Microsoft denies latest round of Blu-ray for Xbox 360 rumors

by Randy Nelson { Oct 9th 2008 at 6:30PM }

Hey there, Blu-box. We suppose you've heard by now that Microsoft has denied your existence yet again? It's true. This time, it told Edge Online, "As we've said before, Microsoft has no plans to introduce an Xbox 360 Blu-ray add-on." Now, now, Blu-box. Don't cry. We know that just yesterday it sounded like you were finally going to get to come out of hiding.

Microsoft doesn't hate you, Blu-box. It's just focused on other things right now. It told Edge that, "Games are what drive consumers to purchase game consoles, and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available." That doesn't mean you're not important. Hang in there. You could still possibly be announced at CES in January. So just try not to be so blu about things, 'kay? You can still play lots of cool games between now and then, like Fable 2 and Gears of War 2. Aww, you're smiling again. That's the spirit!

Tags: blu-ray, rumor

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Superstar90 @ Oct 9th 2008 6:35PM

Why not? Blue and red go nice together :P

brian @ Oct 9th 2008 7:12PM

i haven;t heard about the red ring of death in a long time, seems to e they fixed it.

i have 2 360's, and never have i had any, in the 2 years i have had them had a red ring.

Negativecool @ Oct 9th 2008 7:23PM

I'm sorry, but I'm the only one that sees MS missing out on a brilliant opportunity to undercut PS3 sales.

At this point, the only thing the PS3 unquestionably has on the 360 is its HD media capabilities.

MS can take that away with an external blu ray player. Then their slogan would be "The PS3 offers nothing we don't. But we can offer choice and a lower price."

Personally, I prefer the PS3 for blu ray...I'm one of few (around here) that enjoy that aspect. If microsoft would quit being so god damn stubborn, they could take my (and others) interest away from Sony.

syrik zero @ Oct 9th 2008 7:26PM

Since it is Sony's BluRay maybe Sony isn't letting Microsoft use the hardware. I don't know much about the legalities about that stuff. But that may be holding it up.

brian @ Oct 9th 2008 7:32PM

2 completely different branches of sony, i don't think that sony not allowing ms to get a hold of blu-ray is a prob.

i mean, you can either deny 20 million people the chance of buying blu-ray, hence lowering profits, or you can open up a whole new market.

anonim1979 @ Oct 9th 2008 8:08PM

3 reasons why MS will NOT go to Blu-ray:

Supporting Blu-ray = supporting Sony
Supporting Blu-ray = supporting Java
Supporting Blu-ray = undercuting direct download movies sales

Simply MS wants as big as possible market of direct movie download as possible.

Helping Sony to propagate Blu-ray is counerproductive to what MS wants.

josh @ Oct 9th 2008 9:20PM

@ NEGATIVECOOL

Dude, I don't think MS should jump right in to blu-ray just yet.. sure you enjoy that but most of us are not into blue-ray 1, it cost a lot.. 2, we play games hardly watch movies.. and with netflix on the rising it be pointless to expend money on blu-ray movies.. But everyone is differetn and live different. so it all comes to if you could affort it. specially in this times
lol

Netflix is the way to go

Wonder if gamefly could to something similar like netflix. They could but you would need a T1 speed lol..

Desi_D @ Oct 9th 2008 10:16PM

@ anonim1979

Yep. The only thing MS probably hates more than Sony is Sun and JAVA.

Superstar90 @ Oct 9th 2008 10:27PM

Oh, and as a disclaimer, I was just poking fun at RROD. Not trying to start a mini-war. I know Microsoft is working on 100% elimination of it, and it's done well so far.

Just thought I'd put that there since my inbox is being spammed :P

SexyKittyKat2U @ Oct 9th 2008 6:35PM

How many times does MS have to do this in order for Joystiq to let it go?

Lars @ Oct 9th 2008 6:37PM

I think it'd be smart of them to sell an add-on unit. But yeah, these "news" stories are getting really old. How about NOT reporting on what companies are NOT doing? Eh, Joystiq?

syrik zero @ Oct 9th 2008 6:40PM

I assumed it was false yesterday. It's not going to happen this generation.

Phizzy @ Oct 9th 2008 6:38PM

Didn't the BDA pledge exclusive support to Sony this console generation due to their part in helping it become the current standard?

libster @ Oct 9th 2008 6:39PM

Stop fucking doing this story.

why not the LS2LS7? @ Oct 9th 2008 6:54PM

Agreed. We've seen this BS rumor in so many forms. It really behooves joystiq to stop publishing them.

Essentially, there's no useful purpose to publishing the stories again without an actual good source backing them up.

Hala Madrid!! (PSWii60 Defense Force) @ Oct 9th 2008 6:40PM

Joystiq: So, when is the new Xbox360 with Blu-ray coming out?
MS: Never!, and stop asking DAMMIT!

Bloo @ Oct 9th 2008 6:46PM

Joystiq: No, seriously, when?

