Will Xbox 360 games require HD-DVD add-on? [update 1]

I bet I know what's going to happen, some people aren't going to like it but the strategy will basically FORCE early adopters to upgrade to the Xbox360's HD-DVD.

Sometime next year around the release of Halo 3, Microsoft could announce the launch of a new SKU. This version of the Xbox360 will come standard with HD-DVD.

1- All other SKUs will obviously be canceled, phased out. Period.


2- All future Xbox360 titles will be released on HD-DVD format. (This would pretty much take care of the "installed base" argument that so many of you hear are making)

If HD-DVD games are going to happen, none of us are going to be given a choice. We will either adapt or miss out on the 360's most anticipated titles.


3- Microsoft could offer the HD-DVD upgrade at an affordable price point to cushion the blow to early adopters.

There is a very very good possiblity that Halo 3 would be used as a vehicle to drive HD-DVD upgrades into the homes of early 360 adopters.

You guys have to start thinking like Microsoft. They would FORCE YOU TO ADOPT HD-DVD. You wouldn't be able to buy the hottest titles without it. Mass Effect, Fable2 and many other highly anticipated titles could also be used to force the transition.

This is the only way that Microsoft would assure that their HD-DVD peripheral didn't join the graveyard of optional game components.

It will be upsetting to many, but it could happen.

"Urban, I am guessing that you are talking to me...

Yes I have an X360, but here are the facts:

DVD transfer speed - 120+ mbps
HD-DVD transfer speed - 36.55 mbps
Blu-Ray transfer speed - 54 mbps

If I were MS, I would wait for holographic media with 300 GB of storage capacity and a 160 Mbit/s transfer rate... due out within the year (Maxell & InPhase)."

Sorry thought you were 25 for some reason.Anyway I am well aware of the speeds of all the format.The point I was trying to make that at this point load times on the 360 are slow even without the add-on.Not saying all the games are like that (DOA4) but there are a lot.My hope is that there coders become better with the loading times .

Microsoft won't force their format of choice onto the gaming community. Who do you think they are, sony??

Also JC correct me if I am wrong but didnt the Game Cube have a data transfer speed of 2mps and 3.1 mbps ?

As far as I known the load times on the game cube were almost un-noticed....

41 - Thryon
Correction duly noted, thanks. I remember Oblivion being mentioned as requiring the HD, at least prior to its release, so I guess they wised up and changed their minds in the end. That's good, but it still doesn't take away from the facts that I don't hold Microsoft against splitting their Xbox market in half again with an HD-DVD requirement.

I cant believe most of you justify this. If it does happen, What a MESS!!

Copy Dreamcast by all means, Microsoft, but not EVERYTHING Sega did was cool.

Maybe, I don't know... but really that is like comparing apples to oranges. See if you can load Oblivion on your GameCube and get back to me. ;)

My point is this: If Oblivion takes 15 seconds to load from DVD9, it could take as long as 50 second to load from your HD-DVD drive.

"Maybe, I don't know... but really that is like comparing apples to oranges. See if you can load Oblivion on your GameCube and get back to me. ;)

My point is this: If Oblivion takes 15 seconds to load from DVD9, it could take as long as 50 second to load from your HD-DVD drive.

Than going with your logic comparing HD-DVD and Blu-ray is like comparing apples to oranges....

Also if I remember correctly there are some ps2 games that use DVD9 also .Load times arent all just from the the read speed , just ask any dev ........

If this happens and my 360 breaks I'm buying a PS3 and selling/trading my 360 games.

Not true...

Microsoft HD DVD Player Exclusively For Movies
http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2006/08/16/536859.aspx

For this MAIN reason alone, I refuse to buy a Microsoft Gaming Console. Microsoft is trying to sweeten the deal for the $200 HD-DVD drive, not only will it play movies, it might play games later! The first console did not even come close to the 5 year life cycle and expect to see a new updated 360 console in a few years. These guys can't be releasing a new console every few years and expect to succeed.

