Would Microsoft have crushed Sony if the Xbox 360 had had HD DVD built in?

[|_emmiwinks]

starcraft said:

I was wondering this earlier today.

Assuming Microsoft could have launched the Xbox 360 at the same date it did, but with a correspondingly higher price, do you think the PS3 would have done substantially worse?

My reasoning is this.  Microsoft and Toshiba made Sony work a LONG time to get Blu-Ray up and going and established as the loan physical disk HD standard.

If Microsoft had sold even three or four million Xbox 360's that first year, all with HD DVD built in, and then Sony had still launched as they did with their high price, I think Blu-Ray would have been incapable of winning the format war.  In such an eventuality, the PS3 would have $100 or so tacked onto the price tag to pay for the inclusion of a redundant format.

Thoughts?

 

I dont think so, the only reason the HD-DVD drive wasnt included is because they couldnt do that and release a year ahead of time, if the PS3 and 360 released at the same time install bases on the HD disc format would have been a moot point, both consoles sold nearly identicle numbers when you compare their first year sales.

If you mean in a hypothetical world where MS could have put in the HD-DVD drive and still released a year early, I still dont think it would have done much, it may have actually made them sell less, as it would have jumped their price by 100-150 dollars. Making them as expensive as a PS3.

However, either way, right now we would still be in a format war if they had released the console with HD-DVD drive in. As that both formats would have had very simular install bases.

But crush I dont think, I actually think it would have hurt MS, as they would have bad a 500-600 dollar console just like the PS3, and I think at the same price point, people would be set to think of the little details between the consoles, with RROD, lack of WiFi in and Sony's brand name, I think people would have turned to PS3s more.