Xbox 360 To Include HD-DVD Player Next Year?

[Rob Williams]

From our front-page news:

It looks like the Xbox 360 might become even more of a media center, come next year. Rumor is that Toshiba is working with Microsoft on a brand new Xbox 360 console, which will include an HD-DVD player. Of course, this is what most were expecting the original 360 release to entail, but they (and myself) were wrong.

Though still a rumor, it's one that's difficult to not see happen. The PS3 includes a Blu-ray drive, and look at how well that format is doing on the market. As it stands, competition is incredibly tight between Sony and Toshiba, so for an integrated HD-DVD drive to happen, it would no doubt help sell both more consoles and more HD-DVD movies. Sounds like a win/win. The new console would also include a much larger hard-drive and other media-centric additions.

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The device is being developed in response to the PS3 driving sales of games software and Blu-ray content in several countries. A recent Sony Brand Wave study conducted in five countries including the UK, Australia, France Germany and Spain revealed that a key reason that consumers are buying a PS3 is because it includes a Blu-ray player.

Source: Smarthouse
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[Greg King]

Having already purchased a 360 and gone through the hassle of the dreaded RRoD, I would be pissed off if they started to include the HD-DVD in the console when they steadfastly said that they wouldn't... but I don't have a HD TV yet so whats the point of getting upset?

 

[Rob Williams]

The RRoD was no doubt a pain in the ass, but I am doubtful you would have waited well over a year to purchase a more expensive version of the console just because it includes HD-DVD. But that aside, I've never seen HD content on a standard def television, but I assume it's similar to playing an Xbox 360 or PS3 on a standard def, which is ugly as hell. You definitely want an HDTV before worrying about HD-DVD ;-)