UPDATED: Sony to profit off of the Xbox 360 with Blu-ray?
- Posted March 7th, 2008 at 13:57 EDT by
- 11,216 views
- 91 Comments
Just before GDC last month, Sony came through with an illustrious victory as Blu-ray became the winner of the HD format war. This resulted in an extra ray of light over the PlayStation 3 console which supports the Blu-ray format right out of the box. With its competition not having any physical HD format support out of the box, this has given the PS3 a clear advantage. All of that could change as Sony and rival Microsoft, has entered talks regarding their console supporting Blu-ray.
Stan Glasgow, Sony Electronics US president has confirmed that both Sony and Microsoft have entered negotiations that would allow Microsoft to implement the Blu-ray format into the Xbox 360 gaming console. Many would consider this business decision suicide, as this would take away from the considerable advantage that the PS3 has over the 360, however, Sony would gobble up extra revenue through this deal as compensation to the Sony Electronic's division. The options that Microsoft has are varied. They could introduce a new SKU that supports Blu-ray built in with a more expensive price point or create yet another add-on similar to the HD-DVD one currently available. Either way, Sony would collect compensation on every unit sold whether it is an add-on or a full unit with the format built in.
Microsoft however has interestingly enough declined such negotiations:
”We have made no such announcement. Games are what are driving consumers to purchase game consoles and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available.”
This is still very early so please do not read into this fully just yet. We will keep you up to date regarding anything of relation to this business deal.
Source
UPDATE:
We can now reveal to you that Microsoft is indeed working with Sony to allow the Xbox 360 to become Blu-ray accessible. Speaking yesterday in Las Vegas, Steve Balmer, the CEO of Microsoft had this to say:
"We've already been working on, for example, in Windows, device driver support for Blu-ray drives and the like, and I think the world moves on. Toshiba has moved on. We've moved on, and we'll support Blu-ray in ways that make sense."
Did Mr. Balmer go too far and reveal something that Microsoft was not ready to let loose? All we know is that the Xbox 360 will in some way or form be allowed to play Blu-ray movies. This will seriously affect the sales of both sides as Microsoft can now say that the 360 can also play Blu-ray movies while the PS3 loses its advantage of being the only console to offer Blu-ray support. However, Sony will also gain extra revenue through this. So it is a win/lose situation for Sony and one we will closely have an eye on.
It looks like the days of the PlayStation 3 being the only Blu-ray+Game console is starting to come to an end.
Comments
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zbamf
- 5:11pm GMT - March 7th, 2008
- 53
I don't think many will buy the blu-ray add-on straight away and I don't think consumers will buy the 360 plus the blu-ray add-on.
Sony may have got this right and don't expect that it will benefit the 360 much. I think we won't see a blu-ay add-on for the 360 this year, i think Sony would want to wait for the PS3 to surpass the 360 on worlwide sales, and reduce the PS3 price. I think when the blu-ray add-on is released for the 360, the total costs will be more than what a PS3 costs making the PS3 the most expensive no longer. So Sony will profit from the royalties for the small amount of blu-ray add-ons sold for 360 and for where the consumer is concerned who is thinking of a console with blu-ray, they have a choice between the cheaper PS3 with blu-ray games aswell or a more expensivve 360 where the blu-ray player isn't built in but an add-on.
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djrussell |
djrussell89- 5:19pm GMT - March 7th, 2008
- 54
When it comes to the 360 - the best game out is either Gears of War or Mass Effect IMO.. Condemned coming in closely behind. Halo 3 doesnt hold up.. its the same as every other FPS on the market. How do i know? Cause i own all of them.. the PS3 is by far the best machine on the market for games at the moment. Yes, the 360 might have more... but more doesnt mean *BETTER*.
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DnA19
- 6:21pm GMT - March 7th, 2008
- 56
i only can say this, Sony exec, are a bunch of idiots. Since Ken K left sony, the company has began a downward spiral. First contracting everything out and now letting the competion access to their ace in the hole. these guy may be very smart but lack any kind of common sense. anyway this is opinion on the subject!
