The Industry Standard - Microsoft will announce Xbox/Blu-ray integration plans this month - Comments

Eric Hill684799 — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:20:05 -0700

"Microsoft says no Blu-ray for Xbox 360" link

A better question would be,

Kevin Railsback173773 — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 07:39:02 -0800

A better question would be, with HD downloads, who would buy a Blu-Ray player for their XB360? Maybe as a build-in for a future version since games are sold on disc, but I can't see shelling out extra $$ just to be able to play physical media. I don't think I've bought anything on disc in at least a year.

Hm.. MS says that it "will

Eric Hill684799 — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:23:00 -0800

Hm.. MS says that it "will stop making HD DVD players for its Xbox 360 video game system after Toshiba Corp. ceded the high-definition video format battle to Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray," but no where do they specifically say that they will embrace Blu-Ray. Although, shouldn't rejecting HD DVD imply the adoption of Blu-Ray? What are they waiting for here?

Microsoft will announce Xbox/Blu-ray integration plans this month

The Standard — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 18:57:04 -0800

UPDATE: While Microsoft announced on Feb. 18 that it will stop making HD DVD players for its Xbox 360 game console, they stopped short of unveiling plans to move to the rival Blu-ray format. The community was correct. -- The Industry Standard

Despite Microsoft's official silence on Blu-ray support on the XBox 360 following HD-DVD's demise, the company will announce plans to support the Blu-ray format through the gaming console by the end of this month (February 2008). Marketplace factors demand it: With HD-DVD out of the way, consumers are going to start buying Blu-ray discs and gear with a vengeance. Moreover, the appeal of Sony's competing PS3 console -- which offers Blu-ray support out of the box -- means that Microsoft has to come up with an Xbox/Blu-ray strategy, not only to meet customer demand, but to stay ahead in the HD game console war. The criteria for this prediction coming true are Microsoft officially stating that it has plans to develop an external Blu-ray player for the Xbox 360, or some other Blu-ray product that integrates with the Xbox 360 before the 1st of March, 2008. Hints and leaks don't count.