Xbox 360 HD DVD For $200?

[wraggster]

Digitimes of Taiwan seems pretty darn sure that the Xbox 360 HD DVD is going to be released for $200. They also seem pretty sure it's going to be available by Christmas, but that's something everyone pretty much figured already.

External drives have more flexibility than built-in models, the companies pointed out, while adding that despite BD having a much larger storage capacity than HD-DVD, pre-installation of BD drives may decrease the market competitiveness of PS3 units.
We're not sure where their sources are from, but they could be from Taiwanese manufacturing companies that are contracted to actually build the HD DVD unit. Either that, or Digitimes is just making stuff up

[Video_freak]

Wow. That would make the XBox 360 worth $600.
I guess the PS3 is a good deal after all (if Blu-ray wins ;))

[Hevyduty]

Oooh, terrible price. It absolutely needs to be $100...maybe $150 at the very most.

With this price, the PS3 is actually cheaper. Since the $500 PS3 and the Premium 360 are basically equivalent (20GB hard drive, no HDMI), the $500 PS3 is actually $100 cheaper than a Premium 360 and this add-on.

Of course, if you go for the $600 PS3, it's the same price as a Premium 360 and this add-on. But the PS3 has a 60GB hard drive and HDMI, as well as the elegance of having the drive built-in, not an awkward add-on.

So if the price of this drive is truly $200, then PS3 is the easy choice for those lokking for a game system plus HD movie player.

Of course, that's not a total disaster for the 360. Probably 90% of consumers don't care about HD movies at this point, or even if they do, they'd rather watch the format wars play out before making a choice. In that case, the 360 still holds the advantage (cheaper to buy now, upgrade later if you feel like it).

I just wonder how long it'll be before the firmware of this HD-DVD drive is hacked, and the possibilities that would create. I wonder if we'll ever see a blu-ray drive for the 360, whether via hack or released by a third-party manufacturer, etc.

[SSaxdude]

Yeah, it's not like every 360 owner will buy this. The reason why it wasn't built in 360's is because MS predicts that most people won't use any next-gen player. There have been reports that HD DVD and Blu-Ray don't have a huge improvement in video quality, so most customers probably will wait a while before buying a HD DVD or Blu-Ray player.

But I predict HD DVD selling more because of it's relativly cheaper price.

[Video_freak]

People with high definition TV's (that are rich) are going to go to the next generation in video discs. What format will win? We'll have to see.

[irondirgible]

To me, fine tuned picture quality isn't really a selling point. I'd rather by more movies on DVDs than get extra picture quality that I can't even see on my non-HD TV.

[s1k0]

:p sweet i cant wait for them!!

[stotheamuel]

i guessed it already haha

[SmashinGit]

Yeah I have to admit I have not been won over yet by this new generation of HD dvd and Blu ray. I'm perfectly happy with my dvd player. Can't afford to update yet, new player and then replacing my exisiting dvd collection. I've just finished replacing all my vhs collection.