Why the Xbox One Needs Blu-ray For Games

Although many realise and understand this fact, many people overlook, and misunderstand what is actually a rather important feature that will come as standard in the Xbox One.

[jc48573]

why even bother? You only need to install it once. I guess it's designed so that "participating retailers" would gladly take disc from you and redistribute it to make more cash by monopolizing the used sales market. This whole feature is designed to combat ebay sellers. Did lack of trading really affect you Gamestop? well, your trading offer sucks.

[fermcr]

Why did Microsoft even bother putting Blu-ray drive on the X1, since the games don't run from the Blu-ray... oh wait, the X1 isn't a gaming console, it's suppose to be a media center/TV box.

[darthv72]

enabling the system to be the all-in-one unit they are making. the games themselves could have been on a different format if need be. especially when the idea is the games are installed instead of run from the disc.

what Ms needed most was a higher capacity format than DVD. hddvd could have worked just as well but it would have been costly having a blue laser that read both. back in the day...lg and I think one other company had made a laser capable of such things but it soon became apparent that it wasn't needed with bluray taking the winning spot in the HD format.

actually...all we really know is there is a bluray drive in the unit. the games could be on a custom format that is similar but is compatible with the drive as well.

[Sy_Wolf]

You may be the kind of person who wants to download a 50GB game when it's available on a disk, but you're in the minority.

[Dasteru]

@Sy_Wolf:

The point is, it could have been on normal DVDs.

All XB1 games will be fully installed on the system just like a PC game, the game data can be more heavily compressed to fit onto a DVD since it will be decompressed during installation anyways.

Large capacity disks are only needed when the data needs to be streamed off the disk in real time.

[Double_O_Revan]

Because you have to have the drive to watch your bluray movies when your Xbox One can't verify your games online and they won't work.

And when there's nothing on TV.

[Sy_Wolf]

@dasteru It COULD have been on DVD, but why would anyone want that? Do you know how many DVDs you need to get 50GB? It's cheaper for everyone to have a single massive storage disk. Large capacity discs like BluRay are horrible for streaming games off the disk, they are great for storing huge files however. Yes you can compress data, but that's hardly going to make up for the lack of storage space on a DVD.

[Dasteru]

@Sy_Wolf:

You do not seem to understand the meaning of the word compression, making up for the lack of storage space on a DVD is exactly what it would do.

You can get 50GB on 2 dual layer DVDs, the PC already does it.

The XB1 installs all the data from the disk to the HDD, so it is able to be heavily compressed on the disk. 9GB on disk can easily be uncompressed to 25GB+ when installed.

Also 2 DVDs is alot cheaper than 1 Blu-ray disk.

The large capacity of a Blu-ray disk has nothing to do with its streaming ability. The reason the PS3 was slow'ish at streaming was because the Blu-ray drive was only a 2x. 14x Blu-ray readers already exist for the PC.

1x DVD = 512KB-1MB/sec variable
1x Blu-ray = 4.5MB/sec constant.

PS3s 2x Blu-ray was a constant 9MB/sec
360s 12x DVD was variable between about 6.5MB/sec and 12MB/sec

The PS4 uses a 6x Blu-ray which operates at a constant 27MB/sec, not sure what speed the XB1 uses but 27MB/sec is already a faster read speed than any DVD drive in existance, and it can go as high as 14x currently, which is 63MB/sec

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

to catch up with ps3.

[stuna1]

It's doing a great job of that!/s

What's next the XBone gains the ability to follow you room to room? I think if it can pick up a persons heartbeat, it can more than likely see through walls! There is probably so much more that Microsoft is not telling people! They're are just telling us things that will become instantly apperent from the beginning, but what about the things not so apperent?

[SecondSon]

Well once we say a game on the Xbone that looks better than the Last of Us we can say it at least caught up on the graphics department.

Inferred doesn't travel through walls or your body it senses the changes in the reflection of your skin.

We can actually check the heart rate of any character in any film that has been published just by analyzing the subtle pixel changes its all in the software.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[FullmetalAlchemist]

Is making all Xbox One bluray games a mandatory install some sort of way for Microsoft to avoid paying any royalties to Sony? Because doesn't sony have bluray games patented or something? Idk... I'm just thinking out loud.

