Rumor: MSFT's E3 plans include $100 HD-DVD

Also, I'd like to add that I don't think the HD-DVD add-on will be $100 because I don't think it will be "just a drive". It seems to me that there will be no way to connect the drive directly to the motherboard of the 360. So, does that mean it communicates with it via USB or ethernet? Either way, what I think that means is that it will allow you to stay "connected" to LIVE while watching movies. That way, you can still bring up the 360 Guide and see what your friends are doing, etc. I don't think it will use the 360 to output video; I think it will do that on it's own. I'm not sure USB or the ethernet port are fast enough for other solutions. I expect the add-on to be at least $250, if not more.

What everyone is missing is that 'some' HD-DVD's are encoded specially to use the features of HD-DVD. So far the ONLY way to playback those disc's in 1080i is to use HDMI which the X360 does NOT have. It will be interesting how M$ will handle that.

(the discs will still play but at half rez)

#48 - From my limited knowledge on this subject I believe there's more to just converting the XBox360 ouput to digital. The whole point of HDMI is that can support HDCP, it's a combo of hardware, drivers and cable that allows the output to be in 1080p rather than scaled back.

1080p is not something MS has said much about, (other than deriding Sony for suggesting that the PS3 will use 1080p as their standard output for games).

As MS are releasing an HD-DVD add-on I can only guess they have this issue covered... time will tell, but something doesn't seem quite right here.

#50 - You're asking the same question as me in post #46, but doesn't HD-DVD support 1080p as the max res, not 1080i?

A friend and I dismantled an HD-A1 in order to find out what made it tick, and were intrigued to learn that inside the drive is a standard IDE unit. Also inside is a USB flash drive on a daughter card:

http://geekswithblogs.net/lorint/archive/2006/04/21/75795.aspx

all I know is: I'd be pissed if I got a launch one and a few months later they drop it $100.

and since when is everything in denominations of $100? everything 360 is rounded up to the nearest hundred..

Wireless adapters, HDDs, HD-DVD addons.. wtf?

#47 HDMI is not required for HD DVD format movies to be played but the movie studio has the option to put a special flag (ICT) in the movie so it displays at a lower resolution if HDMI is not used. The lower resolution is 540p which translates to being about 50% better than standard dvd but lower than full HD.

Almost all Hollywood studios have said they don't intend to use this flag, at least not anytime soon, so if your HDTV has component but no HDMI you will still get the same high definition resolution.

Add-ons don't sell. You'd think people would've learned something from Sega.

I don't get the facination with HD-DVD and Blu Ray. The transition from VHS to DVD was a huge shift because the usability is so different. Menus, bonus features, direct chapter selection, you don't have to rewind them, long-term storage, angles, alternate soundtracks, subtitles, less storage space...

What do we get with the new formats? Better picture quality and more DRM. Oh, joy. It'll be years before these things even start to sell, let alone have one format pull forward as a winner. Even the hi-def players are essentially full-blown PCs, instead of the dedicated, embedded "jelly bean" DSPs we usually see in home electronics.

I'm glad MS went with DVD as standard and no HD. It gives them a price advantage right off the bat, and makes developer do things the good old way. If you can't make a game fit on a DVD, you can't make a game.

I'm sure most people who can afford to buy an XBox 360 premium and an HD-DVD drive, or obsess over this quality stuff, can afford to sell their 360 to a relative, and buy a new 360 with an HD-DVD built in. Releasing this add-on makes no sense to me at all. My dad is a home theater nut. I know very well that he'll trade in a whole damn box rather than get bits and pieces lying all over the place.