This week at CES, Microsoft announced plans to release an external HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360. The drive will be an add-on and it looks like it will only be able to play HD-DVD movies.

The next-gen dvd format battle is looking to be a brutal one, with Sony supporting Blu-Ray Microsoft has had no choice but to team up with Panasonic, the manufacturer of the HD-DVD format. We respect Microsoft’s decision to manufacture an external HD-DVD drive for the 360 since the PS3 is definitely going to feature a Blu-Ray drive. Had Microsoft decided to sit out of the next-gen dvd format war, consumers who desire high-def movies - along with their games - would rush to the PS3. Now though, Microsoft is giving consumers yet another reason to run out and buy an Xbox 360. Of course, we don’t know how much the HD-DVD drive is going to retail for but it will most likely go for at the minimum two or three hundred dollars at first. Meanwhile, the PS3 will have a Blu-Ray drive already built into it. And finally, recently the Blu-Ray format has been looking like it’ll edge out HD-DVD anyways because more studios support it.

Still, we should sit tight for now and watch things unfold this year. In all honesty, the HD-DVD format does have a chance of winning the war.

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