I don't understand the idea that blu-ray is something that MS would be against. Do people realise that VC-1, which is a mandatory codec on bluray, was initially developed and partly owned by Microsoft?

While I have no idea how the licencing is broken up, MS would be receiving some sort of royalties (maybe indirectly) from the sale of blu-ray players and possibly certain titles.

If blu-ray is the "next" dvd by the next gen consoles, I can't see MS not including it. Given that both the PS3 and 360 are marketed as media centres, it would be a massive blow for MS not to support playback of bluray and if you are already supporting the discs, why not use them for your main media?

HD-DVD would decrease piracy but would hinder the lessening of the cost of the console b/c ppl would want to play BRs on it hence a HD-DVD/BR combo drive which is expensive. Versatile Multilayer Disc would be good along with XBL DLable games if they wanted a proprietary format.

Blu ray will be up to 400gn per disk by 2011 they will be going with blu ray

Yeah, it will come down a lot within the next few year, plus I love the thought of fitting a game on a 1.5"x1" media.

That's my point though... I don't think people really care if their console can play movies or not.  Don't get me wrong, it's a nice little feature, but I really don't think people will pay more to see movies on their console.  Just look at the Wii, it's juts a game console, and it controls 50% of the market.

@MisterShine Wow. That is $204 though...

The HD-DVD ,data MEDIA IS NO BAD IDEA ,,in dual layer suport ''30gb'' of data,..microsoft cant by use in the future xbox720....

Actually, HD DVD supports much larger data amounts than that now, so I think it's the natural choice for MS to use.  I'd love to be a fly on the wall in their discussions to see what they are up to for the next gen.

I think this gen was pretty cool, but I think the next one will be even more cut throat than ever.  Everyone will be trying to cram as much tech as they can in a little box for as little money as possible.  I think $299.00 will be the goal for each of their "premium systems" and then cheaper watered-down versions of each for $199.00.

I was actually hoping that MS would go back to cartridge based games.. cart based games that hold a terrabyte of data.

and no more worrying about the drive wearing out and laser overheating

Well flash media is virtually the same as cartridge based media with the same benefits, but in much smaller package... it just has to get cheaper before that happens.