Shortly after the fall of the HD DVD format Microsoft officially announced that they were ending production of the HD DVD player for the Xbox 360 and we, along with a number of others, figured they would be jumping on board with Blu-ray in short order.
According to Microsoft exec Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for the Xbox 360, the company appears to have no plans to move in the direction of a Blu-ray player, or any high-def player for that matter, for their game console. “Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience,” Greenberg said. He followed up that comment with “We’re the only console offering digital distribution of entertainment content,” which leads us to believe that Microsoft may have taken this opportunity to rid the console of physical disc media all together.
Microsoft will likely continue to promote and grow the Xbox Live online service instead which might be a better option for them and will almost certainly keep them from investing in another technology that gets beat out by a competitor such as the HD DVD player.
Best Buy Co. Inc. this Sun. will offer customers $100 off Sony Corp.'s Playstation 3 when purchased with an HDTV $999 and up.
The promotion is the latest to further high-definition sales.
Each PS3 sold includes a Blu-ray disc drive to playback high-definition titles.
Last Sun., Best Buy began offering a free $20 gift card with the purchase of any two Blu-ray disc titles.
The PS3 has held strong sales following the Blu-ray camp's victory over Toshiba Corp.'s HD DVD.
NPD Group Inc. on Thurs. recorded sales of 280,841 units sold in at U.S. retail in Feb., outselling Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 by 10 percent.
Microsoft this week debunked reports that it was in talks with Sony to provide a Blu-ray option for the Xbox 360. Instead, it said it will concentrate on digital distribution via the Xbox Live online service.
Sony Computer Entertainment America Jack Tretton this week cited Blu-ray as a factor for strong PS3 sales.
Post Blu-ray victory, Sony should sustain strong U.S. sales in Q2 on the release game titles, including Take-Two Interactive Inc.'s Grand Theft Auto IV and Konami Corp.'s Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
Since the Blu-ray format victory, retailers have begun to offer incentives to drive the format to customers.
Amazon.com this week fired a new Blu-ray disc sale that discounted titles up to 53 percent.
Titles in the new sale include Casino Royale, First Blood, Curse of the Golden Flower, Transporter 2, and A Knight's Tale.
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