Future Xbox 360's will alter

News - Gates talks of HD-DVD in Tokyo

Bill Gates' latest comments have sparked further rumour and speculation in gaming circles, after the Microsoft chief hinted that future revisions of the Xbox 360 hardware might include a drive supporting the emerging HD-DVD standard. Microsoft, and their chairman, publicly backed the Toshiba-developed format at a Tokyo conference yesterday. The way forward for DVD technology has been clouded since talks between Sony and Toshiba broke down over the establishment of a future format - HD-DVD rivals Sony's own Blu-Ray standard. Whilst Blu-Ray boasts a larger capacity, HD-DVD is cheaper to manufacture and it appears the upcoming format face-off could be bloody one, especially now Redmond has sided with Toshiba.

"The initial shipments of Xbox 360 will be based on today's DVD format," said Gates at the conference. "We are looking at whether future versions of Xbox 360 will incorporate an additional capability of an HD-DVD player or something else."

Of course, whilst purchasers of a future Xbox 360 model would no doubt welcome the ability to watch movies in the new DVD format, developers would still have to utilise traditional DVD's for games in order to ensure backwards compatibility. Sony are currently planning to utilise their advanced Blu-Ray technology in the PS3, expected in Japan next spring. What's also interesting is Microsoft's plans to revise and update the Xbox 360 as technology improves and manufacturing becomes more economical, and it will be interesting to see what directions Redmond takes in their quest for living room domination.