Rumor: MS to announce $100 HD-DVD addon for Xbox 360 at E3

[Asher]

Rumor mill:

http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2006/04/20/rumor-msfts-e3-plans-include-100-hd-dvd/

Alright, we love long lists of video game rumors compiled by from Spanish-speaking forums as much as the next guy, so we thought it was only right to clue you into the latest pre-E3 Xbox 360 hype, courtesy of Xbox365.com. Now that Microsoft's Chris Lewis has confirmed that the HD-DVD add-on would indeed be making an appearance at E3, it's time to pontificate on everything from how much it will cost to when it will be released. They've thrown in another two dozen or so other rumors just so you can't say it isn't comprehensive! Our favorites:

* The premium pack will cost $100 less in October; the core system will be $80 less.
* The HD-DVD add-on will debut in September for $100.
* 100GB HDD, but no price and date available (huh, wonder why?)

Video game rumors from the internet share several commonalities with astrology. The goal is to be vague enough while using common sense to make predictions that are not only reasonable but also not easily dismissed. Take all the above, for example; or the "more Xbox Live Arcade titles are coming" rumor. Not something we'd call a stretch.

But where do they always blow it? On the details. For example: a "virtual console"-esque service enabling playback of all Sega games? Not likely if any part of Nintendo's agreement with Sega involves exclusivity. The real question this raisesis, up against the Revolution and the PS3, does Microsoft have this many tricks in its bag to keep all eyes on it?

Would be interesting, to say the least. It seems the consensus for the PS3 price is $499, still.

[Asher]

Also new (but confirmed) information is the PS3's OS is taking about 24% of the PS3's power:

- 32MB of the 256MB of available GDDR3 memory off the RSX chip
- 64MB of the 256MB of available XDR memory off the Cell CPU
- 1 SPE of 7 constantly reserved
- 1 SPE of 7 able to be "taken" by the OS at a moments notice (games have to give it up if requested)

[Imran Siddiqui]

Maybe I'll wait until October for a 360 then .

[Asher]

One of MS' three manufacturers of Xbox 360 says they will be producing one million consoles/month by the end of 2006. I think holiday 2006, there will be lots to go around.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Works for me .

I'll probably get one by the close of the year. By then there will be plenty of titles to choose from as well .

[Asher]

Gears of War comes out in November.

[MRT144]

hopefully this is another blow to bluray

[Imran Siddiqui]

I'm looking forward to Mass Effect... hopefully it is out this year .

[Asher]

And, looks like they're moving to 65nm from the current 90nm for the CPUs/GPUs in Q1 2007. Means cheaper and cooler.

MILPITAS, Calif. and SINGAPORE - April 20, 2006 -

Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing , one of the world's top dedicated semiconductor foundries, has signed an agreement with Microsoft for the manufacturing of CPU products-using 65-nanometer (nm) Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) semiconductor technology -for Microsoft's Xbox 360 game consoles. Production is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2007, and will support the Xbox 360's growing demand and expanding market reach. The announcement follows Chartered's successful manufacturing of 90nm SOI CPU products for the Xbox 360 console's launch, through an agreement with IBM.

"We look forward to working with Chartered on the production of such an important component of our Xbox 360 system," said Larry Yang, General Manager of Xbox Console Development at Microsoft. "Chartered's ability to demonstrate the manufacturability of IBM's advanced SOI technology in Fab 7 was key to our selection. We plan to continue with our strategy of dual sourcing from Chartered and IBM's fabs, which are operationally aligned and compatible, to give us the consistent product quality and flexibility we will need."

"We are excited to expand our manufacturing relationship with Microsoft and leverage the innovative 65nm SOI technology made available to us through our agreement with IBM," said Kay Chai "KC" Ang, senior vice president of fab operations at Chartered. "This is both a recognition of Chartered's 300mm manufacturing excellence and increasing customer confidence in our ability to enable cutting-edge technologies as products transition to 65nm. By working closely with IBM to enable manufacturing compatibility and dual-sourcing capability, our goal is to continue to be a reliable manufacturing source to Microsoft."

"Together, Chartered and IBM offer a unique dual source capability that delivers superior redundancy and flexibility," said Jim Comfort, vice president, Microsoft Client Executive, IBM. "Chartered's decision to adopt our advanced Silicon on Insulator technology at 65nm is further evidence of the success of the IBM/Chartered Common Platform strategy."

[Gatekeeper]

Originally posted by MRT144
hopefully this is another blow to bluray

What's your beef with Blu-ray?

[Dinner]

Doesn't blu-ray actually have a slightly larger capacity then HD-DVD? If Sony is following it's typical pattern it will charge to much and people will adopt the technically inferior standard which is also cheaper. We will see.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Oerdin
Doesn't blu-ray actually have a slightly larger capacity then HD-DVD? If Sony is following it's typical pattern it will charge to much and people will adopt the technically inferior standard which is also cheaper. We will see.

Bingo... you didn't have to know the specifics and you hit it on the head . Blu-Ray does have a larger capacity, but it is much more expensive to produce than HD-DVD (and where do you think the price difference is going to go?). From what I read, current DVD production machines can be easily changed to make HD-DVDs, while for Blu-Rays they need to get new production machines entirely.

[Dinner]

Blu-ray will likely go the way of the mini-disk and a bunch of other very interesting Sony ideas which have lost the standards wars.

[alva]

Meh, both blu-ray and HD-DVD will be obsolete before they will even be mainstream.

Holodiscs.

[Asher]

Holodisc? Euro please!

Why are we hung up on physical media.