This generation, Microsoft has made it clear that they have no intentions of including a Blu-ray drive in the Xbox 360. Rumors come and go, but let's face it, an Xbox 360 with built in, or even add-on Blu-ray, is not in the cards. But what about next gen? Blu-ray is already becoming the standard, as more and more Blu-ray players and Blu-ray-capable PS3's are being sold, and people are converting their DVD collection to the new High-Definition disc format.

Although the new disc format was inevitable, there are also those who contend that downloads are the real future. As bandwidth increases, optic infrastructures are laid, and more of our entertainment becomes available as a download, the need for any type of disc at all is slowly disappearing. What does this mean for our gaming consoles? Sony would argue that Blu-ray is necessary for HD gaming, allowing for textures and data to be uncompressed and fuel virtual worlds. The drawback is that current drives for Blu-ray are very slow. So to remedy this, some developers write the same data on a single disc multiple times so that the laser may access it quicker. Still, most games that are available on both the Sony PS3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 look and perform better on 360. The reason for this is open to debate, though most point to the less complicated architecture of the 360 allowing developers to optimize games better. So at he moment, the Xbox 360 is getting away with delivering great games on DVD using different compression techniques, but can they afford to carry the same practice to their next box?

If the typical lifespan and roll-out of consoles continues, we can expect a new Xbox by 2010, and by this time Blu-ray may well be cemented as a media standard. Some may say that it is already the new standard, but until the market penetration is comparable to that of DVD in the early 2000's, I wouldn't call it just yet. Downloaded content continues to be the format of choice for many consumers, myself included. You can download and stream movies, music and more with your PC as well as the PS3 and Xbox 360. I put my music on my i-pod, and use the Xbox Live Marketplace for many of my movie rentals(most of which are HD ). If infrastructures allow it, more and more games can be delivered this way too. The fact that a downloaded version of Halo 4 could take hours to download, is the big hurtle. If someone has a completely fiber-optic pipeline delivering their content, then this may only take minutes. So what about those of us who aren't so lucky, or live in the boonies and have dial-up at best? We would still need an optical disc to deliver the goods.

The need for some sort of disc format for the near future is the main reason we won't be able to go fully downloadable any time soon. While all signs may point that way for the eventual future, Microsoft may reluctantly have to pony-up the cash to license and use Sony's proprietary technology for the next console. With HD-DVD dead, how else could they fit future video game information on a disc? If they stick with DVD they risk falling far behind technologically speaking, unless they come up with an alternate plan. The new Xbox Experience is debuting in about a month or so, and one of the features allows users to install games onto the hard drive for faster loading and quieter operation. What if Microsoft included a hard drive so big, that you could fit multiple DVD's worth of information per game onto it for play? It may be far-fetched, but it seems that the folks at Redmond may be willing to do anything but bow to Sony's format. as far as I'm concerned, So long as it doesn't hamper the true potential of the games I'm playing, I don't really care. But if they are eventually going to have to go to the 'Blu' side of things, I wish they'd just suck it up now and give us a Blu-ray add-on for our current 360s; they may be giving in, but they'd also take a very compelling exclusive feature away from a major competitor.