[Blackdeath_663]

yeah i made a similar comment to yours on another article and received a ton of dislikes and people basically saying sony doesn't have the power to enforce such restriction and so on. so no MS is still paying royalties in some way to sony and no sony has no part in MS's decision to make games a mandatory install

also to anyone buying the XBone don't even bother going out and buying games from retailers if your are confident that your internet can handle big game downloads just get the game from the xbox live store within the comforts of your own home because it is basically the same thing. only the digital version of the game is playable whether you get the from the store or install it from a bluray disk. trade in policies is the same for both aswell.

[kneon]

The problem with the digital version is that the games will not be small and will soon fill up your hard drive. So sooner or later you will need to purge some older games. Unless Microsoft are even stupider than they have appeared lately then you should be able to reinstall the game from disk rather than redownloading 10's of GB of data all over again.

[b777conehead]

kneon
weather you down load are instal from disk . it will take the same amount of hard disk space.

[kneon]

Well of course it takes the same amount of space. But by using the disk you avoid the download which will be slower and which will take good chunk of your monthly download limit unless you have unlimited usage.

[Insomnia_84]

It's not patented. They own part of it. For every game sold on the XBone, Sony is making money too.

[secretcode]

Yeah but it's a very small cut. It's not like Sony will see amazing profits from the XONE.

[kneon]

Sure, but it's no different than with the 360. Most of the DVD and CD patents belong to Sony and Philips so Microsoft have been paying Sony for years, not just for the 360 but also for Windows.

[HammadTheBeast]

They'll probably make about 30 cents to a dollar.

[Double_O_Revan]

Just like the scroll wheel on the iPod. Microsoft owns that if I remember correctly.

[GeorgeRoberts]

Sony are only part of the Blu ray Disk Association (or whatever it's called) - a number of companies (including Sony) have shares on the board. They make money when publishers buy disks to publish on, not from royalties of the content!

[wenaldy]

Yup there are tons of companies holding on BDA, including Sony.

[OrangePowerz]

What George said above. Sony is only part of the group that controls Blu ray, just like it was the case with DVD. Blu Ray and DVD was developed by a number of different companies so there is no single company that`s holding the rights or patent for Blu ray or DVD.

[cee773]

Actually sony and panasonic own most patents for blu ray players and discs meaning both would receive royalties for every xbone sold. patents=royalties why you think sony fought toshiba so hard in the infamous blu ray vs. HDDVD and losing billions putting it inside the PS3 and paying Warner Bros. off was the last nail in HDDVD's coffin courtesy of sony.

you dont invest billions in tech only make pennies from patents motorola makes hundreds of millions annually just because it own most of the wifi patents anything conataining wifi motorola receives A piece.

[gamertk421]

It's too bad, because HD-DVD was a better format. blu-ray is so slow!

[OrangePowerz]

Given the fact that you have to install games the Blu Ray disc is only there to deliver data, it has little use besides of the fact that people don`t have to switch discs while installing.

You would think MS learned from the fact that people, myself included, have been complaining about mandatory installation of games on PS3.

[Crazay]

Mandatory install always was a major bone of contention for me with the PS3 as well...those installs took so effing long..and then the mandatory updates after also took an ungodly amount of time to complete.

[Geezus]

Yeah but now you can play the game while it installs on both consoles kinda eases the annoyance of having to install a bit

[OrangePowerz]

"Geezus

I havent seen anything that suggests that on the Xbone you play while installing or that the PS4 needs installation from disc.

[chcolatesnw]

I read somewhere that both consoles will play games from HDD whether you want them to or not, I just can't remember where. Also, this im not sure of, but Sony mention 6x read speed right? Does this mean it will have roughly 216Mbps read speed? Since 1x is 36Mbps. Because if so, then a standard HDD has ~100Mbps read speed, making it the speed of a 3x blu ray reader, so wouldn't it technically be wiser to play the game from disc? Unless the option to play a game while it installs/patches is only possible on HDD since you can't write to the blu ray disc.

