14 DAY TRIAL // A new rumor points to the possibility that the Xbox 360 from Microsoft might be getting a Blu-ray drive. These rumors seem to pop up every couple of months, proposing either an internal or an external drive, only to solicit a quick and tough reaction from a Microsoft official who denies the possibility that this will ever happen.
Now, a publication called X-Bit Labs claims that Toshiba-Samsung Storage Technology is under contract to create and produce an external drive which would be added to the already sold gaming consoles. The price tag is rumored to be around 100 - 150 dollars. It is thought that an announcement from Microsoft could come as quickly as in the following weeks, with the obvious aim of targeting the Christmas sales period. There's also a possibility that the drive could be announced early in 2009, at the Consumer Electronics Show.
Sony is using the Blu-ray drive which is integrated into the PlayStation 3 as a powerful argument regarding the superiority of its console. Microsoft initially backed the now defunct HD-DVD format and offered an add on drive for the Xbox 360.
Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer, said not long ago that Microsoft was interested in supporting the Blu-ray “in ways that make sense” while Aaron Greenberg stated that “Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience”.
It just might be that the people at Microsoft do not know for sure whether the Blu-ray is important enough to buyers in order to warrant support and implementation related to the Xbox 360. Microsoft is increasingly repositioning its gaming console as a media hub targeted at more casual users and getting a Blu-ray add on might negate on of the few advantages that Sony still holds in the console competition.