Xbox 360 HD DVD launching soon

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 add-on, the external HD-DVD drive, is set to be released in Australia and New Zealand on March 29, 2007.

The XBox 360 HD-DVD drive will sell here for $249.95, which will include a universal remote controller and, for a limited time, a copy of Peter Jackon’s epic remake of King Kong in HD-DVD format.

The rival offering, the Blu-Ray equipped Sony PlayStation 3 console, launches a week earlier on March 23.

Microsoft said 40 movie titles would be available here on its release, including 15 from main HD-DVD studio backer Universal. Launch titles will include Van Helsing, Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift and Batman Begins.

But Microsoft’s console product marketing manager, Jeremy Hinton, said the drives would also be able to play any of the 160 HD-DVD titles already in available in the United States, with the HD-DVD drive not restricted to regional coding restrictions.

Standard DVDs played on the drive, however, would still be restricted to Australia and New Zealand’s Region 4 coding.

The XBox 360 HD-DVD drives went on sale in the US in November last year at a price of $US199 ($257).

Source: AustralianIT

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