During an interview yesterday, Steve Ballmer was asked about Blu-Ray and the Xbox 360. I wanted to clear something up. Steve was referring to Blu-Ray accessories for the PC. As we have said in the past, we have no plans to introduce a Blu-Ray drive for the Xbox 360. In fact, the future of home entertainment starts very soon when Xbox 360 becomes the first and only console to offer instant-on 1080p streaming HD movies. With a library of thousands of TV shows and movies to choose from, Xbox 360 owners can instantly watch the movies they want, when they want, in the highest form of high definition.
ballmer likes to create mass confusion
The streaming of movies and tv shows is a great feature, and i would accept that as a fine replacement for having a bluray drive... if you don't live in australia.
Suuuuuuuuuuuure you don't.
I'm sorry, but i just can't buy that.
Ballmer's not gonna slip up like that and mistake a PC Blu-Ray drive with an addon for the Xbox 360.
There's... no way.
PS: Lower hard drive prices kthx
yeah riiiiight *wink, wink*
Not cool. Tons of people, including me, would actually buy this. We probably will just have to get a standalone player now.
Right. I call BS.
I for one am glad to hear this. However it does make a nice supplement to Blu-Ray. Most movies I'd rent and this save me loads of times (provided the price is right) Still, there are movies that I want physical copies of. That's just me though.
Deja vu Could have swore we heard this last year....
Just license Java and put out a Blu-Ray drive already! I paid a lot for my HD-DVD drive. I really do not need to buy a PS3 or another DVD player. Put out a player that plugs into the 360!
There's also a difference of "renting" for a fee, and "purchasing" the film for unlimited use (like all the TV shows on the Marketplace.
Too late anyway Microsoft - i doubt many people would care.
I don't understand why anyone would expect the 360 to support Blu-Ray. Nice as it could be, they have their own digital distribution model.
@SARGEHALO666:
You mean "SB". ;)
Whyever not? One of the hooks the PS3 has over the 360 is the built-in Blu-Ray capabilities.
In my view, a BR player could be only beneficial, not everybody wants to download movies.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Include generic drivers for external USB Blu-Ray drives and support for Blu-Ray movie playback in a Dashboard update. You don't have to make a 360-only BR drive (which would probably cost a lot more than the PC drives that are already out there) and the customer gets to choose the hardware he/she wants. Everybody wins.
lol ahh...i love a spot of mass confusion! :D ...still there is always next year for the xbox 360 blu ray rumours again :P
To add, if MS could come up with a monthly subscription service for HD rentals I'd be more than willing. But due to the deal with netflix I see this never happening. I swear we should have progressed further in the rental field by now...
Ballmer said Microsoft's goal is to make the Xbox the source of "the best entertainment--overall entertainment, not just gaming entertainment." Looks like M$ doesn't want you to enjoy BluRay entertainment.
Actually, if you click on the link that Major is referring to and read the excerpt from the interview, it's pretty easy to see that Ballmer was not talking about the 360 specifically. And I wholeheartedly agree with Major; the future is in digital distribution. It's the right move, in my opinion.
Can't see Microsoft willfully licensing JAVA, when it's a competitor. And I think the HD DVD add-on taught Microsoft that an accessory soley for watching movies doesn't necessarily set the world on fire-- especially when you can buy a player elsewhere. Plus Microsoft is on the verge of offering the capablity of streaming HD movies instantly, not to mention offering IPTV in the UK. I don't see a Blu-Ray drive happening or even a logical question right now.
Steve Ballmer messes up again or did he? Ok Blu-Ray drive for Xbox 360 in 2010?
It's a shame that people seems to not understand that the streaming quality in 1080 is not the same as a BR or a HD-DVD.
I don't even start with the subtitles or even extras.
I'm amazed at how many people were confused by what he said. It in no way sounded like he was saying the 360 would get some sort of Blu-Ray add-on. The web never ceases to amaze me.
I really think it is a mistake for MS not to offer this since Sony will be making full use this in its Advertising and it is primary reason that alot of 360 owners buy PS3's.
But after Steve Ballmer last comments about a new 360 no one believed it.