Greenberg hammers Blu-ray at TGS: "We have no plans to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience"

An exasperated Aaron Greenberg has flatly denied there are any plans to add Blu-ray to the Xbox platform. Seriously: it's not happening.

"We have no plans to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience," the Microsoft production boss told Major Nelson in Tokyo in response to recent rumours that a contract had ben awarded to create an external Xbox 360 Blu-ray player.

"We believe that we shouldn't force people to pay for things they don't want. We also believe that the future's digital, and that's why we've invested in a massive library of entertainment content, that's why we're bringing things like Netflix to members in the US, that's why we're growing our library in Europe, that's why we're adding all type of entertainment experiences around the world."

The exec went on to ridicule the format, saying that years from now there'll be an expression, "It got Blu-rayed," and that, "It's pretty clear it's not the next DVD".

"And Blu-ray: who knows? I'll tell you one thing: if you look at retail sales and availability, there's not a lot there, and what is there is at a premium," he said.

"No one knows what Blu-ray will be. It's pretty clear it's not the next DVD, right? The days of one physical format being the standard are gone.

"I went to Sony's booth, and it used to be that their whole booth was Blu-ray. It just keeps shrinking down. Now it's just this little corner and there's no one there and it's like, there's a heart sign and it's got 'Blu-ray' and some movies. It's interesting."

There's an audio interview through the link, recording last night after TGS.