No Xbox Blu-ray Drive Any Time Soon

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.digitaltrends.com/news/story/16083/blu-ray_for_xbox_no' target='_blank'>http://news.digitaltrends.com/news/...ray_for_xbox_no</a><br /><br /></div><em>&quot;Microsoft has said it has no plans to develop a Blu-ray add-on for its Xbox 360, and will focus on digital downloads instead. You might recall that Microsoft had thrown in its lot with Toshiba and the HD DVD revolution, selling add-on boxes for its Xbox 360 console. That revolution ended far short of the palace gates, with HD DVD vanishing like snow in the sun, and the general expectation has been that Microsoft would begin to offer a Blu-ray add-on, given that Blu-ray has emerged as the winner in the HD wars.&quot;</em><br /><br />This doesn't surprise me at all - I just didn't see Microsoft wanting to give Sony even a quarter for every Xbox sold. I hope they really do focus on digital downloads, and by focus I mean &quot;start to kick some major ass&quot; - they have a lot ways to go.

[Darius Wey]

Microsoft definitely has a good thing going with the Video Marketplace, but they need to be more aggressive and release it worldwide (and no, North America and a mere handful of European countries don't count as worldwide).

On a different note, the thing that's holding digital downloads back is limited broadband. A lot of countries still have slower connection speeds and/or meagre monthly quotas. Fortunately, it's on the mend, although by the time the situation improves, it may be too late for it to have any impact in today's HD content war.

[Joel Crane]

This isn't cool for me. I've got only 120kbps (Average 20kb/s) unlimited cellular internet access here at home, and only a 20gb hard drive on my 360, which means that downloadable content isn't of much use to me.

I was hoping that Microsoft would release a Blu-Ray player for several reasons.
1. The HD-DVD player was reliable, one of the best.
2. Its an Xbox 360, 360 meaning that it is supposed to replace your entire entertainment center with one device that does everything. Everything except Blu-ray discs.
3. The old HD-DVD drive was pretty cheap. I was hoping that we'd see a Blu-ray player in the same price range.
4. My parents are not going to start using downloadable content anytime soon. They still have a VHS player plugged into their 50 inch 1080p Samsung. They still use their old barely working Toshiba DVD player when my 100 percent functional Xbox is sitting right next to it. They need something familiar, like discs.



No, DSL and Cable are not available here. EDGE is our only option other than Suckellite.