Microsoft VP Says No Blu-ray Player For Xbox 360

Despite rumors to the contrary, Microsoft says it has no plans for an Xbox 360 Blu-ray player, citing digital downloads as the real wave of the future.

In an interview with MCV, Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Europe Vice President Chris Lewis said despite Blu-ray's triumph over HD-DVD, the company had no plans to follow up with a Blu-ray player for the Xbox 360. Instead, he suggested Microsoft will follow its greater strategic advantage in the area of digital distribution, which he believes will take preeminence over conventional media.

"We never wanted to force consumers down any particular DVD playback route," he said. "We felt that HD-DVD was the right format for an accessory, but we always felt very strongly that we should never make that an integral part of Xbox 360 because we wanted to give people the choice."

"My own view is very clear and I know it's shared by other people in Microsoft is that the future's digital downloads now. The broadband proliferation is amazing - people's appetite to download movies through Video Marketplace is a testament to that. The future is about people taking their digital content on an online rather than physical media," he continued. "We have no plans to do anything at all in terms of further or additional movie playback peripherals. My own sense - and a lot of the analysts would feel the same way - is that online is the future. And we're very well placed to take advantage of that."