Japan's chief of Xbox operations, Yoshihiro Maruyama said that while a version of the Xbox 360 console which can read HD-DVD discs is a possibility, the next-generation DVD standard will never be used for games on the platform. His comments were made to Enterbrain's Famitsu Xbox magazine in an interview, where he expanded on a statement made by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates back in June regarding the potential for a HD-DVD enabled Xbox 360.

His statement could be reasonable considering that that Microsoft couldn't change the media it's shipping games on halfway through the life cycle of a console, leaving owners of the DVD version unable to play HD-DVD games. The Xbox 360 will be equipped with a DVD drive by Toshiba.