the sideline), the Redmond-based company confirmed that it plans to withdraw from HD DVD. HD DVD players for the Xbox 360 will no longer be manufactured, but the company promised to continue to offer product and warranty support for the sold devices. The official statement ends with Microsoft trying to get as much PR distance from the Toshiba-developed format as possible. After all, nobody likes to be associated with the losing side:
“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.”
However, Microsoft failed to answer a question that’s been floating in the air ever since the HD DVD was known to have lost the format war: is the green console turning Blu?