Digital Home Thoughts: Xbox Executive Says Blu-ray Reminds Him of Betamax

"Chris Lewis, Microsoft's regional vice president for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and the head of the company's Xbox gaming business in Europe, was interviewed recently by the German site Spiegel Online. He discussed how Microsoft was doing with the Xbox 360, and what might lie ahead in the future. When the question of the PS3's Blu-ray capability came up, however, Lewis was more direct: "Blu-ray right now reminds us of another technology from Sony: Betamax. A bit like VHS—we think that HD DVD is the format that consumers, film studios and publishers will embrace. As you're mentioning the cost of Blu-ray—we think it's about giving consumers choice, we think it's about not necessarily asking them to pay over the odds for a technology that, at the moment, is unproven." Those of us who remember the VHS versus Beta battles remember that ultimately the choice came down to two issues: the storage capacity of the tape and the number of available titles. Ironically, Blu-ray already has an advantage in the former category and if it is adopted by more manufacturers it could wind up with the edge in the latter as well. However, the outcome is by no means certain, and it seems a bit early to be relegating one format to "Betamax" status. Lewis pointed out that Microsoft was working on an HD DVD add-on for the 360 that would, despite the lack of an HDMI interface in the 360, be able to watch any copy-protected HD DVD movies: "All I can say to you is—there are interesting developments in the pipeline. We will make sure that the HD DVD-peripheral device will meet all the requirements for consumers to enjoy high-definition DVD playback.""



Let's get down to the nitty gritty: rumors. The latest buzz says that Microsoft will display the external HD-DVD drive for the 360 at E3, it will be released in September, it will retail for $100-150 USD, and it *may* have a built-in HDMI output port. I have to agree with Lewis regarding Blu-Ray. HD-DVD is coming to the market faster and cheaper than Blu-Ray. In addition, HD-DVD discs can be double sided, with a DVD version of a movie on one side, and an HD-DVD version on the other, allowing consumers to just flip a disc when they upgrade to an HD-DVD player down the road. I think Sony and the PS3 are going to be too late to the party to make a splash.