Microsoft Xbox 360 HD DVD Add-on gets the axe

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 HD-DVD comes to putting out of their misery.

It seems as though Microsoft’s Xbox 360 HD-DVD is the latest victim of HD DVD’s failure in the marketplace. Microsoft today announced through its Gamerscore Blog that the Xbox 360 HD DVD are no longer manufactured.

The move to suspend the Xbox 360 HD DVD comes just weeks after Microsoft dropped the Toshiba manufacturing player priced at $ 179 to $ 129.99 following mass defections to the Blu-ray standard. The unit has been priced at $ 199 when it was launched in late 2006.

Toshiba officially noted the death of the HD DVD format on 19 February after facing defections from Netflix, Best Buy and Wal-Mart. The company suffered a further blow in early January when Warner Bros. decided to abandon HD DVD to focus on Blu-ray.

“We have carefully evaluated the long-term effects of the continuation of the so-called” new generation format war ‘and concluded that an early decision in the best way to help develop the market, “said Toshiba Corp. President and CEO Atsutoshi Nishida, earlier this week. “Although we are disappointed by the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the actual mass market opportunity for high-definition content Toshiba continues to be seized and is both capable and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality. “

While Microsoft will no longer provide the Xbox 360 HD DVD, the company has pledged to continue supporting a standard product warranty and support for the add-on. Given the short of the latest news from Microsoft, expect a fire sale at the Xbox 360 HD DVD players in the coming weeks as retailers rush to put them off stores.

When it comes to the Xbox 360 platform, Microsoft simply stated: “We do not believe that this decision will not have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our market position.”