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big black oni
- 7:07pm GMT - March 7th, 2008
- 58
This is really not good for microsoft, how could they even dream of going back on there word. this is stupid; in any case sony has lost lots of money in this war, Well at least the loss has to pay the winner. Ha! Hey sony now there no excuse get us some games pls
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Muzikguy |
Muzikguy- 7:21pm GMT - March 7th, 2008
- 59
If you ask me, Sony should allow them to make an add-on for the 360. After all, it's in the best interest of the consumer then, right? Of course, Sony will need a large, and I mean LARGE, payment from M$ to allow this. I see no reason Sony shouldn't do this. They've lost a lot of money developing the Cell and BluRay. Sony won't lose their advantage over the 360. The PS3 is still the best machine, even if M$ gets a BDR add-on.
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Falanx13 |
Falanx13- 8:03pm GMT - March 7th, 2008
- 61
I honestly don't see the X360 playing Blu-Ray games. I mean, how many HD-DVD 360 games are there right now? Like the ill-fated SegaCD, a lot of 'add on' media drives never get utilized by developers because of the small install base.
That's why the PS3 will keep an edge over the Xbox.
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Alpha2
- 8:08pm GMT - March 7th, 2008
- 62
No matter what all it means is 360 owners have to either plunk down another 200 bucks for another add on device or trade in their box again probably for the 2nd or 3rd time for a new SKU.
Of course M$ would still say they arnt going to use it for games because if they did they'd look even dumber for not using HDDVD for games like they should have.
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Untildeath89 |
willmakenewonesoon- 8:30pm GMT - March 7th, 2008
- 63
and we gamers couldn't careless and the movie addicts well they get all the movies instead of blu-ray supporters only. Really this is good, i would get 360 if the safety was high enough and blu-ray is another plus on the book nothing else. If by any chance pc games start to use blu-ray and fill the game with 50GB i think that would be enought to drive people away from piracy even with fiber it would still take some time to download 1 game and if there are no seeders then there is no game.
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Redrider |
Warhawk1- 8:39pm GMT - March 7th, 2008
- 64
No, no, no...........MS is looking to make a profit off of the software they provide to support Blu-Ray within Windows. The possibility of them adding a built in Blu-Ray drive to the 360 is ZERO, maybe a add-on at best but that is doubtful too!. This is not going to happen to the 360 simply because changing the optical drive just to support HD movie playback would drive the consumer price the wrong way with little to no value and if they changed the format for games to Blu-Ray they stand a good chance of pissing off 14 Million customers (not going to happen).
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phejej
- 9:28pm GMT - March 7th, 2008
- 66
micrsoft can have the add on bluray player but not the built in. sony make a big mistake if they do because future gaming need more space than a regular disce can hold and this is the advantage of the ps3 for having bluray built in. look at MGS4 50 GB didn't even fit wow!
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InfernoReaper |
GrimDarkling- 12:36am GMT - March 8th, 2008
- 70
Umm, let's see. Dominate game devs for a few more years for some exclusives or give up your only advantage for some compensation? I guess allowing a Blu-ray add-on with support only for movies would be ok, but no game support. The only thing keeping Sony "ahead" is the 360's lack of space on a DVD. Can you imagine GeOW on a Blu-ray? We'd be finished. All those games that needed a Blu-ray...gone.
Say Sony did give up a Blu-ray drive. How about you cut some compensation and get some games from them? Cough *Bioshock, Mass Effect, Fable, Ninja Gaiden II* cough. I REFUSE to want Halo or Gears of War on PS3. These are good games and I don't want them smeared trying to port over to a "non-FPS" layout.
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jphuff |
jhuff- 1:09am GMT - March 8th, 2008
- 71
This won't hurt Sony at all if it happens. First, MS will make an external attachment just like the HD-DVD drive. Sony makes money from that. Secondly, the external device won't be able to be used for games, so Sony retains advantage there. Thirdly, Sony makes computers. They need MS to make Windows work with Blu-Ray so they can sell their Vaio's with BD drives! It's simple, means nothing as far as the console war is concerned and Sony makes money off of it. What's not to like? Who cares if you can play a BD on an Xbox 360? It will still be an add on and with the pricing even the way it is now, it would still be WAY more money to buy an Xbox 360 with the BD drive than it would be just to get a PS3! No big deal...
