Microsoft: No Blu-ray for Xbox 360 Customers

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Microsoft: No Blu-ray for Xbox 360 Customers

Microsoft has sad that it will not produce a Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360 anytime soon. There are no plans yet for such an accessory, as the company focuses on digital delivery which they consider to be the future of game sales.

But it seems that Microsoft doesn't feel like adding an internal unit to its Xbox 360. Despite being one of the supporters of HD DVD format, Microsoft unveiled only an external unit and its decision is cited as one of the reasons of the failure of HD DVD.

It seems like instead integrating an optical unit, Microsoft will promote its Xbox Live Service as a download hub for high definition content.

"We have always said online is the way to go," said Neil Thompson, Senior Regional Director for Northern Europe of Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Division. "We said to people they had the choice; we didn't force it on them as we didn't put it in the box," he said to BBC.

Thompson said Microsoft is now stepping up efforts to develop services in the digital domain and Blu-ray would not be a wise allocation of resources at this time.

Meanwhile, Sony's Playstation 3 has surpassed the Xbox 360 for the second month in a row in February, according to data released by NPD Group. Microsoft was quick to explain the Xbox 360's poor sales: first of all, the Xbox sells more units worldwide than PS3, which lead them to the conclusion that these figures don't say much about the overall preferences of gamers. Secondly, Microsoft failed to meet sales expectations due to inventory shortages, after an incredible high demand during holiday season.

Maybe Microsoft's Xbox 360 was beaten in hardware sales, but in terms of games sales, the Xbox 360 games are still best sellers as the first places in the Top 10 were taken in February by Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare with 296,000 units and Devil May Cry 4 with 295,200 units.

Source: eflux