08-22-2007, 03:27 PM
Quote:If MS wanted to pump their console, they could offer an HD-DVD ad-on AND a Blu-Ray add-on. Sure, the Blu-Ray drive means a few buck going to Sony for the rights, but it's attached to an XBox, so MS wins anyway. So I don't think that's their strategy here.
yeah because that's exactly what you want to do. pay your main competitor for the rights to use their hardware. ummm, no. When it comes to merging the HD battle with the next-gen console battle full blame can be laid at Sony's feet. Microsofts addition of the HDdvd drive to the 360 is not strategically part of the HD war, it's a console move. Last gen Sony was able to leverage their market share to pull in all sorts of exclusive content to their console, playstation 2 was unarguably the dominator and by the time the first xbox entered the scene there was nothing Microsoft could do to reasonably compete with the exclusives. By putting in the HDdvd drive add-on Microsoft is just countering Sony's ploy of merging the HD and console war. It all comes down to the exclusives, by offering an "equal but different" console experience Microsoft can delineate themselves enough that consumers won't just say "why buy this when i can just get a PS3" but they remain close enough in function to the competitor that Sony can never get the foothold they had last gen and subsequently pull in exclusives.
The plan seems to be working for microsoft, many of the games which were last gen exclusives for PS2 have been announced cross platform (GTA IV, Devil May Cry, and the reality is if PS3 sales don't pick up games like Metal Gear Solid and *GASP* even FFXIII could turn from Exlusives to Timed Exclusives to recoup some of the costs of making these huge games).
What this all adds up to is a great benefit for the gaming consumer (because they won't be put in the situation of having to buy mulitple systems for exclusive content) but a great detriment for the HD consumer. Sony may have started the merge of HD and consoles but the great irony is that if their ploy doesn't work the PS3s failure will be their own fault. When HDdvd players do drop down to around 200-250 if they pick up enough market share you may see a full swing in the console war to push all the exclusives that Sony had last-gen over to Microsoft.