Microsoft Drops Xbox 360 HD DVD Player, Blu-ray Coming?

Boston (dbTechno) - Microsoft has officially announced the death of their Xbox 360 external HD DVD drive, sparking further rumors that a Blu-ray add-on drive is heading to the next-gen video game console to compete with the PS3 and its built-in Blu-ray player.

Microsoft stated in an announcement that they will end production of the external HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360, but would continue to offer warranty support for the add-on drive.

Microsoft announced about 2 weeks ago that they would drop the price of their HD DVD drive from $179.99 down to $129.99. It is now expected that they will drop the price to $49.99 to get rid of whatever stock is left.

Blair Westlake, corporate vide president for the media and entertainment group at Microsoft stated ” HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room, along with playback of DVD movies they already own.”

This has sparked new rumors that Microsoft is getting ready to release an external Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360, to allow their console the ability to better compete with the Sony PS3, which has a built-in Blu-ray drive.