This is something that developers are probably smacking their heads on. With this attitude, the HD-DVD component is destined to fail just like the PS2's HDD. If it's not standard out of the box, developers are less inclined to spend extra money on development costs for features that not every buyer can capitalize on.

PS3 $600:
- NextGen Gaming Console
- HD movie player (1080p)
- HDD (60 GB)
- Wireless Controller
- Backwards compatibility
- Free Online Gaming

360 $400 (need a HDD for backwards compatibility):
- NextGen Gaming Console
- HDD (20 GB)
- Wireless Controller
- Backwards compatibility
Paid Extras:
- $200 HD movie player no HDMI support
- $50 anual Xbox Live fee (5 year total= $250).

Add all this up:

$400
200
250
----
$850 vs $600

Let me think this one over...

That would be a complete disgrace if they do that. And the 360 fanboys will be crying on their outdated 360s. haha

Y'all need to learn the meaning of the word "rumor".

It's not whether or not M$ will decide to make a 180 and release HDDVD only versions of their games and concole but more a question of how well the PS3 and Blueray sell as well as whether or not game developers decide that they need it.

M$ certainly has no issues with cramming Windows down the worlds collective throats, what makes you think they won't force HD-DVD on people? If they conclude that in order to remain competative in the market, HD-DVD only is a must, then you better be prepared to be force fed. But for that to happen it would require that users start buying HD movies like crazy and that people say the PS3 is percieved as a better value due to it's integrated HD media. AND, if developers concluded that they needed the larger media in order to produce games that meet users expectations. However, that's a lot of "if's." Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised either way. Remember, MS not only brought us the disaster known as WinME, but your good pall Clippy too.

As for the Wii, personally I couldn't care less about it and have zero interest in buying it, but that's just me. Still, just because a console is expensive doesn't mean that people will go buy the cheaper one. If that were really true, people would refuse to pay over $3 a gallon for gas, but they don't. They just gut it up, bitch about it, and pay.

Of course, this is all moot to me. I don't own an Xbox360 nor do I intend to ever by one (of course, I said that about the Xbox too, but I caved in after it was out for 2 years). Nor will I spend a penny on the Wii. I'm not too keen about the price of the PS3, but I'll gut it up and pay, because I DO want High Def movies (and if you say you don't care, that tells me you've never seen one, and no DVD movies played in a progressive scan DVD player on an HDTV are NOT HD) and I don't want it in the form of some random add-on. Lastly, it's about time for me to get a new computer anyway. I hate PCs (long live Amiga!) so I'm hoping that a new PS3 will fill the bill. If not, there's always the Mac Pro.

Of course they will be required eventually. In fact, I guarantee that either Halo 4, if not Halo 3 will require you to buy the HD addon. If MS doesn't require HD-DVD, in the future they would probably have to put games on maybe 2 or 3 DVDs so that there is enough space to store all of the HD content used on the game. All while PS3 owners are happy playing games on a single BD-ROM.

I see many comments saying "MS wouldn't force HD-DVD on consumers like Sony is doing with Blu-Ray." Well, let me remind you that MS is forcing PC users to buy Vista if they want to play Halo 2 on their computer. So, MS forcing something on consumers would not be something out of the ordinary.

It's all funny to me cuz if you actually do have to buy the damn thing later on to play games or if you will actually use it for movies, you will end up spending about the same amount of money or more than what the PS3 costs !!!!!! The sad thing is that the 360 doesnt even really compare to the PS3 in terms of raw power, there is no hdmi output, no cell, no rsx, no built in wifi, the new tech in the controller.... :) keeps goin and goin

Urban, maybe you are not getting my logic. I agree that load times on Oblivion are a little long... and by my numbers (and logic) that time would be even longer if the X360 was using HD-DVD (or even Blu-Ray, if HD-DVD dies and MS adopts BluRay media discs).

A developer could change the way the program loads/runs to remove load times, but they are likely to use the same method across all the platforms (aside from the differences in processors/OS).

