Bach: Nope, still no Blu-ray Xbox 360 planned

by Alexander Sliwinski on Jan 9th 2009 11:37AM

Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Division (you know, Xbox), has reiterated for the ... well, we've lost track of the amount of times he's said Blu-ray isn't coming to the Xbox 360. Just for the sake of tradition, TechFlash asked the question again and Bach balked saying, "We have no plan to do that."

When pressed, Bach, having spiritually gone to his happy place, explained it's not a feature they get "a ton" of requests for. From a technical perspective it doesn't help the Xbox and it would raise the cost of the product. Bach emphasizes that HD content is available through Netflix and the Live Marketplace. Maybe Robbie will get lucky and the Blu-ray questions will end ... yeah, no chance.

[Via CVG]

Source

Tags: bach, blu-ray, blu-ray-xbox, microsoft, robbie-bach, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (96)

Sorry, i left out a question mark.

I'm a bit confused now.... but seriously I took no offence from any of your comments nor did I mean any by any of mine.

:)

J, why didn't you just make everything clear and call Esat a douche?

You took no offense from any of my comments?

What made you think I was worried about that? Are you saying I should've been worried about being misunderstood?

First you use big words to respond to my suggestion, then you corrected the word i used to describe you, then you implied that I could be misunderstood because of my weak communication skills, all while sounding friendly. That's quite patronizing.

Fine, I'll acknowledge your superiority. Happy?!

*runs away sobbing*

...

I'm sorry?

Honestly, everything you just posted was wrong. I did not write any of those things wiith the manner of intent that you just described. Just relax and enjoy the comments. It's a blog, it's supposed to be fun and care free!

Forget about it. Unfortunately, I was the only one playing here.

Don't forget to proof-read though! :)

Will do!

Having read through it all again one last time, I finally get it.

Like a magic eye picture that you stare at for ages and then it just pops out!

It's been a long day.

a) How do they NOT get many requests for this? Why the hell do they think people keep asking?

b) Offering it as a value-add add-on like the HD-DVD unit would make reasonable sense since some people (like me) only GET a PS3 as a Blu-Ray player. Now I sometimes get PS3 games instead (though if they are cross-platform I always prefer the 360 version). Still, it cuts into sales to a small degree.

c) This Blu-ray not catching on thing is absurd. It took CD ages to catch on over cassettes. It took DVD a bit over VHS. Other high quality video options failed miserably (laser disc anyone?). Blu-ray is doing great, even though I really wish HD-DVD would've won out.

CD and DVD were a vast improvement over the previous technologies. BRD is not. It's higher-def, yes, but the difference isn't apparent enough for anyone but those with the right equipment to care.

a) Game studios are not asking. MS when mention "demand" always means partners, not end-users. (Same with their Window/Server/Office business btw).

b) MS isn't interested in making money off H/W. It is that simple. They are at core a software company. They are interested in remaining in the supply chain. Adding Blu-Ray effectively excludes them from the content distribution chain. It makes no sense for them to invest into it. (Netflix streaming deal - MS cashed well on software sold to Netflix to provide the service. And I'm sure they have a penny/two/more from every purchased streaming.)

c) This is pretty well established fact that digital downloads volume-wise outpaced in 2008 classical distribution of content on tangible media.

With standalone players now in the sub$ 200 range and falling, why would MS need to include Blu-Ray in future consoles, or even sell an add-on? Not worth it for them, and I can guarantee there is not enough demand for it to be worth their while. MS was smart in not adopting HD DVD or BD for their console from a cost perspective. They have proved it's not needed for great games in HD. Next gen will definitely call for it if they continue with disc based games.

Didnt the 360 have a HD-DVD add-on drive? If it won then it would have become the standard drive on the new units . People keep forgetting that not only is bluray for HD movies but also for games that require high capacity medium of storage. If say Killzone 2 was released on 4 or 3 DVD's then having that could jack up the price of the game against a single bluray copy. As games progress so does the need for a bigger space for it to occupy. I do remember DVD's had the same price when it first came out and so did memory sticks. Any new format will come at a high price. The bluray players below the $200 range are gimped versions of high end players having so many features taken out as well as some content not being playable. Bluray is doing fine without the 360 as the 360 is also doing fine without it.

Even if they did release a blu-ray player for the 360, how many people would bother with it? It's already been established it couldn't be used for games, and if I wanted one to watch movies I'd go for one seperate from the 360, rather than an add on.

I heard Microsoft was going to bring back Betamax for the next generation Xbox.

I heard that as well, but I also heard they will include an A-track Mono player and have Chuck Norris be the person who sales it in an Infomercial .. cause of Chuck says it will sell, then DAMMIT IT WILL SELL!!! Or you'll get a Round house kick to the chest.

FINALLY! I'll be able to play the most embarrassing home movies, starring me at ages 3-5.

Does anyone actually buy the Elite anymore? Put a BluRay in that thing and raise the price.

