Taiwan’s DigiTimes claimed yesterday that Microsoft has contracted Lite-On to manufacture Blu-ray drives for the Xbox 360. The report claims that the new SKU will be released in the second half of 2008, something Microsoft denies. Microsoft has said in the past that it has no plans to release an Xbox 360 SKU with a BD-ROM drive and that instead wants to focus on the games and its Xbox Live Marketplace.
I do wonder, is it even worth Microsoft’s while to include a BD-ROM this generation. The Xbox 360 turns three in November; most video game console cycles typically last five years. Is the loss Redmond would have to take worth two years of “see, we have Blu-ray, too“?