Xbox goes Blu Ray

May 6th, 2008 Posted in News

Rumours that have been abound in the last few months concerning the Xbox peripheral to allow Blu-Ray play seem to be finally confirmed. This is despite original denials by Microsoft officials that a peripheral would be forthcoming. Microsoft in fact denied even exploring the options of creating a specialist add-on drive to utilise Sony’s Blu Ray technology.

The original thinking had been that the Xbox would not have needed an add-on to utilise the physical entertainment medium, as the Xbox live system allowed users to download all of the high definition media they may need. Microsoft had previously presumed that an add-on for Blu-Ray play would have just added clutter; seemingly however, this was all just smoke and mirrors as the company has given a September release date for the new piece of kit.

Asustek has secured the manufacturing rights for the peripheral drive that will undoubtedly prove popular with some users. It will also allow the 360 to compete more effectively with the rival machine, the Sony PS3. One question remains however, will future Xboxes be built with the ability play Blu-Ray disks or will it remain as a separate add-on drive?

If it is the case that future Xboxes will have this ability built in, existing customers will most probably be slightly vexed; after all, they have spent a great deal of money already on the console. This however is the likely situation, marketing reports state that the PS3 is the most popular choice for those wishing to own a Blu-Ray player. Time will tell if Microsoft bow to pressure and decide to include this new media format in their games console.