@ HappySqurriel

If Blu-Ray takes off like it seems it will, I think future game consoles will come supplied with a Blu-Ray drive as production costs will drop further (benefits are, more space & mandatory hard coating). I think it may even be technically possible to add HD DVD support to Blu-Ray players through firmware updates, there are already Blu-Ray players which offer basic HD DVD backwards compatibility (without support of extended features).

MikeB wrote:

US holiday wishlist for 2007, according to Solutions Research Group (SRG) for Digital Life America:

1) HDTV
2) Laptop
3) Digital Camera
4) Desktop computer
5) Car GPS system
6) New Cell phone
7) Video Camera
8) Nintendo Wii
9) PS3
10) Blu-Ray or HD DVD player

3 important success factors within the US top 10 wishlist for 2007, a good sign.

Don't give up hope guys. Sony domination is just around the next corner. Or maybe the next.  Or the one after that.

Sony and Microsoft will never adopt the format owned by their competitor. Why give your opponent a share of your profits? Makes no sense. If it comes to pass that blu-ray wins the format race eventually (see: fastest turtle in the race), then Microsoft will probably develop their own medium.

Personally, I believe that the proliferation of downloaded games will take over so medium won't really matter, and hard drive space will. 

@ cdude1034

HD DVD is pretty much Toshiba's format.

The Blu-Ray format isn't really owned by Sony.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc_Association

MikeB said: @ HappySqurriel If Blu-Ray becomes a smashing success, Nintendo and Microsoft could easily choose HD-DVD as their format to discourage piracy... If Blu-Ray takes off like it seems it will, I think future game consoles will come supplied with a Blu-Ray drive as production costs will drop further (benefits are, more space & mandatory hard coating). I think it may even be technically possible to add HD DVD support to Blu-Ray players through firmware updates, there are already Blu-Ray players which offer basic HD DVD backwards compatibility (without support of extended features).

The Gamecube's optical format was just Panasonic's abandoned alternative to DVD ... Although it could read standard DVDs the challenge of reading the discs prevented piracy for years

 

@elendar

yeah give me an line all for myself with 30+MB/s for a low prize of $39.99 a month and I'll think downloadable steam video will replace physical media. lets just take out all the constraints of buying new equipements to sending the signal to your TV sets, and the facts that your HDD can actually die unexpectedly and cause you to loose all the saved Data. I'm currently using 8mb/s (800k/s) download speed and it takes a long long time to download 9 gig(dvd9) of data even the transfer max out my download speed.

as for the topic, console maker will definitely looking for a new format next gen. I dont think its because they needed that extra space, but more likely for piracy reason. at current generation developement cost are becoming very huge. New format ===>> need to buy new equipement ===> adding more game content ===> increasing team #s ===> increasing developing time ===> translate into higher cost!!! and I dont think any developer will like increasing cost and increasing their risk on each project. Developer already crying at the high cost of development, and those are big publishers. Now imagine what its like for small developers.

@happySqurriel

I think what really help prevented piracy for the GameCube is the difficulties of getting the small size blank dvds. pirated game is around at very early stage.

dvd can still be around for the next gen console if HDD price became so cheap that they can basically install each game onto it. at current rate by next generation we can see 1-2TB HDD for as low as $60.

MikeB said: @ elendar I already downloaded countless games and animations from the internet during the early 90s, but like the delivery speeds have increased likewise has the supported quality thus size of the distributed content dramatically increased. Currently I have an internet connection of only 8000 kbit/s, thus only 1 MB per second max and that costs nearly 50 Euros per month, most others I know have between 1600 kbit/s and 4000kb/s connections.

And note that I live in a country with the second highest percentage of broadband internet adoption. Ranked number 1 is Denmark. Only about half of US and Japanese households have a broadband internet connection.

According to research we can expect average internet speeds to double about every 2.5 years. At such a rate that would mean within about 8 years it may actually be feasible for me to stream high quality movie content. However I believe many ordinary people will just choose the cheapest internet solution available to them, just to browse the web, chat and read some emails. I think it will be an enormous task to get these people to pay more instead of just buying Blu-Ray discs, which will be cheap to mass produce and have come down in price considerably by then.

In some countries like Greece and Brazil people with a broadband internet connection are just a small minority. IMO don't buy into Microsoft's hype, they know HD DVD is likely to loose. Nomatter how much of a lost cause it becomes, they likely want to confuse and devide the market for as long as possible. Like I said in the past, I believe this war to last well into 2008.

MikeB said: MikeB wrote: If Blu-Ray takes off like it seems it will US holiday wishlist for 2007, according to Solutions Research Group (SRG) for Digital Life America: 1) HDTV 2) Laptop 3) Digital Camera 4) Desktop computer 5) Car GPS system 6) New Cell phone 7) Video Camera 8) Nintendo Wii 9) PS3 10) Blu-Ray or HD DVD player 3 important success factors within the US top 10 wishlist for 2007, a good sign.

 .. Wii and 360 arent up there.. lmfao im honestly shocked.. who the hell voted for Car GPS. And now a days fvideo cam and digital cam are the same thing. 

@ ssj2

Nintendo Wii is in there, ranked just above the PS3, this with the help of US women. According to this survey US men prefer the PS3, women prefer the Nintendo Wii.

I can understand this well, me and my girlfriend like the Nintendo Wii as well, but we more consider it a simple little toy and the PS3 more like a media center as well as a high-end gaming platform. I am going to buy my kid sister a Nintendo Wii next christmas.