Microsoft Xbox Chief Predicts Doom & Gloom For Blu-ray

Published on 09-28-2010 07:34 PM

Once upon a time, Microsoft backed a format called HD DVD and, well, that didn’t turn out so well. But the departure from focusing on high-density physical media early on might have forced Microsoft — and the Xbox team — to look towards digital downloads for future products. UK Xbox chief, Stephen McGill, seems to agree and recently stated to gaming site Xbox Achievements that “People now recognize what a smart decision it was to keep the [Xbox 360] pricing low,” in reference to not including an advance optical format within the Xbox 360. Then he goes on to properly slam the Blu-ray format.
McGill,

Actually Blu-ray is going to be passed by as a format.

Burnnnn. His reasoning? Streaming HD content and we can’t agree more although services such as Netflix and Amazon are still a hit-or-miss practice. Sometimes the video quality is good, but it’s never ever Blu-ray quality. Yet. The technology has grown exponentially over the last couple years and it will only be a matter of time before Netflix — or others — can stream proper HD content. It wasn’t that long ago that the service launched with just SD content and the simple convenience of streaming won over fans.
Blu-ray discs are still discs. They’re a pain. I cannot imagine a world without my media server and instant access to my entire movie collection on nearly every TV in my house. I haven’t had a DVD player hooked up for years. I’m confident that my 3-year old son doesn’t know what a DVD looks like. Ours are safely tucked away in a Case-Logic binder.
McGill is nearly right although his statement is little overworked. Blu-ray is already an accepted format. The discs and players are selling fine and will probably increase in sales for the next few years. Blu-ray will probably even outlast the Xbox 360. But products like the new Roku, updated Apple TV, and Boxee Box will quickly introduce new demographics to the world of streaming videos. This is the future. Streaming still has a long ways to go, but will eventually kill physical media dead.

Source: CrunchGear

Categories:
Hardware

6 Comments

bobbintb - 09-28-2010, 11:54 PM
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pft. idiot.

also:

But products like ~~the new Roku, updated Apple TV, and Boxee Box~~ Google TV will quickly introduce new demographics to the world of streaming videos.

duke0102 - 09-29-2010, 08:46 AM
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With the big rise in STEAM and similar purchases I can see what he's saying on this one

jrocivxx - 09-29-2010, 05:04 PM
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Some people actually like to buy the Bluray movies, like me i collect them eventhough i have hundreds of bluray rips on my comp. As for it being a pain for loading discs? thats a joke i mean how hard is it? it takes just as much time to boot into his media server then to get off his lazy ass and place a bluray into his console.The only reason microsoft even bashes bluray is because they Failed with HD garbage. so now the question is, if microsoft never failed with HDDVD they wouldnt be saying anything.

yasobelber92 - 09-29-2010, 05:25 PM
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He is pretty happy about all the TV's he has in house. Sad to see how many people are sucked by the television. It literally killed most people's social lifes. Plus it's the biggest brainwash there was and still is, controlled by the daughter companies of Bilderberg Group or Rockerfellers as some call them.

gamesover - 09-30-2010, 02:41 AM
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Who cares when you have HDbits. I stream all my HD and by that I mean I download it all. Haven't bought a blu-ray disc, don't even own a player. I agree with what the Xbox guy is saying, even though I think they made a huge mistake with HD-DVD and Blue Ray will be around for a long time because most people in the real world don't download it from illegal trackers.

Originally Posted by yasobelber92

He is pretty happy about all the TV's he has in house. Sad to see how many people are sucked by the television. It literally killed most people's social lifes. Plus it's the biggest brainwash there was and still is, controlled by the daughter companies of Bilderberg Group or Rockerfellers as some call them.

By the same token, haven't private trackers killed a lot of people's social lives

magic_hands007 - 10-01-2010, 01:11 PM
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This of course assumes that all consumers will put their faith in online purchases and will acquire some form education in the use of these technologies.