More Blu-ray Xbox 360 rumors — and more denials

Mon May 5, 2008 1:15PM EDT

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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]

Comments on More Blu-ray Xbox 360 rumors — and more denials

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  • 6 Posted by stewmeny10 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:43PM EDT Report Abuse

    If they don't I am buying a PS3 as a blue ray player....plain and simple

  • 7 Posted by abejuela_sweetcriean on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:44PM EDT Report Abuse

    According to rumors, Microsoft may be releasing a Blu-ray-based Xbox 360 soon. We don't know if the rumor is real, although it seems reasonable to expect it. The only real question is when. Their Microsoft insiders are saying May.How true is this? CRIEAN Great printer toner and ink cartridge deals, discounts and coupons. Also, check out the latest printer reviews and technology news. http://blog.concordsupplies.com

  • 8 Posted by rogueist on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    The Xbox 360 accepts all USB 2.0 devices plugged into it. Just take a generic BD drive, put it in an enclosure that have USB 2.0, and plug it into the XBox 360. Odds are it may work. The XBox 360 is nothing but a specialized windows box anyways. I have the HD DVD drive. I have HD DVD movies. I see no difference between viewing a good DVD and a HD DVD movie. Most HD DVD movies are not encoded in HD anyways. Same with BluRay movies. So, when Microsoft produces an external BD drive for the XBox 360 and sells it at the same $50 price that I got the HD drive for, I will buy it. In the meantime, the newest BD player to come out was $2500 - forget it - until the prices come down both on the BD players and discs, I will not buy one. Under $100 for a player would be fine. And the discs priced similar to DVD prices. When they actually put HD quality recordings on the BD DVDs I may consider paying a premium for some of them, IF the difference is viewable on my HD equipment.

  • 9 Posted by mwbudd on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:31PM EDT Report Abuse

    Has everyone forgot about the Red Ring Of Death? Or the 30% failure rate of the Xbox 360s? Why would someone even consider purchasing something that fails at such an alarming rate? Can Microsoft make something that does fail so frequently?

  • 10 Posted by bigernorernie on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:07PM EDT Report Abuse

    Judging by comments from Balmer at MIX, I am guessing Microsoft is in the boat of many people that the disc delivery model has a limited life, and the cost of bluray is too much to support that short time span. Movies in 1080p streaming through Xbox Live Marketplace would require only a pushed through update for the right codecs. With the CEO of Netflix on the board at MS, I would expect a partnership between the two to offer a Netflix subsription based model with downloaded rentals to be rolled out pretty soon, putting pressure on Blockbuster, Amazon, PS3, and Apple TV in one fell swoop.

  • 11 Posted by gspet on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:14PM EDT Report Abuse

    I wish the Microsoft people would read this. As an upper middle aged individual my game playing is minimal. I have the original Xbox, but not the 360. However, I do watch a lot of movies, although I haven't bought a Blu-ray drive yet because of the price. I will get a 360 with a Blu-ray drive or a stand alone Blu-ray drive when the price comes down, but not both. So Microsoft, if you want my money you'd better be quick. Actually, now that I think about it, I hope Apple reads this. A Mac with a Blu-ray drive is what I really want.

  • 12 Posted by ispeak3 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:25PM EDT Report Abuse

    i wouldnt mind getting a xbox 360 with blu ray built in, its not important but t would be nice

  • 13 Posted by precisely1 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:18PM EDT Report Abuse

    I would love a blu-ray add on, but their are a few things we have to consider, about why microsoft may not be inclined to making this news public...blu-ray tech may not be compatable with the 360 as such it may not function if added on, also a more reasonable problem maybe that microsoft may have trouble aquiring contracts that would allow them to place a blu ray drive either as an add on or in the main unit. consider what kind of contracts SONY placed to deter such a thing from happening. at this point the blu ray drive is all the ps3 has going for it, it has less games, an inferior game library, the network is horrible and constant issues with the unit. the 360 has downloadable content and achievement point, none existent in the ps3 world. If I was sony thats exactly what I would have done block every possible route for microsoft to aqcuire blu ray tech, to try and maintain atleast one edge.

  • 14 Posted by gboess82 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:06PM EDT Report Abuse

    I'm looking to finally get a next-gen console this summer, partially thanks to GTA4. I was going to wait until June to get the new 80gb PS3, but I may wait to see if these rumors are true, and this might push my decision to the 360. They have larger and better selection of high-end games (not talking about Viva Pinata, people) and exclusive titles. But even with the BD drive, PS3 seems more future proof with upgrades and more space on their discs. If the 360 had a built in BD, then would they start making their games in that format disc as well? That might be interesting...

