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Microsoft Drops HD DVD Support for Xbox 360 -- No Word on Blu-ray Support
Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 9:50 AM - by
As the funeral services for HD DVD continue to wind down, Microsoft finally announced over the weekend it will cease support for the format for its Xbox 360 gaming console. The company said in a statement made via its Gamescore blog that it will cease production of the add-on that allowed the Xbox to play HD DVD -- the internal drive that ships with the consoles has only ever supported the original DVD format. Microsoft has not said whether or not it will offer a Blu-ray add-on.
The company will continue to offer warranty support for those add-ons already sold, and Bloomberg reported that existing inventory will be sold off for half price, for those wanting to invest US$49 on a dead platform.
Microsoft also said in the statement that it did not expect the decision to drop HD DVD to have a material impact on its gaming console business, and added that high definition movies will continue to be offered for download through its Xbox Live service. Interest in that business may well keep Blu-ray out of the Xbox lineup unless, or maybe even if, customers clammer for it.
The announcement from Microsoft is likely to be among the last of the major HD DVD-related announcements as all of the Hollywood studios have united behind Blu-ray, and Toshiba -- the hardware vendor making the drives -- pulled the plug on the platform last week.
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