Every week I look forward to Pach Attack to see how the worlds most famous game analyst is going to screw up this time. But to my suprise this week he seemed to be spot on, the first question was with bigger and bigger games how do you see this effecting smaller studios. he actually gave a good answer saying publishers are aiming for 20-Million selling games and are dropping smaller titles. Publishers are putting their money into established franchises and the smaller studios just can't compete. He went further into depth but thats not the answer that impressed me the most.

The second question impressed me because in the past Pachter constantly makes predictions about the big three that just don't make any sense. But today he was asked if Microsoft would adopt BluRay. His answer was No. He explained that BluRay is a Sony invention first off and Microsoft is not about to support a Sony platform. He also said that developers can use multiple disks to put a game on 360 and that nobody is going to mind switching disks after 30-hours of gameplay. So in the end he said Microsoft will not support BluRay with the 720.

Finally a logical answer, Microsoft entered the industry to take on Sony. The last thing they are going to do is support a Sony format.

What do you think, is this weeks episode actually rational? Did Pachter finally not make an ass of himself?

I love Pachter, even when he's wrong.

I agree that MS won't use blu-ray but I doubt they will stick with DVD.  I think they'll use HD-DVD or some other high capacity disc, just not blu-ray.

Yah I bet Microsoft will use HD-DVD or their own in house format like Nintendo always has. Just like I doubt Nintendo will use BluRay in their next console. Neither company wants to use Sony's technologies.

Yah I love Pachter especially when he's wrong. Its very entertaining. Not to mention despite being wrong like 75% of the time, when he's right he can be very insightful.

Pachter looks like my dad :o

I agree.

I don't see why MS can't use a proprietary disc format based upon HD-DVD for software. It would make piracy that much more difficult and it would eliminate the multi disc issue and remove the constraints of working within the space of one DVD for developers.

They would have to use something like HD-DVD. A fully proprietary disk just for the next console would drive costs through the roof, both for development and for software developers. They WILL have to adopt some sort of higher storage media in the future, even if it means going cartridge (Think SD cards). 

However DVD playback is a huge bonus, so disk will remain the medium of choice for now. 

Holy crap I agree with pretty much everything he said this time. Is he sick?

It wouldn't. HD-DVD is a dead format, but a modified version would be fine as a console only disc format. The Dreamcast used a proprietary disc format (GD-ROM) and the Wii uses a proprietary disc format (Wii Optical Disk). It's based on the DVD format, but it is proprietary: 4.7/8.54 GB DVD-based disc (RVL-006).

And flash based memory would only make games more expensive to publishers, even with the continuing trend of falling prices on NAND memory.

If its DVD based, its not completely proprietary. 

A fully proprietary disk means very limited numbers of hardware to produce them, with limited number of software designers.. etc. Low quantity ALWAYS means higher price.