Well he would say, wouldn't he. This is of course an admission on M$'s part that they were ultimately trying to hinder the development of physical media to push their own agenda with digi distribution, which really doesn't rub to well with me. Another under-handed strategy from a company notorious for under-handed and unlawful practices. Scum!

This man is treating the public as if we are all stupid fools. Microsoft DID back the wrong horse with HD-DVD. That is why the format was first dropped by most film studios and then by Toshiba. In what way can he claim that HD-DVD was the RIGHT horse?!

I understand his PR role will not allow him to be totally honest about the HD-DVD debacle. But nor should he be so slippery with the truth when we all know different. It just makes me less inclined to trust Microsoft.

“There are both challenges and opportunities in the transition to high-definition experiences throughout the home,” said Blair Westlake, corporate vice president of the Media/Entertainment & Technology Convergence Group at Microsoft. “And after looking at the core advantages to the PC ecosystem and how it would benefit the consumer, it is clear that HD DVD offers the highest quality, and is the most affordable and highly flexible solution available.”

Ummmm, so NOW it's downloads...........

i like how they never let on how important digital distribution was when they were selling the failing product of HD-DVD drives. always the consumer who gets kicked up the ass, suppose im lucky i went wiv ps3 so this dont bother me but they dont suffer they just made money wiv a product they decided to cut away from. who agrees?

As far as I am aware VC-1 is used for HD-DVD and downloadable content. Microsofts Video Compression -1 codec is better than Mpeg-4 in terms of compression and quality. Look it up. Thats what he means by backing the right horse, he's talking about the underlying technology.

Who may choise for end user. Who's care about more capacity in a single disc, who's tells Holywood tha I want
to buy a very complicated Blue-ray player.Does Microsoft
not going to do nothing and will let Sony to use the VC-1?.

I just don't understand why Microsoft wants us loyal 360 customers to buy a PS3 to get Blu-ray and risk losing us to the PS3 once games come out to utilize its superior technology.

I'm just about to buy a PS3 because I have no interest in paying $6.25 for individual 1080i electronic movie rentals when I can pay only $10 per month to Blockbuster online for as many 1080p Blu-rays as I want.

If the market is demanding Blu-ray, why not give it to them? It just doesn't make sense!

"suppose im lucky i went wiv ps3 so this dont bother me"
Ah yes, us lucky PS3 owners... the ones who get regularly slapped by Sony, who make us not only pay more for games and hardware than our US counterparts but also makes us pay the same for digital distribution as we do for the disc version... GT5 Prologue ring any bells?

If you think you are lucky because you went with a company more familiar with bleeding its customer base dry than Microsoft, then then you're a typical Sony hype target. I wouldn't put yourself in the lucky category for that.

"...risk losing us to the PS3 once games come out to utilize its superior technology."
Don't even go there! You're not talking on one of the "full of gullible kids" forums here. Read what it says in the "ABOUT US" box just below these posts. A lot of MCV readers are developers, don't peddle the "myths" to the people who know the "facts".

Neil Thompson certainly has great hair, doesn't he?

He certainly does!

I think its a bit mad not pushing for the blu-ray player ive had both now and have kept my ps3 simply because of the bluray player its great... i know you have to be bit of a retard to do this but you can loose them downloaded films and one i got just said corrupt data when i tried to play it. Made me angry. what makes me even more angry is that the customer is always gonna be shat on by microsoft and sony there door knobs! i whish LG made a console in my experiance they have always looked out for the customer

This is a great comment board, so fed up with forum turning into mass arguments about which is better! There both great at the end of the day and without the rivalry of the two machines neither would have been as good as they are... Like i said very happy to of found a site that respects that

whilst i have found such a good board if i can ask this question without starting a war does anyone hear mind telling me if the ps3 will one day have more power to use then the 360 or are they destined to look the same till the next consol

Couldn't agree more! I've been saying for years that $ony was behind the times when they started pushing Blu-ray and the Blu-ray player. Microsoft is the true innovator this generation while $ony is clinging to the past and the hope they can pressure ppl into buying more clunky hardware and physical copies of media to clutter up your living room.

Is this 2008 or 1988? Come on $ony and get with the times!