An external HD DVD drive for Microsoft Xbox 360

An external HD DVD drive for Microsoft Xbox 360

We have some indications now on how Microsoft plans to support the next generation DVD format HD DVD on their recently launched gaming console Xbox 360. The rivals of the HD DVD group is led by Sony who are developing their own Blu-Ray format and have already announced plans to provide a Blu-Ray compatible drive with their upcoming Playstation 3 gaming console. This made is necessary for Microsoft to support HD DVD format in some form with their Xbox 360.

Microsoft has now announced that would be supporting this standard by selling an external HD-DVD drive for its Xbox 360 video game console later this year. This would allow the owners of Xbox 360 gaming console to run media available on HD DVD discs. The market for the next generation storage system is estimated to be as big as $40-billion and with High Definition display devices becoming a standard, we expect these giants to work hard on establishing their presence in the market.

Peter Moore, president of Microsoft’s consumer entertainment division said in a statement that the Xbox 360 would become the killer app for these high definition television sets in the coming months. They expect majority of the owners of the Xbox 360 gaming console to have interests in purchasing the media available on these new generation DVD format based discs.

Microsoft also showcased the latest capabilities of their upcoming operating system Microsoft Windows Vista at the ongoing Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Vista is also expected to come with support for HD DVD built-in and this would be another boost for the Toshiba led group developing this format.