A Financial Times story on the rumor that Microsoft will be working on Blu-Ray for the 360 might not hold as much water as the fan boys wold like to believe.
I'm not going to blow a bunch of smoke up your butt and tell you that it will happen and I'm not going to say that it will never happen but what i will do is tell you what i know so far.

Financial Times reported that:
"Sony is in talks with console rival Microsoft about offering a Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360, according to a senior executive."

"The Japanese electronics maker has until now touted Blu-ray as an advantage its PlayStation 3 holds over Microsoft’s console. Microsoft has backed Toshiba’s HD-DVD format and offered an HD-DVD drive that can be plugged into the 360."

"But after Sony’s victory last month in the high-definition DVD format war, Stan Glasgow, Sony Electronics US president, said the two sides were now talking about Microsoft adopting Blu-ray."

"A Blu-ray drive in a 360 would make Microsoft more competitive with the PS3, but it would also mean extra revenues for Sony’s electronics division. It would also add further cost to the 360, meaning a premium edition of the console could be necessary."

"A Blu-ray drive could be incorporated in its top-of-the-range Elite Xbox, or Microsoft could again offer a drive as a plug-in peripheral."

"Mr Glasgow, speaking at a media dinner, added that discussions were also taking place with Apple, which has not offered Blu-ray drives on any of its computers so far and has focused on digital media via downloads and streaming through devices such as its Apple TV."

"The Sony president said he did not believe Blu-ray would be overtaken by high-definition content becoming available over the internet. Bandwidth limitations meant it was still available to only a few, he said, and consumers favored disks they could own."

“Downloading will build over time, but this will be over a period of years,”

And as always Microsoft declined to confirm any talks, saying: ”We have made no such announcement. Games are what are driving consumers to purchase game consoles and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available.”

Next-gen.biz has posted what they know on the subject and its just not matching the Financial Times report and reads as follows: a Microsoft rep said in a phone interview with Next-Gen that that is "not at all" the case, and Microsoft will "remain focused on the games" for the console, not its movie playback capabilities.

"There are no plans to introduce Blu-ray," said the spokesperson.

"In response to Stan Glasgow’s statement that Blu-ray is a possibility for Xbox 360, we have made no such announcement," the rep added in an e-mail. "Games are what are driving consumers to purchase game consoles and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available."

If your wondering what my take is on the subject i wold say if 360 gets a Blu-ray player that wold be neat, if not that wold not be neat at all, but its still the best console on the planet for games.
So now your up to date on the 360 Blu-ray topic and can form your own opinion, we here at the HQ will as always keep you updated as we get the info.

Yesterday Wal-Mart made the decision to drop the HD-DVD format for Blu-ray marking a huge turn in the tides in the format war.
Soon following the Blu-ray Association had this to say, “Retailers have a tremendous impact on consumer preferences, and as the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart’s reach and leadership are unparalleled,” said the body’s chairman, Andy Parson. “Their decision to support only Blu-ray, particularly in light of the string of similar announcements from the content and retail communities over the last six weeks, seems to us to be a very clear statement that Blu-ray Disc has emerged as the format of choice for high definition home entertainment.”

Good show Blu-ray, Kick them while they're down.
It looks like a bad day for HD-DVD and how long can HD hold on with all the big biz dropping the format?
What will happen to all the HD players out there?
Will XBOX be building a Blu-ray drive to make up for this huge hit?

All we can do now is wait and see.

Woolworths has become the first major retailer to solely back one of the new HD-DVD formats.

The high street firm has announced that it will only stock Blu-Ray high definition DVDs from March, with HD-DVDs being dropped from stores to be sold online.

The move comes after Blu-Ray DVDs outsold HD-DVDs by ten-to-one in Woolies stores over Christmas. From March Woolworths stores will have a Blu-Ray DVD chart in all 820 stores and a Blu-Ray DVD back catalogue section in larger stores. Since launching HD-DVDs in October last year, Woolworths has become the biggest retailer of the new DVD format in the UK. Sales are growing fast, typically rising by over 40 per cent a month. This compares to a relatively flat DVD market. “Sales figures clearly show that the market is moving towards one format of high definition DVD,” says Woolworths DVD buyer Steven McGunigel. “The main reason is the success of Sony's PlayStation 3 machine. Because it plays Blu-Ray discs, there are over ¾ million homes in the UK that can view the new high definition format. There is no where near that number of HD-DVD players around.” “Switching to Blu-Ray only will provide one clear offer to customers in the format they want to watch high definition movies in.” Disney's Ratatouille is expected to be the first Woolworths Blu-Ray DVD chart topper. Other big release films coming in the Spring on Blu-Ray DVD are I Am Legend and Sweeney Todd.

