Rumor: Lite-On bringing Blu-ray drives to 360
by Scott Jon Siegel 
{ Apr 1st 2008 at 1:00PM }
According to Digitimes' sources, the BD-ROM drives are due to ship out to Microsoft in the second half of this year. Lite-On has previously developed internal DVD-ROM drives for the Xbox 360, leading us to believe that Microsoft may plan to include internal BD-ROM drives in future 360 iterations (such as those including the Jasper, Opus and Valhalla chipsets). No need to fear, however: Such an inclusion would likely be solely for Blu-ray disc playback, and not for Xbox 360 games pressed on BD-ROMS (we hope).
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tim @ Apr 1st 2008 1:06PM
April Fools?
deaftly @ Apr 1st 2008 1:08PM
If I already haven't purchase a ps3 and knew this was coming I probably would have skipped out on the machine all together. Picked up vegas 2 for ps3 only to find a forced 3 gig install and the load times aren't even that fast. Meh.
Shagittarius @ Apr 1st 2008 1:13PM
Don't expect any 360 blu-ray drives to have better load times.
Swamp Donkey @ Apr 1st 2008 1:18PM
I really want a blu-ray player, but have resisted getting ps3 for one. I really hope Microsoft makes an external blu-ray drive for 360.
deaftly @ Apr 1st 2008 1:22PM
Well drive speed wouldn't really matter with movies.
PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Apr 1st 2008 5:44PM
if it this is true, drive speeds wouldnt matter since they wouldnt be able to put games on blu-ray for the 360, just movies. they dont want to alienate the early adopters. well that is unless they want to do like the PC games market where you can buy games on DVD or CD.
Noah @ Apr 1st 2008 1:34PM
Thats strange, I am about to be a junior in college and I've never come across "tête-à-tête" before. Joystiq is a good learning source. ;P
Anyways, I like to hear that Blu-ray might really end up on the 360. I have friends that would buy that add-on, but who knows, it is just a rumor... :(
Burritoclock @ Apr 1st 2008 2:50PM
Is Joystiq a good learning source, or do our school's just really suck... I think the answer is obvious...
Phranctoast @ Apr 1st 2008 1:16PM
MS also bought Santa Monica Studios and the next God of War is 360 exclusive!!
nerrrrrrd @ Apr 1st 2008 1:16PM
shouldn't these announcements hold off until April 2nd? Even if it's true, I already got a pro & elite 360... next console is ps3 once there's a must-have title (and price drop would be nice!!!)
riggs @ Apr 1st 2008 1:17PM
MERDE!
baby sea tuna @ Apr 1st 2008 1:26PM
Sacre bleu!
Markez @ Apr 1st 2008 1:28PM
Che cazzo fai!
Shagittarius @ Apr 1st 2008 1:33PM
Golllllllllly!
zelderman @ Apr 1st 2008 1:36PM
Yee-Haa!
*Shrugs Shoulders
Kye BWii: 008 721 786 740 (fuck I hate friend codes) @ Apr 1st 2008 1:48PM
Bombo clart!
Jake11 @ Apr 1st 2008 5:41PM
omelette du fromage
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Apr 1st 2008 9:48PM
Omelette de fromage*
Christian @ Apr 1st 2008 1:17PM
Hmm, is Microsoft getting worried they get buried in a PS3 Blu-Ray avalanche? The PS3 has been outselling the xbox360 globally every week since mid-november last year and from the point where Blu-Ray won the HD war PS3 sales are even competitive in xbox 360 heartland, USA.
If Microsoft starts including a built in Blu-Ray player in future xbox360 units thats a clear sign of attempted damage control.
baby sea tuna @ Apr 1st 2008 1:27PM
Nah, they're going to keep doing what they've been doing...which is focusing on releasing *games*, rather than movies.
Phranctoast @ Apr 1st 2008 1:47PM
Nice try baby sea tuna. So there are no "movies" on the marketplace? If you want to contradict a flame post, the least you should do is use facts.
baby sea tuna @ Apr 1st 2008 1:49PM
I think my heart-meter speaks for itself on this one.
deaftly @ Apr 1st 2008 1:59PM
or is the Sony fanboy in you getting worried?
