Microsoft: Who needs Blu-ray?

It’s been a particularly flavorful week of corporate trash talk this week, with Microsoft and Sony each getting their digs in. Now Microsoft has decided to take a steaming dump over Blu-ray, by way of UK boss Stephen McGill. What is this, 2007?

“I think people may have spoken about [Xbox’s lack of a Blu-ray drive] originally, but that’s long gone,” says McGill. “I think people now recognize what a smart decision it was to keep the pricing low, and actually Blu-ray is going to be passed by as a format. People have moved through from DVDs to digital downloads and digital streaming, so we offer full HD 1080p Blu-ray quality streaming instantly, no download, no delay. So, who needs Blu-ray?”

Blu-ray has been one of Sony’s more successful format deviations, and has at least managed to stick around for the past few years. Given this industry’s obsession with graphics and size, I can’t see Blu-ray dying quite as easily as McGill thinks. 

What do you reckon. Will Microsoft have to embrace Blu-ray, or is McGill right in thinking nobody needs it?

Interview – Stephen McGill, UK Xbox Boss Talks The Future, Halo, Rare & More [Xbox360Achievements via CVG]