It really depends on what direction MS wants to go. I know they WANT to go DD, but I imagine they'll let Sony do the legwork with the PSPGo. If that flops, they'll know they need to use a physical medium for the next system. But which one? Holographic storage and crystals are still going to be too pricey for consideration. Flash memory cartridges are an option, though it depends on when the system comes out. They'll probably want to look at 32-64 GB for the games, and as things are now, those are also too expensive.
On the disk front, I really think they'll lean more toward a HD-DVD based format. If they go with BR, it means paying a royalty to the BR consortium, which increases overhead and directly allows one of their competitors (Sony) to profit. HD-DVD may require a payment to Toshiba, but I don't really think anyone else, and I would see that as being cheaper than BR, both in pressing costs and royalties. Add to the fact that burning HD-DVDs will be tougher than BR due to the lack of drives and media, and it'll allow them to market that to the developers as a form of anti-piracy. If MS really wants to go with a multimedia system over a gaming system, then I could see them biting the bullet for BR, but that's really the only case.
-dunno001
-On a quest for the truly perfect game; I don't think it exists...