Once more, with feeling:

This will NEVER HAPPEN, not because Blu-ray is a bad thing (it isn't), not even because Microsoft and Sony can't play nice. It will never happen because MS will not obsolete the 8-10 million Xbox 360s already out there. That's an absolutely ludicrous notion that game journalists and gamers alike need to get out of their heads, for their own good. The 360 is what it is. Tweaks like bigger hard drives and smaller, cooler chips don't alter what it is, functionally. Blu-ray is a horse of a different color.

Microsoft and Sony play nice all the time, it's just Sony Computer Entertainment and Microsoft ED Division that can't play nice

I don't know if they ever will add BR, but it doesn't obsolete the previous models at all as long as games still come on DVD only.

Your number is a bit off there mate...try about 27 million Xbox 360s.

All these Blu-Ray rumors are so getting old. Or times that they have to say that it isn't coming anyway.

I don't think it ever will, which is fine. Granted, I think in some areas Blu-Ray is taking off but as some people said, with stand-alone BD players hovering around 200 bucks...it doesn't make sense to taut the 360 as a BD player even if they wanted to. Which obviously, they don't.

blu-ray is obsolete. digital distribution is the future. make way!

I agree with you about 75%....
First of all The FUTURE is NOT HERE YET.
-10%
Second of all PEOPLE WILL Always Want Physical Media
-10%
Third of all Peoples Internet Sppeeds are way to Fing Slow (not talking about yours or mine...just everybody Else :-) )
Fourth of all your Stupid and ugly
-1%
Grand total 25% of not agreeing with You!!

nonetheless, blu-ray is likely not the future. it's adoption rate is horrid and its features-to-price ratio is atrocious. bandwidth and memory is becoming cheaper daily and hi-def content freely available. for a lot of us, the future is already here. for the rest, it's coming more swiftly than blu-ray.

Unless your some for a quality obsessed person, there really isn't that great of a difference between Streaming in HD/DVD and bluray. Not enough change to go out and buy a bluray player imo.

If your just an average movie watcher, then stick to DVD's cause they aren't going any where. I just hope digital downloads pick up so we can end this disc BS. That, and save gas and time having to buy the physical disc at the store.

You want Blue Ray I Got your Blue Ray right Here
....................../´¯/)
....................,/¯../
.................../..../
............./´¯/'...'/´¯¯`·¸
........../'/.../..../......./¨¯\
........('(...´...´.... ¯~/'...')
.........\.................'...../
..........''...\.......... _.·´
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..............\.............\...

Having just pointed that out... Yes Blue Ray Is better then AnyStreaming HD Content.... M$ Your System doesn't need it, But almost all of your customers would like to at least have the Option on the Table with an external Drive... I mean you your gonna make it Optional for WIRELESS (adapter) then make this Optional aswell.

You had me at the eff you, but lost me at M$.

Seems silly to shoehorn on blu-ray when it will only be used for movies, especially when standalone players are coming down in price. I still have some vhs tapes: microsoft, please add a vhs drive to the xbox as well. Damn, found a 7 inch. Microsoft, you know what to do.

why would microsoft want to put something inside of the xbox that would make it more expensive than the ps3 console?

why would microsoft want to change anything when they have been selling more consoles than blu-ray ps3's?

all 3 companies offer a different product that offers us each something new.

1 thing ms could use blu ray for though is to cut down on all the discs that come with all the exclusive RPG's on the box.

its funny that ms could have used the blu ray drive capabilities more so far this gen than sony has.

and im not talking about uncopressed 7.1 lossless audio that fills up a ps3 blu ray disc.

It could just be a different model and then nothing you said really matters.

"its funny that ms could have used the blu ray drive capabilities more so far this gen than sony has."

How's that? Sounds like you just pulled that out of your ass.

there are more games on the 360 over ps3 that take up more than 9gb of space, and i did add the line to exclude the space for uncompressed audio which really means nothing to 98% of us gamers that dont own the equipment.
i own quite a few 360 games that are on 2,3, or 4 discs.
vid of course its my guess and opinion not a fact...

why change course when this has been working?
it doesnt make any business sense for ms to release a blu ray 360.

if anything sony needs to find a way to sell more consoles.

well considering that lossless audio is worthless to 98% of all gamers, most ps3 games dont need to be past 9gb.
when a 360 game is on more than 1 disc it is purely data and gameplay, not lossless audio.

can u name more than 10 ps3 games that need to use more than 9gb of space?
i can name more than 10 360 games...

and ill even let you include the games that are past 9gb on ps3 just because of lossless audio.

is it hard for you, the bug, to understand that microsoft has released more games past 9gb this gen than sony??

just because it has blu ray doesnt mean they are using its capabilities for every game.

most of you ps3 fanboys have been wrong on most of these 360 vs. ps3 arguments..
we can see that now.
its easy for you to make comments but then when you see the truth you are nowhere to be found.
example- 2008 year of ps3. ps3 will close the console gap lead. etc.. etc..

you guys are wrong most of the time.
take off the fanboy shades or go back to sony.com forums.. lol.

keep fightin you really arent winning anything....

its not my duty to list all the games and spend that time showing you that stuff.
you can believe what you want. its ok.

its funny now some of you are turning things into 360 vs. wii....

