Micro-softing Out: Blu Ray coming to Xbox 360?
by Adam Rodricks September 8, 2011 in Opinion/Reviews, Xbox
Two gentlemen are about to engage in the timeless debate of which console reigns supreme. “The PS3 plays Blu rays and it doesn’t have horrible failure issues like the red ring of doom!” says the Sony fan boy. “Actually, the PS3 has a similar problem,” says the Microsoft fan boy. “It’s called the green ring of death – as long as there’s a green ring on your Xbox 360, your PS3 won’t boot up!”
This argument, though totally fabricated is about to change: rumours surfaced today from Italy’s Xbox Magazine that the console may finally be getting an external Blu-ray drive peripheral only a short three years after Steve Ballmer told us that accessories were coming. Prompt delivery indeed. No doubt the news comes as a response to the recent price drop of the Playstation 3, a strategy which Microsoft adamantly dismissed they would match.
Better not clash with my avatar...
Most people are on the fence about introducing a new format so late into the life cycle of the console; the inclusion of Blu-ray if applied to games would force the existing consumer base to buy a peripheral just to keep playing games. If the add-on is meant purely for movie-watching, all of the streaming capabilities Microsoft has worked to offer over Xbox Live seem counter-intuitive. What exactly would be the benefit of a Blu-ray add-on this late in the game?
Developers have been quick to call out the Xbox’s current format as a limitation; Blu ray discs typically hold more than 50 GB, more than five times the capacity of standard DVD. For this reason, larger games (see: Final Fantasy XIII) necessitate multiple discs on the Xbox 360. Getting up to change the game disc is not an acceptable reason for most gamers to move their ass; hell, eating and using the bathroom barely make the list (and sometimes they are a luxury we just can’t afford…).
So will this idea ever see the light, or rather the ray of day? If Microsoft is thinking ‘now or never’, we suggest they take another look at the latter option; the opportunity is as dead as HD DVD.
Zoomer said on September 8, 2011
Too little too late? It’s still good news though, perhaps it might help extend the life of the consoles a bit and mean more games?
Adam Rodricks said on September 8, 2011
Well put Zoomer – peripherals and choice in general are never a bad thing. I’m just wondering why now of all times.
C0M3T said on September 8, 2011
great, now i can toss out my ps3 and buy a new xbox for all my entertainment purposes
Blake said on September 9, 2011
Won’t the data transfer speeds be affected negatively if it’s external though?
Christian Dixon said on September 9, 2011
I don’t think USB 2.0 can transfer HD audio as well as video at the same time. So it would be suffering from the same drawbacks as the HD DVD drive. I’d imagine that most people who have a 360 have a Blu-Ray player already in one for or another.
Sylvie said on September 9, 2011
So can we watch blu ray dvd’s on xbox if we buy this?
Zoomer said on September 10, 2011
What a minute what does this mean for my ps3? Sylvie yes it does.
Adam Rodricks said on September 12, 2011
@ Zoomer, great question! I *may* tackle it this Friday for Ask A-Rod
Zoomer said on September 13, 2011
cool