Microsoft hoses down latest Xbox 360 Blu-ray rumor

If you're suddenly overcome with a feeling akin to déjà vu, go ahead and kill that speed dial to your physician. For the second time in a month, Microsoft has actually come forward to squash a Blu-ray Xbox 360 rumor. This go 'round, an alleged statement from Redmond states quite outrightly that "Lite-On is not manufacturing Blu-ray drives for Xbox 360," and it continues on by noting that "customers who want a premium movie experience [can check out the] library of on-demand HD content" available to console owners. Still, we've grown accustomed to these denials by now, and while you'd think that having a pair of rumors on the matter smashed would put the issue to rest, we've all ideas this one isn't quite dead and buried just yet.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[tetheredwings @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:16PM]

I'm sure Sony is paying people off to keep Blu-ray away from Microsoft's greedy little hands..

[Tony @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:20PM]

Are you sure now?

[Dani @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:20PM]

O rly?

[tetheredwings @ Apr 3rd 2008 9:02AM]

@Tony: Just speculation, but I'm sure Sony would never want M$ to have it.. And something tells me M$ doesn't want to step down and put Blu-ray in their systems.

[daniel @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:22PM]

pics or it didn't happen

[tetheredwings @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:23PM]

@Tony: Just speculation, but I'm sure Sony would never want M$ to have it.. And something tells me M$ doesn't want to step down and put Blu-ray in their systems.

[primetime4 @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:24PM]

Sony would sell blu diodes to Al Qaeda to make death rays if they could. That is how business works.

[Tony @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:25PM]

@tetheredwings

I was being sarcastic. You're obviously full of it.
I'm suprised you didn't replace Sony's 'S' with a dollar sign.

[brad @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:37PM]

doubtful, MS and Sony have a closer relationship than you would think...you dont think they want to sell them to MS to make up a little of the lost revenue Sony shells out of Vista/Xp licenses?

[tom @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:39PM]

Like, Sony Vaio uses Microsoft Windows?

[ArcticFox @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:44PM]

@tetheredwings

Thats all well and good except Sony arent the sole owners of the BDA, they are a part member, Sony cant stop the BDA licensing Blu-Ray to Microsoft if ever they wanted it.

Putting "M$" has just made your comments null and void, well done.

[Zeus.:God @ Apr 2nd 2008 5:04PM]

@ Tony:

$ony

Like this?

[superaktieboy @ Apr 2nd 2008 6:16PM]

erm lol wut? Sony is and stays (well until it dies) a business, and businesses do just about anything to get that extra money!! although your claim is partly right i think, coz i don't think sony will let them make a builtin BluRay player for some while, though even if sony won't let them make it builtin, microsoft can always bundle it with the 360! which is technically not builtin, but it is.. if you know what i mean..

[Lifeline @ Apr 2nd 2008 6:46PM]

I think Sony will be all too pleased if Microsoft had bluray, as long as it did'nt compete with the PS3 in the gaming market.

I see some people say that Sony don't own bluray, well their right, Sony don't, but they do have the right to increase sales of bluray components which most of the BDA uses or they may even purposely decrease the amount of these components to Bluray drive manufacturer's if they want to ( and they have done this a year ago to meet PS3 demand). Yes their maybe other routes to quire these components but not in such high quantities as Sony is capable of. In short, Sony can and probably will throw a proverberal spanner in the works that will indeed cost Microsoft big time IF Microsoft does indeed go ahead with an internal bluray Xbox360.

Oh just out of curiosity, everytime the bluray format has stepped on someones toes, its Sony and not the entire BDA that get's sued...Why is that then?

[Reader @ Apr 2nd 2008 7:29PM]

9/11 conspiracy theories are more believable than Sony, or any company, shelling out money to ensure they don't sell their own product... That is just utterly idiotic on all levels.

[iSeth @ Apr 3rd 2008 12:59AM]

Blu-Ray is the PS3's baby. Microsoft can't and never will take that away from Sony without a fight.

