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MS: Xbox will not go Blu

Giant has 'no plans' to bring the format to its console

Microsoft has once again poured cold water over the latest rumour that it’ll launch a Blu-ray Disc drive add-on for the Xbox 360.

A blogger going by the name of “Major Nelson” has posted an audio interview online with Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft’s Group Product Manager for the Xbox 360. In the interview, which took place at the Tokyo Game Show this week, Greenberg said: “We have no plans to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience.”

Earlier this week, it was rumoured that a joint venture between Samsung and Toshiba had been tasked with making the add-on drives for the console, which would be sold for between $100 and $150 (£51-87/€73-110).

However, Greenberg went on to say: “We also believe that the future's digital, and that's why we've invested in a massive library of entertainment content.”

His comments echoed a statement released by Microsoft back in May in which it stated that is has “no plans to introduce a Blu-ray drive for Xbox 360” because “games are what drive consumers to purchase game consoles”.

Greenberg also went on to disparage Blu-ray as a format and said that “if you look at retail sales and availability, there's not a lot there, and what is there is at a premium.

"It's pretty clear it's not the next DVD,” he said.

Blu-ray also took a beating from Blockbuster Video last month, when the firm's CFO, Thomas Casey, hinted that wholesale and retail prices of Blu-ray films has slowed consumer adoption.

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