Stephen McGill, UK Xbox top dog has spoken about the lack of Blu-ray on Xbox and seems to think the format is already dead. He was asked if the lack of Blu-ray was holding back the 360 and answered,
“I think people may have spoken about that originally, but that’s long gone.
I think people now recognise what a smart decision it was to keep the pricing low, and actually Blu-ray is going to be passed by as a format. People have moved through from DVDs to digital downloads and digital streaming, so we offer full HD 1080p Blu-ray quality streaming instantly, no download, no delay.
So, who needs Blu-ray?”
Mr. McGill may have a point when it comes to movies but numerous developers have stated that creating games on multiple DVDs for the Xbox can be tough, most recently Mercury Steam discussed ‘storage problems’ for the console.
As for movies, Avatar broke all records for Blu-ray sales in the UK and has sold a stunning 6.2 million copies. Blu-ray disc sales in Q1 2010 almost doubled those of 2009 and the current outlook for the format is ‘bullish’.
HMV recently announced a 12% profit rise, some of which they attributed to the popularity of Blu-ray.
Sources: X360Achievements / Gizmodo / The Telegraph
stonyk
I’ll tell you who needs Blu-ray Mr McPrick – those who spend stupid money on HD-DVD players you promised were the next ‘thing’ (Including me! I’ll never fall for your shite again!)
Danza Di Fuoco E Ghiaccio
Hey no insulting – Mc’s !!
ghost5
Hey I’ve got some hd DVDs I can sell you if you want and im pretty sure I’ve also still got the player… Damn you Microsoft
Elliot
Huh, what? I thought this was one of the clear drawbacks of Microsoft’s early release? The Blu-Ray, even purely from a gaming perspective, (which the 360 is primarily) it’s a huge advantage. And looking at films, there’s something magical about being able to fit the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy into fewer than 6 discs.
Apnomis
I have a good mind to report him to trading standards for the “full HD 1080p Blu-ray quality streaming” comment alone! From what I’ve seen of industry reports Blu-ray is performing very well, and that is only likely to expand with things like Blu-ray 3D. Most home cinema enthusiasts and audiophiles abhor the move to digital downloads, and even a lot of casual consumers dislike paying full whack for a non-physical and restrictive product. In the mainstream acceptance of digital content still has a long way to go (the PSPGo alone proves that).
Microsoft made a big mistake with the whole HD format war, and only tow this line because HD-DVD failed. They’ll miraculously change their tune if/when the next version runs on Blu-ray, because I very much doubt it will be digital only. Microsoft are only in the sales position they are today because they cut corners (disc format being one of them) and released the console a year+ earlier than it should have been released to get the jump on Sony and Nintendo. They like to claim some kind of superiority but time adjusted sales show they’re not doing nearly as well as they like people to believe, likewise 38M people have now bought a PS3 which isn’t too far behind the 360 despite their head start, so he has an interesting definition of something being passed by.
This is classic Microsoft, instead of admitting their shortfalls they claim they don’t matter, until they catch up – it just makes them look stupid and arrogant. Remember this is the Microsoft that said HDMI didn’t matter, until they added it. That said games would never be on more than 1 DVD, until they adjusted their policy to allow multi-disc games. That said they’re console was about gaming and the other stuff didn’t matter, until they added Facebook and Twitter and Netflix etc. That said a redesign was unnecessary, until launched the 360S and it became “the console they always wanted to make”. That said the Blades were the best interface and virtual avatars weren’t important, until they launched the NXE. That said they had no interest in the casual market or motion gaming, until they developed Kinect. The list goes on…
Stephen McGill doesn’t believe what he’s saying anymore than I do…
Foxhound_Solid
**Stands and applauds**
stonyk
lol! that did sound like a speech and a half. Micro do annoy me sometimes. I can’t believe not only did I buy 1 HD-DVD drive, but I bought a second one when the first one stopped working!
sshaunss
YEA that was a awesome rant i might just go out and buy some more blu rays for that alone.
Danza Di Fuoco E Ghiaccio
All hail Japanese-born gaming?
gazzagb
Blu-Ray is defiantly growing, and soon they will be as standard as DVDs. Online streaming isn’t going to be the main thing, simply because most people’s internet in the UK isn’t fast enough, and their bandwidth allowance isn’t enough. Everything is pretty much Blu-Ray now, and it will continue to grow with sales of computers with BR drives, BR players and PS3s.
hazelam
“I think people now recognise what a smart decision it was”
tell that to all the people who bought your hddvd drive.
hazelam
still this gets beaten in the dumbest thing ever said by anybody contest.
the winner is another ms beauty, can’t remember the exact quote but it was something about the xbox being dominant in japan in time.
i nearly choked to death on my frosties when i read that.
Klart
So, who needs Stephen McGil?
3shirts
Fact is that while a lower quality movie is trying to download I can get dressed, stroll to the bus stop, jump on the x31, walk to HMV, pick up and buy a Blu Ray movie, nip into starbucks and then jump on the bus home.
That is not gonna change any time in this gen or even, I suspect, the next.
stonyk
One question then, I’ve watched roughly 100 blu-rays (at least) in the past year. with a conservative guestimate of 15G per film thats about 1500G to download on what I’ve watched. Thats a lot (and considering those films can be upto 30G I believe, and not forgetting the extras that come with it) and on my internet conection running at it’s best consistently I worked out about 18 days of downloading time – and that’s conservative and doesn’t include game downloads. Is this the future?
cc_star
Avatar is 45gig
And that is famously just the movie alone, no extras, commentaries, nothing!
shields_t
UK PS3 User: “I need Blu Ray”.
nemesisND1derboy
So MS exec slates the format which anally raped their supoorted format (HD DVD)? Ahem, bitter much sir?