While sony is out patching their 200th security hole and not giving the gamer what they truly want, microsoft is making strides. This will be a game changer.

Dispell it all you want -- any update that brings more to the table is a stride. Xbox360 owners didn't have bdr, they had hddvd. So any disc upgrade is a win for these guys. At least microsoft is doing something. Sony is probably sitting around plotting their next security update.

If they go Blu-Ray then Sony will profit from this. It'll be interesting to see what they decide on doing.

New DVDs?
Blu-ray?
Digital?

Better late then never. Also why are you guys so mean? It is just videogames we are all gamers. Stop this nonsense it makes no sense.

I signed up. Ive been in almost all the preview programs. I love getting stuff before all my friends. Cant argue with a free game. Not my choice for a game but it will do.

I'll sign up. But if it bricks my 360 I'm gonna be upset.

I signed up too. Hell, I'm REALLY excited to see what this is leading too ... Damn.

Hope I get in. XD

@ReBurn: MS would be hearing from us if that were to happen.

I wonder how this will work. If the new format will remain on the 360 console how will the current drives read it?

Being primarily a 360 Gamer, Color me Intrigued...
And, who called the Disagree Police?

Haters gonna hate. I'm loving the tears of certain people.

im guessing game installs will be coming if they make more layers on the dvd.

I really dont think it will be a new format. Maybe its a new compression technique or they will reduce the copyright protection size.

Why so much hate always on this site???

Crysis 2, being arguably the best looking game on consoles, proved you don't need blu-ray or the power of the Cell to make AAA amazing looking games.

So ANY updates, whether it be for the Ps3 or the 360, should be a good thing

I signed up so color me curious

Don't get too excited, he means a new format of DVD. Note that they're not sending testers any new hardware, just new discs. Considering that the Xbox 360 doesn't include a Blu-ray player, it's going to be a new type of DVD not previously used by the Xbox 360.

To add to my last comment, this is obviously still good news for 360 owners. I'm just trying to stop people setting their expectations too high. The N4G post clear points the finger at Blu-ray which doesn't at all appear to be the case.

From the sign up form:

Custodian of Physical Media. By signing below, you are accepting responsibility as a custodian of any physical media you receive during this program, including any Preview game discs. You must not sell, give, or otherwise transfer possession of the Preview Materials, including any physical media, to anyone else (e.g., do not auction any Preview Materials on ebay).

I wonder if its an external optical drive that connects through USB, or some proprietary multiple layered dvd.

You will get a disc to test.

This is actually pretty cool. If it's a disc format with more space, that means bigger games and devs will have more to work with. That's a big win for 360 and PS3 owners.

This is IMPOSSIBLE!

There is no way this is real. Its an April fools joke. Microsoft are so cruel, i want blu-ray in my 360, not lame heart breaking jokes.

The Xbox360 games are caped to 6.8G size per disk.

Maybe if Microsoft could allow developers to use up to 9.0G of the disk for future games it would be awesome enough and the xbox360 owners would not need to spend a single cent.

I know that the games on the 360 VS Wii are totally different level but it is funny to know that the disk space battle is 6.8G VS 9.0 G size.

Can M$ pull this off. Creating a new dvd format for there games only. Seems like the way to go if in the next gen they still do not want to support blu-ray.

I get the feeling that this is just a new way to combat piracy on the 360!A new kind of dvd that makes security checks on the xbox 360!The new xbox slim already makes 50 security checks to the dvd drive firmware, and thats already been beaten by the new CFW LT+,i gess MS wants to implement more security checks in the DVD disc itself insted of making more checks to the dvd drive.

I would think it does mean a new disk format as why would they give everyone a new copy of Halo: Reach surely this would agree with the statment cause seems a bit strange to give away a big game that most xbox 360 players who will sign up have got this

Pc games arnt on brue way they seem to be fine .

OMG i can't wait to E3

maybe it's the hd-vmd format. this technology can store 30 go on a standard DVD.

Vinyl discs?

I must say the new "disc format" has me very intrigued. I mean MS can't ditch DVD at this point...that would litterally kill their console base... so its got to be some kind of itteration on the DVD and/or a new way of compressing info on the DVD...

I would bet dollars that the copy of Halo Reach you recieve is utilizing this new disc format in some fashion.

im signed up and this is peeking y interests but also tells me no new console is coming soon, but this seems to be fo the 360 and this is BIG BIG NEWS, cant downplay this at all.

im freaking stoked.

jesus can everyojne stop speculating and read the information provided. now lets wait to hear exactly what this is and not get into fights over ps3 and 360.

it clearly states "" updated Xbox 360 disc format "" on major nelson. either this is lame and its a security disc since it also includes halo.

or this is a new dvd format that holds alot more Gigs, if so then ms will be on fire for a while to come.

Blu-ray can't be on the 360 as the requirements for Blu-ray 1.0 were 1080p NATIVE output. The 360 CAN NOT DO THAT. For any one to think MS would add Blu-ray as a GAMING option is delusional. They might havve been able to add it on like HD-DVD but without native 1080p output, the Blu-ray Disc Association will not give it a stamp of approval.

golly jee, they bringin bak hd-dvd

April fools

I doubt it is blu-ray. Like many have stated it is probably just allowing developers to use more space on DVD.

MS has no significant reason to add blu-ray support. They got here without it, and it doesn't seem like this is a dominant issue with 360. Sure it would be nice to have, but it is not at the top of most 360 owners' lists...

