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CES 2007 Video: Dolby Booth Tour

We stopped by the Dolby booth while at CES to take a look and listen to their latest and greatest technologies. Of course, we had the film crew in tow, and were able to capture a full tour of their booth. Check the video to find out the latest from Dolby, as well as some innovations that are coming down the pike.


Bleeding Edge 075: CES 2007 Video: The Monorail Interview

While on the monorail coming back from CES we interviewed Larry. He’s here in Las Vegas for CES because he is a home theater enthusiast. He wants to know if Blue-ray or HD-DVD will win in the format war - what do you think?


Unboxing Gallery: Xbox 360 HD DVD Player

The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player can be considered to be the cheapest way to add high definition movies to your entertainment center - that is, if you already own an Xbox 360 console. We picked up one of the new HD DVD Player add-ons for the Xbox 360, and grabbed a bunch of unboxing images for your enjoyment. You can find all 20 images in our Xbox 360 HD DVD Player unboxing gallery.

Read More | Xbox 360 HD DVD Player Unboxing Gallery

Microsoft HD DVD Player: 4.7 Million Lines Of Code

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Xbox 360,

HD DVD Microsoft’s Xbox Team has offered up a little insight into the development effort that went behind the launch of the HD DVD player. 4.7 million lines of code seems a bit much, but knowing that all of the audio and video codecs had to be developed in software puts this complexity into context. According the the Xbox Team, all of the following had to be implemented in software for the HD DVD to play back discs.

  • Video Codecs: H.264, MPEG-2, VC1
  • Audio Codecs: Dolby Digital+, DTS, TrueHD, LPCM, MPEG
  • HDi: The HD DVD runtime engine.
  • GDI: Drawing stuff like menus
  • AACS: Cryptography/DRM stuff
  • MF: Audio/Video pipeline

According to the team, the HD DVD decoding software utilizes all six Xbox 360 hardware threads to play back video, possibly pushing the console harder than any other software title besides Gears of War. While one can appreciate the effort that Microsoft has made in bringing the HD DVD player to market, one also has to note the all of the additional complications that next generation video formats seem to hold for the average consumer.

Read More | Xbox Team

Xbox 360 HD DVD Player To Retail At $200 In USA

HD DVD Xbox 360Microsoft has finally announced pricing for their HD DVD Player add-on for the Xbox 360 in North America, making it know that the unit will sell for $199.99 USD.  While no date has been set, Microsoft did give us a few extra notes - the HD DVD Player will included the HD DVD version of King Kong, along with the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote control. With the next Xbox 360 dashboard update comes the ability to output the signal in 1080p, allowing Full HD compatibility.

While not super-cheap, getting and HD DVD Player for $200 can’t be seen as anything other than a bargain, as the cheapest standalone unit runs for $500 USD - and that one can’t even play Xbox 360 games.

Read More | Playfeed

Xbox 360 HD DVD Player $200 In North America

HD DVD Xbox 360Microsoft has finally announced pricing for their HD DVD Player add-on for the Xbox 360 in North America.  While no date has been set, the device will sell for $199.99 USD, and will included the HD DVD version of King Kong along with the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote control. For those not in the know, the HD DVD Player allows you to view HD DVD movies, delivering six times the resolution of a standard DVD. With the next Xbox 360 dashboard update comes the ability to output the signal in 1080p (same goes for games, which will be upconverted.)

While not super-cheap, getting and HD DVD Player for $200 can’t be seen as anything other than a bargain, as the cheapest standalone unit runs for $500 USD - and that one can’t even play Xbox 360 games.


X06 Webcast Video Download

X06 Barcelona

Microsoft is making a download of their opening announcements for the start of X06 in Barcelona available at Xbox.com. Microsoft announced a new game in the Banjo & Kazooie franchise coming from Microsoft Game Studios. For Xbox Live Arcade, Microsoft announced that Doom would be available starting tonight on Xbox Live Arcade. Other Live Arcade games announced include:

  • Sensible Soccer
  • Contra
  • Ultimate Mortal Kombat
  • Small Arms
  • Gyrus
  • TotemBall
  • Defender
  • Assault Heroes
  • Heavy Weapon
  • Settlers of Catan

In terms of upcoming games, the Japanese RPG Blue Dragon will be available in the US and Europe in 2007. Bungie will have an announcement about Halo 3 by the end of the year. Project Gotham Racing 4 was officially unveiled. Rockstar announced that Grand Theft Auto IV will have two exclusive episodes available for download on Xbox Live. Ubisoft demonstrated Assassin’s Creed interactive gameplay for the first time ever. Bioshock was announced as an Xbox 360 and Windows exclusive. Lost Odyssey was confirmed for the US and Europe, with a trailer showing some of the battle gameplay. More than 500,000 gamers downloaded the Lost Planet demo, and both multiplayer and single player gameplay will be available on the show floor. Splinter Cell: Double Agent footage was shown, and the sequel will be exclusive to the Xbox 360 and on Windows.

The Xbox 360 HD DVD was confirmed to be available in Mid-November 2006 in Europe and the United States for $199.00 US, 199.99 Euros, and 129.99 British Pounds. The package will also include remote, and for a limited time King Kong on HD DVD. Moore also discusses Microsoft’s Games for Windows initiative, and indicates that Windows Vista is still on track for a January 2007 release. Moore also revealed the first preview of Marvel Universe: Online for the Xbox 360 and Windows.

Peter Jackson spoke at the presentation and announced that he has formed a partnership with Microsoft Game Studios. His first project will be an interactive entertainment title set in the Halo universe, apart from Halo 3 and the upcoming film, and Jackson will also be creating a new interactive game series based on original IP. Finally, the presentation wraps with a trailer from a Halo real-time strategy game from Ensemble Studios, called Halo Wars.

The video should be available online soon on Xbox.com at the link below, and should be available as a download via Xbox Live.

Read More | Keynote Summary at Xbox.com

Read More | Xbox.com

Microsoft Again Denies Internal HD DVD

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Xbox 360,

HD DVDThe Microsoft Games Global Marketing again issued a denial for the latest round of rumors that the company was planning on including an internal HD DVD drive. Instead, Microsoft insists that marketing the HD DVD as an add-on is all about offering choice, and expounds on that with all the various choices available to the consumer on the Xbox 360 platform, and a slightly overt stab at their competition. At any rate, expect the HD DVD drive to be available this Holiday, price still unknown.

Read More | Gamerscoreblog

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