Cutting off your nose to spite your face, is the saying that leapt into my head when I read that Microsoft are categorically denying that they are talking to Sony and the Blu-ray consortium nor are they even interested in adding Blu-ray to the Xbox 360.

What they are basically saying is that the Xbox 360 will not support the single format of high definition discs, and all Xbox 360 owners that want to watch them will have to buy an additional player.

It seems they want to stick to their model of downloading films to the console and nowhere else, a highly restrictive move that seems typical of Microsoft.

The story from Reuters through Engadget and Joystiq has the following quote from Aaron Greenberg, the group product manager for Xbox 360:

"Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience...

...We're the only console offering digital distribution of entertainment content"

Wow, well there's a huge plus isn't it? Download a film to your Xbox and...well...watch it...and only on the Xbox without being able to watch it or take it anywhere else. Let's not get into the fact that home internet connections are far from ideal for downloading high definition content, especially in the UK, nor the fact that on my Xbox I don't even have an HDMI output.

I think it's a really stupid and short sighted decision not to include Blu-ray, after all they went all out for HD-DVD. Swallow your pride and offer the Blu-ray disc, why not even add a writeable one to the console? Couple that with online downloads and you'd have a belter of a system...if I had an HDMI output of course.