The inclusion of a Blu-ray Disc drive with Xbox 360 consoles has been one of the more popular on again, off again rumors since the format war with HD DVD ended. Every time a new rumor pops up, Microsoft in turn shoots it down.
The latest rumor, however, has a different flavor to it. Rather than coming from seemingly nowhere, its source is the mouth of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer from an interview with Gizmodo. When asked if Xbox 360 would receive a Blu-ray Disc drive in the future, Michael replied, “Well I don’t know if we need to put Blu-ray in there – you’ll be able to get Blu-ray drives as accessories.”
Microsoft has been vocal in the past about touting digital download as the future, not disc-based media. At the same time, much of the research involved with creating an add-on drive has been done already for the failed HD DVD version and you can bet the Blu-ray Disc Association is salivating at the opportunity to offer millions of Xbox 360 owners a low cost Blu-ray option.
If, and it is still an if as no “official” announcement exists, Microsoft decides to launch a Blu-ray Disc accessory, the logical time to break the news is at the next CES in early January.
