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UK, September 4, 2007 - Following a price drop for the many versions of the Xbox 360 console, Microsoft has now revealed that its HD-DVD player add-on is set for a 20 Euro reduction in Europe - although there' s currently no word on a UK price slash.

This means the add-on now retails at 180 EUR on the continent, which is roughly 10 quid less than the current UK RRP of GBP 129.99. We' re expecting to hear from Microsoft in the next day or so about a similar cut in good old Blighty, so hold onto your hi-def hats.

They' re getting desperate I see, MUAHAHAHAHA!

If they brought it down to $12.99, I still wouldn' t buy it.

Seriously, Agent, are you so sure of BluRay winning? Im not saying it wont, Im just saying whatever company can get a player priced at or around $100 and on Wal-Mart shelves will be the winner.

I dont know if the hddvd 360 player is region free or not, but the Us model retails for about 170. Us dollars. thats like 150 euro.

This price cut isnt big either, looks like Corporations like to rape Europe.

Much like the price drop was crap for the 360... Everyone hates europe... :-(

I dont know if the hddvd 360 player is region free or not, but the Us model retails for about 170. Us dollars. thats like 150 euro.

You can get 8 HdDVD' s for free with it too if you order from amazon.com. Theres the mail in 5 free from MS/Toshiba deal, then Amazon gives you 2, and it comes with King Kong.

This price cut isnt big either, looks like Corporations like to rape Europe.

Everyone likes to rape EU

This was always needed for the 360 just now the market isn' t ready for it. With a new price drop i believe pple would purchase it. MS sells it low but their marketing needs the HD DVD player to be sold since $$ already went tint for production.
Eventually, you will fin it in your cereal box.

Would it be possible for 360 games that required the HD-DVD?

no, and xbots would never like it as they always use ' bluray isnt needed for games'

I could see 360 games requiring the add-on after the Xbox 1080 has been out for a while or something.

ORIGINAL: mastachefbkw

Would it be possible for 360 games that required the HD-DVD?

You can get 8 HdDVD' s for free with it too if you order from amazon.com. Theres the mail in 5 free from MS/Toshiba deal, then Amazon gives you 2, and it comes with King Kong.

Blu-Ray players have the same deal. Including the PS3. That' s why I want to buy one before Sept. 30th. I won' t buy it online so I won' t get 8 Blu-Ray movies but if I pick one up soon I' ll still be able to get 5. Which isn' t a bad start.

Seriously, Agent, are you so sure of BluRay winning? Im not saying it wont, Im just saying whatever company can get a player priced at or around $100 and on Wal-Mart shelves will be the winner.

I never said I was certain of anything. I' ve mearly decided to support the better format. I don' t care about Blu-Rays higher capacity but I do care about its higher transfer rate. It' s the transfer rate that ultimately gives Blu-Ray the higher potential.

I do lean towards Blu-Ray winning though, but I' m not as sure about it as some people seem to be. I agree that the first to penetrate the mainstream will be very important but I feel like both will be able to do this before HDTVs become mainstream so it' s almost a moot point.

Aside form having more support and continuous mini victories in this department, and being technically superior to HD-DVD. Blu-Ray has a few edges over HD-DVD.

1. Blockbuster and Disney are supporting Blu-Ray exclusivelly, not only do they command a lot of marketshare themselves but others will look at them as leaders.

2. Japan, a territory that won' t touch HD-DVD. Blu-Ray will have Japn by the balls.

3. PS3, imagine what will happen when the PS3 sells 40 million units (it will reach that, trust me).

I always thought both formats had a transfer rate of 36 Mbits, or am I mixing something up here?

support the better format.

Have you actually seen side by side comparisons of HDDVD vs BluRay? Unless something has changed, all I can say is " inferior codec much?" .

Have you actually seen side by side comparisons of HDDVD vs BluRay? Unless something has changed, all I can say is " inferior codec much?" .

Old news, newer BluRay movies uses the same codecs as HD-DVD now. And they also now come with upgradable firmware. Don' t buy an old Blu-Ray player though, not that any of us would with the PS3 as an option.

I always thought both formats had a transfer rate of 36 Mbites, or am I mixing something up here?

That' s half true. 36.55Mbps is the transfer rate for HD-DVD X1 while 36Mbps is the transfer rate for BluRay X1, but that' s irrelevant, what matters is the RPM as ultimately both drives will only be able to spin so fast. Blu-ray has a laser with a larger numerical aperture. Essentially meaning it takes less RPM to get the same transfer rate as HD-DVD. So X1 HD-DVD spins faster than X1 Blu-ray. Eventually, both are going to reach a maximume RPM where it' s physicallly impossible to spin the disc faster. Blu-Ray will see higher speeds, for example Blu-ray might max out X16 when HD-DVD might max out at that X10, at the same RPM. With faster drives, Blu-Ray will pull ahead. Not only can Blu-ray pull more data per RPM, but because the disc is thinner, they are saying that Blu-Ray will physically be able to spin faster than DVD or HD-DVD.

Eventually Blu-ray will have a transfer rate that shits all over HD-DVD. Right now the difference is not that great as the RPM' s are too low. For movies the difference is 54Mbps/BD VS. 36Mbps/HD-DVD. That' s not going to change because it has to be standardized so older players can play the new movies. However, in the future we' ll see Blu-ray have over 100Mbps more than what HD-DVD can muster. For games, or writing data on a disc, this will matter a lot. If I can find what the RPM' s the they both use I could calculate exact numbers.

Not to mention much higher capacity. I don' t care that much about movies but for games next console gen Blu-Ray would be far more favorable. Faster data streaming would make a HUGE difference. Many devs have said that one of the limiting factors with PS3 and 360, if not the the limiting factor is the data transfer rate off the disc (along with ram size). A higher disc transfer speed increases what devs can do with a console exponentially.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc

http://www.gizmowatch.com/entry/ultra-thin-blu-ray-disc-spins-up-to-15000-rpm-writes-at-7x-speed/

http://www.blu-ray.com/faq/

I hope that clears things up.