Xbox 360 – Blu-ray possible after all?

Xbox 360 has a pretty obvious Achilles heal in that it does not support any of the next generation optical formats, HD DVD or Blu-ray. PlayStation 3 has as you know support for Blu-ray which also makes it a very high value Blu-ray player. Microsoft has insinuated that it will  release an external HD DVD player for Xbox 360 to counter this, but now we have received information that states that the external player also might support Blu-ray. This information comes directly from Microsoft in an interview with a Japanese site. They put it simply that by using an external unit it is possible for Microsoft, which is a HD DVD follower, to chose what format(s) it wants to support.

They say that it is still uncertain which of the formats that will reach out to the most people and by waiting with an external player Microsoft can adjust the player after the market demands. It seems like an attempt to defend the choice of an external player, which many has complained about, but then again you can’t stop wondering what a combo-unit would do for Xbox 360 when competing with PlayStation 3.

“At present time, considering such part [external optical drive], Microsoft selects HD DVD. But since it is unknown whether HD DVD and Blu-ray wins [the format battler], we took the form, external drive, which allows us to change in future situations,””

Source: X-bit Labs