TGS: HD-DVD add-on hits Japan Nov. 22nd for �19,800 [update 1]

by Christopher Grant { Sep 20th 2006 at 3:01AM }

At Microsoft's pre-TGS press briefing today, they announced the Japanese release date and price for the HD-DVD add-on. The movie-playback peripheral will be released concurrently with the North American release of the PlayStation 3 on November 22nd, will have an estimated retail price of ¥19,800 (about $170), and will come with the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote. Coupled with a ¥29,800 (about $250) Japanese Core system, which also comes with a copy of Blue Dragon, Microsoft is hoping to seriously undercut the PlayStation 3, coming in well under its lowest priced model.

They did not discuss release dates or prices for other markets, instead choosing to isolate their focus on Japan. With X06 just a couple days after Tokyo, it seems likely we'll hear more about worldwide plans for this product there.

Speaking about the release of the external drive, Microsoft Game Studios' Shane Kim told us, in no uncertain terms, that they have "no plans to incorporate an HD-DVD drive inside the Xbox 360." This, of course, despite incessant rumors to the contrary.

Microsoft's TGS press briefing:
Xbox 360 to add 1080p support, PS3 to lose bullet point
Blue Dragon hits Japan this holiday

[Update: Corrected release date from November 17th to 22nd.]

Tags: HD-DVD, Japan, Microsoft, MSFT, TGS06, Tokyo

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

James @ Sep 20th 2006 3:15AM

Good price point. I'll get one along with a PS3 at the same time.

Lekko @ Sep 20th 2006 3:33AM

Do they really think that add-on will sell in japan when the system itself isn't?

Sony is shoving Blu-ray and eastern games down our throats, and MS is shoving western gaming and HD-DVD down Japan's throat. There's a lot of shoving going on here, and yet no advertising... huh

ill trooper @ Sep 20th 2006 3:42AM

That's pretty expensive. I was hoping they'd aim for $100. I don't see this working out in Japan. I'm sure some of you out there are excited because you got your 'CHOICE' that seems to be so important.

This may not be the case for you, but that will make my 360 more expensive than the PS3 when I factor in the $129 repair I needed.

mprobins @ Sep 20th 2006 3:45AM

Holy crap; Between this and the Blue Dragon annoucement, combined with Sony's plans on leaving the Japanese market undersupplied with PS3's, Microsoft might actually make Sony sweat a little this Christmas.

Jack Coleman @ Sep 20th 2006 5:25AM

btw

19,800.00 JPY
Japan Yen = 168.849 USD
133.152 EUR
89.6835 GBP
190.246 CAD
224.163 AUD

id round it UP to the nearest 50 intervil btw seeing as the games foreign industry pricing is F'D IN TEH A

Wilky @ Sep 24th 2006 4:01AM

Am I missing something here? Why would want to buy a MS HD-DVD player for your Xbox360? Wouldnt you go out and buy a standalone model? I cant see what benefit it gives?

Jeremy @ Sep 20th 2006 7:21AM

^^^ Standalones will most likely be better than this, but for people who currently own a 360, it's comparing ~$150-200 to the ~$400 price of a standalone

Jeff @ Sep 20th 2006 7:40AM

"Standalones will most likely be better than this, but for people who currently own a 360, it's comparing ~$150-200 to the ~$400 price of a standalone"

That would matter if more than six people in Japan owned an Xbox 360.

MS is on about their third "re-launch" of the Xbox 360 there. Their job is still to convince people to buy Xbox 360's, not peripherals for it. So it is very much a case of trying to convince Japanese consumers to buy an Xbox 360 and an HD-DVD add-on, rather than just buying a PS3 or a standalone HD-DVD/BD player.

I think it's pretty obvious what Japan's choice is going to (continue to) be.

Gazbin @ Sep 23rd 2006 12:52PM

Who cares about this story - I'm more interested in the news that you can emulate the Wii on a Canon Eh-110 calculator as they share the same CPU.

You can buy one from most thrift stores for $11.95. But you'll need to hack it as the calculator has a slightly higher clock speed so the games tend to go a bit too fast.

Jeremy @ Sep 20th 2006 9:06AM

"That would matter if more than six people in Japan owned an Xbox 360.

MS is on about their third "re-launch" of the Xbox 360 there. Their job is still to convince people to buy Xbox 360's, not peripherals for it. So it is very much a case of trying to convince Japanese consumers to buy an Xbox 360 and an HD-DVD add-on, rather than just buying a PS3 or a standalone HD-DVD/BD player.

I think it's pretty obvious what Japan's choice is going to (continue to) be."

Sorry, I should've made it clear in my previous post, but I wasn't only talking of Japan

Austin @ Sep 20th 2006 9:18AM

As noted in other articles, it is less about the sale of the drive but rather a preemptive move against sony's hype. With the software upgrades from MS and the lack of online announcements from sony they are steadily losing steam. Of course it will not take much hype to sell 500,000 units.

foobob @ Sep 20th 2006 9:47AM

Gazbin, you'll also have to worry about getting a custom ATI graphics chip to go along with your cheap calculator, as well as the proprietary Wii media drive...

Steve @ Sep 20th 2006 8:48PM

This is a good price.

Launching it in Japan makes sense given how supply constrained they will be (the poor supply of blue laser diodes affects HD-DVD players as well as PS3s). It'll be offered cheap, they'll sell a thousand of them and it'll show up as a success story.

Personally, even at this price I'm a long way from wanting one. the 360 is big enough already, I don't want to have to put another big add-on box on it. Besides, I want my HDMI. All these component cables (Cube+360+Xbox+PS2) really add up fast.

brandon_r87 @ Sep 20th 2006 11:26AM

It looks like Peter is praying on the thing or something. Like it's a Bible. "Dear Gates, thank you for this expensive nugget. It will bring profits to my home and expensive cheese to my table."

Blasphemer.

Orangecoke @ Sep 20th 2006 9:51PM

Sorry if I missed it, but has MS announced the release date of the add-on in North America?

Wintermute @ Sep 20th 2006 5:48PM

"Am I missing something here? Why would want to buy a MS HD-DVD player for your Xbox360? Wouldnt you go out and buy a standalone model? I cant see what benefit it gives?"

Considering that no current HD-DVD standalone player supports 1080p (720p/1080i only, even with the Toshiba HD-A1X), and MS will be upgrading the 360 to output 1080p content (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/09/20/tgs-xbox-360-to-add-1080p-support-ps3-to-lose-bullet-point), the price of the HD-DVD drive is FAR less than a standalone unit.