Noshino @ Apr 1st 2008 2:44PM
"Nah, they're going to keep doing what they've been doing...which is focusing on releasing *games*, rather than movies."
I didn't know that developers also took care of the hardware area, I guess the developers from SCEI, SCEA and SCEE are working on the next PS3 hardware revision, or probably the PS4, right baby sea tuna?
Dude, just like your beloved Microsoft has different departments that take care of the hardware and software, Sony also works that way.
Oh, and I think Microsoft's effort right now is on their hardware, don't you think that Zephyr, Falcon, and etc prove so?
Noshino @ Apr 1st 2008 3:10PM
"rather than movies."
http://imdb.com/title/tt0464037/
Right...
Intentless @ Apr 1st 2008 1:18PM
Looking at business logistics how would MS benefit from adding blu ray into their console. If people are buying the console for the bluray they already have a PS3 and the 360 bluray wouldn't add any special features. I definetly see an add on but not a dedicated drive like this article wants to indicate.
SugarDaddy @ Apr 1st 2008 1:50PM
MS benefits because people that want the best gaming console can also get the best of the PS3, the BluRay. If you were in the market for say GTA 4 and you were ignorant of all the 360 has to offer, you'd probably buy the PS3 because it comes with a BluRay. If the 360 has a BluRay too, then that choice becomes a lot less clear. Enter the MS marketing goons to seal the deal.
Intentless @ Apr 1st 2008 1:55PM
Not really... It would cost MS a lot less to create a seperate attachment and those that would only buy the PS3 for the blu ray would then just get the attachment. It might cost more to get the 360 and the bluray attachment than to get a PS3. But it would be cheaper to get the 360 with the bluray attachment and a PS3. Unless they mess up the attachment's pricing...
princeofshapeir @ Apr 1st 2008 1:31PM
I don't think this is an April Fools thing because this story has popped up all over the internet in the last 6 hours: http://news.google.ca/news?q=microsoft+liteon
Microswirl @ Apr 1st 2008 3:20PM
6 hours ago was still April 1st.
Mike @ Apr 1st 2008 1:24PM
If this is true I wouldn't worry about games being pressed onto blu-ray discs. Hell, devs can't even code a game to take advantage of the hard drive. That is unless you're Burnout Paradise and require it for online play.
zelderman @ Apr 1st 2008 1:38PM
I love your avatar.
SugarDaddy @ Apr 1st 2008 1:46PM
I'm not sure what the hell you're talking about. Lost Odyssey is 4 discs. BluRay would definitely come in handy there.
And devs certainly use the hard drive for storing content and game saves. If every game utilized the hard drive for 1+GB of storage, you'd run out of space on the overpriced 360 hard drive pretty damn quickly. So, again, what the hell are you talking about?
Mike @ Apr 1st 2008 2:05PM
Dude, do you have any idea how your 360 works? I'm talking about them not being able to cache data to the hard drive in order to save on load times for example. Much like how they're able to do on the PS3. The reason they can't do it is b/c the core sku exists which does not have a hard drive. Therefore MS has said told devs that you cannot require a customer to have a hard drive in order to run a game. Using that logic how do you think they would require people to have a blu-ray drive in order to play a game. True that multi-disc games could possibly have two box versions. One with the blu-ray disc and one with multiple dvds, but never a blu-ray only version. That's what I mean.
Intentless @ Apr 1st 2008 2:16PM
And MS could not rely on sales involved with producing two different formats for the same game. How pissed would you be walking into the store and there was no regular version only the Bluray version? In this scenario you don't own the bluray 360...
NATO_Duke @ Apr 1st 2008 2:17PM
Gotta agree with Mike here. They cant force BR games because of the different skus out there in the market now - it would anger millions of owners. Besides this, it would not be a wise fiscal move to make a game in two formats for the same console.
MS said they wouldn't use HD DVD for games, and I would think their same reasoning will stick if they were to use a BR drive as well. It would be for movies and thats about it I would guess. It doesn't follow that just because a small amount of people would like BR games now that MS would risk the market confusion and current owner anger over not having that drive when BR games appeared.
Mick @ Apr 1st 2008 1:42PM
My first dvd drive was a lite-on. Whisper quiet. Way too quiet for the 360. I call B.S.