"most of you ps3 fanboys have been wrong on most of these 360 vs. ps3 arguments.."

Whatever. You're wrong all the time. Even now you are making stupid arguments. For example, cutting out lossless audio in attempt to make what your point that somehow MS would utilize BR better than Sony has. Using lossless audio IS utilizing BR no matter what your opinion on it is.

Your argument is terribly flawed anyway. If MS also had BR things would be likely be very different in terms of game sizes. Since the 360 has the lead in the market over the PS3 it tends to be the lead platform for multiplatform games and also gets more exclusives. So multiplatform games are designed with the reduced space in mind and they are rarely expanded in any way to utilize when ported. That's just the nature of porting. And a game like Blue Dragon on the 360 which does span multiple discs isn't even on the PS3. If it was the space would be utilized and it would be on one BR. It has nothing to do with MS utilizing space and Sony not.

vid u realize i was comparing ps3 exclusives to 360 exclusives???

not all the multi plat games.....
of course a lot of them are designed to fit on 1 9gb disc for the sake of the 360.

360 has many more exclusive games right?
360 has many more exclusive rpg's right?
heck the total number of multi disc 360 games is greater than the total number of ps3 exclusives. haha..
look it up...
vid and serp sorry you are wrong again and just not budging because its your fanboy ways...

vid something that is used by less than 2% of all gamers is useless, its just there for sony to say we used and needed blu ray for current gen HD gaming. you cant see that either?
but no point in trying this with ps3 fanboys because it never works.
you believe everything sony says and are always happy with them
its the fanboy way. dont want to be a fair weather fan right?

the ps3 fanboys lose arguments every day, but they will never say that happened.
funny world we live in...

vid and el serp you own a 360 yet??
gotta love the 1 system fanboys...

btw guys how much did you make at work this week?

for seeing you guys on here so much defending the ps3 I hope you guys are really doing well in life...

you can think you won a ps3 joystiq argument because that might be the most you have in your lives and it may be the only thing you have won in your life recently.
enjoy it while it lasts. haha..

gotta love the people who troll my opinions without giving any of their own.. and say stuff like " your wrong.. prove it..." lol..
sorry thats not even how a debate or argument works.
el serp and vid have no answer, just want to make the ps3 look better.
i hope sony pays you 2 a good deal of money to waste so much of your lives defending the ps3 with no answers.

Why provide this upgrade to a console that has robust sales despite its competitor having blu ray? On top of that, the 360 has only 2-3 more years until its successor debuts, which can have blu ray out of the box. It doesn't make business sense anymore.

I'm not sure why people get up in arms about this topic. Personally, I picked up a 360 to play games, not movies. That it has the capability of playing movies is just a bonus, but NOT the primarily reason I have or use the console.

It's just like the Wii, it does fine on it's own without being able to play movies.

This is why I kinda laughed to myself the other day when Sony compared themselves against the 360 and Wii, and said only the PS3 can handle Blu-Ray. Ok. To me, not a selling point, but whatever. I don't buy a console based on the type of disc it uses, I buy a console for the games.

Blu-Ray is only getting bigger, not smaller. Sony is at the front of Blu-Ray, so once microsoft uses Blu-Ray it makes Sony look good, a trendsetter if you will :)

I think somebody pointed this out earlier but I'll add to it, the 360 user base is alot younger then the PS3's. Because of my line of work I've been into thousands of apartments, and I have actually seen the evidence. 360's are almost always when a kid lives there and usually in their room. PS3's are always in apartments where there are no kids, just a bachelor or in a relationship but no kids.

The only time I see 360's with a little older crowd is in college towns. Kids don't usually have the monetary funds to get a HD TV and all that jazz. If they have an HD TV it's cause mom and dad have one.
I think that's part of the reason why the 360 crowd says nay to Blu-Ray.

Oh, it might also be because Blu-Ray is 100 Percent Sony in the gaming world....and maybe...just maybe they wouldnt want to give props to Sony or actually say they like something Sony does :p

The naked truth is Blu obeyMS Ray will have its time.
In terms of the post MSrulez, Bach is right in waving off the questions MSroxorz regarding Blu Ray being added to the 360. Someone mentioned the Elite bundle minus the games followMS which would bring the 360 up to par. Who knows MSdoes, what the future holds?

In the mail i recieved these prototype glasses from MS that tint in the sunlight. Im seeing the MSlives weirdest things.

M$ must have thought that HiDef was important at some point, because they put all that effort into offering an HD-DVD drive. Since they backed the wrong format, rather than admit their mistake they just say HiDef isn't important.

Classic M$.

I don't need something else to brick my 360. I've got a PS3 for BRD.

bs. i have a relative who works in microsoft. he has confirmed there is a prototype bluray. its just a box tho... unimpressive...

Previous 50 Comments

Bach: Nope, still no Blu-ray Xbox 360 planned

Reader Comments (96)

Posted: Jan 9th 2009 1:08PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 9th 2009 1:10PM Esat Dedezade said

Posted: Jan 9th 2009 1:18PM chdude3 said

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Posted: Jan 9th 2009 1:53PM Esat Dedezade said

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