155
rate

Steve Ballmer says Blu-ray Drives are Coming to Xbox 360

October 21, 2009 in News comments 18

This story is from a recent video interview with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in which he states that Blu-ray drives will be coming to the Xbox 360 as external accessories (available for purchase by consumers), even though he does not specify a time frame.

When asked Ballmer about adding Blu-ray to the Xbox, he said: "Well I don't know if we need to put Blu-ray in there—you'll be able to get Blu-ray drives as accessories."
PlanetXbox360 via planetxbox360.com »
Favourite this article Add source
| More
Report!
Additional sources:

Comments

Register as a member to subscribe comments.
  • 3
    ruledbysecrecy Oct 22, 09
    That'll be nice but it's kinda late. I mean this is an obvious attempt to keep 360 owners exclusively on their side. But by now, Blu-Ray is far from the only reason to want a PS3. So many great games now, the fact that it's a Blu-Ray player and all the other built-in functionality it has makes it an absolute steal at it's current price point.

    If people wanted a Blu-Ray player they already have one. I'm not saying this won't sell, it will probably do alright, but it would have done a lot better a lot longer ago. They really missed the window of opportunity on this one, probably due to the desire to save face.
  • 2
    Kave En Oct 22, 09
    Available by purchase.

    LMAO.

    Much like wireless connectivity, they are basically saying "Here. We have what Sony has, but we charge for it."

    Why don't they just include it in this new Xbox lineup that is supposed to launch with Natal?
    • 4
      Seproth Oct 22, 09
      quote Kave En
      Available by purchase.
      You think you didn't pay for blu-ray in PS3? Why do you think it was $600?
      • 4
        Shattered Oct 22, 09
        I'd just like to point out that the reason for the ~$600 price point when the PS3 launched was because Sony packaged all of the 'add-on' shit together, unlike Microsoft who was pretty much just decieving you into thinking they have the cheaper console.

        Sure the base price for the Xbox 360 Arcade was low, but once you factor in all the other shit you need if you wish to play online wirelessly, etc then suddenly that price is raised to around ~$150 higher at least.
        • 1
          Xeros the Slayer Oct 22, 09
          But... you don't need wireless online, you make it sound as if mankind as gotten rid of cords altogether.

          Unless of course that thing coming out of the back of my 360 is my imagination.
        • 2
          Moonrise Oct 22, 09
          Almost everyone uses wireless these days. Limiting yourself with wires makes it very difficult to have multiple consoles hooked up, especially if you want them in different rooms from the router.
        • 0
          ruledbysecrecy Oct 23, 09
          Xeros that's pretty much the idea, getting rid of cords altogether. Look at HDMI, one cord for video and audio. I'd like to see you argue why we should keep around cords, what are the benefits? You might argue reliability but that is already nearly a moot point. Wireless connections have come so long in the past year even and they're only going to get better.
        • 0
          Xeros the Slayer Oct 23, 09
          Not arguing wireless is better or whatever, I'm just pointing out that the wireless adapter is not a completely necessary purchase as it's made out to be in the arguments. Yes, it's nice but it's not the only option.

          In my house we have three computers and two 360's(My brother's and mine) and the only one on wireless is a laptop. Unless of course you count the two Wiis(Brother's and sister's) and a PSP(Mine), but those don't have the option in the first place.
    • 3
      Shattered Oct 22, 09
      Microsoft - The world's greatest Cash Cow.
  • 0
    Goldva_X Oct 22, 09
    They might as well forget about this if they are going to price it at 200 bones like the HDDVD
  • 0
    Province Oct 22, 09
    I seriously bet they charge over £120. Not even kidding.
  • 0
    Smoke Oct 22, 09
    I'm not really sold on if that meant Blu-Ray external. It just seemed like he was trying rush-answer the question. But who knows.

    I'd like to believe "Nah, $100 for it, max." if this were the case... but looking at the way Microsoft handles add ons to the Xbox... it's not going to be cheap.

    Wireless adapter $100, Hard Drives FAR more exspensive than they should be, $200 for the HD-DVD... Yeah. If they place it at $200, people who want to watch Blu-Ray would shrug and say "Hey, $100 more for a complete system."
  • 0
    Smiffers Oct 22, 09
    I'm going on a limb here, but if they make blu ray games, they better not make them exclusive for blu ray consoles
  • 0
    Sayyed Oct 22, 09
    Isnt the pS3 the same price as the 360? Now im no mathematician but someone is getting ripped off.
    • 0
      ruledbysecrecy Oct 23, 09
      There's no way they would make Blu-Ray games, and if they did that would be absolutely retarded.
  • 2
    Killosity Oct 22, 09
    >.<

    The Blu-Ray drive is an accessory for those who choose to watch their Blu Ray movies on the player. There are no games or "XBOX" features whatsoever. What Ballmer is saying, is that they are offering it as an add-on for means of ENTERTAINMENT, not gaming. It is aimed at those who wish wish to have the Blu-Ray experience but do not want to purchase another games console.

    Ballmer clearly states as in regards to their console footing, they are continuing to push the 1080p video streaming.

    Having said that, you could imagine the Microsoft Blu-Ray player to be about 100US more than it needs to be...
    • 2
      Smoke Oct 23, 09
      I'm going to go out on a limb and say the majority of console owners are not able to stream at 1080p
      • 0
        ruledbysecrecy Oct 23, 09
        It doesn't even matter, upload speeds aren't even close to where they would need to be to deliver 1080p streaming content equivalent to that of a Blu-Ray 1080p video. The average consumer doesn't get this though, they just think 1080p is 1080p, and hell neither do a people here on gamegrep probably.

This news story is archived and is closed to comments now.