Microsoft could adopt Blu-ray on Xbox 360 if HD-DVD fails, says executive

Microsoft‘s group marketing manager for Xbox hardware, Albert Penello, said at CES 2008 that Microsoft could actually support Blu-ray on the Xbox 360 console if the HD-DVD format fails. “If that’s the way [consumers] vote, that’s something we’ll have to consider,” he said in an interview. More on this at the full article.

Microsoft offering Blu-ray support on the Xbox 360 is nothing impossible, said Microsoft’s group marketing manager for Xbox hardware Albert Penello. “It should be consumer choice; and if that’s the way they vote, that’s something we’ll have to consider,” he said in an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show 2008 when asked if Blu-ray on the 360 is feasible in the event that HD-DVD lose the format war.

Penello said he doesn’t think adopting Blu-ray can cause a significant impact on Xbox 360 versus the competing Sony PlayStation 3. To explain, he brought up the PlayStation 2 which could play DVD movies yet was considered by consumers as a video game console.

In the end, it depends on consumers whether Microsoft will integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox 360.  “I want consumers to have a voice in this and I think there are a lot of consumers who bought HD-DVD who are going to have a say in how this shakes out,” Penello concluded.