[Dankoozy @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:21PM]

there's no reason hd-dvd couldnt survive as just an optical storage format, i sort of wish they started making HD-RAM discs anyway. i own almost 0 original DVD movies produced by studios - The pirate bay replaced those a long time ago so hd-dvd's dependence on studios is slightly exaggerated.

of course now most of the manufacturers have thrown in the towel like 3rd party CD-burner app writers for OS X when itunes got popular only the Evil Empire can save it, and Microsoft really do like pushing their own formats

[chris @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:25PM]

Betamax survived for years, but they didn't pull the plug like HD DVD - I think MS will make the BlueRay drive internal - and if they really want to be cool, make it a Blu-ray recordable drive too.

[Chad @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:38PM]

Betamax is dead. Netcraft confirms it.

But seriously. Betamax is still widely used in television studios across the country.

[tom @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:38PM]

If that's true, sucks to all existing owners of xbox 360

[w00t @ Apr 2nd 2008 6:02PM]

That's BetaCam, and often recent generations, even digital.
The similarities end with the name & cassette shape...

[BowserUSC @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:26PM]

MS would never use bluray unless they could utilize it for games which they obviously can't for compatibility issues. We all know their support for hd-dvd was just meant to stall for time in order to advance the position of digital downloads.

[Chebwa @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:30PM]

Yes, and look how successful that "stall" turned out to be!

[BowserUSC @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:34PM]

Bluray is still years away from being completely developed. It may have been the superior technology, I always admitted that, but its far from complete. There's still going to be that extra premium for buying bluray players and movies (especially now that there's no competition) so MS has plenty of time.

[Bryant @ Apr 2nd 2008 8:06PM]

"Bluray is still years away from being completely developed."

Really? What, you read that on the interwebs? Last time I checked, profile 2.0 was final spec and it just came out.

P.S. No, additional layer development and drive read speeds aren't included in it being "complete". AFAIK, "complete" specs for Blu-ray meant 50GB + Profile 2.0, and are both now present.

[BowserUSC @ Apr 2nd 2008 8:11PM]

Maybe I should have stated that better but it will be years before Bluray reaches its full potential. By the time that happens i'm assuming connection speeds will be much higher and we'll all be using giant hard drives and downloading content.

[Acerguy @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:28PM]

as long as it plays doom.

[a ham sandwich @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:31PM]

they said lite-on isnt making drives. blu-ray xbox 360 made by company other than lite-on confirmed!

[chris @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:34PM]

"they said lite-on isnt making drives. blu-ray xbox 360 made by company other than lite-on confirmed!"

Thats the opinion i got from that statement.

[AJ in the East Bay @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:47PM]

Exactly! It might as well have been:

"Lite-On is not manufacturing Blu-ray drives for the Xbox 360...but X company is! Ha-ha!"

[chris @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:36PM]

There were rumors that MS were working on an internal blu-ray: http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Gaming/Console/J7L7H2R4

[aMac @ Apr 2nd 2008 5:23PM]

Damn you, comments!

This was meant to be in reply to Chad's
"But seriously. Betamax is still widely used in television studios across the country."

[aMac @ Apr 2nd 2008 5:21PM]

Actually, broadcasting use Betacam and Digibeta, not Betamax. They're similar in name alone

[Michael @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:38PM]

I see a few possible scenarios here.

1) Microsoft puts a Blu-Ray drive of some sort in a future premium XBOX 360. Would
probably also introduce an external Blu-Ray drive for existing systems
Pros for them: Space for HD content on the Blu-Ray discs
Cons for them: Cost of partially redesigning their system and their gaming
ecosystem

2) Microsoft refuses to adopt Blu-Ray, continues using DVD and the XBOX Live system
for HD content
Pros for MS: Ability to charge people money or points for HD content. Retain
tighter control of HD content
Cons for MS: Customer backlash over lack of Blu-Ray playback ability.

[ScooterDe @ Apr 2nd 2008 6:04PM]

It need not mean more money for MS if it persists with downloads (which I hope it does), but maybe more people will adopt downloads rather than discs. The only fly in this ointment is the ridiculously small and overpriced HDDs on Xbox360. If MS enabled anybody to plug in their own HDD (or NAS) - and solved the serious noise problem on the Xbox 360 (did I mention it is NOISY?) - then they might have a fighting chance against the interim tech that is blu-ray.

