Microsoft still won't create a Blu-ray add-on for the Xbox 360, says Entertainment & Devices boss Robbie Bach, who refutes speculation in no uncertain terms -- explaining that not only would it raise costs, but "consumers aren’t asking for it, and by the
Microsoft still has no plans to create a Blu-ray add-on for the Xbox 360, says Entertainment & Devices boss Robbie Bach, talking to tech site TechFlash at the ongoing Consumer Electronics Show. When asked about plans to add Blu-ray tech to the Xbox 360, Bach simply said, "We have no plan to do that." Pressed further on the subject, he said there are "a lot of reasons" for the decision. "It’s not a feature we get a ton of requests for. We really don’t," said Bach. "When you ask people the list of things they want to see us spending time creating in Xbox, Blu-ray is way, way down on the list." Speculation that Microsoft would create a Blu-ray add-on disc drive for the Xbox 360, or a model of the console featuring a standard Blu-ray drive, has persisted ever since the collapse of the Microsoft-supported HD-DVD format last year. "The second thing is, from a technical perspective, it doesn’t help us in the core of what Xbox does, which is in gaming," Bach continued. "We can’t have publishers produce games on Blu-ray disc. Because then they won’t play on the 28 million Xboxes we’ve already shipped. So it doesn’t help us in the core gaming space." "The third thing, and this maps to all three of those, is that it costs a lot of money," added Bach. "And so the scenario is, OK, let me get this straight: I’m going to add something to the product that’s going to raise the cost, which means the price goes up, consumers aren’t asking for it, and by the way, my game developers can’t use it." Bach said that Microsoft's partnership with Netflix and other video on demand initiatives for the Xbox 360 were an existing solution for consumers seeking high-definition video via their consoles.
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