Mr Khan @ Oct 9th 2008 6:49PM

I'm the one who never saw the appeal of HD, so i didn't really see the appeal of Blu-Ray anyway (and even if you do like HD, why not just an upscaling DVD player?) So i would say that MS is fine running with their online HD movie service

Really, their current strategy is perfect to lock into. Keep refining the online service, trying to gain ground in Japan, lowering the cost and appealing to the casuals, and just keep hedging out Sony

No more marketing coups are needed, they themselves have expressed their desire to lock themselves in to 2nd place.

why not the LS2LS7? @ Oct 9th 2008 6:57PM

If upscaling is HD, why is there HD content in the first place? Why do DVDs have a wasteful 720x480 pixels if we could just have upscaled 240x300 (or so) VHS tapes to look like DVD?

Why do I need 6mbit/sec DSL if I could just send 1.5mbits/sec and recreate 6mbit/sec of data from it?

Answer: upscaling is BS. You cannot remake information that was lost.

Shagittarius @ Oct 9th 2008 7:05PM

Yeah Upscaling is shit dude.

Foetoid @ Oct 9th 2008 7:16PM

My father-in-law has a Pioneer 1080p Upscaling DVD player and the latest model LG 47" 100HZ 1080p LCD. Watching Transformers in 1080p upscaled glory may not be as amazing as HD-DVD native, but it's very close, and far better than standard DVD.

Shagittarius @ Oct 9th 2008 9:32PM

Most likely the scaler in that TV is better than the upscaling that his DVD player does. Im sure it would look the same with any progressive scan DVD player.

Desi_D @ Oct 9th 2008 10:20PM

You're sorely mistaken if you think upscaled content equals Blu-ray/full uncompressed 1080p. Or have your head in the sand.

SimbaDogg @ Oct 9th 2008 10:37PM

@ LS7
good job

@ shag
good job

@ foetoid
you either have bad eyes, or never did a good comparison. i GUARANTEE you that unless you have an elite upscaling player, the scaler in your tv is probably better than the one in that player

@ desi_d
good job

Seriously, i have a 1080p samsung monitor (pretty good, 24 incher), but watching batman begings on it (dvd, upscaled through PS3) is absolute SHIT. i'm def gonna get rid of that dvd and buy it on blu ray. there is simply no way that any dvd player can take information that isn't there, interpolate or make an algorithm for it, and make it look like the real deal hollyfield. even toshiba stupid DVD+ technology wont do it.

Slayer @ Oct 9th 2008 10:40PM

Lol...he thinks upscaling can compete with Blu-ray.

libster @ Oct 9th 2008 6:52PM

I heard that Duke Nukem Forever will be a launch title for Bluray 360

Haggard (Mr.ESC resurrected on a... thursday?!) @ Oct 9th 2008 7:00PM

I called it! You all downvoted :(

brian @ Oct 9th 2008 7:13PM

well, if microsoft denies something you know it isn't coming.

only when they refuse to comment is it for real.

ExMcCloud @ Oct 9th 2008 7:06PM

Hopefully this deal with netflix can flourish into that....If Netflix starts to offer HD movies for download then that could really turn the tide.....Imagine paying $50 a year for Live and netflix woth HD movies....I'd never buy another movie again...All MS would have to do then is do a deal with Apple so I could download music to my console or something...The possibilities are pretty much endless....

dsub @ Oct 9th 2008 7:22PM

Except for the fact that no matter what you did, Blu-Ray is going to win the quality war VS. Streaming HD Video ANYTIME. Not to mention the fact that Netflix's streaming library is NOWHERE near as big as their actual DVD library.

Dirty @ Oct 9th 2008 7:28PM

The online Netflix catalog isnt all that bad. I just watched heroes season 2 on it. There are some gems in there.

As far as streaming HD not being the same quality.... no shit, the point is that its relatively inexpensive and I can start watching without having to go anywhere.

Superstar90 @ Oct 9th 2008 10:30PM

I'm the New Xbox Experience and I'm a PC.

I really doubt MS and Apple will get iTunes onto the 360 ever.

ExMcCloud @ Oct 9th 2008 11:09PM

I mean yeah u guys r right....But Blu Ray is 40 dollars a fucking disc and that shit is unnecessary....I just bought Iron man it killed my pockets(Drop those prices SONY pleze)...Hopefully MS can get the Zune player software on the 360 or sumthin...That would be great

Aeikozz @ Oct 9th 2008 7:13PM

it's like this blu ray xbox keeps comming around asking for child support or something and microsoft keeps denying ever sleeping with that format.

dsub @ Oct 9th 2008 7:20PM

If Microsoft had half a brain, I'd be able to walk into a store right now and pay $150 for a Blu-Ray Add-On drive. Forget about built-in. They've got the right idea by keeping costs down on the hardware. With 4x Blu-Ray standalone drives selling for under $100 at retail now, what's the holdup MS? I would have bought one of these MONTHS ago.

nick @ Oct 9th 2008 7:24PM

Yep, not much of a surprise that Microsoft officially denies the rumor. It just doesn't make sense for Microsoft to offer such an option on the 360.

dsub @ Oct 9th 2008 7:26PM

Unfortunately, your absolutely right. As bad as I want a Blu-Ray drive, MS is probably making a killing on XBL Video Rentals, and a Blu-Ray drive would only hurt those sales.

