Official Xbox 360 Thread.

[StriderKyo]

Especially considering there are already developer concerns that HD-DVD capacity will be maxed out this gen. Going with dvds could be disastrous. That's one of those "I'll believe it when I see it it" rumours - it's not like they can just toss out a new drive peripheral later on.

[TobalRox]

Well, they CAN, it's just a matter of whether or not it would work out. I say if they offer it for free it could work Seriously though, if they did it so that it was ultra cheap, and did it soon, so people could switch over and still be ahead of PS3, they'll be set. Just make sure that developers switch over and not think of it as the PS2 HDD. For example, PS2 had CD games and DVD games, now the system may have had the ability to do both, but there were still plenty of CD and plenty of DVD games. Now it'll just be DVD or HD-DVD, and eventually everything will go HD-DVD like how everything went to DVD on PS2 (honestly, have any CD games come out in the last 2 years?)

[Ex Ranza]

Regarding an HD-DVD drive.. in one of the first marketing videos made for the 360 (it may have been a downloadable bonus from ourcolony.net), Microsoft made a point of illustrating how modular the XBox 360 was. Specifically, I'm thinking of the guy in a turban who assembled the console on a table.

Is it possible that the current DVD drive for the 360 is modular in this way (i.e., plug-and-play), unlike the original Xbox, which used PC drives? That way, if you wanted to watch an HD-DVD movie on your 360, simply snap off the faceplate, remove the drive, and plug in the new one--eliminating the need to purchase a revised 360.

Just a thought.

[Yoshi]

Is it possible that the current DVD drive for the 360 is modular in this way (i.e., plug-and-play), unlike the original Xbox, which used PC drives? That way, if you wanted to watch an HD-DVD movie on your 360, simply snap off the faceplate, remove the drive, and plug in the new one--eliminating the need to purchase a revised 360.

I hope this is true. I can't wait to read about the retail horror stories about people who are too fucking stupid to reassemble the 360.

[TobalRox]

This "plug and play" drive is why I mentioned what I did in the my last post, about people just getting a new drive for it.

[Glass Joe]

Is it something that can be done in something like firmware? I know that sounds silly but the rumors keep suggesting that something big will be released about a year after the 360 hits. I'm sure someone here who is more technically sound can give us a better idea of the crap that I write.

[Diff-chan]

Is it something that can be done in something like firmware?

Well, if youre gonna swap out your CD-R drive for a DVD-R drive, all it takes is some driver software.

it absolutely is possible, but I wonder why Microsoft would go through all the trouble of firesealing the case and shit and then let people swap the drive.

[Glass Joe]

I think if it is an actual swap of a physical drive we will have the same problem that is always spoken about. You will have some with and some without meaning that everything would be made for the lowest common denominator. It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

[Dyne]

Is it something that can be done in something like firmware? I know that sounds silly but the rumors keep suggesting that something big will be released about a year after the 360 hits. I'm sure someone here who is more technically sound can give us a better idea of the crap that I write.

you would NEVER be able to read a HD disc with a regular DVD drive, no matter the firmware.

[marwan]

That way, if you wanted to watch an HD-DVD movie on your 360, simply snap off the faceplate, remove the drive, and plug in the new one--eliminating the need to purchase a revised 360.

sound's like someone is pulling a Sega!