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Technology Lifestyle HD DVD player for Aussie Xbox 360’s launches early next year
Technology Lifestyle HD DVD player for Aussie Xbox 360’s launches early next year | HD DVD player for Aussie Xbox 360’s launches early next year |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Friday, 17 November 2006 | |
  
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Major movie studios and Australian film distributors have lined up in support of HD DVD, including Universal Pictures. The Australian release of the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player will come complete with the Universal Pictures blockbuster film “Peter Jackson’s King Kong” on HD DVD. Other HD DVD titles available early next year will include “Serenity”, “Jarhead”, and “The Bourne Supremacy” with plenty more planned for 2007. Naturally those titles will play on existing standalone HD DVD players, but seeing as you can get an Xbox 360 system with hard drive, and the new external HD DVD player, at a cost that’s cheaper than the Toshiba HD DVD player only, why buy a standalone player? Even if you buy the ‘most expensive’ Xbox 360 pack in Australia, known as the “Xbox 360 Massive Entertainment Pack” for AUD $796.95, which comes with the full Xbox 360 system, an additional wireless controller, Project Gotham Racing 3 and Dead or Alive 4, and then add the cost of the new HD DVD drive at AUD $249.95, that’s AUD $1046.90, which is $52.91 cheaper than the Toshiba. Of course, cheaper Xbox 360 packs exist, and if you bought one of those, the price difference would be even more in Microsoft’s favour, while even better, the HD DVD drive up-scales your existing DVD collection to enhance the picture quality to near HD levels, as other standalone players are also capable of. Microsoft’s message on their new HD DVD player is that “The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player offers stunning video and immersive surround-sound audio with up to six times higher resolution than DVD. HD DVD allows for innovative, interactive content enabling PIP (picture-in-picture) commentary, scene selection and menu access, all while the movie is playing”. They’re also quick to remind us that “As part of the recent Xbox Live® update, all Xbox 360 consoles now have the ability to output native resolution 1080p movies and games. Early adopters who have displays that support 1080p over VGA and component can now experience the benefit of a crisper, cleaner picture”. David McLean, Regional Director Xbox Australia and New Zealand, said that, “Xbox 360 is already the best value next generation video game console. It’s now rapidly becoming the heart of the home entertainment system. We’re offering consumers the choice of jumping into the next generation of DVD technology, and they can do so for less than the price of competing products, including stand-alone high definition movie players and other games consoles.” Microsoft’s choice of HD DVD is not surprising, seeing as the Blu-ray format is owned by major Xbox competitor Sony, but Microsoft say that globally, “HD DVD is streaking ahead by not only selling in greater quantities and scoring great reviews but also in its vast array of available content, now and in the future”. Joanna White, Marketing Director from Universal Pictures offered her own comments on the Xbox 360 HD DVD launch, “Universal is very excited to support the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player and is absolutely committed to a successful long term relationship with Xbox and the HD DVD format. The future of high definition home theatre is HD DVD and ‘Peter Jackson’s King Kong’ is the perfect demonstration of the format’s exceptional capabilities.” We still have to wait until early next year for the Xbox 360 HD DVD player to arrive in Australia. But it will ask many why they should buy an external HD DVD player, and will spark the biggest battle with Sony's PS3 for high-def gaming and movies that the games industry and games consumers will have ever seen! {moscomment} |
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