acceptable. But like I said, even if you run out of space on a regular DVD, DVD-9 should give all that you need for the next couple of years, since it effectively allows up to 8.9GB, and I don't think we'll be going from 4GB gaming to 10GB gaming in a short period of time.

It's really hard to say what tomorrow's games/systems will need. Yes, it's a new technology. Yes, there looks like there will be 2 different formats. Only time will tell which one will become predominate (or maybe if they can co-exist together.) The PS3 and X-box 360 have higher specs across the system. From what I've read, the PS3 may be able to combine a co-processor aspect to divy up some of that higher framerate from the DVD's. If you look at upgrading today's systems to the new Blu-Ray technology, yes, there could be severe problems. As for the native systems where the technology will get released, I really doubt there will be anything too severe. It's not just those gaming systems that will inherit the technologies either. Other companies are adopting them and will have them in their systems as well. Like it or not, they are coming. I look forward to what they can offer. Should they fall flat or not deliver as promised, they will go to the wayside and it won't matter that way either. ;o)

 

[WinterSnowblind]

Sorry to say this, but it does give Microsoft a huge advantage. For one thing it will end up being the first next gen format on the market, so that pretty much shuts up all the fan boys calling the PS3 the first "real" next gen console. And with MS it's optional, you don't HAVE to pay for the HD-DVD drive if you don't want it, where was with Sony blu-ray is integrated. The system is either going to be way more than $500, or Sony is going to take a very, very big hit. And the price of blu-ray discs? they're around $50 for a BLANK disc, games themselves are going to be horribly expensive, if they even use them.

Frankly, I have no faith in either medium, I don't see them as being neccesairy, or needed at this point in time. Okay, so we can fit the entire LOTR trilogy, and all it's special features onto one disc, but is changing discs really that difficult? and considering the price, I'm more than willing to get up just to change discs.

Blu-ray does seem to be getting more backing at the moment, but if Microsoft really throws their weight behind HD-DVD, then it would instantly become something everyone needs to have. They could simply only release their new products on HD-DVD, and then suddenly everyone needs to have an HD-DVD drive.. how many people would bother with Blu-ray as well?

But this is speaking almost entirly movie/computer-wise. I really don't see it having a big effect on gaming at all..

 

[The Battousai]

Now that I look at it, I think HD-DVD won this one. As much as I want blu-ray to be a success the facts deny it. At first blu-ray would become the definite victor due to only toshiba supporting HD-DVD while most other media companies supported blu-ray. Now that microsoft stepped in and HD-DVD got a huge boost. Nearly all western computer owners use a microsoft derived OS's (Windows). With Windows Vista shipping on HD-DVD most of the computer owners be forced to purchase a computer with an HD-DVD drive. Companies like Dell and hp which originally supported blu-ray are switching over to HD-DVD so they will be able to run Windows Vista. Also in the movie industry many companies left blu-ray because of it's cost. The cheapest blu-ray player is $1000.00 and the movies are said to cost around $80.00. The cheapest HD-DVD player is $300.00 and the movies are around $40.00. I, even as a sony supporter, (eventhough I prefer my ipod nano over my old walkman) believe that HD-DVD will become standard and Microsoft is the reason. If those guys hadn't gotten involved blu-ray would become the definite victor. Now it feels safer to invest my money into a 360 over a PS3 (hey at least I get HD-DVD halo).