Blu-Ray, backed by Sony, versus HD-DVD, backed by Toshiba, has been likened by commentators to the battle between Toshiba's VHS and Sony's Beta-Max in the 1980s.

The new format war has split the electronics and entertainment industries. Blu-Ray has been backed by Samsung, Sony, Warner, Dell, Apple, Disney and 20th Century Fox. HD-DVD has been backed by NEC, Microsoft and Universal.

The real winner will, of course, be decided at the tills with Blu-Ray already streets ahead according to Woolworths.

Both Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs offer much better quality audio and video than DVD and the additional storage means that more time and extras can be packed into one disc.

Universal and Paramount are poised to ditch Toshiba's HD-DVD format in favor of the Sony-backed Blu-ray format, Variety reports.


Universal's exclusivity agreement with the HD-DVD format has reportedly ended. Meanwhile, Paramount may take advantage of what Variety called an "escape clause" within its HD-DVD contract that would allow the studio to release Blu-ray movies.

For the time being, however, both studios are HD-DVD supporters.

Last week, HD-DVD suffered a major blow when Warner decided to drop HD-DVD support to go Blu-ray exclusive.

If Blu-ray does end up winning the format war, Sony's costly decision to include a Blu-ray drive with PS3 hardware would be somewhat validated.

Microsoft, which offers an HD-DVD add-on player for Xbox 360, insisted that if Blu-ray does win the format war, it will have no significant impact on the PS3 vs. Xbox 360 war.

Toshiba remains steadfast in supporting its format, however Variety suggests that retailers may ultimately make a choice whether or not they want to keep HD-DVD products on store shelves.

News-Source: Next-Gen

New Line Home Entertainment has confirmed that it plans to drop support for Toshiba's HD DVD format in favour of Sony's Blu-ray platform, according to an article in the Hollywood Reporter.

The news comes after last week's announcement by Warner Bros that it would be following a Blu-ray-exclusive path from now on, a move which led to the cancellation of the HD DVD press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

US TV giant HBO will also follow suit, meaning that in future some of the most popular TV series' such as The Sopranos, will not be released on the HD DVD format at all.

Recently Microsoft, which had been seen to favour the HD DVD format with the release of its Xbox 360 player attachment, stated that it had no preference on format, and that if necessary it could release a Blu-ray attachment as appropriate.

News-Source: GameIndustry

Paramount Pictures has denied it is set to follow in Warner Brothers’ footsteps by dropping its support of the Microsoft backed HD-DVD format in favor of Sony’s Blu-ray technology.
“Paramount's current plan is to continue to support the HD-DVD format,'' Brenda Ciccone, a spokeswoman for Paramount told Bloomberg Tuesday.

The Financial Times had earlier reported that Paramount, which is set to release a number of likely blockbuster movies during 2008 including the latest Indiana Jones film, is poised to defect to the Blu-ray camp in a move that ‘will sound the death knell of HD-DVD and bring the home entertainment format war to a definitive end'.

According to the FT, Paramount, which came out in support of HD-DVD last summer, joining Universal as the main backer of the format, is thought to have a clause in its contract with the HD-DVD camp allowing it to switch to Blu-ray if Warner Bros changed allegiances. Warner defected to Blu-ray last week, joining Walt Disney, 20th Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as backers of the Sony format, increasing the possibility that Blu-ray will prosper over HD-DVD in the same way VHS was victorious over rival video technology Betamax during the format war in the 1980s.

News-Source: Next-Gen

The HD-DVD Promotion Group has shelved its CES conference plans following Warner’s decision to drop HD-DVD support in favor of exclusive Blu-ray distribution.

"Based on the timing of the Warner Home Video announcement today, we have decided to postpone our CES 2008 press conference,” read a statement from the organization.

"We are currently discussing the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD-DVD partner companies and evaluating next steps. We believe the consumer continues to benefit from HD-DVD's commitment to quality and affordability – a bar that is critical for the mainstream success of any format."

Warner previously announced that its new focus on exclusive Blu-ray distribution "… will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers," reports MCV.

"The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger,” chairman and CEO Barry Meyer reasoned.

Sony CEO Howard Stringer responded jubilantly to Warner’s decision, while Toshiba said it was “… quite surprised by Warner Bros' decision to abandon HD-DVD in favor of Blu-ray, despite the fact that there are various contracts in place between our companies concerning the support of HD-DVD.”

News-Source: Next-Gen

Warner Bros. announced today it will release its high-definition movie titles exclusively in the Blu-ray disc format, bolstering Sony's format in the battle to become the next home entertainment standard. The studio had been releasing movies in both formats.

"Warner Bros.' move to exclusively release in the Blu-ray disc format is a strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want," said Meyer. "The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers."

News-Source: TeamXbox