Microsoft: HD-DVD Not To Be Used For Games

While I thought Microsoft had settled this issue some time ago, apparently there's been abundant speculation that the upcoming external HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360 might be used to play Xbox games in the future. Not wanting their users to get their hopes up about a feature that won't come to fruition (because they've never done that before), Microsoft has squashed the rumor, stating that the HD-DVD is for movies. No games. At all.

At this point, we haven't seen anything to suggest that next-gen DVD formats offer a better game experience than current DVD. What we do know is that these formats will bring added cost to game developers, disc manufacturing, and could even result in added costs and longer load times for the consumer, which would negatively impact the game experience. We are focused on making great HD games available to consumers now, and games like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion clearly show that beautiful high def graphics and huge, immersive worlds to explore are possible on the DVD9 format.

So, in a nutshell, they feel that the technology is still too new to be used effectively for games. A fair argument, but if the technology can't stream game data fast enough, what's to say that it'll be able to keep up with high-definition video? I suspect that this won't be the last we hear about this issue, so stay tuned.

[via GameDaily BIZ]