XBox360 External HD DVD Drive
Microsoft Announces External HD DVD Reader for Xbox 360
During Bill Gates’ Keynote Address at CES 2006 he made it clear that Microsoft was going ahead with an Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on. The external HD DVD drives for 360 will be for movie playback only and will do nothing for gaming. Now the question is will they re-release Xbox 360 with an internal HD DVD player next year too? Microsoft has not posted any information about this, but it’s a move that would alienate customers who bought one before the HD DVD upgrade.
External media readers for game consoles haven’t had such a good track record. The Sega CD was about as popular as a shark at a beach party. The only word on when this new add–on will be available from Microsoft is sometime in 2006. This sets the HD DVD player for release around the same time as the next Windows operating system, Vista.
Theoretically, if you own a Windows Vista machine that is equipped with an internal HD DVD drive (that might even cost less than 360’s external drive), you shouldn’t need an external player for your Xbox 360. A Vista feature called Managed Copy should satisfy your HD DVD movie viewing needs. Using the Managed Copy feature, a household PC running Vista that has an HD DVD or Blu-Ray player will be able to copy the contents of a disc to the Xbox 360 to watch on HDTV.
Managed Copy is a feature of the AACS (Advanced Access Content System), a DRM (Digital Rights Management) system for next gen optical storage like HD DVD and Blu-Ray.
Microsoft’s support of the HD DVD format was ostensibly the result of Bill Gates wanting to support the consumer. The HD DVD format requires MMC (Mandatory Managed Copy) and iHD, another feature supported by HD DVD and Windows Vista that will let you access enhanced content and navigational features.
In short, HD DVD was going to be the more PC friendly choice in next generation optical storage. Microsoft sided with Toshiba (Toshiba is HD DVD) rather than long-time game console rival Sony (Sony owns the Blu-Ray format). HP made a highly publicized plea to Sony to support both Vista features in Blu-Ray or the PC manufacturer would switch to HD DVD. Sony gave HP Managed Copy but not iHD. Blu-Ray will support MC. MC will be an option for studios to add to the disc you buy. In the future, you’ll probably see MC versions of your favorite movies sold at a premium price.
The MC feature is clearly a good one for consumers. However, the real support for MC will have to come from the companies who create the media printed on the new formats. Jordi Ribas, Director of Technical Strategy for Microsoft, says that studios will have the option to charge for this feature. Ribas has also stated that he hopes the studios will allow the user to copy it just once.
We’ll have to wait for the implementation of this feature and its potential charges to see exactly how it pans out. It sounds like there is the potential for the abuse of this product by the media industry that could result in the industry charging consumers for the right to copy or playback media we already own through AACS compliant devices. So, if you own a Vista machine with an HD DVD or Blu-Ray player, it’s not likely you’ll have much use for any stinking HD DVD add-on.