In an exclusive interview with sister site Gizmodo, Ballmer addressed the question of adding Blu-ray to the Xbox 360, saying, "Well I don't know if we need to put Blu-ray in there-you'll be able to get Blu-ray drives as accessories.

I think mostly the future of movies is on-demand, actually, as opposed to distribution via physical media," Ballmer continued. "So we're just gonna keep driving forward and try to make it the best entertainment — overall entertainment, not just gaming, but overall entertainment experience we can."

In the post format war, Microsoft has continued to push digital distribution, which seems contradictory to the idea that Microsoft would pursue a Blu-ray add-on accessory.

When Xbox spokespeople were asked about Ballmer's comment, they told Gizmodo, "Our solution for HD quality video on an Xbox 360 is coming this fall with Zune Video and 1080p instant-on HD streaming. As far as our future plans are concerned, we're not ready to comment."

Ballmer Talks Natal, Says Blu-ray Add-On for Xbox Coming [Gizmodo]

The articles author seems to think that the Blu-ray could eventually come into its own if you are able to use it for more than just playing Blu-ray movies. That means added functions, or a Playstation 3.

The movie critic for the paper is not as optimistic when he compared a Blu-ray player to his DVD player:

"The blacks were superb, the colors clear and precise, the striations of the canyon walls in the desert locations of Apes were brilliant," Roger Moore said. "But the ugly truth of the matter is that once you've got the 1080 HDTV, once you've bought a DVD player with HDMI cable connections, Blu-ray is superfluous. The features are fancier, but the picture? No improvement. Investing in a player (unless you already have a Blu-ray-ready PlayStation) is a needless expense. Downloads are the future, not discs in a cute blue box."

Is Blu-ray a tech destined to be out maneuvered by digital movies and downloadable content or are we just witnesses the bitterness of former HD-DVD supporters? Only time will tell.

Should you buy Blu-ray?

Now that the dust has settled and the reality has washed over me and you, let's see how this format war has turned out with an totally unscientific poll. In late November, members of the goo Research monitor group were asked about Blu-ray and HD DVD in an online questionnaire. A little over half of those polled were male and ages ranged from teens to over 60 years old. Let's look at the data:

Which of the following movie recording and playback devices do you have? (Sample size = 1,081, multiple answer)

VHS video recorder: 68.0 percent
DVD player (including games machines): 66.4 percent
Hard disk and DVD recorder/player: 36.0 percent
Hard disk only recorder/player: 12.3 percent
Blu-ray recorder/player (including games machines): 6.3 percent
HD DVD recorder/player (including games machines): 3.4 percent
None of the above: 4.4 percent
Don’t know: 0.8 percent

FASCINATING. Not surprising that DVD playing game machines are so prevalent. We would've thought that Blu-ray would be doing a little better though... But hey, Sony probably thought the same thing. We're not alone.

Blu-ray ドライブより HD DVD ドライブ所有者が多数、買い換え意向は1割半ば [japan.internet.com via What Japan Thinks] [Pic]

While it is unfortunate that HD DVD was discontinued, there is still enjoyment to be had from your Xbox 360 HD DVD Player. You can take this as an opportunity to build out your movie collection! There are around 500 HD DVD movies to choose from and many at great deals, so there is a fair amount of content for HD DVD on the market. It also is a terrific DVD player and it allows you to have game discs and movie discs, whether HD DVD or DVD, within the console at one time. The HD DVD player also adds two additional USB ports to your console.

What's new? Compatibility improvements with certain titles and additional support for network features, according to the source, but we're hearing rumblings that it will soon weigh down your papers with much higher clarity. Yes, it is awesome!

HD DVD Update [Xbox Lives Major Nelson]

The horse that we're fundamentally backing is the one that says the future of entertainment content is online digital distribution. I would argue that we backed the right horse... If we're sitting here in 12 or 18 months time, we'll be saying 'why were people even thinking about a disc format when it's really about digital distribution?' Our strategy's been developed for the last six or seven years, and ever since we launched the platform it [online content] has been our big, big, big bet.