[ZoyosJD]

@chcolatesnw

A x6 BR drive has read speeds of 216 Mbit/s or 27 Mbyte/s.

A decent HDD easily does 100 Mbyte/s.

1 byte = 8 bits

[Geezus]

@orangepowerz

www.psu.com/a019206/

m.joystiq.com/2013/05/21/xbox -one-lets-you-play-immediately- during-installs-suspend-an/

[Bzone24]

The one thing I do like is that you never have to put the disc in the drive again after it's installed. Less wear and tear on the drive and disc.

[Crazay]

Uhmmm, they need it because a) games need more space and b) nowadays ISPs are screwing their customers with seriously denutted data caps. Many of which would be crushed with just one game download or 40GB.

and since I know I'm going to get pointless disagrees here, let me prove it...

Here's my lame ass ISP
Xplornet - 1.5Mbps 5 GB total data for $39.99
or the next step up is 5Mbps with 20 whopping GB of data for just $59.99 o.0

Rogers - 6Mbps with 20GB of data for $40 and the next level is 25Mbps with 80GB data for $52

Granted there are more packages with faster speed at a much higher cost but you get my point

[Bzone24]

I hate ISPs that meter. Mine isn't metered but it's only 2Mbps. Good enough for gaming most the time, but to download one game it would take forever. Discs only for me.

[b777conehead]

get fios

[FrigidDARKNESS]

Because of the mandatory install for DRM this had to be done with a single disc. Multiple disc dvd discs wouldn't have worked. Developers demanded nlu ray disc and wasn't goig to pay royalties for extra dvd discs.

[Wikkid666]

Wow... lol

[Software_Lover]

........ LOL

[00]

I though it needed internet.

[Harmonizer]

MS has to pay Sony for using the Blue-Ray format, but how much exactly? I wonder how much Sony gets for each XO sold?

[NioRide]

Really a negligible, as its not just sony would get a profit, it would be the foundation that would get it, as sony is not the pure creator of blu-ray but one of many who assisted in its developments.

[kneon]

Quite often tech royalties have a cap, but it could be as high as a few 10's of millions, but Sony only get's a portion of that. So really it's inconsequential to both sides.

[NioRide]

I like how I say the same thing and get 4 disagree's.....

[Belking]

Sony has to pay MS too because MS supplies the codec for BR. Plus don't forget MS owns skype too and the vita uses that so they probably are paying for that too.

[kneon]

The MS codec is only one of the supported codecs for Bluray, not THE codec for Bluray. It's also one of the more minor aspects of the spec, I'm sure the % of the royalties that Sony and Philips get is much more than any other company.

[Benchm4rk]

Sony has to pay MS for every notebook that uses Windows.

[badz149]

Sony sells laptop/netbook etc that use Windows BUT the ones paying for Windows, is not Sony but the buyer of the said laptop/netbook etc.

you buy a laptop/netbook etc, everything on it including the license of OS and software are yours, not the maker!

[ThatCanadianGuy514]

Welcome to 2006 microsoft, we've been waiting.

[Belking]

Same goes for cross game chat...lol

[Double_O_Revan]

Good burn. I'll give you that one.

[badz149]

XGC that you are still going to pay for from now on?

[strigoi814]

you dont need a bluray if you are gonna buy and use your disc once and install it to the hard drive

[sashimi]

Well its not for the benefit of the gamers really..its for the benefit of the tv watchers lol. IF everything M$ has done for the Xboned has told me anything its that they don't care about the gamers rather they care more about this tv demographic that they want to sell to.

[Felonycarclub8]

What I want to know is what about games that use like 50 gigs, are they really going to make you install 50 gigs, or are they going to compress the games on Xbox 1, and when you compress the game don't they loose some of the visual and audio quality? I just want to know cause I taught that's why some multiplatform ps3 games were better like final fantasy 13 I think, it had better visuals and better audio so it's that going to affect the Xbox1 even more? we already know ps4 is more powerful than x1 so will some multiplatform games are going to look better on ps4 than x1 just wondering?

[karl]

ultra HD? never heard of that.... sounds interesting

[kingPoS]

It's like they're purposely understating the uses of bluray. To only use it for just movies & storing games is a waste. Naw... let the non replaceable HDD do all the work.

