Monday, February 18, 2008

Blu-ray Xbox 360?

Blu-ray Xbox 360 Planned By Microsoft

In case we aren't on the same page, you might wanna watch this first (try to ignore the fanboyism though): The downfall of HD-DVD

Ok, assuming that that first link is credible.

A 40gb PS3 would cost me $400. It already has a Blu-ray player (although some might argue that it has no games). For $50 less I could get a standard Xbox 360. But if I wanted to watch movies with it I would have to buy the ~$200 HD-DVD player addon. But now that HD-DVD is dead I would have to buy this rumored Blu-ray addon, which will probably cost a little more. But even if it costs the same as the HD-DVD addon it still feels like a ripoff. For $200 more I can buy a Blu-ray player AND a game console.

Then again, what other choice does MS have except kneel before Blu-ray? Okay "kneel" isn't the right word, since MS did say that if HDDVD fails they're going to switch to Blu-ray. Still, what else can they do? The rumors also mention something about an internal Blu-ray player. This is an even worse idea than the addon, because not everyone cares about the player and they'll be forced to pay for it as well. After all, you don't buy game consoles to watch movies. (Although I always imagine parents buying their kids PS3s just so they can watch movies on it too.)

MS can do one last thing: give away the BD addon for free...but they won't do that.

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