Xbox 360 could back Blu-ray
Microsoft covers its high-definition derrière
CES The format wars have taken another turn this afternoon as Microsoft announced its Xbox 360 console might feature Blu-ray in the near future.
Albert Penello, group marketing manager for Xbox hardware said the console still supports HD DVD, but would gain a Blu-ray add-on if HD DVD fails as a next-generation format.
"It should be consumer choice, and if that's the way they vote, that's something we'll have to consider," Penello told Reuters in an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
"I fundamentally don't think this has a significant impact on Xbox 360 versus PS3," he added.
Microsoft doesn't think that Warner's decision to drop HD DVD in favour of Blu-ray will make a difference to sales of the Xbox 360.
"You can't say it's not a bummer, not a setback, but I've seen this battle declared over so many times," Penello said.
"I want consumers to have a voice in this and I think there are a lot of consumers who bought HD DVD who are going to have a say in how this shakes out."
Microsoft has been here before. Back in 2006, its then Xbox chief, Peter Moore, said a Blu-ray add-on drive for the console was possible, if consumers favoured that format.
COMMENTS
@Iain
Aiwa has only been owned by Sony since the end of 2003, so Jason's Aiwa MD player would have been produced while they were still their own company. Well... Sony had invested in it, but they didn't own the company.
@ Smut Wars
I'll correct you. The idea that the format war between Betamax and VHS was decided by the porn industry is just a popular urban myth. The porn industry was nowhere near as big then as it is now, and most grot was bootlegged and sold under the counter.
The reality is that major film studios supported VHS because it was cheaper to produce than Betamax. If you wanted to rent the latest blockbusters you had no choice but to choose VHS.
@Mark Broadhurst
"Take Mini-discs no one but sony could make them and the format died because of it."
http://www.minidisc.org/equipment_browser.html
Lots of manufacturers made the players.
I have perhaps 100 recordable minidiscs at home, mostly JVC, Maxell and TDK, all big names in the recordable media market. Yes, a few Sony ones too, as they were usually the cheapest I could get in 80 minute capacity.
I suspect what killed MD was a combination of two things, both of which happened just as MD would have been getting into it's stride as a worthy replacement for cassette tapes:
1. MP3 players got a whole lot better, especially when the first affordable hard-disk based units were released. Why carry a couple of dozen albums on MD when half your CD collection would fit on a unit about the same size as a portable MD player?
2. Recordable CD became affordable and accessible even to non-computer people. Why use a minidisc when you could record to a cheaper blank CD, and play it in most normal CD players too?
MD-Data had to compete against well-established "standards" of the time, like the Iomega Zip disks. I think Memory Stick bombed outside of Sony for much the same reason: it was trying to enter a market with plenty of established competition (CF, SD and it's many siblings, even SmartMedia at the time) and offered no advantage over them whatsoever.
Sorry, all rather off-topic I know. IGMC... :)
Same ol' story...
MS has often taken the approach they are now.
I remember reading in 1990 (ish) that a reporter asked whether Microsoft would support platforms other than Windows (specifically, the Amiga). They replied that they would support any platform that was commercially successful. They do (to some extent).
In 1993ish, they were saying they wouldn't support the World Wide Web, saying that everyone would be using MSN. Six months later, they had the 1st version of Internet Explorer out. Which would have meant they had it in development when they said everyone would be using MSN.
In 2006, they released an HDDVD drive for the xbox360, but, oddly, claimed they wouldn't include one with the xbox (no point). Then in 2007, they upgraded the Xbox with HDMI (seeming a pre-requisite for Blu Ray support) .
All along, Microsoft have kept their options open in case their chosen path wasn't profitable. They still are.
I dont think DRM was even a twinkle in anyones eye....
.....back in 1993 or even till the late 90's. That was a time you could pretty much copy any floppy with a simple DOS command of COPY.