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dethFLUXXX
- 2:51am GMT - March 8th, 2008
- 72
rofl M$ is down on there knees begging for tht blu shiznit
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freePlaystationfgsfdfd
- 3:33am GMT - March 8th, 2008
- 73
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Anim3Fr33K |
Anim3Fr33K- 4:33am GMT - March 8th, 2008
- 75
unless 360 gets blu ray standerd and uses it for the gaming format then it wont change, PS3 will still be a blu ray player standerd with no fiddiling as well as a top line game console as well has having HD 1.3 over 1.2 for the 360, so true HD nuts will still pick the PS3
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Fijiandoce |
Fijiandoce- 7:31am GMT - March 8th, 2008
- 77
so is this add-on for the xbox only going to play blu-ray movies??? can someone shed some light please.
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regissreg |
Zapp- 8:10am GMT - March 8th, 2008
- 78
All Along I told my Friends who was trying to figure out which game system to buy when there was first released. I told them to buy PS3 not the XBox, because of the Blu-Ray built in but they didnt listen to me and bought the XBox because of more games released. Now they are regreting it. not because of the Blu-Ray winning because of how many XBox's they have gone through with the Red Ring of Death. Sony Dont do it! Make The PS3 haters squirm in there pants because they made the Wrong choice.
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Dreadnought1275 |
Dreadnought1275- 8:43am GMT - March 8th, 2008
- 80
Sony wont allow Blu-ray support on xboxs'. Placing and article like this on PSU just makes everone assume, the agreement is related to Blu-ray coming to the 360 or a new SKU. baaaaaaaaaaaa. wrong. It just involves MS wanting blu-ray support through windows. Sony arent stupid. They know, with their current breakthrough in sales, it would be bad for business to allow the 360 to support blu-ray in any way shape or form.
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engdude
- 1:16pm GMT - March 8th, 2008
- 81
Dude, this article is retarded speculation. WINDOWS is building drivers for PC's. I'm sure any BR add-on for the 360 is far away, plus making games on BR which are compatible with their system is difficult and unlikely. They can't even publish 360 games on HD-DVD with the add-on they were selling.
Retarded speculation.
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SamTheSkater
- 5:02pm GMT - March 9th, 2008
- 88
is this really smart? guess they better make a damn good profit if this is to be a wise choice. blu-ray is one of the things that make the ps3 so unique. i guess it's the games that count. but hope blu-ray stays ps3-exclusive for as long as possible.
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patthebaker321 |
patthebaker321- 5:29pm GMT - March 9th, 2008
- 89
i think this a dumb move by sony!!!!!!!! with having Blu-Ray sony has a major advantage over the 360. I really don't think this a smart move at all by sony! so what to make a little extra money.... if they kept Blu-Ray exclusive to the PS3 they would be dragging 360 owners to the 360 because of the Blu-Ray, so they would be making a profit anyways. Hopefully sony is smart about this, and really know what they're doing....
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Gizmo_Logix
- 12:12am GMT - March 10th, 2008
- 90
Jackson. Hate to break it to ya. The PS3 did not lose it's ablity to PLAY BLU-RAY! So, this is a win/break-even for Sony. Not a win/lose. The whole goal of Blu-ray was for it to BECOME A STANDARD. Hey? What happened to the days where everyone was saying that Blu-ray was the next Betamax, huh? Listen. The Blu-ray format needs to become a standard in order to legitimize the PS3 future even more. That's the first step. The fact that the PS3 is the only console that uses Blu-ray internally was part of the plan. But only temporarily. The fact is. The 360 is obsolete already. DVD9 is the past. And Microcrap knows this. HD video and audio for games and movies will fill up that DVD9 faster than you can say "Sony for the PWN!"
Saying that the PS3 will lose the advantage of being the only Blu-ray console is going against the fact that blu-ray needs to become a standard: Period! This solidifies this fact. This is the way of the non-proprietary formats. This is why Blu-ray succeeded and UMD/Beta failed. Get it? It comes with the territory.So, it goes like this:
The Blu-ray plan:
Win (Movie Royalies), WIn (PS3 support)
Break-even (industry support -- 360 or Wii)
It's going to be funny seeing M$ strand their DVD9 gamers. Uh oh....guess they will have to buy another 360 if they want to play those game that come out on Blu-ray -- if ever.
Note: This deal is more to do with Vista/XP and an external drive. Not an internal drive. What do think gamers are going to do with the 17 MIL 360 that are DVD9 only? Ya think developers are going to ignore them? I think not!Remember kiddies! Bill gates said it was about "choice!" Remember that HD DVD add-on? Your choice! Ha!
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