Posted on Friday, October 10 2008 @ 3:27 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
The rumour that Microsoft plans to give its Xbox 360 console a Blu-ray drive surfaced again this week. FUD Zilla
claims Microsoft closed a deal with Toshiba and Samsung to manufacture an external Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360, similar to the HD DVD that Microsoft offered for its console. Pricing is expected to be between $100 and $150.
The release date for the add-on drive has yet to be determined, but the latest school of thought is that Microsoft will either announce in early November that it is coming in order to reduce any possible loss of sales to the PlayStation 3 console just by the fact that it offers Blu-ray support. Still, our sources are suggesting that Microsoft may wait until CES to launch the add-on Blu-ray drive.
As for the internal Blu-ray drive that has been long rumored to be coming to the Xbox 360 that has said to have been contracted for Lite-on to produce for Microsoft, we are not hearing much. Several sources are telling us that it will be offered in a new version of the console that will be announced at CES. Specifics are still sketchy and we have been told that Microsoft still has not been able to get the internal Blu-ray drive to a price point they are satisfied with such that it makes sense to add it.