Count Noobula @ Apr 1st 2008 1:53PM
Hmmmm, this seems fishy to me. If anything I would think they would just have a Blu-Ray add-on like the HD DVD one. I doubt that the 360 is about to start having them internally. Oh well. I recently found a 20GB PS3 sitting on a store shelf, they said they found it barried in the back and had been there since around launch day. Got it for $269 CDN.
DangerMouse @ Apr 1st 2008 1:35PM
Awesome. The blue goes so good with the red.
baby sea tuna @ Apr 1st 2008 1:41PM
Zing!
MS, you've been teabagged...on the INTERNET!
SugarDaddy @ Apr 1st 2008 1:44PM
Well this can only mean better games for the 360 which is already the leading console for great games.
Mike @ Apr 1st 2008 2:06PM
No it doesn't
...Jan... @ Apr 1st 2008 1:49PM
- Does that confirm MGS4 on 360 because they're too arrogant to compress their data to fit on a DVD?
- I think I'll get one if it's true. But, hopefully it doesn't add $200 to the pricetag.
skidawg @ Apr 1st 2008 2:03PM
no, genius, the blu ray drive is for blu ray movies, not for their games. mgs4 would still be 10 discs on the 360, and the screams of SNAKE! SNAAAAKKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEE! would be drowned out by the 360 sounding like it is doing 3 loads of laundry. Let the 360 fanboys voting me down begin!
princeofshapeir @ Apr 1st 2008 2:45PM
No... if Blu-Ray is added to the 360, it will be strictly for playing movies.
Alex @ Apr 1st 2008 4:33PM
Skidawg,
I don't think that games of the current console generation need 50GB of space. MGS4 may fit onto 2 DVD disks, and Heavy Rain may also fit onto 2 DVDs, but I would personally prefer two discs because I would feel like I was getting more for my money. Like MGS1 for the PS1 which was on 2 CDs.
On the Xbox 3 and PS4, 50GB of storage space may actually be used to it's full potential.
skidawg @ Apr 1st 2008 4:49PM
@Alex
Well, definitely don't see how getting an extra disc makes you feel like you're getting more value for your money. If you want value, try buying a system that you don't have to turn in every few months. Also, you're dead wrong about most games being able to fit on 2 dvd's. A little game for that cement mixer you call a 360 called Lost Odyssey was already 4 discs, and that thing looked like crap. MGS4 on the other hand looks great and seriously, would take 10 discs from all accounts, including statements from Konami that they had trouble fitting it on a blu ray disc.
Nice try though. And yes, I'm aware I'm being a jerk about this, but Microsoft kicked my dog and screwed my sister in a former life. Vengence!
Farseer (GDI) @ Apr 1st 2008 5:07PM
skidawg,
If the only quote you can think of from MGS is "Snake? SNAAAAAAAAKE!", then you must not be very good at it.
;P
Nate @ Apr 1st 2008 2:03PM
Fishy. Very fishy. I'll believe it when they post it again after April Fool's day (and probably not even then, not as an internal drive).
Overgauss @ Apr 1st 2008 2:04PM
Waitaminit. How does adding a blu ray drive to be used only for movies indicate a focus by MS on releasing *games* exactly?
If they were so focused on *games* why not have HD integration and use for *games* across all xbox360 SKU's? Or why not allow games to be run off of HD dvd's.
Since games need decent hardware to run on, why not ensure your hardware is sufficient to run them without breaking down in the first place.
Since they are so focused on games, why initially charge so much to the user to repair MS' defective product?
Shouldn't all of these game sales buffer the cost of repair so they don't pass these additional costs to their customers? It was their fault after all.
Nickel and dime-ing fans to death, dre, scratched disks, rrod, and drm clearly point to it being all about the games.
These games clearly wouldn't be on the console if people had enough sense to not by defective product in DROVES. But yeah, thanks for making my ps3 better.
If MS decides to own up and release a quality product I will buy their new xbox.
This is the first next generation where hardware comes last. Doesn't even make sense.
If a tattoo on the small of the back is a tramp stamp, then "It's about the games in spite of shitty hardware and common sense" is a tard shard.