Rumorang: Lite-On not manufacturing Xbox 360 Blu-ray drives, Microsoft insists

Ya, I prefer my Black Elite than the boring old white.
First.

I don't care about Blu-Ray.

And to think that there was an entire flame war over this for no reason et all..

"Lite-On is not manufacturing Blu-ray drives for Xbox 360."

That's a stupid non-denial. The original report never said that Lite-On was manufacturing Blu-Ray drives for XBox 360. It said they entered discussions with Microsoft about building them into the 360, and that there were licensing and cost concerns.

Blu-Ray may never show up on the 360, but Microsoft certainly isn't ruling it out.

will this rumour ever die? Microsoft are to commited to digital distribution to relase a blu-ray player this generation.

Microsoft shouldn't start requiring a blu-ray drive in all of their 360s, but in order to keep up with the PS3, now that Blu-Ray has won the HD format war, Microsoft needs to do *something* or risk losing buyers that want a 360, but are cost conscious and can't afford both consoles (but want their system to be future-proof).

I can't speak for everyone, but I am one of those people. I would buy a 360 if they came with a blu-ray drive in a heartbeat, but in the mean time I'm seriously considering getting a PS3 instead because it has blu-ray. And at present, I can't afford both consoles.

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HD-DVD is still superior to Blu-Ray.

I find it infinitely funny that so many bashed Sony relentlessly for including Blu-ray in the PS3. And now Microsoft fanboys clamoring for MS to do the same thing. Of course they are diluding themselves into believing that MS will build a 360 with an INTERNAL BD drive.

Oh, the IRONY of it all.

I said it was an April fools joke. Looks like Joystiq FINALLY caught on.

the transfer speeds for blu-ray are just not good enough yet...hence the whole 30min install for certain games on the POS3...the only way to do it would be the same as the HD add-on and make it for movies ONLY. which is a good idea. MS will never allow games in blu on the 360 this gen.

I could see this coming by the end of the year, just not built-in like that one rumor was saying

Microsoft likes to release slightly different revisions, add-ons, and gadgets to the consumers . It's the same shit that Sega used to do, and look what happened to them. They had some good stuff, but releasing a worthless system when a brand new one is right around the corner is a big fuck you to your hardcore fans.And with the RROD, Microsoft has a shitload of damage control to deal with first.

I like my Xbox, but really don't want to see any add-ons. I'd like to keep it strictly a game machine. If ever in the future I would end up watching more movies, then I would have to weigh PS3 vs. stand-alone player.

Another concern is how much would it cost? Then, you probably would be better off buying a PS3, that is if you don't have either system. It is a different scenario for everybody.

so with the blue ray drive i will be able to play MGS4 right?

Blue-Ray will never come to the 360? That's a pretty long time, and a lot can change in the amount of time.

I assure you with no doubt that Microsoft will put Blue-Ray drives on their systems the moment they can make a dollar off of it, and not a second later.

"Microsoft has again flipped the 'light off'"

You Joystiq people and your silly puns.

All they are saying is Lite-On isn't making an internal drive. This does not mean Blu-ray 360 is dead.

Like I said earlier, MS will NOT admit it even if it's true because to admit it now would kill sales of the current SKUs.

If you were thinking about getting a 360, but heard that a model equipped with Blu-Ray were on the way, would you get a Pro now, or wait and get the Blu-Ray version?

This is standard practice. Nothing to see here. Move along. We'll find out when they're ready to commit to it on the shelves.

Alot of this stuff gets thrown to speculation for a lack of knowledge as to what Microsoft's mid / long term strategy was and how it took a couple twists and turns over the last several months. The 'missing pieces' so to speak...

In the near term MS had, as we all know, loosely backed HDDVD in a non-committal way. Contrary to popular opinion, however, that their lack of fully embracing the format actually guaranteed it's failure to BR, that is not the case. This was much more in the hands of the large film production studios than it was Sony integrating BR in the PS3 and MS offering an optional piggy back HDDVD player. Coming into CES in January, things were actually pointing to HDDVD over BR. If anyone knew how close Warner was in *not* going Blu, your head would spin. This was truly an 11th hour 'about face' born out of some extremely creative backroom negotiating. It's nothing short of remarkable how the very future of physical media twisted in the wind based on that fateful alliance. While MS had (and still does)appear to have outwardly walked the fence to the demise of HDDVD, they had in fact gone ahead and adopted the format and built a console with integrated HDDVD (Bill Gates last big Hoorah)- a thing of beauty that never saw the light of day outside of Redmond and the 3rd party vendor contracted to develop the console. Yes, simultaneous with the launch of the new console, they were also poised to officially 'outsource' console production and support to another company. Building hardware was no longer considered a 'core competency' and the $ billion RROD write off was a painful lesson not to be continued (remember the inexplicable shortage of consoles from Jan - Feb?) And you thought Toshiba's exposure was limited to their investment in a failed format did you?

Nope.

This was part of a 5 year plan largely seen as a transitional phase to the next real evolutionary step in what was (and still is) to be a convergence in what we currently think of as console gaming, IPTV and PC / media extension in a single all inclusive product / service ie DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION. This would keep MS extremely competitive with Sony and Nintendo during the interim while they capitalized on areas they already had a technical edge (networking, media extension, evolving high speed 1080i/p downloads to where it would be practical enough to become readily accepted by the masses as an alternative to the last phase of the physical media product life-cycle.

The kink in the gameplan was the last minute defection of the last hold out studio to BR which has left MS in a strategic dilemma. The interim built-in HDDVD generation console was a bust and adopting BR would entail a complete shift to publishing games on a format that would instantly create obsolescence and a tsunami of ill-will. Completely unacceptable as the strategy was not to move people to a new platform, but rather offer everything they were getting in a new, easier way through direct download. In other words, take a complimentary, progressive approach seen as easing people out of the comfortable familiarity of physical media while not alienating them with the prospect of losing use of all the $450 consoles and $60 games floating out there.

MS may well offer an external BR drive much like it did with the external HDDVD drive. This will purely be a function of demand and if the market sees it as a value-add or not, sticking to the mantra of offering customer's the 'flexibility to choose' what they want and don't want in their gaming / media consoles.

So, with the twists and turns that have transpired, MS is left without the midterm solution (the 'bridge' if you will)in it's 5 year strategy and instead is now essentially leap-frogging to the next phase- that of true media convergence / digital dsitribution. A tougher road to haul, but one that they see a distinct competitive and tactical advantage in making happen.

Oh, and as a disclaimer, everything above is nothing but pure speculative mindless ramblings of someone who just had some extra time on his hands!! :)