Microsoft Drops Xbox HD DVD Drive Price

By Geoff Duncan Published June 19, 2018

Microsoft Drops Xbox HD DVD Drive Price

Microsoft has announced it will lower the price on its external Xbox 360 HD DVD Player from $199 to $179 beginning August 1—and, furthermore, the company will offer five free HD DVD movies with players purchased between August 1 and September 30, 2007. The free movie deal closely parallel’s Toshiba’s recent promotion of five free HD DVD discs with Toshiba HD DVD players—when purchasing an Xbox 460 HD DVD player, customers will be able to choose five free movies from a selection of 15 HD DVD titles via a mail-in offer.

“With the price reduction to $179, the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player continues to be the most affordable way to enjoy high definition,” said Jeff Bell, corporate VP of global Marketing, for Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division. “From the beginning, we set out to offer Xbox 360 owners an unrivaled high-definition experience, with a choice of optical discs on the HD DVD format and digital downloads through Xbox LIVE Marketplace—both of which have a selection of the best content Hollywood has to offer.”

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Microsoft also announced promotions to tie in with the HD DVD releases of the film 300 and the first season of the NBC television show Heroes. Microsoft will offer 300 on demand via Xbox Live Marketplace beginning August 14, and will offer the Heroes pilot episode as a free high definition download for a limited time. Microsoft will also offer teasers, trailers, and other Heroes promotional materials as free downloads.

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Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Gaming

Baldur’s Gate 3 drops Series S splitscreen support to release on Xbox in 2023

Jaheira in Baldur's Gate 3.

Larian Studios promises to release Baldur's Gate 3 on Xbox Series X/S later this year after pushing the game back because of performance problems on Xbox Series S.
Baldur's Gate 3 is available now on PC and will come out for PS5 on September 6, but an Xbox Series X/S version won't be available for a little bit longer. In a July 2023 community update, developer Larian Studios explained that this is because it needed "to ensure that the game is performing without compromise across the entire Xbox X/S ecosystem, in multiplayer and with split-screen. The Xbox Series X version was running fine, but the Xbox Series S version of the game was struggling a lot more. The Xbox versions of Baldur's Gate 3 didn't have a release window until now, when Larian Studios co-founder Swen Vincke took to X to confirm it'd come to Xbox platforms before the end of the year. That said, it will exclude one notable feature.
"Super happy to confirm that after meeting [Phil Spencer] yesterday, we’ve found a solution that allows us to bring Baldur’s Gate 3 to Xbox players this year still, something we’ve been working towards for quite some time," Vincke wrote. "All improvements will be there, with split-screen coop on Series X. Series S will not feature split-screen co-op, but will also include cross-save progression between Steam and Xbox Series."
Thankfully, it looks like Xbox players won't have to wait too much longer to play this excellent game, but it will be one of the first games to notably drop a major feature between the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S versions. This follows comments by Head of Xbox Phil Spencer where he said he doesn't believe Microsoft will drop support for Xbox Series S in the foreseeable future. "I want to make sure games are available on both, that's our job as a platform holder and we're committed to that with our partners," Spencer told Eurogamer. "And I think we're gonna get there with Larian. So I'm not overly worried about that, but we've learned some stuff through it. Having an entry-level price point for console, sub-$300, is a good thing for the industry."

Baldur's Gate 3 is available now for PC, launches for PS5 on September 6, and will finally come out for Xbox Series X/S before the end of 2023.

Gaming

Microsoft will shut down the Xbox 360 Store next year

An image of backward compatible Xbox 360 games.

Microsoft announced today that it plans to shut down the Xbox 360 in 2024, an extremely disappointing move that's bad for game preservation.

The Xbox 360 Store, also known as the Xbox Live Marketplace, has been present on Microsoft's second game console in some form ever since it launched in 2005. In recent years, storefront shut down for older systems have become more common. The 3DS and Wii U eShops went offline in March despite player anger, while Sony planned to shut down the PS3, PSP, and PS Vita storefronts in 2021 before reversing that decision because of the backlash. Regardless, the loss of any storefront is a dour move for the video game industry, as some games are exclusively available to them and will be lost forever when the store goes offline.

Gaming

Microsoft beat the FTC. Here’s what the controversial court ruling means for Xbox

You’ve probably heard that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lost its case against Microsoft after an exciting and revelatory trial. On Tuesday, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley denied FTC's motion for a preliminary injunction to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard before its potential completion by July 18. Ultimately, Corley did not believe that Microsoft owning Call of Duty would “substantially lessen competition” in the game industry. It was major win for Microsoft after months of regulatory hoops and roadblocks, but the FTC quickly moved to appeal the decision. This all raises an important question: What’s next?

Over the next week, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, and the FTC will determine the fate of the gaming companies involved in this acquisition and set a precedent for the future of the game industry. On top of that, Microsoft still has to deal with the next moves made by the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which wants to block the acquisition due to its impact on cloud gaming. Following the release of Judge Corley’s Preliminary Injunction Opinion, I spoke to two analysts and a lawyer with knowledge of the video game industry to better understand what lies ahead for Microsoft and Activision, the FTC, and the CMA. The battle isn't quite over yet, even if the end is finally on the horizon.
What’s next for Microsoft and Activision Blizzard
Currently, Microsoft and Activision are in a solid position, as a Judge has ruled that Microsoft is unlikely to pull Call of Duty from PlayStation or lessen competition in the game console, cloud gaming, or game subscription markets by acquiring Activision Blizzard. There’s a temporary restraining order in place until July 14, which the FTC hopes to successfully appeal during. As soon as that order is up, though, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have until July 18 to complete the acquisition.