Yeah, I was going to say the same thing.

HD-DVD would be a good choice because the drives can still read the DVD format.  So you'd allow publishers to use DVD if that's all they required or HD-DVD if they needed more space and people could still play DVDs.

If you want HD movies that's what the Zune service is for.

SSD would be an intriguing option but I'm not sure it's cost effective yet.

Reading stories like Blockbuster filing for bankruptcy and Apple turning their back on Blu-Ray pretty much makes me believe that Blu-Ray isn't going to be anywhere near as important as DVD.  Even Sony seems to be working against it with their offering of digital downloads of movies.

So by the time the next Xbox comes out I think very few people will care if it has Blu-Ray or some other proprietary format because by then digital downloads will have already won.  Blu-Ray will be seen in much the same way that we see portable CD players compared to portable MP3 players today.

Pachter has a good point about small developers.  This is why handheld devices are good.  Handheld games cost very little to make compared to games on consoles.  I think Western developers should put more emphasis on handheld games.  If there is one area where the Japanese are ahead of us as far as video games go, it is taking advantage of the "little cost, little risk" of handheld games.  The relative lack of development costs encourages innovation and unique games without the downfalls of big budgets.  Sure, you won't get the amazing graphics you get on next gen consoles but sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the greater good.  Sure, there are downloadable games but handheld games have the advantage of not having space constrictions that you get with XBLA and PSN games.

HD-DVD is Toshiba's property no ?

With the exception of a small thing called 3D. If this kind of entertainment start to grow, Digital Download will not be an option for it

anyone else notice that the game totals shown in the video was vgchartz?

He is dead wrong, Blu-Ray looks to be the future format of choice for large storage media. It makes perfect sense that they aren't going to add the functionality to the 360, but there is no way they release a next generation console without including it. If they don't include it we will be stuck with having to install a content disc.

Hmm lets look at the disadvantags of Microsoft using Blu-Ray:

-High licensing fees
-Competition for Microsoft's digital distribution (and even disc based games for that matter)
-Unlike Microsoft's digital distribution of movies/tv they wouldn't get a cut of Blu-Ray movie/tv sales
-Dedicated Blu-Ray players will be cheap by then so it won't be much of a selling point

Now advantages...

-Umm I'm drawing a blank feel free to help me out

Disc space is probably not a valid point since Microsoft could use a proprietary format.

Uh, Sony doesn't own blu-ray, and it certainly isn't their own creation. It is owned by a number of high profile companies who helped develop it. That is the reason it was extremely predictable that it would win from the very get go. Why everyone attributes it solely to Sony is a complete mystery to me.

Licensing costs would not be any steeper then the R&D for a propreitary format. The movie studios or BD association would likely offset some of those costs by subsidizing it to increase the market penetration.  To think that a company would not do business with the BD association because Sony is seen as the owners is ridiculous. Sony makes Windows computers for a reason its what people want, so what if MS makes several $$$$ off the licensing of every VAIO computer as long as they are selling computers they don't really care. Sony also owns their own movie studio do you think the likes of Disney, Universal, Warner Bros, or Paramount really care if licensing money from their sales help their competitor make extra money. NO because as long as it enables them to sell discs at higher profit margin they don't care.