Still following me? So we have a program that loads to your console's processor/memory. This data has to load from your media disc, the slower your disc transfer rate, the slower your game loads. HD-DVD will load slower than Blu-Ray which will load slower than DVD9.

What part of that do you not understand, urban? I am trying to show you why HD-DVD will be slower than the regular DVD drive on the X360. Comparing it to the GameCube, PS or Atari just doesn't make sense.

As for my PS3 reference, I imagine a slower drive loading 1080p textures/content qualifies my first comment... but we will have to wait until Oblivion comes out for the PS3 (or some other large, cross platform title).

"Update: Microsoft has officially quashed this rumor, confirming again that they have no plans to release games on HD DVD."

I thought MS didn't address rumors....but that's 2 in 3 days.

Maybe there IS something to the "no denial is an admittance" theory.

Obviously this is a BS story just to stir up discussion. The laser in HD DVD is RED not BLUE so including this obviously wrong piece of info in the article should make everyone question the authenticity of such a claim.

WHY DOES NOBODY USE THEIR HEADS? WHY?!

if MS releases games on HD DVD, they will SURELY release the same game on DVD. and why would they release the game on HDDVD anyways? whats the point? DVD compression will be vastly supperior to now in a years time. second, they arent supporting 1080p so whats the point? none.

AND EVEN IF THEY DO THEY WILL RELEASE TEH SAME GAME ON dvd. DONT PANICK.

If the HD-DVD became mandatory, then I wouldn't be surprised to see MS ovvering current 360 owners the drive at a discount so soften the blow.

This is the same company that offers upgrade versions of every OS at a much lower pricepoint at retail.

I'll only buy the HD-DVD addon once I buy an HDTV, and that won't happen for another year or two.

How is it that all the Sony fanboys KNOW that the 360 HD-DVD drive will definitely be $200 even though no price has been announced yet?

All the guys saying "this is why I won't get a 360 now" need to STFU, because you WERE NEVER GOING TO GET ONE and you know it. Really-- Who do you think you're fooling?

Don't get one. See if I care! It's not like you avoiding the 360 is going to make Oblivion, Dead Rising, Gears of War, GRAW, GTA 4, or any of the other games any worse for those of us who do own a 360. You're not hurting MS sales. You're not going to help Sony "win" the console battle. You're not going to change the developers' minds.

Really... Shut up already. We bought 360s. We like them. We're happy. Developers are happy. Microsoft is happy. You're the only ones bitching about the 360, and since you don't own one, your opinion is officially moot.

Let me clarify.

You not getting a 360 is not going to make the games bad, or make me not have fun or enjoy my choice of system.

microsoft said from the start that the hd dvd addon will only play movies (and has reconfirmed it recently) for reasons that they want everyone to be able to play the games... they cant make that gaurantee if games were released for the hddvd addon because not everyone will buy the addon

This IS going to happen. Content keeps getting bigger and easier to fabricate. HD TV's are getting CHEAP!! we are talking 850€ (that's something like 700$) for HD-ready LCD TV's. People will demand HD-games. I know I do.

Developers themselves will demand the possibility to use HD mediums to store their data since it takes a long time to fit everything on that single precious disk. And time is money for a developer.

Once the first true HD games start getting released by the Sony studios you will be able to see the difference between HD/BD and simple DVD. Using DVD for the Wii console on the other hand is obvious. The console isn't capable of doing HD graphics and doesn't need the space. For x360 and PS3 it's an entirely different matter. x360 & PS3 are getting advertised as true HD-consoles.

"You know what? I think I just decided not to purchase a 360 over a Ps3. Because at least Sony's got the balls enough to screw me right in front of my face with a $600 price tag (and offer true digital HD output through HDMI), rather than saying "pay $400 for this and $200 for this so you can play EVERY GAME, but don't count on the HD-DVD player having HDMI cause it's component ONLY" (according to Gamespot who linked off several other reputable sites).

