Following Toshiba's decision to pull out of the HD DVD playing market, Microsoft was left with no choice but to follow suit. The company has released the following statement, confirming what everybody thought would be the case:

"As a result of recent decisions made by Toshiba, Hollywood studios, and retailers, Microsoft plans to withdraw from HD DVD. Xbox will no longer manufacture new HD DVD players for the Xbox 360, but we will continue to provide standard product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD Players in the market.

"As we stated earlier, we do not believe this decision will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace. 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."

So that leaves the question of whether Microsoft will bite the bullet and release a Blu-ray player or concentrate its full firepower on digital downloads via 360's Video Store.

Courtesy of CVG.

Feb 25, 2008