Microsoft has held a press conference where it released new official information about its Xbox 360 video game console and the focus was of course the coming HD DVD unit. Just as expected it will first arrive in Japan and actually a few days earlier then what previous sources have stated. On November 17 it will launch Xbox 360 HD DVD in Japan and the price will also be lower than expected, 19 800 Yen – $170. However, the price in North America will still most likely be $199 but it still is a very affordable solution. When the HD DVD unit will arrive in USA and Europa has not been revealed yet, but Microsoft had more interesting news.
Xbox 360 will get support for full HDTV playback later this year when Microsoft will active 1080p resolution through a software update. This is without a doubt yet another way for Microsoft to catch up to any advantages Sony might have with its Playstation 3 console. The fact that Xbox 360 doesn’t have an HDMI output still means that you will not be able to play HD DVD movies at its maximal resolution as the format reguires HDMI at 1080p resolution. Since no games have been developed with 1080p in mind there will be some time before we will see true 1080p, which means that the image will just be scaled up in most cases, hardly an optimal solution. Still better nothing, while it is a nice PR triumph for Microsoft.