SimbaDogg @ Oct 9th 2008 10:49PM

sure MS is making money from xbox live rentals, but how much? to be honest, if you were to take all the fence sitters that were thinking about getting a ps3 for blu ray, and show them that you can get an arcade w/ a drive for $50 bucks less...it may not make them more money at that point, but down the line maybe. 1) as microsofts console starts to becoming more profitable, they would make a profit on every console and add on sold 2) though it may cut into xbl downloads, it surely wouldn't erase them entirely, so they would still get a decent revenue from those downloads. 3) if any of those same people who are using it simply for media purposes (cheap blu ray/media streaming server) decided to pick up any games for the console, that would instantly bring more money in terms of licensing fees from games. Knowing that ballmer loves to make money, i think it would really be in MS's best interests to look at the models to see exactly how they would break financially.

And, for all you that say MS would be shooting themselves in the foot by 1) supporting java 2) supporting an alternate route to downloads (which really isn't a viable option yet) all you would have to do it discontinue the drive once the new download push rolls. it's probably some years away, might as well rake in some cash in the meantime.

nick @ Oct 10th 2008 1:18AM

I not sure how Microsoft makes money off of a blu-ray drive option. The HD DVD drive was subsidized by Toshiba, who is a partner with Microsoft, a customer of Microsoft, and a supplier of other equipment to Microsoft. Each company sells to one another in a mutually beneficial agreement.

I'm not sure if anyone would want to subsized a blu-ray drive for Microsoft, and I can't see Microsoft wanting to subsidize the unit themselves. So it's unclear that a hardware option would be profitable. I'm not so sure the HD DVD add-on was ever profitable. And it sold in relatively low quanities, compared to the overall base of 360 owners. It was more than likely a huge loss to Toshiba, who also sold their stand alone HD DVD players at a loss.

So then you have blu-ray software [ie movies]. Microsoft's cut of blu-ray software is nill. Whereas, if you download a movie off of Live, Microsoft gets a cut of the sale.

So Microsoft doesn't make money off of hardware, which is probably going to be a minimal seller anyway, and they don't get of a cut of blu-ray disc sales. The only benefit, I guess would be to appease customers who want to play blu-ray movies and generate sales for your competitors. There's really no benefit to Microsoft. And, I can't stress this enough, Microsoft would end up having to support JAVA, which is not in Microsoft's best interest and another competitor. It would be truly bizarre.

dsub @ Oct 9th 2008 7:25PM

"Games are what drive consumers to purchase game consoles, and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available."

...Which is exactly why MS continues to offer a large library of Movies on XBOX Live and has signed a contract with Netflix. I hear they make some blockbuster games. I love my 360, but I want a damn BluRay Drive.

brian @ Oct 9th 2008 7:43PM

Just get one, i would much prefer an actual player for my home theatre system than an addon for my 360.

besides, by 360 is connected to a hdtv downstairs, my theatre is upstairs.

horngreen @ Oct 9th 2008 7:33PM

Well if enough people cared about Blu Ray maybe but that doesn't seem to be the case. Early adopters and dumb friends with credit cards don't count. BR doesn't offer enough difference to spend that kind of cash especially with the crap movies being released for the past 10-15 years. MS wants it to be DLC and offering a BR player would undercut that plan. DVD was a HUGE leap from VHS but that's not the case this time.

Desi_D @ Oct 9th 2008 10:28PM

You, my friend Get yourself a proper home theater setup if you think BD doesn't offer significant improvement.

Lavat @ Oct 9th 2008 7:34PM

Another bites the dust!...And another down and another down. Another one bites the dust!...

...DD is still not a way MS can one up the Blu Ray. I can see all the flaws compared to the physical disk. We will see some improvement in another 8 years or so though...

HB96st @ Oct 9th 2008 7:41PM

Upscale my DVD's please.
No need for blu-ray thank you.. isn't it failing right now?? I don't hear too much news about it. I think if M$ were to do an external blu-ray player, it would only HELP sony and blu-ray.

So I say THEE NAY to blu-ray!!!

Maverick Saturn @ Oct 9th 2008 7:55PM

Been stocking up on the Blu-ray disks lately, nothing better then watching movies I was a fan of in the past once more in great quality ^^ Wouldn't need it on 360. If Micro want to go the DD direction, let em, I would prefer that anyway, I like to go to each console for seperate reasons.

CH3BURASHKA @ Oct 9th 2008 8:39PM

I personally think Microsoft is trying to pull a bullshit move and announce the BluBox "unexpectedly", as in with no rumors. If everyone stops reporting on rumors, it will be out 6 months after.

Kent @ Oct 9th 2008 8:58PM

If the 360 gets Blu-Ray, and stays at $199, im definitely buying one.

Edge @ Oct 9th 2008 10:17PM

Ummm.... yeah, of course. I have a PS3 and I haven't bought any new movies since Sony threw a bunch at me for free. Woopty doo!

Digital distribution is the only way to go. Everything else is just a waste. Therefore, there is no logical reason Microsoft would get a Blu-ray player pushed out.