It's all about the games
Following the news that Toshiba has confirmed they are closing their HD DVD business due to “major changes in the market," Microsoft has issued a short statement stating their confidence in the Xbox 360 platform."We do not believe the recent reports about HD DVD will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace", a company Spokesperson said.
"As we've long stated, we believe it is games that sell consoles and Xbox 360 continues to have the largest next-gen games library with the most exclusives and best selling games in the industry.”
"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.”
It’s widely believed that Microsoft will now release a standalone Blu-ray player for Xbox 360 in May 2008.
Note: The Microsoft statement was released before the official confirmation that Toshiba are closing down their HD DVD operations.