Can you imagine if someone accidentally (kids) pulled a usb HHD form the X1 because the cord was tangled.

[deadfrag]

Whats the point of getting an Xbone;none!Whats the point of anyone that buys one to get pysical copys of games;none!Whats the point of getting a collectors editions or any kind of physical editon of Xbone games;none!Do you people even start to think that M$ is killing the gaming habits of all previous generations,not to mention that after the Sucessor of the Xbone and if it ever gets release a sucessor;and M$ stops supporting this Xbone console or "tv box" the xbone will end serving like a paperheight with no value at all just like all the games any owner ever ends buying for this Piece of trash console will end like trash!

[gamertk421]

You're dumb.

[My_Outer_Heaven]

Blu-ray + Mandatory installs on HDD. This spells trouble, even on a 500Gb disk!

[Double_O_Revan]

Yea that's gonna fill up quick. Even at an average of say, 25gb files per disc. And I think that's Very modest. That's 20 games TOPS!

[MysticStrummer]

Yup.

Mandatory installs are just one of a list of mistakes MS has made with the One.

[level 360]

Put it simply Microsoft lost with HD-DVD, and Sony won with Blu-Ray thus it has become the standard format.

A very small number of companies only supported HD-DVD, while most in the electronics hardware business and a very big part in the film industry gave their verdict on Blu Ray.

DVD is old tech ( although have to add some niche/hard-to-find films can only be had with this format, which is why DVD still survives ) - HD-DVD lost - Blu Ray won - end.

[MikeyDucati1]

Cause it's not HD-DVD??? Boo-ya!!! Pow!!! Thank you and good night...you stay classy san diego

[urwifeminder]

Still yet to see a pc game on bluray so its not that important.

[Agent_hitman]

Well If I'm not mistaken, Sony was the first investor for blu-ray when it was invested way back 2002?.. The main inventor of that is a Japanese, but I can't remember the name,so it all makes sense if Sony was indeed the first one to approach that Japanese to buy blu-ray tech and then afterwards many other electronic companies also joined the board.

[DivineAssault]

the xbox one will offer 4K ultra HD on videos or pics.. NOT GAMES.. That last paragraph may be confusing to some.. This article was completely useless too.. The xbox one doesnt NEED blu rays for games.. Downloading them online would be just as efficient as getting the disc too.. & whoever didnt know that PS3 uses blu rays for games by this point, probably isnt a gamer..

[Jayszen]

Actually Sony started the original project (DVR Blue) with Pioneer that eventually became Blu-ray. Sony showed the first prototypes in 2000 and was the founder member of the ‘Blu-ray Disc Founders’, the “…myriad of technology companies that form a board” you refer to above. This was done by Sony with the intent that the format would be the one chosen for the next-generation discs after DVD. You may recall the now famous battle with Toshiba who pushed the now defunct HD-DVD format, a battle that Sony won definitively in 2007 after it ensured that the Blu-ray format was used in the PS3 and the console had a blu-ray player built in that also played the latest movies. The ‘Blu-ray Disc Founders’ ultimately became the ‘Blu-Ray Disc Association’ (although member 20th Century Fox is not really a technology company reflecting the huge interest Hollywood has in this format).

The article implies that including Blu-ray as standard on XBOX One is something special ignoring the fact that Sony did this over 6 years ago. Microsoft has no other alternative now. Don’t forget that Microsoft actually supported the HD-DVD format initially and even came out with a supplementary player to go with the XBOX 360. The success of Blu-ray is down to Sony and Sony alone. The 4K (Ultra-HD) resolution has also been championed by Sony who have had a large hand in it’s development.

[SpinalRemains]

Welcome to last Gen, MS.

Could you imagine how many disks would be needed to play a next Gen game, in say 3 years, when the games are a bit bigger than launch titles? Xbox players would be buying shoe boxes with DVDs in them.

"Hey, bro. Got new boots?"
-"Nah.....This is GTA 6"

The article makes great points. Players would have been forced to insert 6 - DVD9 disks just to install the dam game. It would have been absurd.