New Xbox 360 consoles will be shipping with integrated Blu-ray drives during the third quarter of 2008, writes Dominic Dawes.
There is no announcement from Microsoft as of yet, but reports suggest a company called Pegatron has secured orders from the software giant to manufacture new Blu-ray-equipped 360 consoles, to be shipped by September.
Microsoft, of course, is denying everything. At the beginning of this month the company went out of its way to try and quash the latest raft of persistent 'Xbox goes Blu-ray' rumors.
But having had enough time to get the whole HD DVD/format war debacle out of its system, surely it will surprise nobody to see Microsoft embrace Blu-ray with a vengence.
The best part of all this is the accompanying rumours that have also been doing the rounds – namely, that once the 360 is fully Blu-ray'd up, Microsoft will spark a price war with Sony, leading to cheaper consoles for consumers on both sides of the fence. Sounds good to me.
Technorati Tags: 1080p, 720p, Blu-ray, HD, HDTV, high definition, Microsoft, Movies, Pegatron, Sony, TV, X-Box 360