MS axes Xbox 360 HD DVD drive
After Toshiba, after the studios...
Microsoft is dropping its HD DVD add-on drive from its list of Xbox 360 add-ons, the software giant revealed this past weekend.
The blame was placed firmly on "recent decisions made by Toshiba, Hollywood studios, and retailers", but whoever's responsible, MS will "no longer manufacture new HD DVD players for the Xbox 360".
The move comes as no great surprise. After Toshiba's decision to throw in the towel in the format fight and concede victory to Blu-ray Disc, a move that will see it cease manufacture of HD DVD drives, Microsoft would at the very least have to find a new drive supplier.
But with major retailers Wal-Mart and Best Buy dropping HD DVD movies, and both Paramount and Universal Studios now committed to Blu-ray, there's not a lot of point in an Xbox 360 owner investing in the HD DVD drive from now on. The Xbox 360 add-on was intended solely for film viewing.
MS' decision highlights its wisdom in opting for an external HD DVD drive rather than going the whole hog and building the drive into a new version of the console. Fans of the format will accuse Microsoft of helping the format's failure by failing to support HD DVD the way Sony promoted Blu-ray Disc by building it into the PlayStation 3.
Will MS offer a Blu-ray drive for the 360? All the company said on the matter this time is: "HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room, along with playback of the DVD movies they already own."
Looks like it has its eye on a future in which movies are downloaded.
COMMENTS
@frank bradshaw
But everyone knows that HD DVD vs Blu Ray was going on, and eventually one was going to drop.
Who loses? The people that don't wait it out...
Fair enough....
Fair enough Mr Coward - I feel (imho before I am spotlighted by any other harsh criticisers...) the death of hd-dvd was a group effort of a lack of effort. And yes I understand the MS stand point of "What do we do now?" flogging a dead horse etc. I'm just seeing it as the POV of a relative newcomer to the console scene and I feel that these companies can't just drop consumers in this way (Although they will). I was just hoping that MS would have a backup plan to keep 360 people onboard or those like me who were thinking long and hard as to what console to go for by coming up with a solution for the now defunct HD drive, ie a swap for an LG drive. Perhaps I just hope for too much.
What are you on about, Frank?
Microsoft have stood behind HD-DVD longer than anyone and you criticise them for pulling out?? The death of HD-DVD is thanks to the studios, not the hardware manufacturers. With Toshiba finally recognising that there's no future in HD-DVD and pulling the plug, what was Microsoft supposed to do? You were an early adopter and you backed the wrong horse. You only have yourself to blame.
And who loses?
The ripped off British public again. I was never a massive console fan - we got a Wii for the kids (honest...) but fairly ignored the whole Sony/MS dog fight. Then the HD drive came out and I managed to hook it up with my pc to the HD tv in October. Although it worked out ok, I decided to get a 360 in December just to see what all the hype was about and not have to worry about drivers, installs, back ups etc like installing games on the pc.
Now MS has pulled out of the HD drive race. Hmm. Doesn't exactly put a lot of faith in the big companies - then again when did Sony/MS/Toshiba/<insert any other big company> give a toss about the consumer? Couldn't MS do the honorable thing and do some sort of exchange for the LG dual HD drive - seeing as it was WE the public who invested in Toshiba/MS and it is WE who have to pay now?
Then again...MS and honorable....hmmmm...now there's a thought....
frank
All those obsolete bricks....
What will retailers do with all that stock? Mark it down to 1p, or advertise it as a doorstop says I.
