Admid cautionary tales from retailers and homeless men carrying cardboard signs decrying that the end is near for the HD-DVD format, comes news that Microsoft has already long since started work in-house on a standalone Blu-ray player for the 360. insiders at the big M claim that the unit could hit retail as early as May, and that the possibility exists we could even see a 360 with built-in Blu-ray capability.
Hearing that Sony may have managed to squeeze a successful format from the same womb that brought forth Betamax, MiniDisc and UMD is a bit like seeing Wile E. Coyote catch the Road Runner, with the rest of us looking on in utter amazement, scratching our heads and saying “Well whattaya know…”
Could this be why Microsoft has been so hesitant to release a console with a built-in HD-DVD player? Is it possible they’ve been waiting it out much like the rest of us? More importantly, how do you think this will affect PS3 sales if Sony can no longer pimp their black box as a movie machine?
[Via Engadget]