  • 15 Posted by phantomlord132000 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:09PM EDT Report Abuse

    Get with the program people! Buy a PS3! This is the NEXT-GEN console. The all in one package. Ive heard of people spending close to a thousand bucks on add-ons for their XBOX 360. People its not a car. I didnt even have to buy a wireless headset for my ps3, since it has bluetooth, all i had to do was get my phones headset and whoala! When talking about game library, you have to remember the XBOX came out a whole year before the PS3. Why download movies when eventually you will run out of space? Unless you plan on hooking up a 500gig external drive. BUY A PS3! Failure rate for PS3 is 3% compared to 30% for XBOX 360! Yikes!

  • 16 Posted by aleone102 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    It seems like only yesterday when Microsoft was denying rumors about XBox Elite. We all know how that turned out.

  • 17 Posted by natpkyle on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:34PM EDT Report Abuse

    i am about to take the plunge and get either a ps3 or xbox 360. i am leaning towards the ps3 because of the blu-ray. when a stand alone blu-ray cost the same as a ps3 then what's not to love?

  • 18 Posted by kingspadeshan on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:51PM EDT Report Abuse

    i already own a PS3 so no i would not buy a blu-ray 360 nor upgrade my Halo3 version 360. Now if I did not own a PS3 then yes i would consider buying a blu-ray 360 external drive but not a complete new system.

  • 19 Posted by precisely1 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:18PM EDT Report Abuse

    trust me the 360 is a whole world of a lot better than the ps3 simple as that...$1000 bucks on add-ons are you kidding in what world do u live in???? most games dont take up that much space on a disc..therefore a blu rays memory isnt even being used the 4-8gb on a dvd is more than enough...particularly when games rarely make it over 2gb. I have heard of many ps3 breaking down microsoft at least fixes it for free sony sends u out to buy another. the 180gb memory of the 360 can hold more than 300 movies...isnt that more than enough.

  • 20 Posted by spike3366 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:36PM EDT Report Abuse

    I think if Microsoft was to add on a Blue-Ray it would most likely force the price of the stand alone Blue-Ray player to come down sooner. Even though the PS3, and if microsoft does decide to add Blue-Ray, I think people would stil be inticed to buy the Blue-Ray Player. Now i'm hearing that you can buy a Blue-Ray player for your home computer. I'm still checking into that one.

  • 21 Posted by kenneth.burkhead on Thu May 8, 2008 5:01AM EDT Report Abuse

    It's not if Microsoft decides to do it PEOPLE.... SONY OWNS BLUE RAY... It's their Technology... SO The Question is this.. WILL SONY ALLOW MICRSOFT to Use The blue ray format? NOT will microsoft decide.. AGAIN Why would you own a 360 anyway?

  • 22 Posted by countrygirl2977 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:30PM EDT Report Abuse

    Xbox has cool graphics for the games but you have to buy the external HD drive which the HD DVds are outdated now so why bother. I bought my kids the PS3 and its great it plays everything from ps1 and all the ps2 games we have plus dvds and the blue rays...GTA IV is so much cooler w/ better graphics on ps3 anyway. the ps3 may be more expensive but it has all the latest technology so its well worth it, plus you dont have to buy batteries for the controllers which is a plus...with the ps3 you dont have to buy anything else but the hdmi cable and your ready to go.

  • 23 Posted by merlinofkolvir on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:16PM EDT Report Abuse

    I think the important thing to mention here is that adding Blu-Ray WILL help Microsoft provide the "most blockbuster-est" games, or whatever they said. The added storage space and increased video and audio capabilities of the Blu-Ray over DVD are the next step in gaming. Just as the PS2 started out on their blue cds and quickly switched to DVD to add quality. Lost Oddessy woudlnt require 4 discs if it was on Blu-Ray. I have a 360 and PS3, and while I enjoy XBox Live more than Playstation Network, and I love the achievments, its obvious that the graphical and audio quality on the PS3 are orders of magnitude better than the 360.

  • 24 Posted by richmohlman on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:40PM EDT Report Abuse

    The add on would be the way to go. And or all new 360 offer blu-ray players.

  • 25 Posted by pegarciat on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:05PM EDT Report Abuse

    I don't care about the blue ray Why not just download the movies from the marketplace. They are in hd.

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