[John @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:38PM]

You are forgetting that the entire reason HD-DVD died and Blue ray 'survived' is because of the PS3. The 360 still has a huge marketshare percentage over PS3. If Microsoft had put one internally and sold it for the same price 3 years ago, one of them would have the useless drive.

Downloadable HD content for the xbox via marketplace is a nice idea and all, but people still want physical media and since there isnt an easy mechanism to remove those massive files (and the stock HD for the 360 is quite small) it wont take off. I, for one like physical media because of its flexibility between platforms.

[invictus1er @ Apr 2nd 2008 5:01PM]

I'm sorry, but that is just ridiculous. Physical media will eventually be a thing of the past. Not only is it vulnerable to damage, but it takes up PHYSICAL space.

Media storage is obviously becoming more home/user friendly with the abundance of media extenders and other products capable of streaming content.

Technology such as wi-max will only help to push physical media out.

[John @ Apr 2nd 2008 5:18PM]

I understand your point and I agree entirely. But as I said, people TODAY STILL want a physical media. Once you have either a wireless or physical connection to easily transfer your media between equiptment such as portable media players, xbox's, PC's and ultimately, people with televisions who do not want to spend $300+ for the equiptment JUST to watch a movie that they can watch now for $30. Plus right now you have all that DRM crap that makes moving the stuff between platforms very difficult, and you have 4 different ways of getting it all with DRM: Xbox Marketplace, through a cable company's On Demand service, media software on the computer, over your cellphone or portable device. Nobody wants to buy the same stuff 4 times over, or have the file automatically delete itself after a certain number of plays or after 2 days. Right now its easier for people to continue using physical media, until the day when streaming media over ultra fast connections will make it a thing of the past.

[adrian @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:39PM]

Microsoft better get on board. As for Sony, where there's money to be made, they will try to make it, that's business.

[farfisa @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:42PM]

I am also not manufacturing Blu-ray drives for Xbox 360.

[Mr. Gremlin @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:42PM]

Most people are writing off the Xbox 360 as a major console in the next few years... I'm not quite sure why that is, but that sentiment is usually followed by rumblings of a new Microsoft console in 2009. Now if thats the case, then theres really no reason to put Blu-ray in the 360 as it would probably raise costs too high just for the console to be replaced, but... it makes a lot more sense to me to just stick Blu-ray in the 360 and write-off the huge (and building) momentum that the PS3 has developed.

So yeah, I guess my personal take is that we can expect Blu-ray in the 360 for a very competitive price. If Microsoft is smart and can act quickly, it will be out this holiday season. (and obviously they are going to deny these rumors as it would probably stunt current sales)

[rawd @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:43PM]

More articles regarding Jizzbox360 and Bluray please

[ArcticFox @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:48PM]

I see what you did there, jizzbox, hahah you are so funny

[rawd @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:49PM]

Quiet.. when you talk you lose suction

[Zeus.:God @ Apr 2nd 2008 5:05PM]

You are one sick minded little child, aren't you, rawd?

[SurKaz @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:52PM]

Alright,
Microsoft better get the hint.. and Blu-ray up.. I'm sure they're thinking about it.
OR should be.

[BrainDamaged @ Apr 2nd 2008 7:21PM]

I'm putting BluRay on deathwatch.. there i said it.

[Maestro @ Apr 2nd 2008 5:01PM]

Ultimately, does not having a BR drive hurt the 360? I mean when it comes down to numbers, out of 100 video rentals, how many are actually BR? I have a BR player and almost all of my friends are still watching DVD's. They own HDTV's, have HD-DVR's, but feel OK with their progressive scan DVD player.

[Maestro @ Apr 2nd 2008 5:01PM]

Ultimately, does not having a BR drive hurt the 360? I mean when it comes down to numbers, out of 100 video rentals, how many are actually BR? I have a BR player and almost all of my friends are still watching DVD's. They own HDTV's, have HD-DVR's, but feel OK with their progressive scan DVD player.

[Mr. Gremlin @ Apr 2nd 2008 5:05PM]

Blu-ray is gaining momentum and has become a factor when purchasing a new gaming console. This is clearly evident when you consider that the PS3 is leading the 360 in sales for 2008.