Archive for Blu-Ray

BD-LIVE Coming This Month To The PS3…. Sucks To Be An Xbox Owner

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on March 20, 2008 by itnerd

According to this press release from Sony, Playstation 3 owners are getting a update later this month that will install Blu-Ray Disc Profile 2.0 (A.K.A. BD-LIVE) support on their consoles. Why do you care? Let’s have Scott Steinberg of Sony tell you why you should care:

“With Blu-ray established as the high-definition optical disc standard, more consumers are ready to jump in and take advantage of everything the format offers. Whether you want to download movie extras, send ringtones to your phone, or play interactive games, BD-LIVE will offer exciting new ways to enjoy a Blu-ray movie. With these regular firmware updates and future-proofed technology, SCEA is making the 10-year lifecycle of PS3 possible.” 

This is a big deal as not many stand alone Blu-Ray players have this support, nor are they upgradable. That make the Playstation 3 the best console for all your multi-media needs, and it makes it a lot more appealing than the Xbox 360. If I were Ballmer, I’d restart those talks to get Blu-Ray onto the Xbox or they can find themselves on the bottom of the food chain very quickly. 

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Microsoft In Talks With Sony For Blu-Ray On Xbox-360 – Oh The Irony

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on March 6, 2008 by itnerd

It must be a black day at Microsoft today as it’s come to light that they are in discussions with Sony to get Blu-Ray drives onto the Xbox 360. Given that the Playstation 3 is made by Sony and comes with a Blu-Ray drive, it’s an odd combination to say the least. But it makes sense for both sides. Why? Consider the following:

  • Having a Blu-Ray drive would make the Xbox 360 more competitive against the Playstation 3 and help overall Xbox 360 sales (not to mention they could spin that whole HD-DVD mess by saying “See, that’s why we made it external. We give the consumer a choice unlike the Playstation 3 which gives you Blu-Ray only. Imagine what would happen if that standard lost.”). Point to Microsoft.
  • Sony makes money from selling the hardware and adds to the installed base of Blu-Ray (not to mention licensing fees as well). Point to Sony.

You can bet that Microsoft will offer this as yet another external add-on (just like their ill-fated HD DVD drive) and price it aggressively. Expect it to happen quickly as Microsoft would like you to forget that it was in the HD-DVD camp as quickly as possible.

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Xbox-360 Drops HD DVD Drive

Posted in Commentary with tags , , , on February 24, 2008 by itnerd

As if Toshiba and their now dead HD DVD format needed another kick in the butt, comes the news that Microsoft has dropped the HD DVD drive add on for the Xbox-360. In my humble opinion, if Microsoft had simply built the drive into the Xbox the way Sony built Blu-Ray support into the Playstation3, we might still be talking about a format war as opposed to the format war being over and done. But they bundled it as an optional accessory which didn’t help adoption of the HD DVD format. One has to wonder if this won’t hurt sales of the the Xbox-360. Existing owners may feel that they have obsolete hardware, which gives the perception of an advantage to the Playstation3. I truly think that Microsoft has damaged its whole gaming platform by getting into a sparring match with Sony over disc formats. Only time will tell I guess.

While I’m on the subject of HD DVD, this video has been making the rounds on YouTube for a few weeks now. Basically, someone took a scene from the movie Downfall and replaced the subtitles to reference the war between HD DVD and Blu-Ray. It apparently surfaced just after Warner Brothers defected to the Blu-Ray camp just before CES. It gets my vote for funniest video of the year.

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