I would rather MS work on putting a solid state drive in the 360, improve DRM so you can transfer between consoles more smoothly, add you tube support, hulu support, or announce some of the holiday goodies for 2011.

its obviously not just a update, it is both, a new dvd format and an update, says so cleary when you sign up, not new hardware but new update and new dvd format.

we have heard for years that dvd has been worked on and they can bump it up by many gigs and we also here the same for blueray how they can bump a bluray disk to 300gig or whatever it is. so the dvd might be getting a upgrade.

Please update dvd it ok

But blu ray that dont make anysence

Blu ray from it name it use blue ray

On other side dvd use red ray

.

What about green ray?

If someone from MS reading this you can have my idea long as i have 25% of each green ray disc sold. deal?

Wow it seems a lot of you are very slow on this site. There has already been so many advances in DVD technology. TDK developed a Single-sided 200GB DVD and that was back in 2006.

A single sided Blu-ray can store 25GB whereas TDK's can store 200GB, but whether it would've worked with existing DVD drives is unknown.

But this is 2011 and MS's R&D is insane from what I've read and seen so this could be interesting.

It can't be BluRay for the simple fact that Bluray requires a different laser, it's unlikely that it's a new "DVD Format" in the traditional sense of the expression because again, adding an extra 4.7GB layer to the disc would again require a finer laser that would also require new hardware.

This update is software only.

What they probably mean is a new format data compression (much lie the Dreamcast and their disc format) and or new security algorithms and features to help combat the never ending battle with Hackers.

Well Microsoft did have the oppurtunity to fully integrate HD-DVD if the had chosen too. Unfortunately they stuck with what was most convenient and cost effective for the time. Although it would've been interesting to see how the format war could've turned out. The 360's install base could've theoretically boosted sales toward HD-DVD. This new "format" could be interesting, but Microsoft really needs to consider adapting Blu-ray as the standard medium for their next console.

it might not mean much free space either, if so they would be touting that fact, this could just be some security feature or something like that

Signed up. Status is pending. I got in last year, so I'll probably get in this year. It kinda sucked though because every time you start up your Xbox 360, it required another update.

Maybe this is actually a test for their future console since its so late in this generation. I doubt they will ever use bluray for xbox 720 so they will try this on the 360 first. If it works out then they will use it for the first few years on the xbox 720 then i say digital download will be fully used.

For everyone that keeps saying "if they go with blu ray" and things like that, they are not going to switch the physical format of the games. If that were their plan how would they expect everyone who is getting the preview to test it? The dashboard preview is going to be on every kind of xbox from launch consoles to the new Xbox S.

I remember reading about a supposed 50+gb HD-DVD being developed years ago but I dunno how Microsoft would even pull that one off.

Developers don't have the time or the money to make much use of extra storage on disks, they usually just fill it with uncompressed video and better audio. PS3 does not have better games because of Blu-ray. Killzone 3 is actually only about 5GB, the rest is all video filling up the disk

So Xbox 360 is getting a new disc format? This must be to hold more storage and to compete with PS3's bluray format. No more multi-disc games for 360. Forza 4 will probably use the new disc format.

Guys,.. It is probably just disc protection tech,..

I don't want to sound like a dick,..but just pray they don't take off 'reserve' even more of DVD9 because of it,..

I think they may actually free some space,.. because Carmack and developers are bitching,..

There are also an 17 gb dvd's who knows...

Massive denial and hurt in this thread, roll on infamous 2 :)

Microsoft making strides whilst sony makes games lol

I'm loving the meltdowns I love them so much, oh the pain.....

A possibility, was spoke of in 2005, but who knows.

At 40 times more than a standard single layer DVD it would allow for 188gb.

It would be great news if the "updated disc format" means more space in the game's disk! I'm hoping it is.

i dont see how this could work unless MS would release new hardware with a different laser common sence guys

chances are this is just a change in how the data is stored on the disc, most likely freeing upsome of the ~2gb thats reserved for Security measures etc.

shouldve been done years ago, since the security doesnt seem to work lol. not that itll make a difference, most games only take up 4-5gb of the disc anyway, even the biggest games of the generation.

it's a test for next gen...which is coming soon baby, sooner than people here think

2012 at the LATEST, hopefully this year!

dont get your hopes up, this is likely just a new encryption method they are rolling out to prevent people copying games

alot of people think its a new compression type. what the hell would they need testers for a new compression type for? to see if you can still insert a disc into your xbox? that makes absolutely no sense at all. even if its a new type of dvd, they would know if the xbox drive can read it or not. perhaps the drive can read it but with some difficulty, and they are taking testers to gather statistical information on failure rates or whatnot.

i do know that you do not need testers to test a new compression type on an isolated machine such as the xbox. time will tell what the hell MS has up its sleeve.

Just for clarity, if MS can increase the current 6.8GB/disc storage on 360 discs to something closer to 8.5GB/disc, that's a big deal for any publisher who can manage to save a disc for their 360 game, when it comes to cost-of-goods.

It may seem like a small thing, but in reality it makes making large world games on the 360 much more feasible, in the financially-minded eyes of publishers everywhere.

Remember that MS has recently been pushing megamesh / megatexture technology quite heavily... it would be horribly ironic if the PS3 was the only console that truly realized that technology, due to differences in disc space limitations, and a guaranteed HDD on one console, but not the other.

A possibility, was spoke of in 2005, but who knows.

At 40 times more than a standard single layer DVD it would allow for 188gb.

why are people using sales of consoles as excuse? is not like you people get any of that money so stop using sales as excuse, its lame

You're gonna need Xbox Live Gold to use it, I bet.
Since almost every single feature launched for Xbox360 has almost always been XboxLive Gold Exclusives.