Microsoft, who for some time now has stood on the opposite side of the Blu-ray camp, once again reaffirmed its non-friendly stance by declaring that Blu-ray will be displaced by digital download and streaming as a HD format.
When HD DVD went head-to-head against Blu-ray in the high-definition optical disc format war a few years ago, Microsoft sided with the former by offering an external HD DVD Drive as a hardware accessory to its popular Xbox 360 console. As things turned out, more movie studios and retailers went with Blu-ray, leaving HD DVD’s chief proponent Toshiba no choice but to abandon the format… and Microsoft with eggs on its face.
Despite calls from Xbox 360 users for Microsoft to introduce a Blu-ray add-on drive, the company has remained reluctant to commit to the HD format. And the statements made by Microsoft UK’s director of Xbox entertainment and marketing Stephen McGill in an interview with online gaming magazine Xbox 360 Achievements may have delivered the final nail in the coffin.
When asked if Microsoft’s insistence with the space-limited DVD format is going to cut short the lifespan of the Xbox 360 console, Mr McGill responded that people have jumped from DVDs to digital download and streaming (capable of hitting full HD 1080p quality akin to Blu-ray through its Zune platform) which effectively renders Blu-ray obsolete, vindicating the company’s decision to distance itself from the format.
His claim may have some truth in it, given the rising availability of internet-connected TVs and the increasing number of digital download sales. But surveys have indicated that most gamers prefer to buy a tangible product in the form of physical discs, which can at least command some second-hand resale value should they choose to sell them later on. And when the state of UK’s internet broadband – with capped bandwidth being the norm – is taken into account, it is unlikely that Blu-ray will go extinct anytime soon.
A little bit of Microsoft damage control there methinks! As you point out, they didn’t seem to believe in downloading for movies so much back when they sided with Toshiba.
The image quality of the downloadable material on Xbox Live is mediocre at best; if the Xbox division feel that the lowest common denominator is acceptable, then that speaks for their standards.
I typical 90 to 120 minute 1080/24p BD movie is between 25 and 50 GB in size so I’d hate to download those on a regular basis when my monthly download cap is 100 GB (and that’s the best package I can get).
I’ve only downloaded ONE movie from Xbox LIVE and that was Zodiac, which looked OK at the time but I’ve now got it on BD and it positively trounces the download version. The audio in these downloads is especially disappointing; that one was stereo only from memory and, like others, didn’t even support subtitles. I also like extras and those are something you don’t get either; understandable as they have to keep the download sizes reasonable, something that isn’t a concern with a physical disc.
I think Microsoft are just being stubborn myself because they don’t want to be seen to be siding with Sony (who have a vested interested in BD) after the embarrassing failure of HD DVD. What’s the betting that the next Xbox will include a BD drive? DVD will be far too limiting for the next generation and making it digital download only would seriously limit its sales.
This is rubbish, Microsoft are sore cause the HD-DVD they supported lost the war.
I dunno about any where else but here in England Blu-ray sales are on the steady increase.