Having used last week's Consumer Electronics Show as the platform from which to announce that the firm are developing an external HD-DVD player for the Xbox 360, Microsoft have moved quickly to deny rumours that future versions of the console might incorporate the player internally, with games developers then able to use the emerging format for future projects.

"Right now it's focused purely on movie playback," Peter Moore told US site GameSpot.com. "Think of the drive as something that lets you play high-definition movies on the Xbox 360." The drive, which will be launched this year, is purely about the movie playback currently then, which could be a sensible move on Redmond's part, given the manner in which a change in format would inevitably confuse and aggrieve purchasers of the original 360 console.

Reports have emerged of late that some developers are bemoaning the storage limitations of the dual-layer DVD format employed by the Xbox 360, a situation which will be highlighted further when Sony launch the Blu-ray equipped PS3 later this year. For their part, Microsoft insist that developers are more than happy with the existing DVD standard. We'll keep you posted.

By Luke Guttridge

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