Toshiba Denies 360 With Built-in HD DVD

A few days ago we discussed the possibility of Toshiba working on an Xbox 360 with a built-in HD DVD component and HD tuners. Today, GamesIndustry.biz has word from Toshiba denying that they're working on that unit. "'It's got nothing to do with us,' said a spokesperson to gadget site Stuff. 'But we know Microsoft doesn't want to include the HD DVD so as not to limit the user's experience.' Microsoft currently sells the HD DVD player as a separate peripheral for the Xbox 360, and offers various deals for users who want to upgrade their console to a hi-definition movie player."

Re:Good

[Jeff DeMaagd]

I really don't see how any developer would make HD-DVD 360 games because of that very reason. Why cut most of your market out like that? Just take a look at how long it took for a lot of game distributors to standardize on DVD even if the drives were only $10 and you couldn't buy a computer without a DVD drive for years now.

I can't find anything that said that the XBox tuner would be QAM-only. Over the air works just fine and can't legally be encrypted.

"I'll put hd-cable to the same place in my heart as Hidef cable."

I wasn't aware that "hd-cable" was something different from "Hidef cable".

QAM not as limited as you think

[SuperKendall]

The HiDef TV market is currently locked into Encrypted QAM in North America and the only way to bypass the "rent/buy box from provider" is to use a cablecard decoder....

Actually, this is not entirely the case - on Comcast I get all basic digital channels, including local HD channels, on clearQAM. It's true more advanced channels or premium HD content require encrypted QAM support.

Also of course, there is over the air HD in a number of markets now...

A built in HD-TV tuner is of more use than you think.

Re:Corporate doublespeak

[donaldm]

Including the HD-DVD drive would also drive the cost of the 360 up, driving up the retail price, and turning off potential purchasers with the new, higher, price tag. They'd rather keep it separate, so the price of the HD-DVD drive doesn't overshadow these potential purchases. That's likely what was meant by limiting the user's experience. To someone who would be buying a 360 either way, it wouldn't limit something. But for someone who didn't have that extra $150 or whatever to spend, having no choice to not get HD-DVD limits their choices.

You are right about the increased cost but I can't believe Microsoft would be so stupid to make the new Xbox360HD to replace the original Xbox360 so if this was true it would be a optional all-in-one purchase most likely cheaper than an Xbox360 plus a HD-DVD player. In principle this sounds great for the potential Xbox360 purchaser since you don't need a HD-DVD add-on but you have to pay up-front for the privilege.

I think the main question to ask if something like this happens and it has been denied by both parties is "Will games come out on HD-DVD"? If so then I would assume there are going to be over 11 million pissed off Xbox360 owners since games on HD-DVD will discriminate against them because to play HD-DVD games will require an existing Xbox360 owner to purchase a HD-DVD add-on plus (if they don't have one) a hard disk because the read rate of the HD-DVD drive is not going to be as quick as the original DVD drive.

For people interested here is a side by side table comparing Bluray, HD-DVD and DVD http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc#Blu-ray_Disc_.2F_HD_DVD_comparison [wikipedia.org] and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_DVD#HD_DVD_.2F_Blu-ray_disc_comparison [wikipedia.org]. The comparison tables are identical but I don't want to be accused of favoritism. I leave the reader to draw their own conclusions although in all cases DVD sucks (see video resolution, audio codex, max bit-rates and capacity) in comparison to both HD-DVD and Bluray, still if you have not got a HDTV (at least 26" and up) then DVD is fine.