Microsoft Responds to Blu-Ray Comments

Next Generation reports that Microsoft's willingness to support Blu-Ray on the 360 was highly overrated. From the article: "The question of whether Xbox 360 has the flexibility to adapt to consumers' needs is a different issue entirely. Xbox 360 is a future-proofed system - one that allows us to add features as consumers demand them - as evidenced by our offering of the HD-DVD drive as an accessory. Current reports indicating that we have a back-up plan, which includes Blu-Ray support are incorrect. At this point, we're fully committed to HD-DVD and have absolutely no plans to support other optical formats." IE: They have the option of adding Blu-Ray if it turns out HD-DVD is a flop. We've reported on this claim earlier.

Comments

Score 1 for Microsoft

[fujiman]

This is actually pretty smart on MS's part. They've covered all their bases, and left enough uncertainty that a BR drive is not out of the question. Which "accessories" they produce will be demand-driven.

Sony, on the other hand, *may* be committing the PSP blunder again. While the PSP has excellent support for various media, it hasn't translated into game sales -- people are happy with emulators and self-ripped DVD files (neither of which lines Sony's pockets). Similarly, people who have a PS3 Blue-Ray player may not buy games for it. Sony is definitely taking the riskier route.

IMHO, it all comes down to the PS3 price point. If their target is gamers, I think anything over $400 is a mistake.