Major Nelson shatters Xbox 360 Blu-ray rumours

Recent rumours that a Blu-ray drive is around the corner for the Xbox 360 have been well and truly trounced by the public face of Xbox Live, Microsoft’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb.

The rumours began after Gizmodo interviewed Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer. When asked about Blu-ray for the Xbox 360, Ballmer responded: “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.”

That comment forced many gaming sites to speculate that a Blu-ray peripheral very much like the existing HD DVD accessory was around the corner for Microsoft’s gaming console.

However, in his latest blog post, Major Nelson had the following to say about Ballmer’s comments: “Steve was referring to Blu-Ray accessories for the PC. As we have said in the past, we have no plans to introduce a Blu-Ray drive for the Xbox 360. In fact, the future of home entertainment starts very soon when Xbox 360 becomes the first and only console to offer instant-on 1080p streaming HD movies. With a library of thousands of TV shows and movies to choose from, Xbox 360 owners can instantly watch the movies they want, when they want, in the highest form of high definition.”