Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/10/xbox_blu_ray_denial/
MS: Xbox will not go Blu
Giant has 'no plans' to bring the format to its console
10th October 2008 16:17 GMT
Microsoft has once again poured cold water over the latest rumour that it’ll launch a Blu-ray Disc drive add-on for the Xbox 360.
A blogger going by the name of “Major Nelson” has posted (http://majornelson.com/archive/2008/10/10/tgs-2008-aaron-greenberg.aspx) an audio interview online with Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft’s Group Product Manager for the Xbox 360. In the interview, which took place at the Tokyo Game Show this week, Greenberg said: “We have no plans to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience.”
Earlier this week, it was rumoured (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/09/xbox360_bluray/) that a joint venture between Samsung and Toshiba had been tasked with making the add-on drives for the console, which would be sold for between $100 and $150 (£51-87/€73-110).
However, Greenberg went on to say: “We also believe that the future's digital, and that's why we've invested in a massive library of entertainment content.”
His comments echoed a statement released by Microsoft back in May (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/05/06/microsoft_pegatron_bluray_denial/) in which it stated that is has “no plans to introduce a Blu-ray drive for Xbox 360” because “games are what drive consumers to purchase game consoles”.
Greenberg also went on to disparage Blu-ray as a format and said that “if you look at retail sales and availability, there's not a lot there, and what is there is at a premium.
"It's pretty clear it's not the next DVD,” he said.
Blu-ray also took a beating (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/09/24/blockbuster_bluray/) from Blockbuster Video last month, when the firm's CFO, Thomas Casey, hinted that wholesale and retail prices of Blu-ray films has slowed consumer adoption.