Rumors of Microsoft supporting the Blu-ray format have started to pick up again, especially since the announcement earlier this month that Warner Brothers was backing the fledging optical disc format over HD-DVD for home video. But it comes as a small surprise to read in a recent 1UP.com interview with Jeff Bell, Corporate Vice President of Global Marketing for Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business that Microsoft has been "talking to Blu-ray all along."

While that statement sounds a tad revisionist, more surprising is that Bell calls the company's relationship with rival Sony a "coopetition," given the companies' heated rivalry in the video game arena. Of course, this statement is true, because Sony relies on Microsoft's operating systems for various devices, including computers. But does it mean that a Blu-ray drive (Sony technology) could be on its way to the Xbox 360?

Probably not yet, but then again, Microsoft has made a slew of strange moves with the 360, most of which have left early adopters high and dry. The bottom line is, if you bought an external HD-DVD drive you can still enjoy the movies that are out there. But I wouldn't suggest you start browsing for Blu-ray movies to play on the 360, at least for now.

Post by Peter Suciu