The HD-DVD Edition

There's been a lot of noise on the HD-DVD front recently.

Microsoft is going with an HD-DVD external attachment for the Xbox 360, with all of the heavy lifting being done by the console itself.

Sony, on the other hand, is building the competing Blu-ray technology directly into their upcoming PS3, ostensibly betting the farm that Blu-ray is going to come out on top. Arguments of superior technology aside, memories of Betamax, MiniDisc, UMD, and Memory Stick would make me nervous.

Anyway, Microsoft, after showing the book-sized HD-DVD player at E3, demoed it this week, and made some noise about it being the "Cheapest HD-DVD solution out there".

First, Kevin Collins (Senior Program Manager at Microsoft) showed the HD-DVD drive at this week's DVD Forum in Los Angeles, including some of the interactive features that can be used while a movie is playing.

Then, Major Nelson did his podcast on the HD-DVD drive. There were also some weak-ass mockups of the HD-DVD portion of the Xbox 360 dashboard released.

Finally, rumblings abound that the HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360 is going to be the cheapest.
Which is marketing hype. Mostly.

Microsoft Director of Global Marketing Albert Penello postured thus:

"Here's the truth, we're still thinking about it. Here's what I can tell you for
sure, it's going to be the cheapest HD-DVD player you can buy ... without a
doubt, when it comes out. ... Everybody is very enthusiastic with the direction
we're going. There's still a few surprises left. I don't want to spill the beans
yet, but I think people are going to think it's a great value."

Face it, you can currently get an HD-DVD player for as low as around $420 (which is more appealing than $800-$1,100 for a Blu-ray player). But for the Xbox 360 attachment to be the cheapest, the price of the HD-DVD attachment plus Xbox 360 console would need to be around $400 -- and that's pushing it, because HD-DVD prices have 3 to 4 months to normalize before Microsoft's offering comes out. For the math challenged, that means it would need to work with the Core (aka "WTF") SKU, and be $100 or less (currently, analysts are saying it will be priced at $149, but I think they may be closer to $99).

I doubt it'll work with the "WTF" SKU, because you'll probably need the $99 hard drive for the HD-DVD software.

Maybe they mean "cheapest HD-DVD player you can buy [if you already own an Xbox 360]."

Or ... the "few surprises" could include something like working with any computer with a USB 2.0 connection (the way the attachment is going to hook up to the console), and Windows Media Player 11 (still in crappy beta form) could be used to run it.

Or ... maybe they'll be among the first to implement wireless USB (or extend their proprietary wireless technology used for their controllers to DVD, camera, or other wireless coolness).

I could so be a Product Director for these guys.