Microsoft on Blu-ray-packing Xbox 360: "No, No, No"

Microsoft's ultimate gaming boss Robbie Bach has, once again, spelled out exactly why all those Blu-ray Xbox 360 rumours are and always will be total horseshit - users don't want it.

Not only do users not want a Blu-ray player in their Xbox 360s, but it'd make the console more expensive to build - and the 28 million existing Xbox 360s in players' homes would not be able to play any future games that came on Blu-discs. So it'd be a bit stupid all round, really. Here's how Robbie put it in a slightly more polite fashion...

"... it costs a lot of money. And so the scenario is, OK, let me get this straight: I'm going to add something to the product that's going to raise the cost, which means the price goes up, consumers aren't asking for it, and by the way, my game developers can't use it."

So there. When the next, inevitable round of "Blu-ray Xbox 360" rumours being to circulate - and it's been nearly three months since the last one so we're due another very soon - you can tell people Robbie Bach said it was bollocks, so SHUT UP with your anonymous Korean manufacturer sources.

(Via VG247)

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Microsoft launching Blu-Ray player for Xbox

Oh for goodness sake - make your minds up.

Microsoft's attitude to Blu-Ray is not so much on/off as off/on/off/on/off/off/dithering for a bit/on/no, off-because-we-backed-the-right-horse.

So, it is with a jaundiced eye that we read rumours of Microsoft planning a big launch today. A launch that might involve the words 'ray', 'blu' and 'player'.

Crunchgear have a contact within the Microsoft camp that reckons they are planning to announce a Blu-Ray Xbox add-on today in an attempt to steal Apple's thunder.

Now, that's all well and good, but Apple are going to use their Worldwide Developer's Conference to announce the new 3G iPhone, and probably a load of other desirable consumer electronics in sublimely crafted enclosures.

The press and public are waiting with their hearts ion their mouths for the tiniest hint of what JesusPhone 2.0 can do. The annoucnement of a new storage medium that has already been dismissed by MS as unnecessary is unlikely to have much impact.

It's worth taking this with a pinch of salt, in other words. If it is true - WHY?

via CrunchGear

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"NO WE ARE NOT" reiterates Microsoft, in an angry voice, about Blu-ray Xbox 360s

As predictably as clockwork, Microsoft has stepped up to deny the existence of a Blu-ray-powered Xbox 360. As it has been doing with some regularity this year. News arrives on Friday, Microsoft's denial pops up on Monday. Same every time.

Speaking to US site Gamepro, Microsoft came out with the usual corporate line regarding the issue. It is, in fact, pretty much the same quote it sent out when the last batch of Blu-ray Xbox 360 rumours came out last month.

"As we have stated, we have no plans to introduce a Blu-ray drive for Xbox 360. Games are what drive consumers to purchase game consoles, and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available."

That's the quote right there. Bookmark this page, because if we're expected to 'upgrade' (sidegrade?) to Blu-ray-enabled Xbox 360s this Christmas there's going to be egg on faces like never before and we will NEVER believe anything MS says again.

(Via (Gamepro)

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Blu-ray Xbox 360 BACK ON for 2008, says bizarre Korean news source

Apparently, so they say, according to the brother of a little bird, Microsoft has placed an order for a whole batch of Blu-ray-equipped Xbox 360s. We'll believe it when we see them on the shelves of Currys.

The website - which is entirely Korean but has been bravely and hopefully correctly translated by Kotaku - states that MS has contracted Korean firm Pegatron Technology to build a Blu-ray Xbox 360. You can't get more direct than that. They say it like it's a FACT and 100% true.

So there you go. Should it be true, it seems that Microsoft just had to wait a year before embracing Blu-ray, so it doesn't seem like such a shameful and embarrassing turnaround.

Can you imagine the impact a Blu-ray Xbox 360 would have were it to arrive this Christmas? It would certainly help fend off PS3 and would extend 360's lifespan by a good few more years. Plus it'll do until the internet's good enough to support Microsoft's online dream, at least.

(Via Kotaku)

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Now Microsoft claims it isn't interested in Blu-ray for Xbox 360

Microsoft is definitely upping its support for the Blu-ray format following the unfortunate HD DVD affair. Steve Ballmer even says as much. Now you're probably thinking, much like the rest of the planet, that the next logical step is to make a Blu-ray add on player for the 360. Y'know, something to replace the obsolete HD DVD one.

Not so. Xbox group product manager Aaron Greenberg has spelled out loud and clear that there is no such plan in progress. "Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience," Greenberg told Reuters.

Well that's it settled then. Kindly shut up about the whole thing. There'll be no Blu-ray add ons, no Blu-ray attachments, no Blu-ray accessories and certainly no integrated Blu-ray playing Elite.

Assuming this is true this time, that must mean that all of Xbox's HD movie hopes are pinned on the Video Marketplace downloads. In that case, wouldn't this be a swell time to lop some of the price off those ridiculously expensive hard drives?

Source
PSPSPS.tv

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Microsoft definitely going Blu-ray - about time too

Well, we all knew that it was coming really didn't we. Microsoft have finally confirmed that they're looking into introducing Blu-ray functionality to the various Microsoft products that would benefit from it. Including the Xbox 360.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said, "We have already been working on, for example, in Windows, device driver support for Blu-ray drives and the like, and I think the world moves on. Toshiba has moved on. We have moved on, and we will support Blu-ray in ways that make sense."

It was bound to happen eventually really. With HD-DVD essentially now dead and buried, and with the price of both the Xbox 360 player and stand alone players dropping considerably, it was just a case of definitive confirmation.

In good news, you can bag a cracking HD-DVD player along with 7 films for around £79.99. So the format might be dead, but such a player will still upscale your standard DVD's, and you'll no doubt find HD-DVDs themselves in all the bargain bins for a few quid each soon enough.

Source: TechTree
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Microsoft talks support for Blu-ray

We could one day see Blu-Ray drives appearing on our 360s- Microsoft's Steve Ballmer was recently quoted in SeattlePi.com saying "I think the world moves on. Toshiba has moved on. We've moved on, and we'll support Blu-Ray in ways that make sense." It makes sense- Microsoft's got little to gain from snubbing Blu-Ray now that HD-DVD has officially gone the way of Betamax. Not being able to play high-def movies would be a setback for 360 once the format takes hold. To be honest, I've always been a bit indifferent about the whole Blu-Ray, HD-DVD thing.

You can still fit good games and fit them onto DVD. I've yet to see a PS3 title that really justifies the amount of space that Blu-ray provides. Having the option available will be appealing to some, but I'll just stick to playing games on it. Of course, there's always the video marketplace for HD movies. There's not a lot good on it yet, but then again there's precious little good stuff on Blu-ray either.

Source:
SeattlePi via MCV

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Blu-Ray coming to 360? MS in talks with Sony

Now that Blu-Ray has won the HD format war, we suppose this makes some kind of sense, though it's still weird to imagine Microsoft and Sony shaking hands to allow the 360 to have a Blu-Ray drive. Yet, according to the Financial Times, that's apparently exactly what's about to happen.

President of Sony's electronics division, Stan Glasgow, has stated that both parties were having discussions about MS adopting Blu-Ray for its console. In a way, this could end up biting Sony's gaming division on the backside, as the addition of such a drive would surely make the 360 more competitive, though Sony would be keen to see this happen, as they'd earn a substantial amount of money should a deal be struck.

MS has thus far refused to comment, but it wouldn't shock us to see a new add-on peripheral before too long - or even a brand-new Elite model, with Blu-Ray built in.

Source: Financial Times