A Financial Times story on the rumor that Microsoft will be working on Blu-Ray for the 360 might not hold as much water as the fan boys wold like to believe.
I'm not going to blow a bunch of smoke up your butt and tell you that it will happen and I'm not going to say that it will never happen but what i will do is tell you what i know so far.

Financial Times reported that:
"Sony is in talks with console rival Microsoft about offering a Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360, according to a senior executive."

"The Japanese electronics maker has until now touted Blu-ray as an advantage its PlayStation 3 holds over Microsoft’s console. Microsoft has backed Toshiba’s HD-DVD format and offered an HD-DVD drive that can be plugged into the 360."

"But after Sony’s victory last month in the high-definition DVD format war, Stan Glasgow, Sony Electronics US president, said the two sides were now talking about Microsoft adopting Blu-ray."

"A Blu-ray drive in a 360 would make Microsoft more competitive with the PS3, but it would also mean extra revenues for Sony’s electronics division. It would also add further cost to the 360, meaning a premium edition of the console could be necessary."

"A Blu-ray drive could be incorporated in its top-of-the-range Elite Xbox, or Microsoft could again offer a drive as a plug-in peripheral."

"Mr Glasgow, speaking at a media dinner, added that discussions were also taking place with Apple, which has not offered Blu-ray drives on any of its computers so far and has focused on digital media via downloads and streaming through devices such as its Apple TV."

"The Sony president said he did not believe Blu-ray would be overtaken by high-definition content becoming available over the internet. Bandwidth limitations meant it was still available to only a few, he said, and consumers favored disks they could own."

“Downloading will build over time, but this will be over a period of years,”

And as always Microsoft declined to confirm any talks, saying: ”We have made no such announcement. Games are what are driving consumers to purchase game consoles and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available.”

Next-gen.biz has posted what they know on the subject and its just not matching the Financial Times report and reads as follows: a Microsoft rep said in a phone interview with Next-Gen that that is "not at all" the case, and Microsoft will "remain focused on the games" for the console, not its movie playback capabilities.

"There are no plans to introduce Blu-ray," said the spokesperson.

"In response to Stan Glasgow’s statement that Blu-ray is a possibility for Xbox 360, we have made no such announcement," the rep added in an e-mail. "Games are what are driving consumers to purchase game consoles and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available."

If your wondering what my take is on the subject i wold say if 360 gets a Blu-ray player that wold be neat, if not that wold not be neat at all, but its still the best console on the planet for games.
So now your up to date on the 360 Blu-ray topic and can form your own opinion, we here at the HQ will as always keep you updated as we get the info.

Yesterday Wal-Mart made the decision to drop the HD-DVD format for Blu-ray marking a huge turn in the tides in the format war.
Soon following the Blu-ray Association had this to say, “Retailers have a tremendous impact on consumer preferences, and as the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart’s reach and leadership are unparalleled,” said the body’s chairman, Andy Parson. “Their decision to support only Blu-ray, particularly in light of the string of similar announcements from the content and retail communities over the last six weeks, seems to us to be a very clear statement that Blu-ray Disc has emerged as the format of choice for high definition home entertainment.”

Good show Blu-ray, Kick them while they're down.
It looks like a bad day for HD-DVD and how long can HD hold on with all the big biz dropping the format?
What will happen to all the HD players out there?
Will XBOX be building a Blu-ray drive to make up for this huge hit?

All we can do now is wait and see.

Woolworths has become the first major retailer to solely back one of the new HD-DVD formats.

The high street firm has announced that it will only stock Blu-Ray high definition DVDs from March, with HD-DVDs being dropped from stores to be sold online.

The move comes after Blu-Ray DVDs outsold HD-DVDs by ten-to-one in Woolies stores over Christmas. From March Woolworths stores will have a Blu-Ray DVD chart in all 820 stores and a Blu-Ray DVD back catalogue section in larger stores. Since launching HD-DVDs in October last year, Woolworths has become the biggest retailer of the new DVD format in the UK. Sales are growing fast, typically rising by over 40 per cent a month. This compares to a relatively flat DVD market. “Sales figures clearly show that the market is moving towards one format of high definition DVD,” says Woolworths DVD buyer Steven McGunigel. “The main reason is the success of Sony's PlayStation 3 machine. Because it plays Blu-Ray discs, there are over ľ million homes in the UK that can view the new high definition format. There is no where near that number of HD-DVD players around.” “Switching to Blu-Ray only will provide one clear offer to customers in the format they want to watch high definition movies in.” Disney's Ratatouille is expected to be the first Woolworths Blu-Ray DVD chart topper. Other big release films coming in the Spring on Blu-Ray DVD are I Am Legend and Sweeney Todd.

Blu-Ray, backed by Sony, versus HD-DVD, backed by Toshiba, has been likened by commentators to the battle between Toshiba's VHS and Sony's Beta-Max in the 1980s.

The new format war has split the electronics and entertainment industries. Blu-Ray has been backed by Samsung, Sony, Warner, Dell, Apple, Disney and 20th Century Fox. HD-DVD has been backed by NEC, Microsoft and Universal.

The real winner will, of course, be decided at the tills with Blu-Ray already streets ahead according to Woolworths.

Both Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs offer much better quality audio and video than DVD and the additional storage means that more time and extras can be packed into one disc.