More Blu-ray Xbox 360 rumors — and more denials

Rumors of a Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360 simply refuse to die, and fresh reports that a manufacturer won a contract to build Blu-ray-packing 360s have thrown gas on the fire. Meanwhile, Microsoft issues another denial.

Digitimes found a story in the Chinese-language newspaper Economic Daily News, which claimes that a subsidiary of Asustek (yes, the same company that makes the Eee PC) has struck a deal with Microsoft to build Xbox 360 consoles with built-in Blu-ray drives, and that the new consoles could ship sometime this fall.

The story hit the Web on Friday and quickly caught fire; by Monday, Microsoft told gaming site GamePro (again) that it has "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," Microsoft reps wrote in an e-mail to GamePro.

Rumors of a Blu-ray-equipped Xbox 360—or an external Blu-ray drive, a la the now-defunct HD DVD add-on drive—have been popping up ever since Toshiba killed off the HD DVD format in February, and Microsoft's carefully worded denials have done little to dampen the story.

After all, I'm sure Microsoft would love to give gamers another reason to pick the 360 over the Blu-ray-equipped PlayStation 3. Meanwhile, the steady hum of the Blu-ray-on-360 rumor mill leads me to believe that there's a plenty of Xbox fans who'd be eager to play Blu-ray movies on their consoles (even if the roar of the 360's noisy cooling fan drowns out the movie).

So, gamers, I ask you again: Would you consider snapping up a 360 console with a built-in Blu-ray drive? Or how about a Blu-ray add-on? Or are you simply waiting for stand-alone Blu-ray deck prices to drop?

Related:
Pegatron lands OEM orders for Blu-ray Xbox 360 consoles, says paper [Digitimes]
Microsoft has "no plans" for Xbox 360 Blu-ray drive [GamePro.com]