Those stuck with HD-DVD players getting gift cards {CNN.com - Thanks, Robert]

Given that the Xbox 360's HD DVD player should be applicable and that one Giz reader used the deal to acquire a new PS3, there are some interesting possibilities for those looking to ditch brand loyalty in the interest of new media standards. Given that this is a completely unadvertised promotion, expect to haggle in some locations. And Circuit City, consider yourself officially on our cool list for the remainder of the day. You're penciled in under "Burt Reynolds."

Circuit City's HD DVD for Blu-Ray Trade-In Confirmed By Sources, Readers [Gizmodo]

Now, because timing is everything, Microsoft has released their emulator to the public free of charge (go forth and do with it what you will). Developers who already paid for the program will be refunded.

Xbox 360 HD DVD Emulator - Now Free [A Dullard's Guide via Gameguru]

I'll start with the admission that I am one of the early a-duh-pters that has the HD DVD add-on for the XBOX 360. That doesn't make me a MS fanboi, I would instead describe myself as an evil-company-hateboi. And if you want proof that I'm not in MS' camp just talk to me someday about Vista and its wonderful support of earlier versions of Office.

There are several reasons that the death of HD DVD sticks in my craw.

1) HD DVD was far more consumer-friendly.

* It's region-free. The spec does not have Region coding, allowing for my purchase of titles from anywhere in the world. I could watch German scheisse videos featuring Cartman's mom to my heart's content.

* It's easily upgradeable. An ethernet port is mandatory in the HD DVD spec. The majority of stand alone Blu-ray players don't have ethernet which not only limits interactive features but more importantly complicates upgrade issues. Something the early adopters will be realizing once Profile 2.0 (BD-Live) is widely released.

* AACS (onerous copy protection) is optional in HD DVD but required in Blu-ray. This should come as no surprise to anybody familiar with Sony and their bootkit rootkit bonanza rewards.

Although none of these features may matter to you, the underlying principle of being consumer-friendly should. Sony simply doesn't get it and frankly I feel that they don't care.

2) Who the hell decided "one format to rule them all?"

Yeah. I actually have heard of Betamax but I've also heard of Macintosh, Firefox and Linux. Simply put - choice is good for consumers. I recognize that there are additional costs to the studios in authoring more than one format but in the scheme of things this is a negligible cost.

The excuse that consumers wouldn't get off of the fence until the "format war" was over is a self-fulfilling prophecy. I can guaran-damn-tee you that the fence is where I'll stay firmly entrenched next time around.

3) My last beef is far less tangible but still valid to me and that is this bully-ish concept of Sony declaring that if we didn't like their rules then they were going to take their ball (read: movie studio) and go home.

I recognize that I'm painting Sony with a very broad brush (as I type this on my snazzy Sony VAIO laptop sitting in front of my gorgeous Sony XBR2-60" TV) and that's not my intent. But faulting "Sony" is less cumbersome an attribution than to the conference room full of pointy-headed-asshats who were behind this consumer unfriendly move.

So while my 360 will rely heavily on downloaded movies and videos from XBL the HD DVD will still live on in my house in the 40-ish movies that I currently have and the (hopefully) $10 movies to come in the following months.

HD DVD, I hardly knew ya.

Microsoft Drops HD DVD for Xbox 360 [AHN]

The full statement from Microsoft is just after this, full of digital distribution good wishes and stiff upper lips. Rest in peace, Xbox 360 HD-DVD player.

As a result of recent decisions made by Toshiba, Hollywood studios, and retailers, Microsoft plans to withdraw from HD DVD. Xbox will no longer manufacture new HD DVD players for the Xbox 360, but we will continue to provide standard product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD Players in the market. As we stated earlier, we do not believe this decision will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace. HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room, along with playback of the DVD movies they already own.

Ways to Extend Xbox 360 HD DVD Player's Life [TeamXbox via Hatimaki]