F that BS. I'm by no means a fanboy, a Microsoft hater, or a Sony fan (because I actually *despise* Sony) but now all the people who complained about a $600 price tag need to STFU because Microsoft will be doing the same thing, just not in one fell swoop."

Cool, now that the rumor has been debunked, you can get your 360. Not like you were going to anyway, troll.

But in case you were, and this really did convince you not to purchase a 360, haven't you (and people like you) ever learned the art of critical thinking? If not, here's a primer:

DON'T BASE PURCHASING DECISIONS OR GO OFF HALF-COCKED BASED ON AN UNCONFIRMED RUMOR YOU READ ON THE INTERNET.

For cryin' out loud, just follow that simple advice (and I'm not just talking video games) and you'll spare yourself a lot of headaches.

ALL PEOPLE, that say they prefer a dvd with more speed, than a blu-ray with less speed, for the loading time and things like that, i ask you, you prefer a cd with more speed that a dvd, or a dvd single layer more quiclky than a double layer.... I just prefer the better technology, if have to chose for a 52x cd or a 1x dvd dl, for my computer, i chose the dvd, always.

JUST TO REMEBER, when the media ask microsoft why they dont include a next generation media in the xbox 360, they answer that they dont suport any media until any clear win the format war... i guess 1 year later, today, or i miss the war end or someone just lie.

Microsoft either way, are the most idiot company or think the costumers are idiots.

This is why Sony is brilliant. They remember how stupid that Sega system was. External drives are annoying, bulky and not needed if the company is smart. Sony was brilliant to wait until they truly had a next-gen system worth releasing. You Microshaft bots are being fooled. You are spending more than what the PS3 costs for what? To have your entire living room floor covered in white plastic monstrosities.

From the Gamerscore blog:


Microsoft HD DVD Player Exclusively For Movies
posted Wednesday, August 16, 2006 1:45 PM by johnporcaro

I'm seeing lots of speculation about our upcoming HD DVD Player, and whether we have plans to publish HD DVD games. The answer is no.

Since announcing the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player accessory at E3 2006, we’ve been clear that it is designed exclusively for playing HD DVD movies. It will not play games on HD DVD.

At this point, we haven’t seen anything to suggest that next-gen DVD formats offer a better game experience than current DVD. What we do know is that these formats will bring added cost to game developers, disc manufacturing, and could even result in added costs and longer load times for the consumer, which would negatively impact the game experience. We are focused on making great HD games available to consumers now, and games like “The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion” clearly show that beautiful high def graphics and huge, immersive worlds to explore are possible on the DVD9 format.

The ZeroCorpse
Be sure to buy the HDDVD add-on so you can play games in the future you dumb ms bitch.

Wow, did this get the Sony folks are excited or what??? So we are just making things up now to diss the 360?? Maybe you people can't friggen read, MS has said ITS FOR MOVIES ONLY. So all you people writing a small novel trying to prove your worthless points is just that worthless. MS is NOT going to force people to buy HDDVD to play games. Just because Sony is doing it with Blu-Ray DO NOT try and smear MS by saying they are doing the same. LIES I TELL YOU LIES!

These Sony fanboys are complete retards. They fail to comprehend that whether MSFT releases a HD-DVD add on or not IT HAS NO IMPACT ON THE GAMES. I don't see a game getting any bigger than 2 DVD9 discs. How lazy can you be too get up out off your couch and swap the discs (and this is a one time thing). RE4 on GCN was 2 discs and it's one of the best games of all time. When people talked about that game I don't hear anyone talking about swapping discs.

The current medium in the 360 is more than sufficient to do it's job. The GCN had the smaller capacity discs but it didn't stop it from playing games.

And I'm tired of these retards adding all kinds of crap to the price of the 360. The system works now for $399 STOP ADDING CRAP TO THE PRICE. If people want to buy the HD-DVD add on or not they have the choice.

And I know for sure that not one of you have a TV that accepts 1080p. Two years from now you still won't own one. So go and plug your PS3 in your SDTV.