Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Sunday, 24 February 2008 13:15
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
While plenty of speculation has emerged over whether Microsoft would ever create a Blu-ray drive add-on for the Xbox 360, Microsoft has refused to truly confirm or deny whether this is part of future plans.
No doubt such an event would please the Blu-ray Disc Association, Sony and the other IP holders of Blu-ray technology, as Microsoft would be paying them royalties for such a drive.
It would also help add further unstoppable momentum to the Blu-ray format, as then both of the world’s only HD capable games consoles could be used as Blu-ray players.
Were Microsoft ever to release a Blu-ray add-on, they might consider making it possible for this drive to be used to play future Xbox 360 games pressed on Blu-ray discs.
Such an outcome would certainly cause an outcry amongst Xbox 360 owners who haven’t bought the drive, but it could help Microsoft immensely as it battles future games titles from Sony and the PS3 which use all 50GB on a dual-layer Blu-ray disc to deliver graphics and audio simply not possible on an 8.5GB dual-layer DVD.
Microsoft and games publishers would have to resort to delivering games on multiple DVD discs, in the case of a game that was so big it needed the extra space, something that is a messy solution compared with a single Blu-ray disc.
Surely such an outcome is technically feasible, and while it might not be necessary today, the next couple of years will likely see such ‘large’ and graphically lush games become the norm, with Microsoft being squeezed while the PS3 has room to move.
So, what about downloading? And what might Microsoft do with the Xbox 360’s successor? Please read onto page 3.
